Chapter Text
Mirabel Madrigal is 13 years old when she realizes that she will never truly be a Madrigal. Whatever magic factor makes a Madrigal, whatever factor decides who got a gift, she didn’t have it. And she likely never would.
She didn’t shine like her family, she couldn’t shine, nor in a family of scientific geniuses and renowned doctors and artists.
Not when she had failed whatever milestone she was supposed to hit when she was five years old.
Her relationship with her family crumbled after that. One by one, relationships that once shone like the stars turned to dust, becoming nothing but dust and it became clear how much different she was.
Mirabel Madrigal is 13 years old when she accepts that her family will never be able to love her the same as they once did.
Mirabel Madrigal is 14 years old when she gets bitten by a spider on an excursion into the forest. It was large, and hairy and the bite had hurt, but it wasn’t deadly, just painful, so she didn't think much of it, until she became ill the next day. Until her head pulses and her body burns, until she grows taller overnight.
The illness was enough for her mama to come and check on her every other hour, Camilo came in with food once, softer food, easier to keep down, they talk for a bit, though the conversation is nothing short of awkward. At one point, Mirabel woke up to Isabela sitting on the other bed, staring at her with unreadable eyes. She left as soon as Mirabel woke up.
Mirabel felt better after a day, though she had needed to get new clothing, not even her mama or the town’s other doctor could explain the growth spurt.
Mirabel kept the other things to herself, kept the the way that leaves and paper suddenly started to stick to her hands, how something hissed in the back of her head whenever the town bullies came for their usual teasing, how she could hear conversations long distances away, how her senses had all been turned up and her need for glasses was no more, the strange new slits in her wrist that she discovered could shoot a strange web like substance.
She hid how she could hear them talking in a secret room below their home, about what patrol routes to take that night. She hid that she knew the secret that had been kept from her for years.
She hid it all.
Not like anyone would believe her either.
After all, La Familia Madrigal was the heart of the city, the founding family.
And if her new information was correct, by night they were the City’s protectors. The Encanto. .
And no one would believe a 14 who was known to crave positive affection.
So she ignored concerned glances, and odd looks when she scarcely touched anything unless absolutely necessary, how Isabela’s eyes lingered on Mirabel whenever she would hide grimaces from the shouting match two houses down that Dolores was putting earmuffs on, or how her padres would exchange worried looks as Mirabel withdrew further from her familia, desperate to get her new found abilities under control. She missed the looks that her Abuela would shoot her throughout meals when she ate half of her food, then would stare while picking at it.
Food hardly seemed appetizing when you were having a crisis.
Mirabel Madrigal was 14 years old when she got super powers from a spider.
And she was still 14 years old when she determined that she did not belong in the City of Encanto. Everyone loved her family and tolerated her, shot her pitying looks when she walked through town, she was the odd one out the imperfect one, the one who didn’t fit the puzzle.
She was determined to leave after Antonio’s birthday; her primo wanted her there. So she would be there, one last time before he too no longer needed her.
She packed in secret, hiding things, and tentatively sneaking sore arepa’s into a bag, bringing clothes, and a family picture. Each one felt like its own betrayal. Logic would say her family loved her, that they cared deeply about her, but logic also said that she was only getting in the way, everytime without fail, she was a restriction on the family, someone they had to look out for.
She knew that.
Everyone knew that.
But it still felt like a betrayal.
Whether to them, or herself, Mirabel couldn’t say.
They had betrayed her in a way, hiding the truth of why she was different and why she was an outcast.
But they had still loved her enough to tolerate her and her constant attempts to be included.
It was a very confusing tumultuous feeling. The feeling of betraying one you loved, while feeling betrayed yourself.
By the end of the third week, a lump of rage had settled into Mirabel’s throat, dulled imensily by the feeling of sorrow and hurt, but still there, still smoldering.
The house she had lived in became a prison where she had to be utterly exhausted not to snap and lash out in.
