Worth The Shot

The Warm Chamber

Today's fanart is by @IHateItHere_9 ! I LOVE their drawing style so much and the way they drew this scene looks so magical. It looks like something you'd find in a fairytale book! They drew the scene from The Sin of a Miracle where (y/n) tries to steal the candle but falls. The candlelight is glowing and the light from it looks so cool!

BACK TO THE STORY

Mariano stood motionless, like a ghost. And the floor swallowed him whole.

"Mariano!" You gasped, uneasily backing away. The only response was an agonizing silence.

Creak. Creak. Creak. With zombielike lethargy, the floorboards tensed, as if sensing your presence.

Panicking, you remembered Dolores' omnipresent hearing range and hissed, "Dolores, I think Casita's turned bad. It just ate Mariano, and I think I'm next. If I don't make it out..."

A cavernous hole ripped through the floor like paper, and you flightlessly sunk inside with a shriek. You squeezed your muscles tightly, bracing to be gnashed by brick teeth, slashed by plywood claws, or to smack into the ground.

Smoothly, you merely slid down the slick surface of a chute, splaying onto a tiled floor with your dress spread in waves around you. Mariano courteously offered you his tanned hand.

"Mariano! You're alive!" You exhaled in relief, feeling stupid from your dramatic, flailing entrance. You shouldn't have doubted his iron-pressed suit or Casita. He'd led you to their secret, underground chamber.

Thin, waxy-white candlesticks solemnly paraded the room's outline, radiating a peaceful, amber light. A wooden, honeycombed cubby structure was pressed against the wall, stuffed with rolled sleeping bags and pillows. With barely enough space for the seven remaining Madrigals, the dim hideaway felt cramped.

How long have they been living down here?

Dolores and Alma closely conspired together, discussing in hushed tones. Felix, Augustin, and Mirabel huddled over an old, yellowed checkerboard, cracking jokes and forcing laughs. Bruno bent over his young nephew and the furry rats that crawled over him with little pink paws. He smiled lopsidedly as Antonio earnestly conveyed their rodent thoughts.

You smiled. The Madrigal family could turn anywhere to a home. As long as they had each other. A safe, warm river gently wrapped around your shoulders like an invisible blanket.

When Mirabel noticed you and Mariano, excitement shone in her eyes. She leaped up from her game and rushed over to hug you tightly.

"(Y/n! Oh, I've missed you so much!" She gushed. "When you and Camilo disappeared, I thought you'd been kidnapped for sure!"

"We were kidnapped," you apprehensively said, extending your arms to display your rattling chains. "Camilo, he- he's the only reason why I'm here." You fidgeted, suddenly aware of time's groaning pressure.

Camilo, your thoughts desperately chanted, pleaded, wailed. Save him. He's hurting. Camilo.

If the room felt packed before, now it felt stifling. The Madrigals clumped around you like ants swarming a picnic, wide-eyed and serious. Do they think it's my fault?

"I'm sorry," you choked out, gazing at the floor in shame. "I shouldn't have left, I should have stayed with him. If they hurt him, it's all my fault." Felix's worn, tan shoes stepped across the floor toward yours.

"I'm sorry, Felix," you apologized, tearfully meeting his dark-eyed stare. "I left your son behind, and now he's not okay."

"No. Camilo chose to protect you." Felix's comforting smile was mournful, but heartthrobbing pride for his son glowed in his eyes. "I'd feared that-" Felix quickly shook his head, remembering the trial incident, then proudly declared, "He is becoming the man I'd hoped he'd be."

"He is," you whispered, smiling sadly. "He really is, Felix." He'd dug you free. Bravely reassured you. And left himself alone in the power of men who hated him. So why wasn't I able to trust him? Why was I scared of him?

Dolores sympathetically touched her fingertips to your chains. She stiffened. She snatched back her hand, then haltingly tapped the cold stone, curiously tilting her head.

"I can't hear. When I touch the chains, everything is quiet," she attentively whispered, repeatedly extending and withdrawing her hand in fascination.

"Senora Alma," you interjected, thrusting your chained hands forward. The rough cuffs had scrubbed at your wrists, leaving them raw. "Do you recognize this material?"

"Moonstone," Alma recalled, a tint of surprise flushing her cheeks. Wistfully, she drew out a hidden necklace from around her neck. A gleaming, polished version of the coarse stone dangled from its delicate chain.

"I've never seen any material like it," Augustin mused, mystified. He would know, being the village expert on wood, rocks, and bricks. In the candlelight, the moonstone reflected a rainbowed shimmer onto his glasses.

"It's extremally rare. It comes from deep inside the earth," Alma abruptly paused, quickly concealing the necklace again by letting it hang behind her shirt. "At least that's what I was told."

"How did you get it?" Augustin wondered aloud.

"My Pedro gave-" her voice shook unsteadily, but she covered it with a taut sigh. Dismissively, she crossed the room with clipped paces. "That doesn't matter. Why do you have it, (y/n)?"

"Thank you for showing us. It was beautiful, Senora Alma," you effusively appreciated, sensing her grief. Why did you have it? You fumbled for an easy beginning, uncomfortably shifting your hands to banish a cramp. "There's another man with a gift. He chained all of the Madrigals with this... moonstone."

"You found them?" Felix urgently breathed, clutching his massive hands together. "All of them? Pepa?"

"Yes," You hesitantly conceded, reluctant to crush Felix with news of their battered state. Instead, you assured him, "They're all alive." Barely.

"They're alive," Felix exhaled and looked up. Augustin's smile glowed with hope.

"We need to rescue them!" Mirabel blurted, then anxiously glanced at Alma. Would she let them leave Casita and risk losing even more of the fragile miracle?

"We do," Alma finally spoke, gravely smiling at Mirabel. "But it seems we are outnumbered. And they are clever."

"But we can save them, can't we, Abuela?" Antonio whined, widening his brown eyes at Alma. "I miss them."

"We can, Tonito," Alma fondly promised, patting her grandson's curls. Resolve burned in her usually subdued eyes. "And we will. But we need a plan."

"But, uh, how will we escape the village?" Bruno worried, insecurely crossing his arms as he addressed Alma. "It won't be safe!"

"Escape the village?" You erupted, shocked by Bruno's question. You'd sensed the villagers' hostility, but they would never harm the Madrigals! Would they?

"Oh," Dolores's tiny mouth formed a perfectly round letter O. She exchanged a concerned glance with her father, then blinked expectantly at Alma.

"Yes," Alma seriously confirmed, straightening her shoulders. Her rose-colored dress rippled as she approached you. "The village is in rebellion."