"Behold, Teotihuacán!" Marco spread his arms grandly as they walked through the portal.
The mid-August sun shone down from the cloudless sky, encapsulating the towering pyramid before them in light and shimmering heat waves. The low grass was stiff underfoot and the air hung motionless and dry. It was the middle of Mexico during the hottest month of the year.
"Wow, that sun feels good, huh? And that fresh air," he took a deep breath. The air was filled with the smell of sun-baked earth mingled with the tantalizing odors of the restaurants that surrounded the site.
"Hm, stay focused, dear," Star patted him on the shoulder, "We're not here for a food tour."
"Do we have to stand around with the crowds? They look… sweaty," Cressida did not relish the idea of being packed in with the slow-moving hoards.
"Don't worry about it, Cressie. We'll try to stay inside until it cools down this evening. Now, what can you tell me about the Mayans? We visited their cities last month."
While Cressida did her best to rattle off what she could from the history she had learned, Marco led the way to one of the museums nearby. The air conditioned building was packed during the heat of the day, but at least the people were dry. Cressida led the way to the counter.
The woman at the desk smiled and spoke to her, obviously asking a question.
Cressida paused, "Um," the words sounded almost familiar, but nothing made sense.
Marco tilted his head, "Lo sentimos, pero nos no hablan náhuatl."
"Oh, perdón. Bienvenidos a la Museo de Sitio de Teotihucán."
"Gracias," He nodded for his daughter to go ahead. He gave her every opportunity to practice her Spanish.
"Tres adultos, creo que?" She looked around to confirm what the options for entry were, "Sí. Tres adultos, por favor. ¿Perdón, cuál es náhuatl?"
"Náhuatl es el descendiente de los aztecas idioma," the attendant's smile brightened. Having a young person take interest was unusual, "Creemos que la teotihuacano idioma fue relacionados."
She noticed some English speakers behind the Diaz family trying to make sense of what she was saying, "Nahuatl is the language of Central Mexico. The native language. It had some of its beginnings here in Teotihuacan, then through the Aztecas to us. If you would like to learn more, we have a great exhibit for you to check out."
They paid and entered the museum. The walls were partly modern attached to existing ancient structures here and there. The exhibits showcased everything from pottery and weaving to murals and old carvings. Along the way Star would often stop to contemplate the more bizarre or grim displays. The Teotihuacanos had practiced human and animal sacrifice, not uncommon in Mesoamerica, and had recorded it on the walls of their temples and in other writings. The skeletons of some of the unfortunate victims were on display as well. The plaque noted that some had their hearts cut out while others were bludgeoned or decapitated. Cressida felt a little outraged when she learned they had buried animals alive.
On another wall, the descriptions and depictions of some of the known gods and goddesses of the ancient civilizations were on display. Star was particularly distracted by the Great Goddess who was shown as having a spider-like body; it looked like Hekapoo with too many arms. Their story of creation, however, was what stopped Star and Cressida both.
It said that in the beginning the gods had created a vast ocean and a monster, Cipactli, who had a mouth at every joint of his body. But when the gods wanted to create more things, they found that Cipactli would consume them almost immediately. in the end, they decided to tear him apart, and in doing so released the cosmos inside that formed the universe.
"Hm, enjoying the stories?" Marco bent down next to the queen and princess who had been reading the myth for a while.
"Oh, yeah. I'm sure it's… it's good. Just a coincidence," Star half-muttered her reply.
"What's a coincidence?"
"He sounds the same as Maw the Conqueror," Cressida looked up at her dad, seeming surprised he didn't know this.
"Uh, who?"
"He was one of the worst dictators to ever live," Cressida realized she probably had a much better understanding of Mewni history than her father, "He conquered a lot of the universe. He ate everyone who tried to stand against him… and he had mouths at every joint on his body. He was eventually stopped and imprisoned in a magic-free universe so he would never be able to escape."
"Huh. Well, hopefully it is just a coincidence then," Marco stared at the exhibit now, too, "Or, maybe he's still waiting in one of these ruins to stage his sudden comeback!" He grabbed Cressie and tickled her, making her squirm and laugh.
