When the world was young it was Miguel's duty to preserve it, to keep his half sister and half brothers from killing their mother the earth. For many years he did this happily but soon his strength began to fade. At the command of their father Miguel and his brothers; the Flayed One, the Feathered Serpent and the Smoking Mirror, created mankind to empower the gods through sacrifice. Humanity began to call upon them by name: some of Miguel's people called him Kinich Ahau, others Huitzilopochtli. One day Miguel heard of another god that had formed deep in the caverns of the earth after his two brothers had vanquished Cipactli the crocodile demon. Some called him this cave dwelling god Chaac, others called him Tlaloc but all agreed that he was master of the waters causing droughts and floods as he pleased. The humans believed that all the world's water originated in the earth's caves. Miguel was curious to see this being for himself, so that night he left Xibalba as a jaguar and entered a cave.
"Hello?" He called out, "Is anyone in here?"
"Yes, someone is trying to sleep in here!" A slightly deeper voice called out. Miguel froze, that voice sounded gorgeous like the music he was so fond of.
"Pardon me," he feigned pretending to be humble, "Would you but grace a humble jaguar with your presence? I've heard a mighty and powerful god lives in these very caves."
"You bet he does!" The deep waters magically came together until they solidified into the form of the god, "I am Tulio, god of the waters."
He smirked as the jaguar's jaw dropped.
"It's okay to be awestruck. I get that all the time." Tulio replied proudly with a wave of his hand before looking at his fingernails. Miguel was but not for the reasons Tulio thought. The water god was beautiful, the most gorgeous being Miguel had ever laid eyes on. His eyes were as blue as the sky that Miguel crossed daily and black curly hair dripped down his cheek and neck like rain water. If Miguel could wish for anything at that moment it would be for those long careful fingers to comb through his own golden hair or even the fur of his jaguar form.
"Ah, p-please forgive me for disturbing you, mighty one." Miguel replied a little off his game at first but soon slipping back into his act trying not to laugh as he did so. In reality, if he needed to, he was strong enough to force Tulio to make the waters flow but for the moment he just pretended that he was another jaguar spirit.
Tulio rolled his eyes, he supposed it could not be helped, "Why are you even down here anyway? Shouldn't you be outside with the other animals?"
"Well, I came down here to see you, Lord Tulio." The jaguar leaped on a flat rock to lay closer to the dark haired god. "I've never seen you outside of this cave."
"That's because I'm not aloud outside these caves." He grimaced flipping some corn kernels that were black on one side and yellow on the other on the ground. The sun god could not help but notice that they always seem to land a certain way. Miguel lowered his ears to his head.
"Why not?" He asked sadly.
"Because the sky gods said so." Tulio answered darkly, "They've bound me under the earth where all water originates."
"Does anyone ever visit you?" Miguel asked again feeling bad for the trapped deity.
"Besides you and the humans? Hardly." Tulio replied continuing to roll the corn kernels.
"You're all alone? That's so sad." Even his whiskers drooped.
"Don't be, I have a plan." Tulio smiled scooping up the corn kernels and putting them into his pocket.
"You do? What is it?" Miguel was up on his paws excited.
"Like I'm going to tell you. You'll just blab it to all the birds and alert the sky gods!" Tulio rolled his eyes.
"No I won't! Come on, you can trust me! Please? Please?" Miguel begged bounding about more like a happy dog than a jaguar.
"No." Tulio replied firmly. This made Miguel pause; clearly forceful energy wasn't working so he would have to find another tactic. Instead the sun god tried to look as sweet possible.
"Pretty please?" He asked rolling on his back and exposing his belly while giving Tulio his best kitten eyed look. It was hard to say 'no' to such a cute face and Tulio felt his resolve breaking. He rolled his eyes.
"Okay, alright, you win. Enough with the eyes." He replied and reached over to pet the jaguar's furry belly making Miguel purr happily, "I'm allying with Lupe, the moon goddess."
That made Miguel's blood run cold and his body shiver. The last time he had seen Lupe was when he cut off her head and placed it in the sky to be the moon. His entire body, even his tail, froze.
"Wait, wait, I mean do you really want to trust the moon, of all people?" Miguel asked rolling over away from those beloved fingers. Maybe Tulio didn't know about Lupe's plan, he didn't seem like such a destructive god.
"It's not like I'm crawling in options here. Why? What's wrong with her?" He asked.
"She's-" He paused before getting a feeling. He had to return home! He needed to raise the sun again, "I've got to go!"
"Wait where do you-" Tulio was trying to call but he was soon cut off as the jaguar turn and fled. Miguel couldn't help but look over his shoulder at the confused Tulio behind him. How could fate be so cruel as to make something so beautiful be so dangerous to him?