Hello again. First I'd like to make a blank apology for any Spanish mistakes. I hated Spanish back in high school-a chapter a week does not settle well with my brain, so I'm still learning it. Also for any confusion I've caused with La Luna's name. Sooma was the name I chose because I didn't want her to be "the moon" but since La Muerte name means "death" I just decided to go with the easier option.


Chapter 2: Off Balance

*FLOP!* *FLOP!* *FLOP*

La Muerte looked up from the paper on her desk to see her daughter, laying a few feet away on the same blanket she was wrapped up when she was born. Lucía, just a little bit bigger from before, wore a lemon yellow dress, with subtle decorations. The white curl in her hair now had a few friends down the back of her head. The child started to teetering, switching from one side to the other.

The goddess, intrigued, got up from her work and after several steps, crouched down next to the child. "What are you doing mi hija?"

The child continued to flop, her mother noticing the anger on her baby's face while she continued to switched sides. The goddess also saw how the child would try to push herself to go further, but her wings would keep her on her side.

La Muerte held her chin with her fingers. She often heard from the many mothers, both deceased and immortal, would say that their child would roll over from their tummies to their backs or vice versa.

"Whenever Lucía is on her back, her wings are always spread out wide…Her wings aren't like Xibalba's…they don't bend like his do…" the woman pondered when an idea popped into her head. She gently started to press against the wings, starting to fold them. When she was done, they were mostly down like a folded fan. They were still bumps on her back, but it was better than it was before.

"Come on mi bebe, try again." The mother encouraged.

The child tried again. Even though she hit a bump of a wing, Lucía managed to end up on her back. She gave her mother an upside-down beam.

"Mui bien, Lucía! Mui bien!" the woman cheered and picked up the child, rubbing a sugar cheek against a chubby sweet covered one, leaving some flakes on the dark skin. The girl responded, snuggling the cheek to her own rhythm, leaving a deep brown cacao smear. She then noticed her husband in the doorway, an amused smile on his face.

"Bably! Mira! You have to watch this!" the goddess excitedly implored, quickly folding her daughter's wings and setting her down on the black on her back, her little face upside-down to her father. "Come on, Lucía, show your Papi! Come on!"

The baby blinked and started to move wiggle. While she struggled, yet it seemed she got on her stomach faster than before. Lucía beamed up at her papi.

"See!" La Muerte beamed.

Xibalba chuckled. "It's a very cute trick, mi armor. But I think she's a little young for treats."


"Come on, Lucía. Work with Papi…you can do it."

While watching his child for a little bit, due to an unexpected emergency-something like a lack of deserts-Xibalba pleaded with his little one while she lie on her mother's bed. Her hair now touched her shoulders, a few more white curls standing with their old friends. A little yellow dress covered most of her body. Large fingers grasped the little hands, and he pulled her up. When the goddess sat up, the god let go, the lack of support caused Lucía to fall on her back, her wings spread out wide. While the little girl giggled at the game she and her papi played, the father sighed. Staring sadly at his daughter he sighed, "Why can't you sit up, mi dulce?"

His mind wandered towards the all those god gathering he went-or rather was dragged-to, it seems all the other gods just wanted to boast how when their son was Lucía's age he could tie snakes together or something like that. His red skulls focused on his child again, now happily babbling, waving her little arms, trying to get her papi to play with her again.

"Come on, Lucía, por favor, for Papi?" he pleaded as he pulled the girl up once more, only for the same result when he let go. Now the baby's giggles and babbles louder than before. Xibalba sighed and started to gently scratch her stomach, causing her to squeal and now laugh harder than ever. Completely contagious, the man's laughter soon joined his little girl's. He leaned down, then lifted the fabric off her stomach. When the brown tummy was completely exposed, the father press his lips against it, blowing on it. The baby squealed again in delight. When he took his mouth of his daughter, the god couldn't help but beam and sigh at the big smile on her face.

"Don't compare Lucía to other children. She's fine just the way she is. Just let her grow in her own time."

Xibalba heard those words from his wife, probably countless times now, yet he couldn't help but still disagree with them. Originally, he worried about how his daughter compared to the other children, but now he knew. Lucía was absolutely perfect, no comparison could be made. His thoughts however snapped when a small brown hand grabbed a part of his mustache and pulled him close.

"Ay ay ay Lucía!" The father exclaimed. Some gloved fingers tried to get the little hands away, but they held on too tight. The winged god slowly started to pull back, hoping she would let go. He only succeeded in pulling her with him. When she finally let go, Xibalba started to rub where his moustache and face met. When his red skulls focused on the girl again, they widened at the sight.

Lucía, sitting up all by herself.

"Lucía..." the king awed. "That's mi princesa!"