"No, no! Dad, stop it!" She wiped her eyes when he let her go, the heavy feeling she had had reading about Cipactli was gone.
Marco took his wife and daughter by the hand, smiling, "Shall we move on?"
As the day wore on they hopped from building to building with Marco as their guide. He seemed happy to be teaching Cressida and Star more about the cultures and histories he grew up with. Evening found them wandering near the southern end of the Avenue of the Dead, just past the Pyramid of the Sun.
"You know, there's all kinds of surprises around here, even now."
Star raised an eyebrow, "Such as?"
"Well, a couple years ago they found a tunnel at a different pyramid site. The people who built it had filled it in and covered it in warnings with no explanation. They're still digging it out to see what's inside. They said it might lead to secret chambers under the pyramid."
"Ooh, that sounds like fun. I wonder if there's anything like that around here? We should look!"
Marco and Cressida exchanged glances and shrugged. Star always did her best to turn everything into an adventure, so this new change in plans came as no surprise. They followed the queen around the bare lots, occasionally steering her away from the few groups of people that were likewise out enjoying the sunset and cool breeze.
Near a corner of the site, a few pieces of ancient wall stood out of the ground. There were no signs explaining what it was or any archeological equipment nearby. Star smiled widely, her eyes shining, "I think we found something!"
"Uh, sure Mom. Good job," Cressida got the feeling her mother was about to take the search a little further than intended, "Let's go find one of the researchers and tell them."
"What? No, let's do this ourselves! It'll be fun… I mean fine," Star raised her hand and was about to cast a spell when somebody behind them cleared their throat.
Marco and Cressida spun in unison, "Yes?"
"It is not safe to be wandering in the dark," the speaker was one of the costumed performers who worked at Teotihuacan to display some of the clothing and customs of the ancient people, "Please, return to the main buildings, we will be closing soon and we don't know if the ground here is stable. There may be pits or other hazards we haven't discovered yet."
"Like that building there?" Star pointed over her shoulder.
The man glanced at the wall and fear crept into his eyes, "That wall is all there is. Just a few stones. But please, the ancient people were afraid of the dark for a reason," giving no other explanation the man turned and directed himself back to the pyramids.
They all looked back at the few pieces of mortar and stones that lay there, wondering why the man had seemed frightened. Marco turned to call after him, but he was gone.
"Huh, he's fast."
Star was already at the wall, "Are you guys ready? I'm going to dig this out and see what we found."
"Maybe we shouldn't, Mom. That guy seemed pretty scared. And he said they were closing."
"Oh, don't worry about that. We'll go straight home the same way we got here. Come on," Star's eyes were pleading. She looked like she could use the entertainment.
Marco shook his head, "Fine. Do it quick, but don't break anything."
"'kay!" She pecked him on the lips. Turning to the buried structure she raised her hand again, "Magical Mole Excavation!"
The ground rumbled and thousands of bright blue moles swept the dirt away in a dazzling tornado. When the spell had cleared they could see what looked like half of an old hut that had once covered a descending staircase. A fetid breeze blew from the dark hole, replaced by fresh air for perhaps the first time in hundreds of years.
"We're going in there."
"No, Star."
"Mom, no." Cressida and Marco spoke together.
"Aw, please? Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Cave-in, sinkholes, traps," Marco started counting on his fingers.
"Old diseases, venomous creatures, gross stuff," Cressida listed her own, more creative list as well.
"Mm, I think we'll be fine. Come on!" Star turned and stepped into the darkness, casting a bright light in front of her.
Marco groaned, "Stay very close, Cressie."
She didn't need the prompt and held her father's hand as they followed Star.
The stairs descended only a few meters before meeting a small room. The foul air was strong down here – it reminded Marco of the swamps on Hekapoo's world – and the faint airflow from the newly opened stairway did little to relieve the stench.
"Sweetie, think you could do something about the air?" Star looked over at her daughter.
"Uh, um," Cressie tried to think of something, but she was to busy trying to stare into the hallways that came off of the room. She could swear she heard something groaning. Raising her wand she tried to remember a spell she had come up with to clear the air in the kitchens when she and her dad made any super spicy food, "Minty Lime Vacuum Air Blast!"
