Lightning flashed across the sky of the Encanto, roaring thunder echoing throughout the usually peaceful town.The townsfolk were mostly used to unpredictable weather due to Pepa’s mood swings however this did not feel like an ordinary storm. There was almost an electric buzz in the air, pure static energy that caused every single person in the village to feel on edge and their hair to stand on end.
As the storm grew and more torrential rain fell, every villager in the Encanto could be seen ushering their loved ones into their respective homes. All of them knew full well that something big was happening at the casa Madrigal and no one wanted to get in between one of the family’s famous arguments. After all, the last one to happen caused the town to break in two and the Casita to collapse. Despite their concern for the founding family that had done so much for them, none wanted to risk losing their own house.
That, however, didn't stop the townsfolk from wondering what had set off their weather goddess. And soon enough ridiculous rumours were spreading all over the place, ranging from Camillo going too far with a prank to the absurd notion of Felix cheating.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the Madrigals didn’t have to speculate what had set Pepa off though, as every single one - even little Antonio - knew exactly why Pepa had lost all sense of control, why Isabela was huddled in her parent’s embrace and why Alma was being sent away covered in mud with nothing but a picture of her beloved Pedro in her pocket watch and a red palm print on her face.
But before we get into all that, let us rewind to see how this situation happened.
“Explain. Now.”
Pepa and Alma were in the kitchen, clouds steadily forming over both their heads with the family matriarch quietly sobbing as she dwelled on the aftermath of her conversation with Julieta; Pepa impatiently waiting for her Mother’s explanation on what on earth she had done to her niece.
“Pepa, please you have to understand. I did it for the family.” Alma meekly tried to explain herself. Her volatile daughter however was not buying her excuses in the slightest.
“What. Did. You. Do.” She growled her green eyes almost seeming to flicker with electricity and her body began to radiate pure static energy as the cloud above her head grew bigger.
The older woman gulped and slowly pushed herself off the floor in an attempt to feel less intimidated by her middle child. Trying to subtly hide her shaking hands she cursed her eldest grandchild for causing so many ridiculous issues. The matriarch summoned all her anger to match Pepa’s knowing that she was losing control of her position as the head of the family and she was not going to let it go without a fight.
That was her first mistake. Everyone in the Encanto knew NEVER to challenge THE Pepa Madrigal.
“Isabela’s mind is full of disgusting perversions about marrying women and having poor children with them. It is revolting and I will NOT have her ruin our family because of her ungodly ways. She needed to be taught a lesson, and so I did.”
The kitchen was suddenly engulfed in a flash of white as a bolt of lightning materialised and struck the casita’s floor. Startled, Abuela recoiled from her daughter in shock as she took in the smouldering tiles; less than a metre from where she stood and the appearance of thundering clouds in every corner of the room.
Gulping down her fear, the grey haired woman tried to gain some semblance of control of the situation as she stared at her infuriated daughter who was shaking with what could only be described as white hot rage.
“Pepa. Control yourself! I am your Mother!! This is MY family, and I will not have this disrespect!”
Hands shaking as she fought every bodily instinct to electrocute the woman in front of her, Pepa spoke, her voice deadly.
“Revolting. Is that what she was, huh Madre? From where I’m standing, you are the sick disgusting individual who is ruining our family. How can you stand there, defending your actions acting as if it was justified? Now answer my question, what the hell did you do to my beautiful Sobrina?”
Alma simply rolled her eyes, growing irritated at having to explain her actions to her daughter. Surely she had taught her better than this.
“My whole life I have built this family up to be respected by the village. To be worthy of this miracle that somehow found us. And I refuse to give that up! Isabela was embarrassing this family, imagine what they would say if they found out she was so disgusting. Camilo and his ridiculous need to be called ‘they’ was bad enough but at least the town seemed to like him. Isabela’s whole likability was due to her being beautiful and attracting all the men in this town, announcing that she had an unhealthy fixation on women would’ve been the nail in the coffin of this family. I couldn’t have a granddaughter that people didn’t want to be around.”
“One freak was enough;” She muttered under her breath.
Unluckily for Abuela, Pepa heard her and knew exactly which of her children she was talking about. “How fucking dare you.” Pepa spoke her voice dangerously level. Her eyes seemed to glow green and her hair that she had put in 2 braids that morning were levitating above her head; electricity arcing off her body and sparks of lightning discharging into the air.
Abuela involuntarily backed away as she realised she had hit a nerve and braced herself against the wind swirling around the two of them and the rain that had begun to pour.
“Pepa-”
“NO. My daughter is NOT a freak. She is the most beautiful, pure soul I have ever met and couldn’t hurt a fly! She is worth a thousand of you.”
Thunder rumbled around them, the wind growing more turbulent as her emotions grew and her body shaking as she struggled to stop herself from frying the woman in front of her for insulting her baby like that.
“Pepa please-” Alma begged her middle child, forcing her body not to shiver at the increasingly frosty environment she was cornered in.
“Enough! I don’t want to hear your excuses, tell me what you did to Isabela, or do I have to force it out of you!?”