Gloved hand soon held the child and started to toss the girl up in the air. It was the princess's favorite game, but her mother often scolded them for playing so "roughly". Yet the father saw no harm, he never threw too high and there's no way he would drop her. So he continued to toss the girl up, enjoying the giggles of his little girl.

"XIIIBAAALLBAAA!"

About to give Lucía another good hoist, Xibalba turned to find his wife glaring at him.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOSS LUCÍA!?"

Holding the child close now, the god stuttered as he explained, "Mi..Mi armor, please understand. We were uh…celebrating!"

With an eyebrow raised, the goddess asked, "Celebrating what?"

The husband beamed knowingly, "This, Mami, you have to see." He then set the girl down on show off her newest skill and got up, next to his wife.

La Muerte gasped, "Oh mi bebe! Look at you!" She turned towards her husband, giving him a playful slap on the shoulder. "You see I told you she grows at her own pace." Her attention then directed towards the child, kneeling close to the bed and kissed her daughter on her brown cheek.

The moment the red lips left her face, Lucía fell over on her side and started to clap her hands.

"Looks like she does need a bit more time," the father decided.

"Sí," her mother agreed.

Sighing in content, the two parents watch their child play on her side.

"You're still in trouble."

"Darn!"


La Muerte beamed at her little on as she crawled, though not in the traditional sense. Her legs and hands-covered in yellow- were straight, having to swing them around to get around, wings saying with the motion, along with her dark locks with some white down the middle. A small yellow bow on her head followed the motion. Regardless, the goddess slowly strolled next to her daughter as they made their way down the hall. As they continued, the goddess tried once or twice to pick her up, to make sure she didn't run into anything. Yet each time the child struggled against the grip until she was on the ground again. The woman had to admit her baby had a bit of a stubborn streak, once she started crawling she wanted to continue. However, one slipped hand on the smooth surface of floor cause Lucía to slam right into tough stone. Her mouth burst into cries. Quickly the woman picked the child.

"There, there, mi bebe," the woman cooed, as she rubbed the probably pained part of her baby's face. The little goddess's cries soon ceased and she waved her hands while facing down. Knowing the signal, the mother gave a kiss on the cheek and then set her down. Once again, the girl started to trudge off again.

While she continued to stroll next to her daughter, the woman continued to ponder and started to worry. As she continued to crawl and eventually walk, there would be no doubt her little one would probably continue to fall…and the floors of her palace were mostly hard stone…

An idea popped into the goddess's head. Soon enough, after making some requests, rugs of all designs and colors seemed to fill up her dining room in piles.

"I guess we've got a lot of looking around to do…" La Muerte stated, while holding her daughter.

"Galufe" Lucía seemed to agree.

The goddess strolled over to the nearest tower, setting her child right next to it. The woman started to flip through the samples. A piece of deep blue caught her eye and she carefully pulled it out. All over the square, light green circles all over the piece. La Muerte turned towards her little girl, "Lucy, what do you think of this one?"

While the queen didn't really expect a reaction, her princess definitely surprised her by puling at one of the rugs, causing the tower to slump over like an uneven deck of cards, the contents spilling everywhere, knocking other towers down. The girl giggled at her mess.

"AY AY AY! LUCÍA! YOU ARE YOUR PAPI'S DAUGHTER!" the mother hollered.

The princess looked up at her mother, her little arms up wide along with the smile. "Ma~" she said.

The queen sighed and picked up the girl. "Which is good for you but bad for me," she admitted. One of her long white fingers poked against the nose just like her own. The little girl grabbed the finger and started to chew on it.

As she glanced over at the floor, she couldn't help but admire all the different colors and patterns at her feet. Suddenly some sparks flew from the candles on her hat…

"I have to admire mi amour, this is rather ingenious." Xibalba commented as he admired the new floor of his wife's domain. A dramatic checkerboard, an emerald square with golden flowers would be next to snow white with a silver moon. Scarlet birds would fly in a dark patch, while golden fish swam in light a green square.

"Gracias mi vida. Lucía really seems to like it too," the woman smiled.

Said child moved around the room, still swing her little arms and legs. Her eyes seemed to be glued to the floor. The parents watched as she continued crawl and run into the wall, yet she still tried to move. The father got up and turned the child around so she can move around.

"Maybe a little bit too much?" the man chuckled.

"I guess next time I'll just pick out the carpets myself," the woman remarked.


Light tapping echoed in the halls of Xibalba's castle with loud boom following. As Lucía continued to teeter around, her feet covered by small canary colored shoes and her arms forward, Xibalba followed her, bent over with his hands almost right behind her. She started to stumble and the man caught her before she hit the cold, black, hard ground.

"Papi!" the girl exclaimed, arms waving and clapping. The little yellow bow siting right on the streak of white of her hair seem to wiggle along her head.