In an instant the air around them was sucked into a maelstrom, bringing with it the centuries of accumulated dust and debris from the far corners of the extending tunnels.
"Look out!" Marco grabbed his family and dropped to the ground, covering them to shield them from the oncoming sandblast. He winced a little as the fierce grains shot over his back on their way up the stairs. Eventually the storm subsided and the fresh smell of mint and lime seemed to brighten the whole interior.
"Thanks. That's a good spell, Cressie." Star dusted herself off then made Marco take his shirt off so she could try to beat the back clean.
"Sorry, Dad," a sheepish smile came to her lips.
"Don't worry about it. No harm done."
While her mother tried to remove the dirt from Marco, Cressida looked around the room again. The tunnels seemed cleaner and brighter now, perhaps polished by the wave of sand that had erupted through them. There were also larger fragments strewn along the ground. She guessed these were heavier objects that had fallen out of the air flow. She bent to examine them.
"O-oh…" Startled she turned back to the stairs and squeaked, collected on the stairs as they had been caught from the air, just like the fragments on the ground, were thousands of pieces of bone. Some of them were obviously human while others were too degraded to recognize. She backed up into her parents.
"Mom, Dad, can we go now?"
"What? Sweetie are you okay?" Star looked at her daughter, then around the room, "Ah. I see. Don't worry, dear, it's okay. They're just skeletons. We were looking at some earlier, no need to fear." She hugged her daughter.
Marco looked around as well. The memories that had surfaced from Hekapoo's trial stirred his old adventuring spirit. "Come on, Cressie. Let's see what else is down here. Your Mom is right, there's nothing to worry about. Just stay close, okay?"
"Okay," Cressida took her father's hand.
"Which way should we go?" Star looked at the passages around them.
Marco grinned, "Fanny-packs to the rescue," he unzipped the pouch around his waist and pulled out a box of matches. Lighting one, he let it burn for a second before blowing it out. The smoke rising from the match head swirled for an instant before drifting down one of the tunnels.
"That way seems good. There's some kind of room or opening down there, at least."
Star and Cressida just looked at him blankly.
"Where did you learn that?"
"From the monks," he shrugged.
"Oh, right," Star nodded her understanding, "I keep forgetting about them."
"Who are the monks?"
"They were my teachers when I got my dimensional scissors," Marco got a brief, far away look in his eyes, "I spent most of my first adulthood with them."
"First adulthood?"
"If you can call it that," Star jumped in quickly, "That's a story for another time," She did not like listening to stories about Marco's time in Hekapoo's dimension. She tended to get a little jealous that there were sixteen years of his life that she was not a part of.
They started out together down the tunnel, lit by the wand this time. At one point, the stone and mortar walls gave way to natural rock. They had entered a cave system below Teotihuacan. The slope was gradual and the temperature rose slowly the deeper they went. The odd pottery shards or seemingly discarded odds and ends became more prevalent after one bend in the tunnel. Around what seemed to be the mouth of a large cavern was strewn yet more skeletons. These had cloth and ornaments tossed around them and none of them was whole. It looked like a predator had decided to store its meals there.
"Well, that's interesting," Marco went first into the room to judge its safety.
"What do you think happened here?"
"This probably where they brought those sacrifices," Star bent over to look at some of the remains, "Gross."
Absentmindedly Marco picked up a rock and tossed it into the hole in the center of the room, "I wonder how deep it–" the stone plunked and ripples spread from where it hit. It was black liquid.
"What in the world?"
Almost as soon as they realized what was in the pit, a large rock fell from the ceiling to block the entrance. Star and Marco both moved Cressida between them. Years of experience told them they were in a trap.
"At long last, have humans remembered me?" A giant reptilian creature was clinging to the roof of the cave. Its voice hummed as if many people were speaking at once. "Have you brought me a sacrifice?"
Cressida looked to the side, "Sunshine Torrent!" The spell struck a rock, causing it to light the whole space like a miniature sun.
"Oh, Mewmans," the monster dropped to the ground. In the bright light they could make out the horrible body before them. It looked vaguely like a crocodile, but at every juncture a mouth grinned out at them. It was these many mouths that gave its voice the humming quality.
