The boat ride along the river was short. Hector kept trying to flirt with you. Camilo kept finding ways to get you out of it. You and Paloma took turns sleeping and rowing the boat throughout the night, which seemed like a good system until you were both tired; then you had the boys take turns rowing until they ended up arguing about something that had to do with you, which you didn't wanna know about, so you just told them to shut up and go to sleep, taking over for the rest of the night despite your tiredness.
Of course, you made stops to eat and go to the bathroom when it was needed, pulling the boat over to shore to take breaks, stretch your legs, do a little exploring since you'd never been this far before. Besides Paloma, none of you had been this far. At some point, in the bathroom, Camilo caught Hector looking at you and smacked him across the face. You'd only caught him once, but apparently Camilo caught him a few times (though he didn't want to tell you that. The most he did was slap Hector and tell Paloma about it so that they could both keep an eye on him).
Regardless of the mishaps on the boat, you and Paloma were eager to get to the island, so of course, the first thing you did when you got there is marvel at the beauty and rush into a random forest despite Paloma's protests that it might not be safe. Paloma being Paloma, she shrugged it off and followed you, leaving the two boys no choice but to go with.
In the middle of the forest, you heard the sounds of many animals. The air was humid and cool, though not uncomfortably so.
Camilo looked around with a wide smile on his face. "Man, Antonio would love this!" he breathed, gazing around in wonder.
You grinned at him warmly. "I bet he would."
Hector and Paloma glanced back and fourth at your expressions. Paloma giggled, but Hector glared away, grumbling to himself.
"Ooh, look at that!" You rushed over to what looked like a wooden cottage. "Do you think anyone lives here?"
As you spoke, the others came to join you and gazed up at the house. Camilo had a look of awe on his face, though Hector seemed unimpressed.
Paloma was smiling as she replied. "Yeah. I think this is actually my uncle's house."
She walked over and knocked on one of the walls rhythmically, then a key seemed to fall from out of nowhere and straight into her hand. Less than a heartbeat later, she'd unlocked the door and was going inside. "Follow me."
You exchanged glances with the boys, to which Camilo bowed and gestured to the door. "After you, M'lady," he cooed, making you giggle.
Behind your back, Camilo sent a sly smirk at Hector, who growled irritably.
"Stop growling, you grumpy old man!" you called.
"Wha-I'm only sixteen!"
"Sixteen, huh?" you mumbled under your breath. "Never woulda guessed, you act like you're four, sound like you're fifty, and look like an ugly dead body."
Paloma, who was close enough to hear you, suppressed a laugh, which made you smile a bit.
"Ah, there's mi sobrina!"
You looked up at the new voice. A tall, large (though not quite fat) man with the same brown, wavy-straight hair as Paloma and Aríel came over and pulled Paloma into a hug. "How are you, Loma?"
"Ah-I'm f-fine, Tío Nicolás," Paloma gasped, as if she could barely breathe. She let out a breath when he finally let go. "Where are my primos?" she mumbled breathlessly.
"They're in their rooms," Nicolás replied, then yelled in a voice that made the rest of you cover your ears, "SOFíA, ROLANDO, LETíCIA, DEIGO, SEBASTIáN GET DOWN HERE!"
You were rubbing your ears by the time four children came down.
"Paloma!" Three of them rushed to hug their older cousin while a girl with dark brown, almost black hair stood near you, smiling at her siblings' reaction.
"Primos-oof!" She flopped over, hidden under a wriggling mass of children and animals, which seemingly came out of nowhere.
"Down, Rolita," Sofía scolded a pale golden retriever that'd jumped into the mix. "Gío, I see you with her hair, let. Go. Lano, what do you think you're doing? Get off!"
You chortled softly as Sofía tried to get the children and apparent pets off her cousin. When Paloma was finally free, once again gasping for breath, she murmured, "I'll finish unpacking here. You guys can head out and explore. Take Gío," she added quickly when you followed Camilo outside.
You paused, then watched as a red-and-yellow parrot flew to your side and landed on your shoulder.
"He's the only one who was trained to speak full-blown English," Sofía explained. "If you need us, you can tell him, and he can get you any help you need."
"I won't let you down!" Gío exclaimed, using his wing to salute, which made you giggle.
When Hector began to walk after you, Paloma quickly called out to him. "Ah, ah, ah, Hector, I'll need your help unpacking. Could you stay here, please?"
She and Camilo exchanged a knowing glance before you two left.
"What was that all about?" you mumbled, following Camilo into the forest.
"Hector's gross," he replied bluntly, then changed the subject before you could ask what he meant. "So, any specific place you wanna go to?"
"Well, on the boat, Paloma said she really wanted me to visit Nori and Manawa." At the curious look on Camilo's face, you added, "They're cities here on the island. Manawa is a place where people with time-manipulating powers live and Nori is a place where mind-manipulating people are. This island was created for people with powers like you and the other Madrigals. Except everyone here was shunned out from their old homes because their neighbors and even friends and family were afraid of their powers, so they came here in search of refuge. This place is pretty ancient, and from what I heard, every city is a new wonder to explore."
Camilo was staring at you in complete awe. "Whoa. I never knew any of that stuff!" His green eyes seemed to sparkle. "Come on, let's go see!"
He took your hand and ran out of the forest with Gío quickly gliding ahead to lead the way.
"Next stop," Gío called, "Manawa!"
292Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq9O4VYQoG
A/N: Be ready for some pretty shocking discoveries people, because there's gonna be some pretty traumatic and emotional moments when you finally get to Nori and Manawa, so keep that in mind when you read the next few chapters '-w-
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