Summary: Miguel confronts Chief Tanni about his comments on the ship.
Disclaimer: I am Tulio, my roomie is Miguel, we're mighty and powerful gods!! lawyers spring up holding lawsuits from Dreamworks Okay, here's the plan, Miguel; you pat them while I RUUUUNNNN!!!! runs away screaming like a girl
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There was no place like the city of El Dorado at sundown. The city, which always sparkled, was a myriad of colors at that time making it next to impossible to look away and completely impossible not to fall in love with the city itself even more.
Miguel sighed as he looked up at the starry sky, of course, Tzekel-Kan would unleash his giant stone jaguar at right before then so Miguel had missed it. He shuddered once more as the fight between Tulio and himself echoed once more in his mind.
"My plan was lie low, but NO you had to be all, look at me, I'm a god, I'm a god! I can't believe this, you're buying your own con!"
"Well at least I'm not dating mine!"
"Why you-!"
Tulio's eyes still haunted him as the crowd carried him away after Chief Tanni had announced he was staying. The hurt there- it didn't matter, Tulio had Chel, what did he need Miguel for?
"Hey," Chief Tanni greeted, ambling up, cigar in hand. "That was quite a feat tonight."
"Yeah, quite a feat," Miguel echoed, leaning against the pillar behind him, arms crossed, his gaze unfocused on the city spread below.
"Lord Tulio looked surprised by my announcement that you are going to stay."
The statement trigged another memory.
"Chief Tanni," Miguel began. He paused, running a hand through his blond hair till it rubbed the back of his neck before he set his green gaze on the chief. "Earlier, when I said to forget about the rope, you said-."
"To err is human," the chief completed.
"Right and, I was wondering, how come Tulio and I aren't down there with Tzekel-Kan?"
Chief Tanni smiled lightly, looking out over El Dorado as well.
"Several reasons I suppose, the first being that you DID manage to annoy and destroy the high priest so throwing you to Shebulba would be a pretty poor repayment." Miguel chuckled in agreement. "But mostly…because you brought the people of El Dorado hope that the gods weren't just blood thirsty monsters like Tzekel-Kan always seemed to preach. You bring new ideas, games, songs; things that help the people grow. So, even though I know you and Lord Tulio are not gods, it's better to let the people believe in you."
"But, they're believing a lie!" Miguel exclaimed. "A con! That's not right."
"Tell me this, you have religion back in…wherever you come from?"
"Spain, and yes, Tulio and I were raised Catholic."
"And what does your system of beliefs teach?" Chief Tanni inquired. Miguel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Indulge me."
"That there's one God and He so loved the world that He sent His only Son down to save the human race cause we're all sinners but His Son died on a cross, then rose from the dead three days later to open the Gates of Heaven," the blond parroted the words he'd been taught in boyhood.
"So he still walks among the people today?"
"No, He went back to the Spirit World almost fifteen hundred years ago," Miguel replied slowly. "Where are you going with this?"
"Do you know if it's a true story?" Miguel shook his head. "Does that make it any less real?" Another head shake. "Then why tell the people that which they believe in is fake?" The chief pulled his enormous girth off the pillar he'd been leaning against. "Who actually know whose religion is right? Maybe yours is, maybe mine is, maybe it's some other one we don't know of. In the end, it doesn't matter WHAT the people believe in, just that they DO believe."
Miguel smiled weakly and nodded,
"Thanks, Chief."
"No problem." The other man stretched widely. "Well, I am going to turn in, big day tomorrow, what with Lord Tulio leaving." He began to amble off. "Good night."
"Buenos noches," Miguel answered, watching his friend wander over to his home. "A very big day," he whispered, unwilling to admit why the thought of the coming day made his stomach hurt.
With one last over the city, Miguel headed up to the temple where he pointedly ignored Tulio and Chel intertwined on the couch before throwing himself on his own bed and succumbing to his personal nightmares.
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And that's the end! Unless someone wants more which, if they do, not sure where I'd go or when it would show up. Oh, for those who got here through some of my other stories, I am working on them, I really and truly am, I'm trying to see how much I can get written before my life force is sucked out by the great state of Texas. grin The sad thing is, I'm so not kidding when I say that.