"I have not seen a Mewman in such a long time. Not since before they called me Cipactli."
"Maw the Conqueror?" Star moved just ahead of her family defensively.
"Yes, that was me. Back when I had power," Maw walked around them toward the pool. when he tried to enter it, however, the liquid pulled back, avoiding his claws and revealing the dry ground below. Giving up, he circled back to the family.
"How long have you been in here?"
"Thousands of years, maybe more. Ever since I was locked in here for my supposed crimes."
"Why did you trap us in here?"
"I am old now. I do not have the energy to chase my prey anymore."
Star and Marco readied themselves. They had not fought monsters in a couple of years, but their wariness put the old monster on edge.
"Come now, do not resist the inevitable. You know who I am, so you know what I can do."
Marco smiled, "If we pull you apart, will we create another universe?"
Maw roared, the deafening noise filling the closed chamber and rippling the pool, "That insulting tale again! That was the rumor they spread when they sealed me up in here. Vile humans!"
"Wait, how could humans trap you? No way they're that strong. No offense, Honey," Star was doing her best to keep herself between Maw and Cressida.
"None taken," Marco shrugged. He knew firsthand there were some opponents a human would never be able to defeat.
"They stripped me of the Dark."
"Eh, the what now?"
"The Dark. The source from which I drew my massive power. They left me to die slowly in here as a shell!" The mouths gnashed angrily.
"You really don't want to attack us," Star noticed the monster had backed them up against the pool, pretty well cutting off their escape.
"No, I really do," Maw charged. Star fired her magic, intense golden blasts, into him and he slowed, but did not stop. Many of the beams bounced off harmlessly.
Marco wrapped his arms around Cressida and jumped away, rolling to avoid too rough a landing. "Stay clear, I'm going to help your mother."
Cressida retreated to the side, trying to keep as much distance as she could between the fight and herself. Her wand glowed hotly, she wanted to use it, but what good could she do? Even her mother's spells did little against the beast. Trying to collect herself she looked around the cave for anything that might help. At last she focused on the large rock blocking the exit.
"One Hit Wonder!" The blast from her wand sent pieces of the boulder flying everywhere. She closed her eyes against the blast.
The force with which she was struck knocked the wind from her lungs. Cressida saw the world seem to float away as she was knocked into the air by a chunk of rock. She spun in the air, falling toward the strange black pool.
"Cressie!" Marco dove. He collided with his daughter midair, pushing her away to safety. In a soft splat, he fell into the liquid.
Marco tried to get his feet under him; they had seen the bottom of the pit before and it should not have been deep, but his feet found no purchase. His hand gripped the side of the pit, trying to prevent his sliding in. He struggled to bring his other hand up, but could not raise it above the surface. Around him, the darkness began to churn, spinning and condensing around him. Where the blackness left, clear water remained. Star, distracted, was hit hard by Maw, who was barreling toward the pit.
"No, the Dark is mine! It belongs to me!" Maw caught Marco by the hand with one of his many mouths in an attempt to remove him from the pool. The mouth, tasting flesh, closed.
"No," Marco disappeared below the surface, the arm with no hand was the last to vanish. With him the darkness cleared as well, leaving an empty pool of clear water behind.
At first dead silence followed. Maw glared hatefully at the water before turning to Cressida. "Look what you did. The Dark is gone now," he started toward the dumbstruck girl, "Do you know where that pool leads? That is the passage to the remainder Mictlan, the land of the dead for humans. Just hold still and I'll reunite you quickly."
"Like hell you will," Star stood up, her magic flared in her anger, "Cressida, get out of the way."
Maw turned to face the enraged queen now, an almost incredulous look in his eyes. It ended in a golden storm. Where Maw had stood a new tunnel had been melted into the rock.
When the heat had died down, Cressida went to her mother and they both looked at the pool. It shimmered and rippled pleasantly enough, but it gave no indication of releasing its latest prize. Cautiously Star took one of the bones on the ground and dipped it into the pool. When she tried to pull it out, it was impossible. It seemed that once something went in, it could never come out. She let it fall, watching it vanish as soon as its entire length was submerged.
"Don't worry Marco, we'll get you out somehow."