2. I think it has been established that Xibalba can't sing or play guitar but while watching Pirates of the Caribbean, I was struck by inspiration. The organ. I just think it fits, that, and for some reason I find Xibalba and Davy Jones to be similar.
La Muerte appeared in a flash of golden petals in the Land of the Forgotten. It was a surprise visit. The two of them had been swamped with work recently. La Muerte now had a few hours to spare and what better way to spend them than with her husband? The moment she set foot on the land of her husband she heard something she had never heard before when she was in the Land of the Forgotten, music. It was the sound of an organ and it startled her at first. It was a loud and powerful sound, sounding like an opera. La Muerte was reminded of thunder storms when she heard that sound. It was coming from Xibalba's castle and it echoed throughout the normally silent land.
The music got more intense by the time she reached the lake of lava. The goddess walked down the path, listening to the intricate and powerful melody. With a wave of her hand La Muerte opened the doors to her lover's castle. It was louder now that she was inside and echoed throughout the halls. Closing the doors behind her she looked around the room.
Not seeing Xibalba anywhere she thought that perhaps he was where the organ was coming from. As she got closer, the music got louder and more intense. It was a truly impressive composition. The queen of the Land of the Remembered didn't have to play the organ to know that the opera that was being played now was very complicated and could only be played by a master.
La Muerte walked through the echoing stone halls of the castle, stepping around the stone columns, before turning into marigold petals to get up the stairs faster, closer to the source of the music. She poked her head around a corner. It was a large circular room with no walls, simply arches that over looked the Land of the Forgotten. La Muerte looked at the end of the room and saw who was playing the organ.
Her husband Xibalba sat on a bench in front of a large black organ. The pipes on the large instrument were as tall as the ceiling and the mouth of each pipe had a fanged skull with glowing green eyes over it. When a key was pressed, the fanged skull over it would open its mouth and its eyes would light up. If the key wasn't being played, the eyes wouldn't glow and the mouth would close. The organ had candles all over it that were dripping wax on to the great instrument and onto the floor in long rivulets. The god himself sat straight backed with his wings half spread. Xibalba's long fingers flew over the keys swiftly, hitting each note perfectly. Due to his concentration and the incredible volume of the music, he didn't notice his wife when she walked in.
La Muerte was hesitant to interrupt. She wanted to keep listening to her husband play. She leaned against the arch, closed her eyes and listened to her husband play. It was definitely no love song or ballad. It was a dark song, powerful and intimidating yet La Muerte oddly felt herself become content as she listened to the thunderous notes. A gentle smile tugged at her lips. But a few questions nagged at her mind. The curiosity became too much.
"Xibalba." La Muerte called gently. Her voice was loud enough for her husband to hear. His fingers slammed on the keys abruptly and he whirled around, startled. He froze and then relaxed when he saw it was only La Muerte.
"I didn't expect you my dear." Xibalba said. The candles and the organ burned lower and the fanged skulls closed their mouths now that Xibalba wasn't playing.
"I haven't seen you in a while." La Muerte said. "I didn't know you played." She said taking a few steps forward.
"I don't." Xibalba replied. "Well, I do, but I haven't played recently."
Placing her sombrero on the ground, La Muerte gracefully slid onto the bench to sit next to her husband. She ran a gentle hand down his wings, as if trying to smooth his ragged feathers. As always, Xibalba was eased by his wife's touch.
"When did you start playing?" La Muerte asked, a sugar coated finger gently touching the ivory keys. They were smooth and cool to the touch.
"After my banishment, I needed to find someway to entertain myself. Toying with humans can only be fun for so long." Xibalba chuckled. "And the souls down here don't particularly do much, I just have to keep count, so I have plenty of free time."
La Muerte rolled her golden eyes but continued with her questions. "Why did you stop playing?" She asked, remembering that he said he hadn't played recently.
"Since you've let me back into your good graces mi amor, you've kept me pleasantly distracted." Xibalba said.