"Any time, chica," the father smiled and set the child down, following her when she started off again.

As he continued down the halls of his own domain, some part of him yelled at him to put down something to soften his little princess's fall but then he remembered that the Land of the Forgotten was just as stubborn as its ruler. It wouldn't change even though his life completely changed so the best he could do was to lay some soft piles of fabrics or his own feathers, but sometimes it wasn't enough. Said times occurred when her little foot slipped and nothing softened her blow. Tears and spilled from her eyes as she hollered "Papi! Papi!"

Quickly he scooped the girl up, setting her close to his chest. "Aw there, there mi princesa, its okay. Papi está aquí," he soothed.

The girl looked up at her Papi. Suddenly his black tongue started to frail about, his mouth making funny noises along with it. Stunned for a second, Lucía burst into a fit of giggles.

"That's mi chica!" Xibalba encouraged and set her down once more and ten she walked off again. With a small sigh, he started after her again.

For the next few hours the two had a little meal-one that ended with Lucía throwing pieces of corn right at her father's eyes, a nap for two, a bit of a chase-due to a dirty diaper that ended up in one of the pools of lava outside the castle, then finally settled for playing with some blocks. As the little girl once again pushed the tower over, the god couldn't help but chuckle again at her antics.

"Hola!"

The two looked away from the rubble to see La Muerte standing in the doorway.

"Mami!" the girl screamed in delight and started to dash towards her mother.

About halfway towards the woman, the little girl tripped and fell on her stomach. With a gasp, the woman quickly turned into a golden stream of petals. By the time she materialized again, Lucía had already pushed herself up. When she noticed her mother no longer where she last saw her, the toddler then noticed the dark shadow on the ground. When her golden eyes met her mother's, the little goddess started to run around in circles around the red dress. "MAMI! MEEPUEMEIKDUDISOCASE!" she hollered.

"Looks like you had a big day," the woman chuckled. Spinning around several times, the mother finally caught the girl, her little legs still running. La Muerte glared a bit at her husband who smiled in amusement.

"You could have helped me," she stated.

"And miss the show?" the god asked.

The goddess rolled her eyes as he walked over and gave her a small kiss on her lips. He then wrapped his arms the around the two women of his life, trapping his child between her parents. She started to squirm in protest.

"Ay ay ay! Lucía's such a ball of energy these days, she's starting to become a real handful!" the woman proclaimed with a little bit of a sigh.

"Would you rather have her remain an infant, unable to walk or talk,"

"Well, it would be rather nice to see her so small and quiet again…"

Lucía managed to wiggle herself free from her parents' grasps and started to climb up her mother. Her little arms wrapped around the woman's neck and started to snuggle against her. The girl sighed, "Mami~"

Immediately La Muerte held her child once more and snuggled against the brown face. "I take it back, this is better."

Leaning down, so he was right next to the girl, Xibalba asked, "Hey what about your Papi?"

Glancing at her father, the girl stuck her tongue out and returned to cuddle with her mami.

"Qué?!"

The mother beamed and started to laugh, "Looks like she loves me more! She's mine now!" The goddess started to dash and skip away.

"Oh no you don't!" The king dashed after her.

The married couple continued this game, with their daughter laughing in delight along with her parents. The king finally caught up with the two, accidently steeping on a part of his wife's dress. The queen started to tip, clutching her daughter close to her chest, but her husband grabbed her waits. Pulling her close, the force caused the man to fall on his back, the women on his chest, safe and sound.

"Sorry mi amor," the god mumbled, trying to recover from slamming on the ground.

"Its okay, Bably, you've always thrown my life off balance since the day I met you." The woman added with a chuckle.

He responded, "As you've done the same for me, Muertita.

The goddess blushed a bit at the nickname. He didn't use it often but he did, it always caused her heart to melt a bit. She scooted up and gave him a peck on the cheek. He melted at the contact.

Lucía managed to free herself again from her mother's arms and crawled on of her father's chest, right next to her mother. Sitting on it, she started to wiggle her fingers in her father's beard.

The man chuckled, "She's definitely knocked us off our feet."

His wife agreed, "I'll say."

The two gods glanced at each other and sharing a small grin each parent slipped some fingers underneath their daughter's arms, quickly rubbing skin underneath the fabric. At the contact, the girl burst into a fit of giggles causing her to fall on her back. Her parents' laughter soon joined hers.


Hello again. It's me again. This chapter started just as Xibalba's scene where he tries to get Lucía to sit up and ending up this long pieces. I'm sorry if there are mistakes, I'm leaving for Lubbock-a six hour drive- tomorrow so I wanted to get this published before that. The next time we see each other, there will either be a bet made or… well we'll just see. I hope I can the next one done by Christmas. I'll see you soon!