[Encanto] C: 4 - Finally talking to Uncle Bruno

After the revelation, I spent the next year keeping watch on any and all travelers that come to our village, though they do come rarely, I also began helping my Aunt in making food, mostly just to eat her cooking to help heal my body and hopefully help in letting me live a long life.

I have also begun training my Gift to become useful in...ways that my family would probably not be happy about.

For example, lifting up a small and thin piece of metal with a sharp end, basically making it a needle, and proceeding to launch it at extreme speeds through objects.

Only later on did I notice that I copied a certain Marvel character's schtick.

I have also begun exercising and using my gift on myself to make it harder, and even begun helping Luisa, my cousin who has a gift of super strength and endurance, which was training my gift all on its own just to get her to notice the pressure of my gift weighing on her back when she worked out every morning.

I think it brightened her day up to find that I wanted to work out with her since no one else in the village was really interested in physical training and improvement.

As for my Gift itself...well, it's definitely grown.

How much?

I could fly now if I wanted for a couple of hours and could lift up a boulder that weighed around 500 lbs, or 226.7 Kg.

Also means I could put around that same amount of pressure on someone or just make someone weightless so long as they didn't surpass my current limit.

And as for my other projects, I managed to make a few looms and also with Isabela's permission, began selling a lot of different exotic fruits, vegetables, and plants to the traders, who in return, got me a lot of things I needed or wanted.

For example, they gave me more books which were added to my library and I got plenty of raw resources I would need to build any machinery I wanted with the help of the village's blacksmith, who I also taught various techniques too that I knew of as well as helped make a few things which greatly helped in his work.

Life was good, to be honest...and I was running out of things I could do.

Don't get me wrong, this new life of mine felt perfect, but It also felt...well, stale.

There were few things left for me to do, but if I kept trying to modernize the village, I would catch the attention of the more dangerous elements.

So, I really only had my own body, skills, and gift left to improve.

And not to mention my family, who all had Gifts or problems that could be improved.

Floating in my room, with dozens of books orbiting around me like an X, I was reminiscing over my memories from my past life, remembering the time in which I played countless hours of games with my friends.

I told Casita tales of the worlds portrayed in these games, and while he didn't like some of the worlds I told him about, I think he enjoyed the stories all the same.

I told him, yes, I'm referring to Casita as 'he,' of the few worlds I remembered playing so long ago, from Fallout to Elder Scrolls, Stardew Valley, and so many others.

Only Mirabel talked to Casita more than I did of our whole family, which is saying something.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I floated down and took a deep breath.

Camly walking out of my room, I slowly walked across the balcony walkway on the second floor of Casita around the courtyard, and making sure no one was looking, I walked over to a painting, and pulled, finding it coming off with ease, revealing a passageway behind.

Taking a deep breath, I whispered, "Dolores, mind distracting the family? I need to talk with Bruno, and they'll probably come looking for me in a bit, thanks."

With my sister's gift being that of super hearing, she probably knows me the best second to that of Casita, and Im betting she listened to me talk to him and tell him stories.

Stepping through the hole, picking up my skirt to prevent it from getting caught, I picked the painting back up and slid it back over the hole.

Finding it to only be mildly dark, I cautiously walked further into the passageway.

These passages if I remembered correctly went throughout the entire Casita, specifically between the walls of Casita, and hiding in these walls, was someone I should have confronted a long time ago, but didn't due to fear of whatever he 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 have seen with his gift in regards to my abnormality.

Bruno is my only uncle and is brother to both my Mom and Aunt, Bruno left not long after Mirabel's gifting ceremony, and while most of the family didn't know, I and Abuela knew exactly why he left.

Bruno's gift was that of prophecy, he could see into the future, and due to his visions usually becoming true, mostly due to the fact of those involved not taking action, his gift was vilified and not it was a sore and taboo topic to talk about him.

And over the years, the golden portrait that was etched on his door, dimmed until it turned dark, but Bruno never actually left, he was still here in Encanto, more specifically, he was still 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, in Castia, has been after all of these years, and since, has never used his power again.

So you could say, he was definitely a bit insane from being alone for so alone.

As I walked through the passageways, I noticed cracks that lined the walls, most being filled and patched with cement and it was clear this was someone's doing.

Dust caked the walls along with dirt. Cobwebs, debris, and broken wood lined the floors and walls, showing just how bad in shape Castia was behind the walls, and yet the only one slowing down the collapse was Bruno, the exiled son.

I also noticed that rats seemed to have infested the walls of Casita, which honestly disgusted a part of me. While I knew some of the rats were bound to be pets of Bruno, I doubt all of them were, and seeing just how many rats living in our walls...was definitely concerning.

I don't really have a problem with any animals, I've even helped some of the town's butchers a few times, I just didn't like the fact that there were this many rats in our house without us even knowing about them.

I continued walking down the pathway, and after a couple of minutes of walking in a random direction, I heard the sound of something slick and wet hitting something hard up ahead, and peaking around the corner, I could see someone wearing a green poncho and...a bucket over their head, applying wet concrete to a crack in the wall.

Not knowing how to greet him...I simply knocked on the wall. With no reaction, I tried again, this time using a bit of my gift to make the knock louder.

This time I got a reaction and well...he screamed and ran.

Sighing, I simply waved my hand and increased the pressure of the gravity weighing on him, bringing him to a halt.

"Stop struggling, we both know you won't be able to escape from me, I just want to talk, okay? So just relax," I told my Uncle, seeing him struggle in an attempt to escape and lose me in the maze.

Not that he even thought out his plan, since I doubt he'd leave Casita, meaning it would just be an eventuality of when I caught him again.

After a couple of minutes, when Uncle Bruno calmed down enough, I lightened my grip on him and took the bucket off his head, revealing a man with curly hair that flowed down to his neck and a general tired expression on his face.

"Hi, Uncle. It's been a while."

"S-Salem...what, what are you doing here? How did you get in here? No...No...you should leave, you shouldn't be here!" Bruno panicked.

"Why's that? Because of your gift? Because of what the family thinks? I don't care, whether they realize it or not, it's not your fault, and you ARE family too."

"No no...It IS my fault, my..my gift-," I slapped him and spoke, "Snap out of it, you have always only tried to help, its not your fault that everyone around us is ignorant and doesn't work with you to find out exactly what you saw. It's not your fault, okay? So please, let's talk."