((Author's Note: While it won't affect the overall story, I recommend reading my first Book of Life fanfiction, "The Last Chapter," before reading this one. Two of the main characters in this story—though they are only acting as narrators—require a bit of background information to understand them fully. This information isn't needed to understand the story itself, however, so no worries there.))
It was dark.
By now, the five young children were used to climbing the large, stone stairway to the museum—the hall to the rift in the realms open to them right on cue and quickly sealed before any others might follow after them. The dim hallway to the beautifully decorated chamber was the very same, yet their flashlights could barely penetrate the shadows within the latter.
"They… were supposed to meet us here, weren't they?" Sanjay turned to face his companions with a raised brow.
"That's what Sasha said," Jane answered, giving the other, smaller girl a small pat on the shoulder. The young blonde's lip had begun to tremble, pursed in disappointment.
"My brother left me this note…" she explained, her tone morose as she unfolded a small sheet of notebook paper from her skirt pocket. "He said they would meet us here today after school."
Just over a month had passed since Día de los Muertos: Autumn had faded like a distant memory and winter had taken its place with December's grand appearance of Christmas lights and holiday decor. For the most part, life had run its usual course for the children—but for the youngest of the five, the elder sibling that had always been able to make time for her hadn't paid her a single visit. She knew he had other responsibilities now, but it didn't make the pain lessen. She missed him…
Before the children could retreat back the way they came, they felt a strangely warm mist coil around them from behind. The scent of the ocean and a bright, orange glow soon followed, along with the mingling sounds of rushing water and a roaring fire. Dismay and confusion was soon turned to bubbling excitement as the five turned around to see the opposing elements spiraling toward them from the hall.
Upon reaching the chamber, the gyre of water separated from its counterpart to hover before them as the spiral of fire continued deeper within. With a subtle burst, it fell apart—raining upon the tile flooring and fabricating a tall, humanoid figure from the droplets. The man that appeared before them was larger than the typical human being, with light blue skin and robes reminiscent of a waterfall and dipped with mist and sea foam. His slicked-back locks truly appeared to be waves that rippled like the ocean itself. His pupils were ultramarine gemstones, cut in the shape of raindrops.
Though this was the first time most of the children had seen the man in his true—while incredibly recent—form as a deity, Sasha beamed up at him and rushed to his embrace with loving familiarity.
"Lluvio!" she exclaimed, temporary lost in the mist before she felt herself lifted from the ground and into her brother's arms. "You're really here! I was starting to think you weren't coming!"
"You can thank him for our being late," a young woman's voice lightly chided behind him. Eyes turned upon the coiling flame to find that it had morphed into a feminine shape in a full, obsidian gown ruptured with cracks of red, bubbling magma like the bare surface of an active volcano. Her skin radiated with a sunset's gentle orange, her long hair danced across her shoulders as a living flame of its own nature, and her pupils were twin fires. "He's been procrastinating on his final assignments for two weeks now."
"It's hard to tackle both a full-time education and a full-time job," Lluvio retorted with a sheepish grin. "Not all of us can be workaholics like you, Fuega. Besides, I'd say we made a grand entrance of it." That said, he gave Sasha a mischievous wink, provoking a small giggle from his sibling.
With a shake of her head—cocking her hip to the side—Fuega reached a hand within a small, barely noticeable nook in the wall: Soon after, light filled the chamber. The sight of what surrounded them evoked a collection of delighted gasps and a squeal of joy from the children.
It was as ornately decorated as ever, but among the ancient relics and papel picado draped across the ceiling were vibrant strings of multicolor lights and seven-point, star-shaped piñatas. A nativity set had also been fashioned, along with a table of traditional holiday foods from Mexico such as tamales, buñuelos, and champurrado.
"Did you two set all of this up?!" Joao questioned with disbelief as Luka and Sanjay bound past him to the food, following soon after to snatch away one of the buñuelos for himself.