She was practically vibrating with almost uncontrollable static energy at this point, the lack of elaboration from her mother almost speaking for itself on how serious the situation was and the two of them in the room could feel it. There wasn’t a hair on either of their bodies that wasn’t standing up on its end.
“Nothing she didn’t deserve. Pepa surely you understand, she was demented. She needed straightening out!” She pleaded, trying to get at least one of her children to understand.
“What. Did. You. Do. Don’t make me force it out of you.” She growled almost starting to look unhinged with fury, wind was swirling around them now and she could’ve sworn she heard a tree fall next to the casita.
Alma balled her fists growing infuriated at the gall her daughter had to challenge her ‘justified’ actions.
"How DARE you threaten me. I am your MOTHER!”
A loud rumbling of thunder cut her off, reminding the older woman just how powerful her daughter was.
“ANSWER THE QUESTION.” Pepa roared, her voice amplified by the thunder and lightning sparking from her skin.
“I disciplined her with a whip.” Gasps filled the room. And Alma’s eyes widened at the sight of her entire family in front of her who had just heard her confession.
Time seemed to stop at the former matriarch's words as the horrible truth of what had occurred sank in to every member of the family.
Well almost all.
“What does discipline mean?” A small innocent voice rang out.
There was a still sort of silence for a second after the question. Everyone seemed almost shell shocked at what they had just heard. Pepa quickly made eye contact with her husband, almost begging him for help, feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the situation.
From what she could gather, Isabela, Dolores and Mirabel had come downstairs after they’d seen the weather escalate and saw the tree fall. Whereas Bruno, Antonio, Camilo and Felix, Luisa must have hurried back from town when the storm started. She didn’t know how long Julieta and Augustin had been there but she could assume a while since they were almost as soaked as herself and Alma.
“Don’t worry about it Tonito, how about you go to your room with Parce and play yeah?” Felix quickly said, trying to salvage as much of Antonio’s obliviousness of the situation as possible.
“Whatever it is it’s making Mama sad and I don’t want to leave her if she’s upset.” Antonio pouted his eyebrows drawn as if he was thinking hard on what discipline could mean.
Felix bit this inside of his mouth nervously while silently begging one of the other kids to get Anontio out of there, knowing he would be needed at some point to calm his wife down before she accidentally killed someone.
After a few tense moments Camilo realised none of the girls were going to move and crouched in front of his baby brother.
“It’s ok ‘Tonio, Papa is here to help her and she’s got Dolo as well. How about we play together in your room and leave the adults to the boring stuff?”
Antonio frowned, clearly realising he was missing something important but not knowing what, before he shrugged and decided to hold his brother’s hand and allow himself to be taken out of the room.
Pepa slowly looked around her wild eyes softening considerably when she saw the girls.
Isabela almost looked frozen, Dolores was clinging to her, both looking incredibly feverish and somehow still fiercely protective. Next to them was Luisa who she had never seen so angry, almost standing in a protective stance looking ready to fight. Mirabel stood on the other side of Isabela who had a thousand mile look in her eye as if she wasn’t even in the same universe anymore.
I guess that answers the question on how much everyone heard. Pepa thought bitterly.
"Isabela, you know I did it for your own good, tell them!" Alma spat, looking incredulous at the family's clear horror at what she felt was a justified punishment.
Isa simply let out a strangled cry, as if stuck between a sob and a reply causing Dolores to immediately envelope her in a soothing embrace and for Luisa to stand in front of the two of them acting as a makeshift barrier between Abuela and Isabela.
"Don't you dare talk to her!!" Augustin bellowed, stepping forward, his usual anxious persona replaced with which could only be described as a pissed off father. Pepa thundering behind him as if ready to provide backup at any moment.
"How dare-"
"No, how dare you! My daughter is the most amazing, adventurous and intelligent person I know! How dare you Alma, how dare you treat her as nothing more than a doll to show off, controlling what she does and who she likes! Yes she is beautiful but there is more to her than that. And I am ashamed I have allowed you to treat Isa and the rest of my children like this."
"She's sick Augustin!"
Alma screeched, fed up with the family not seeming to understand how wrong it was for Isabela to like women.
"No she's NOT! My daughter is a lesbian, and I have NEVER been more proud of her." Augustin shouted back, tears in his eyes knowing that this deplorable woman in front of him was the reason his own daughter hadn’t felt safe enough to come out to him and Julieta.
God I’ve failed my daughters.
Isabela who had been huddled in her mother's embrace ran to her father tackling him with a hug in tears at his confession of love.
Alma’s eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Isabela again, her rage growing.
This is all her fault!!!
"YOU! You insolent little-"
Alma stalked towards Isabela, hand raised as if to slap her when out of nowhere a strong hand clamped down on her hand and another hand pushed her to the floor before she could even process what had happened.
Shock in her eyes Alma stared up at Julieta's second daughter towering above her.
"Luisa? Why?"
Luisa herself almost looked shocked that she had pushed her Abuela before the situation dawned on her again as she caught sight of her usually composed sister breaking down in their father’s arms only a few feet away.
No, she is not my Abuela. Not anymore.
"You hurt my sister and were going to again. I can't let that happen."