La Muerte chuckled. The goddess leaned up and kissed her husband's cheek. "You play beautifully, mi vida." Xibalba smiled before moving his wife onto his lap.
She then noticed that the music rack (the thing on the organ you prop music sheets on) was empty. "Xibalba, what you were just playing, did you make that up just now?" La Muerte asked.
"No." He chuckled. With a snap of his fingers a large trunk appeared. The lid opened and some sheet music flew into Xibalba's gloved hand. "While running around the mortal world, I tend to copy some sheet music from various people. The song I was just playing is called..." Xibalba flipped the music to the cover. "'Davy Jones' by Hans Zimmer." The sheet music flew back into the trunk. "I have hundreds of sheet music and I have nearly all of them memorized, I've had plenty of time."
"Can you play more for me?" La Muerte asked. Xibalba smiled.
"Of course." With a snap of his fingers a new piece of sheet music flew from the trunk and landed in La Muerte's lap. The goddess looked at the title while Xibalba cracked the joints in his fingers. 'So Far Away' by Jonathan Wysocki, Michael Mushok, Aarron Lewis and John April. She also noticed that there were lyrics to go with the song. "I think you'll like this one." Xibalba said before he began to play. This song was slower and much calmer compared to the last song he played. La Muerte followed along with the lyrics on the sheet in her hand.
this is my life
it's not what it was before
all these feelings I've shared
and these are my dreams
that I'd never lived before
somebody shake me
'cause I
I must be sleeping
now that we're here,
it's so far away
all the struggle we thought was in vain
all the mistakes,
one life contained
they all finally start to go away
now that we're here it's so far away
and i feel like i can face the day i can forgive
and I'm not ashamed to be the person that i am today
La Muerte smiled at the lyrics and at her husband. Xibalba's finger's easily hit each note on either side of his wife while she sat in his lap without even glancing down at the music sheet. Practice truly made perfect.
these are my words
that I've never said before
I think I'm doing okay
and this is the smile
that I've never shown before
somebody shake me 'cause i
I must be sleeping
now that we're here,
it's so far away
all the struggle we thought was in vain
all the mistakes,
one life contained
they all finally start to go away
now that we're here it's so far away
and I feel like I can face the day I can forgive
and I'm not ashamed to be the person that I am today
The music became a bit more powerful.
I'm so afraid of waking
please don't shake me
afraid of waking
please don't shake me
La Muerte sighed at the lyrics and leaned up against her husband's chest. She now knew why he chose this song, still wondering if she would stay, worried everything might be a dream and that he might wake up and she wouldn't be there.
now that we're here,
it's so far away
all the struggle we thought was in vain
all the mistakes,
one life contained
they all finally start to go away
now that we're here it's so far away
and I feel like I can face the day i can forgive
and I'm not ashamed to be the person that i am today
La Muerte smiled as Xibalba played the last few notes. She placed a hand on his armored chest and rested her head on his shoulder. Xibalba wrapped his arms around his wife and held her close. He ran a gloved hand through her thick black hair.
"Will you stay with me?" Xibalba asked.
La Muerte met her husband's gaze and smiled kindly. "I will, Balby, I will always be here." She paused, before asking. "Will you stay with me?"
"You know I will, mi corazon." He said before grinning. "You know I'm not easy to get rid of."
"Ay, I know." La Muerte sighed in fake exasperation.
She giggled when Xibalba playfully pinched her arm for revenge. Smiling, she pulled Xibalba down for a kiss. As always, Xibalba melted into the kiss. Once the kiss was broken La Muerte turned back to the organ and gently pressed one of the keys. A Low note sounded and one of the skulls opened its mouth and its eyes glowed. She tilted her head back to look at Xibalba.
"Play me another song?" She asked.
"Whatever you desire mi amor." Xibalba said before snapping his fingers and another piece of sheet music flew into La Muerte's hands. "Whatever you desire." With that, he began to play.
Thank you to whiteflower122 for helping me with the ending. Stupid writer's block preventing me from getting this up sooner. I hope you guys like it and remember my Gravepainters Ideas are open for anyone to use.