"We had a bit of extra time to spare," Fuega smirked with a minor shrug. "Beyond college, we haven't spent any time in the Land of the Living, and with the holidays approaching we decided to make something special out of it."
"But that's not all," added Lluvio as his lowered Sasha back to the ground so she could rejoin her friends. Rising once more, bringing a hand to his lips, he gave a loud whistle.
On cue, another bold light appeared from within the hall, only this time with a golden hue as the familiar form of the Book of Life darted from within the passage, welcomed by the ecstatic cheers of the kids. They knew all too well without Lluvio's mentioning it what was in store for their afternoon, and Fuega opening the modest chest of figurines only confirmed the notion. Immeadiately, Sasha ran to the dais where the Book now hovered, opening and closing itself rapidly to mimic clapping. Jane soon chased after her, helping her up the steps, followed by the boys—who had loaded down a trio of plates with desserts.
"Before we start," Fuega began, clasping her hands together as she turned from the figurines to the children now gathered around her, "does anyone know what the people of Mexico will be celebrating within a few days?"
As the Book set itself down upon its usual place on the dais and the kids looked to one another for an answer, Lluvio shook his head. "Please don't turn this into a history lesson." He then moved past her to gather the figures himself, and—though clearly miffed at him—she stepped aside and allowed him room. Fuega was better at handling the Book of Life and interpreting the stories, and she could make sense of it better than he could from her studies: It would be his job to make sure the story they told was entertaining enough for his sister and her schoolmates to enjoy.
"I want to make sure they understand it first, otherwise half of the time will be spent asking questions…" she mumbled, raising a hand to her temple only to soon lower it and cross her arms over her chest. From having needed glasses since childhood, the habit of constantly adjusting them was still heavily gained within her even though she no longer wore them nor were they of any use anymore. "The story we're about to tell takes place during a holiday known as Las Posadas."
"Posadas!" Sasha beamed, "Like Maria Posada!" The mention of the name enraptured the others as well.
"Not quite," the young woman replied with an awkward grin. "Although I think a certain Maria Posada will make an appearance—along with a few other people I'm sure you're familiar with…" That much got their attention, enough so for her to continue explaining, "Las Posadas in this case means "inns" or "shelters," in reference to when Mary and Joseph from the biblical tale went to Bethlehem and searched for a place to stay on the night that Jesus was born. You see, after Spain colonized Mexico, the Roman Catholic missionaries that also journeyed there found a similarity between Aztec beliefs and Christian beliefs due to the birth of one of the Aztec gods, Huizilopochtli, coinciding with the birth of—"
"Just get on with it!" an annoyed shout interrupted.
Both Fuega's and Lluvio's eyes widened to near perfect circles as the sight of the pair that had suddenly appeared within their midst: The Lord and Lady of death themselves, Xibalba and La Muerte. The former was sulking—and apparently nursing an aching arm from the way he held it and the way his wife uncurled a fist to wave at them in greeting: The latter sat beside him on a wooden bench with a cup of champurrado in her spare hand.
"You guys?!" Lluvio exclaimed, desperately trying to swallow his panic. "What are you doing here…? Not that you're not welcome—no, of course not—but…"
"We came to hear the story too," La Muerte exclaimed with a small pout, revealing a playful smile only just before she raised her cup to her lips. "After all, we're also in it."
"If we didn't keep an eye on you both, I don't want to imagine the consequences," Xibalba added a bit bitterly—though it half seemed he only behaved so for the sake of being bitter. "As far as I'm concerned, you two are on a probationary period. Don't think I won't drag the two of you back to my realm for all eternity if you can't do your jobs."
La Muerte lightly kicked him as a warning against speaking further, grinning at the newly-made deities reassuringly, but Fuega and Lluvio could only cringe with nervous smiles in response.
"Right…" In attempts to help them, the Book flipped to the right page on its own accord as Fuega spun to face it. Lluvio rushed to grab the first of the figurines from the chest and began to maneuver them upon a table set to the side.
"So, our story begins on a cold winter's night, right in the heart of the festivities…"