Alma gaped, absolutely stunned at how everything could go wrong so quickly.
Augustin guided his oldest to his wife who promptly hugged her with all her might peppering kisses on her face. Pepa was holding Dolores with Felix next to them holding Dolores' hand and stroking Pepa's shoulder, trying to soothe them both.
Alma slowly stood up scowling at the sight of her family banding together against her as if she was a villain and dusted herself off, refusing to back down and look weak.
"Clearly everyone is very emotional at the moment, how about we all take a break and come back to this conversation later?" She gritted out trying to claw back some semblance of control.
"No." Mirabel interjected, stepping forward; feeling torn as she realised just how hurt her oldest sister must have been and why she had been so stuck up all the time.
"No?" Alma asked confused, not grasping that this wasn't something that could just be swept away under the rug.
Camilo quietly rejoined the family, whispering to Dolores that their brother had fallen asleep in his room.
“You seriously think we would allow you to stay in the same vicinity of our children after what you’ve done.” Julieta bit out, holding her eldest tightly against her chest as if she’d disappear at any second.
“Allow me?! This is my home!”
Suddenly there was a flash of gold and the family candle suddenly materialised in Mirabel’s hands, shocking everyone except Mirabel herself.
“Not anymore it’s not.” Mirabel spoke calmly, her eyes softly glowing as orange as the flame as if she was being given strength from the candle itself
“That was a gift from Pedro, give it back now!” Alma surged forward arms outstretched desperately trying to grasp at what she believed was hers.
Pepa and Luisa began walking forwards prepared to defend the youngest new matriarch but it turns out she didn’t need the protection.
A golden shock wave emitted from the candle forcing Alma away from her and the candle, making it clear she was no longer in charge.
A few tense moments passed as the family awaited the older woman’s reaction.
The candle… Attacked me?
Tears flowed down Alma’s face as the implications sank in that she had lost the last thing her late husband gave her. Not realising that it was just as much for their children as it was for herself.
“Juli, you wouldn’t throw me out would you? I wouldn’t survive out there alone!” She begged her eldest, trying to get through to her caring nature.
Julieta just shook her head, not a single tear escaping. Her daughter was more important than the woman who had hurt her. Regardless of whether she had been her mother or not.
“Pepa, please.”
Glaring at her without an ounce of pity in her eyes, filled only pure unbridled fury at the secrets that had been spilled. Pepa spoke the last words she ever would to her mother.
“Leave this place Alma Madrigal. And if I ever see you again, I will make sure it is the last time anyone ever does.”
Alma’s eyes were frantic as he tried to cling to her daughter clawing at her desperately to try to get her to feel pity for her.
“I am your mother, Pepa. Please don’t do this!”
The livid woman simply shrugged her former mother’s hands off of her. Refusing to even look at her.
The disgraced woman began to panic, scanning the room for any sympathy from the people who mere hours ago were her family but deflated when all she saw were matching looks of disgust and fury. Trying her last shot she called out to her youngest.
“Brunito, please. Don’t let them make me leave. We have so much to catch up on. Please my Son.”
The awkward man who had been cowering in the shadows throughout the encounter hesitantly shuffled into the light and cleared his throat, looking more serious than anyone had ever seen him before and wihtout stuttering once he spoke.
“I am your son no longer. And you are NOT my mother. I think it’s best if you leave.”
Fury rose in the disgraced matriarch as it dawned on her that her last hope of control and salvaging the situation had crumbled beneath her feet.
“This is MY house. MY family. You fools seriously think I will EVER leave!? And for what, that disgusting freak!!??”
Alma gestured wildly towards Isabela who was cowering in her parent’s embrace just wanting it all to be over.
Dolores growled quietly, Camilo gripping her tightly by the wrist to stop her from attacking their ex abuela.
Thunder loudly rumbled and a bright flash of lightning filled the room as Louisa and Pepa slowly stalked towards the woman, both of them clearly ready for a fight. Pepa with her hands tightly coiled in fists and Louisa cracking her knuckles menacingly.
Alma gulped knowing she didn’t stand a chance at standing the ground and almost shrieked at the arrival of Parce the jaguar next to the two of them.
“Do you really want to play this game Alma?” Pepa bit out, eyes blazing.
“You will regret this. I WILL be back to take back what is mine!” The old woman spat, glaring at Mirabel holding her, the family candle.
Mirabel stepped forward, joining Luisa and Pepa.
“Then we will be ready. Casita, remove this woman from our home.”
With one final glare Alma was forcefully ejected by Casita, thrown out of the house and landing facedown in the dirt outside.
As she stood enraged she took note of the whispering crowd of townsfolk who had bravely ventured to the Casita out of curiosity.
“What are you looking at!!” She spat at the gathering townsfolk, eyes blazing as fury enveloped her entire being.
Her life’s work had been destroyed in one afternoon, all because her children had refused to see reason and realise all she did was for the good of the family and the encanto. Stalking past the crowd that hastily made a path for her she swore her vengeance on the family that had cast her out.
“Don’t worry Pedro, I will get our candle back. And they will pay for throwing us away like shit. I promise you that.”
And with that declaration, she disappeared into the night.