She spent this new found need of exhaustion and feeling of rage on practicing with her new abilities, learning how to swing from her webs, how to release her ability to cling to any surface known to man. And while she wasn’t by any means good at it, she was still good enough to get around.
And it made it tolerable to listen to them use a code to speak about their night time activities around her.
It made them unassuming, and more likely to leave her alone now that she was no longer seriously ill.
Leaving her alone more often than not. Giving her time to think.
And because of that time used to think, a plan began to form.
By the time the party rolled around, Mirabel had already begun her withdrawal. She stopped trying as hard, she began to beg off larger events claiming illness, or exhaustion, she still attended dinners, often being one of the last ones to leave the clean up, but she was distant
Antonio’s birthday party was nothing short of amazing. Fireworks went off every few minutes, Antonio was laughing while he played with kids in his new clothes, Isabela stood beside Luisa both talking, though Mirabel couldn’t make out any of it, over the tumultuous roar of chatter that echoed in Mirabel’s ear war like a war drum. Abuela stood talking with Mariano’s grandmother about possible wedding arrangements between Mariano and Isabela, Mirabel’s padres stood near her Tio Felix and Tia Pepa.
Mirabel waited until around midnight before excusing herself to bed, around the time Antonio finally exhausted himself, and while the festivities still raged on, she did not care beyond the pounding in her skull that came from her new heightened senses, and the fact that she planned her exit.
‘Besides. ‘ She couldn’t help but think bitterly ‘Not like I’ll be misse-‘
“Mirabel?”
Mirabel froze, turning around to face the speaker, Isabela stood beside Luisa both staring at her with a rare look of concern on Isabela’s face.
“Is there a reason you’re trying to leave Antonio’s party early?”
Mirabel blinked once, then twice, then shrugged.
“Everything’s fine, besides, he’s already in bed, not he’ll notice or care too much. “ she dismissed as easy as breathing, her heart beat spiking as she lied, she heard the moment that Dolores, the only one who could truly have blocked her escape, heard her heart beat and began to walk towards them. Mirabel swallowed slightly, and turned to head towards the nursery “Just going to bed. “
“She’s lying. “ Dolores's voice, soft and nearly imperceptible, was calm as she intercepted the group. Clearly meant for the older trio and not Mirabel to hear, but she heard, and watched as Isabela arched an eye at their prima before turning back to Mirabel, fixing her with a look.
“Mirabel. “
Mirabel forced her racing heart to calm and sighed. Dolores' ability to hear and to command sounds beyond average human perception was a problem, one that could be easily avoided.
“Honestly, I’m just going to bed. Nothing more, nothing less. “ Mirabel explained softly. “I’m tired. Okay? rough week at school, plus, I’ve got an exam this week, midterms. “
Dolores looked unconvinced, but said nothing, turning to go join her brothers. Isabela stared at Mirabel a moment longer before huffing and turning away, Luisa offering Mirable a half hug, before following.
Mirabel hesitated a moment longer, before walking up the stairs, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and the small thing in the back of her mind hissed and Mirabel risked a glance down, Camilo, Dolores were both standing by Mirabel’s Tia and Tio, who were standing by Mirabel’s padres.
They were all looking at her.
Staring intently.
Mirabel suddenly became very aware of the fact that her familiar was a group of superheroes, who made a career out of being able to read the situation. And Mirabel had given them all the facts they needed.
She was suddenly very withdrawn, as if making it hard to notice her absence, just like her Tio Bruno had.
She had begged off family events recently. just like her Tio Bruno had.
And now?
Dolores had caught her lying while she was leaving a public event.
Just like her Tio Bruno had.
Mirabel had not fooled them as she wished to have.
Mirabel took a deep breath, and entered her room, the buzzing and hissing in the back of her skull began immediately, she ignored the hissing as it got louder, and she began to move quicker, pulling a hoodie over her head, and pulling her backpack on, sliding the window open-
“What are you doing?”
Mirabel whipped around, staring at Isabela who was standing in her doorway, eyes wide and brow furrowed. Behind her Dolores stood, flanked by Camilo.
