On one day a year: Dia de Muertos, spirits roamed when they wished. Most of the time they chose to remain in the Land of the Remembered, enjoying the endless parties.
There was a young spirit named Tia. Having grown bored of the endless parties, she wanted nothing more than to roam freely in the land of the living. She didn't want to spend a whole year waiting for that special privilege.
Though she had been dead for over two centuries, having no idea of her former life. Though she was in the Land of the Remembered, why did she felt like she had been forgotten? She didn't want to be forgotten. La Muerte assured that Tia belonged here. Nobody forgot about her. It didn't convince the young spirit.
Tia wondered if she had a family. A former life. She didn't seem to know anyone here nor did anyone know her.
La Muerte tried her best to convince the young spirit that she belonged here. Tia loved Xibalba more. She and Xibalba liked to make mischief together, getting involved with mortal affairs. Xibalba loved hearing Tia laugh when he took her along. La Muerta wasn't pleased by this. She wanted Tia to behave herself, discouraging her mischief.
"Mortals are not toys," she warned. "It is not our place to interfere with their problems."
"Let her have her fun," Xibalba said.
Tia would roll her eyes as she watched the two of them argue over how she should behave and such. Tia wondered how two people that were so different from different realms could be so in love. This would often give her an opportunity to sneak out to the mortal realm.
In San Angel, Maria and Manalo got married and had a family. They had a son named Alejandro: a curious young boy who wanted to know more about the world. And a daughter named Sofia.
Alejandro heard stories about La Dia de Muertos: how they would create beautiful things for those who would be remembered. Sugar skulls, cakes, golden marigolds and candles decorated the graves of their loved ones. Candles would flicker when there were spirits present. Though while normal people could just dismiss it as the wind.
It happened on his first time at Dia de Muertos. Alejandro saw them...the spirits of the Remembered. He never told anyone this.
The day after, he remembered seeing a black-haired youthful woman with her face looked like the sugar skulls he would see on Dia de Muertos. Her irises were golden pupils with black sclera. She wore a sad expression. He walked up to the woman and got closer.
No one ever saw Tia. She guessed it was alright not being seen. Yet she had so many questions. Who was she? Where did she come from? She would wander the graveyards all over Mexico, searching for answers. No name she could recognize as her own. In San Angel, she felt it'd be another place to search for answers. She looked at each grave and still didn't see her name anywhere.
Tia frowned. Could it be she was forgotten? If she was, why was she in the Land of the Remembered anyway? She knew she didn't belong there.
It all changed when a small boy had approached her, looking at her. He stared at her with a shocked expression. Tia looked at the brunette boy with dark eyes and cinnamon skin.
"Can you see me?" the young spirit asked.
The boy nodded.
"But...how?" she asked.
Alejandro shrugged. "I-I don't know," he asked.
Manolo called for Alejandro. "Gotta go," he said. "I hope I'll see you again."
Tia would search for Alejandro again. She would roam into the Land of the Living. The boy who could see her.
