Worth The Shot

Eerie Darkness

This fanart is by cloudxxyy ! The butterflies are such a cute, magical touch to the scene from Songs in the Leaves. Thought I'd lighten the mood before the mood becomes the opposite of light :D

BACK TO THE STORY

Murky clouds polluted the night sky like black smog. The timid, pale moon cowered behind their stormy blotches, abandoning the Encanto to an eerie darkness. Silhouetted trees loomed against the deep blue sky, their limbs rigidly crackling in jagged convulsions.

Muggy evening air coated your skin. Each inhale of the stale air felt like invisible peanut butter in your throat. In the sweltering heat, you almost expected to exhale puffs of steam.

Behind you, Felix looked particularly miserable, swiping away sweat that beaded around his hairline. He caught your gaze and ruefully smiled, dramatically fanning himself with his hand. You raised your eyebrows in agreement. It was too hot.

Leading your party, Dolores crept across Casita's courtyard, her feet lightly scraping the cobblestones. Like a bird, she alertly cocked her head to the side, listening for movement. Mariano softly lumbered behind.

Suddenly, Dolores touched a finger to her plump lips, widening her round eyes. She's heard something.

Like fabric dancing in the wind, her hands loosely ushered you, Mariano, Augustin, and Felix to huddle in Casita's shadow. You nervously held your breath.

Three stocky men thundered by, agitatedly shouting as they pursued a tribe of galloping, hairy anteaters. Felix grinned triumphantly, slapping Augustin on the back. They'd fallen for Antonio's distraction.

"Let's go," Dolores breathily mouthed, gracefully gliding into the forest. A canopy of midnight trees laced their branches overhead in warted knots. You hurriedly stepped through the thick, gloomy labyrinth of bark, focusing on Augustin's back. Under the night's black spell, you could barely visualize his outline as it threaded behind trees in Dolores' wake.

Augustin's chisel and hammer bulged from a leather satchel slung over his shoulder. Excavating every Madrigal from their chains would never be completed before the guards caught on. But if Augustin could quickly cut Luisa out, she could rip away the others' moonstone as her gift returned.

That plan hinged on an uncomfortable variable: Was Luisa still alive?

If anything went wrong, Dolores would succumb to the ranks of chained Madrigals. Felix, Augustin, and Mariano would die. You'd forget them all. At best.

But it won't go wrong, you forcefully assured yourself, unconsciously fisting your hands. A cruel, low-hanging branch snagged the hem of your dress. The tree menacingly reached for you with wooden claws. Shuddering, you jerked it free and scuttled out into a grassy clearing after Augustin.

"Where," Dolores' quiet question to you was a single word, accompanied by a patient stare. Felix, Augustin, and Mariano expectantly watched you.

You folded onto your and knees, rushing your hands over the dry, willowy grass. The tiny, golden sun symbol scorched into the trapdoor was nearly undetectable in the moonlight.

The old man's symbol. Why was it on Mirabel's arm?

"Here," you heavily exhaled, apprehensively prying the trapdoor open as if twisting off the lid of a jar of snakes. You flinched, expecting venomous vipers to shriek and fly from the doleful, dark hole.

I just escaped. You shivered, terrified, as you dully gazed into the black opening. I don't want to go back. 

"Stay close," Dolores whispered, dipping her legs into the groaning mouth of the tunnels. She slid inside, disappearing. Heartened by Dolores' courage, Mariano trustingly crouched down and dropped inside. Then Augustin. Then Felix.

Alone in the silver moonlight, you anxiously hunched over the hole. A silky breeze caressed your bare arms. I have to do this. For Camilo. For all the Madrigals.

"(Y/n)?" Augustin's worried whisper wafted up from the faceless darkness. You clenched your jaw and made a decision.

"Coming."