Mirabel bit the inside of her cheek, her new fangs pricking uncomfortably as she backed further against the wall. Closer to the window.
“Are you…leaving?” Camilo whispered softly, his eyes wet, Mirabel scoffed, now he cared, now he wanted her to stay.
(She knew they wanted her to stay, but they had to admit one day, that there was no room in La Familia Madrigal for her. )
“Dolores, go get our padres. “ Isabela commanded, her voice uncharacteristically soft as she took another step into the room. Mirabel’s palms began to sweat, the skin burning slightly as Isabela took more steps until they were a mere foot apart, Camilo a short way behind her. “Mirabel, let's think about this. “
Mirabel bit back that she had thought about it, done every mental equation, and drawn up the same conclusion every time. Camilo’s gaze went to her palms, then to the floor beneath them, and then her froze.
“Isabela look. “ he breathed pointing down, Mirabel didn’t look, knowing damn well that if she did they’d tackle her, she had seen the tactic on the news several times over. Except neither of them was looking anymore, instead their gaze went to where Mirabel’s hands were, and Mirabel in a fit of curiosity, glance down, freezing when she saw the electricity arching on the hardwood flooring of her room.
Mirabel swallowed thickly as Isabela looked back up at her. Understanding glint g in her eyes.
“You have powers.” then Isabela’s eyes widened in further understanding. “You know about the Encanto, don’t you?”
Mirabel shifted towards the window again, her hearing catching the slightly frantic footsteps of her mama. Her sixth sense was shrieking now, Mirabel was too hurt to want to be a part of the Encanto.
Their house was a good half mile from the main city, closer to where the richer folks lived.
But Mirabel could run long enough to get to good swinging points.
“How long have you had powers?” Isabela demanded harshly. Mirabel grit her teeth, baring them slightly as she began to feel more and more cornered. Her eyes flashed dangerously, what she needed to do, wanted to do more than anything was disappear without a fuss.
So she did the logical thing, she flicked some of the electricity that arched from her fingers at them, forcing them to take three steps back.
She then launched herself out of her window; webbing the nearest tree and beginning to swing through them. It wasn’t as consistent as her regular building swinging but between her steady pace and pausing to run short distances to give the strange glands in her arms a chance to produce more webbing she managed to get a good thirty minute head start.
But it wasn’t long before she heard the steady pound of chasing feet behind her. She scowled, and without looking back began to run faster, quickly entering the outskirts of the main city. If she could lose them here, she could take a shuttle to the next city, and lay low there for a few weeks, before taking off to a different state, possibly country entirely.
Somewhere where no one knew the Madrigals.
She had to escape before she enacted the next part of her plan though. And her familia had years of time to learn how to chase people running compared to Mirabel’s measly few weeks to learn.
And it doesn’t take long for her to put it together, in fact, it’s shortly after Luisa had cut off an alley way, and Isabela had forced a turn.
She’s being herded.
Mirabel snorted when she realized she was falling for the same tactic that countless others had.
Then she did the logical thing, and used her webbing to pull herself up to a building and put some distance between her and her pursuers.
Her maneuver ending up buying her about ten extra minutes of time before vines break out and a storm begins above her head.
She loops back after nearly getting caught, webbing to a tall building and swinging across the streets below, Mirabel is not stupid enough to believe that she could loose her family that easily, but she’s smart enough to know how they chase and fight.
And this, ultimately is what enables her to get on a bus at the end.
She had ended up having to loop back several times to lose them, but by the time the sun had risen, Mirabel was on a bus shuttle, heading to a new city.
Mirabel watches as the city fades into the distance in the driver's rearview mirror, her head thinking against the window and takes several shaky breaths. A new phone sits heavily in her pocket, a box of bronze orange hair dye remains tucked away in her back pack and a face mask obscures most of her distinguishing features.
She had everything she needed to disappear.
Mirabel Madrigal is 14 years old when she leaves everything behind.