what have i done?

by orphan_account

Summary:

She had gone completely mad.

 

(A sequel to "pain is beautiful" by planetundersiege)

Notes:

• For planetundersiege, enigmaticbadwolf.
• Inspired by pain is beautiful by planetundersiege

So I made this because my AO3 partner in crime gave me ideas AGAIN. I know, big shocker, right? So this is for him, but also for enigmaticbadwolf because of the very hilarious discussion we had about the plot that included her jUmPiNg tO cOnClUsIoNs (long story). Anyway, enjoy the angst and the art that took me forever to draw because color blending is a bitch. *drops this and runs away*

She had gone completely mad.

 

Julieta didn’t realize she had fallen victim to the family’s curse until it had been too late.

 

Now, every one of her family members lay dead before her around the dinner table, having coughed up too much black liquid from the poisoned arepas. The tar was spilled around the chairs, just as it was spilling straight from Julieta’s mouth just minutes earlier. Even now, it still was.

 

When they were dead, she gave into her cannibalistic urges, feasting on them one by one until there was blood and flesh stuck between her teeth. For a moment, it was normal. She loved it, as usual.

 

But then, not even five minutes later, something felt…off.

 

The joy had all faded in a split second, and it didn’t get easier when the one surviving member of her family came into the room. And as for him, his body didn’t stretch anymore. He was walking like a perfectly normal person, and the blood red tint in Julieta’s eyes was quick to fade the second she noticed.

 

Agustín’s mouth was agape the second he saw his wife eating away at one of their daughters. For a moment, all he could think about was the fact that if he hadn’t been chased by those bees, he might’ve fallen victim to the love of his life.

 

For once, he was thankful for his accident prone nature.

 

Julieta looks up at him the second she hears his footsteps, and he can see the visible confusion on her face, as if she has no memory of the past events, and all the unfortunate curses to befall on the family. Agustín, well…she used to be the only member of the family he wasn’t afraid of thanks to his curse. Now, for just a moment, he’s terrified of her.

 

However, that feeling quickly fades when her tears begin to pour.

 

“I…I… what happened?!” she shouts, her body visibly trembling. “Why is there so much blood?! What did I do?!”

Seeing the pure fear and shock in her expression breaks Agustín’s heart, but without shedding any tears of his own, he calmly explains to her how the curse happened overnight, and the whole family, including her, was cursed with some physical deformation. However, what really hits her is when he tells her that she thought she was the only normal one left in the family, and that she had gone so unbelievably insane that she truly believed no curse had overtaken her. When he finishes, her sobs turn into screams. She’s just murdered her entire family without realizing it, and she can never turn back to fix things and make sure it never happened in the first place.

 

After a while, she composes herself once more.

 

“If I was cursed…and…and you were cursed…why are we suddenly normal when I just killed our entire family?”

 

“Well…” he says, before hesitating for a split second. “I…I think sacrifices needed to be made. And I think that’s why you thought you were our savior. Maybe that was the plan all along…”

 

Julieta can’t make sense of his words at first, but after a minute or so, it hits her.

 

He’s right. That makes more sense than it should.

 

From that moment on, she can’t take it anymore. She lets out a horrified, painful scream as she stares at her dress that is now completely stained with blood and tar. Oh, god, the tar…the tar that came spilling out of her skin with each passing second. She’s slowly starting to remember just how bad she got, and it’s absolutely killing her.

 

Agustín doesn’t say another word. Instead, he sits next to her in the mess of red and black liquid, and slowly opens his arms.

 

“Come here, mi amor.”

 

The term of endearment makes Julieta’s tears multiply. She falls right into his arms, her sobs echoing through the air as the stench of death gets stronger. Soon, she hears her beloved husband start to sob in unison with her, and that is soon the only sound she can focus on.

 

 

They stay kneeling in the putrid liquid mess for almost an hour before finally getting up. They clean up the mess, dispose of their loved ones accordingly, and spend the rest of the night cleaning each other up as their crying continues the second they’re in the bath together.

 

From there, they make a vow to never tell a single soul in the entire encanto what Julieta did, or where the bodies were. And from that day on, they live a permanent life of solitude, and the village can never rely on the miracle again.

 

After all, most of the people carrying it are dead.

 

Julieta doesn’t sleep that night, and Agustín barely gets a few blinks. Either way, they hold each other through the dead of night as the house is now painfully silent, with just the two of them residing in it.

 

Every few hours, that tar still slips out of her mouth.

 

Soon enough, solitude becomes normal for them, and with the exception of each other, they never interact with another human being again.

Notes:

I'm actually sorry for this one