Aztec Sacrifice and Other "Guy Things"
Some days, La Muerte figured that she needed to slip away from her responsibilities as a goddess and just relax.
Today was one of those days.
She snatched fresh fruit, sandwiches, and some sweets from the castle kitchen while the staff was rambling about, and she snuck it into a colorful basket along with a blanket she had kept from childhood. Xibalba didn't need much persuasion to join her, since he was notorious for slacking at his godly duties anyway. The phrase "peace and quiet" was one of his favorites. With that, the two gods found themselves picnicking in the outer forests of the Land of the Remembered.
Xibalba casually lied down in the soft grass, his head resting in his wife's lap. He listened faintly to the coursing river nearby and felt her touch his shoulder gently. His red eyes took in her presence, and he couldn't help but smile serenely after looking at her for very long. His skeletal hand, bare rather than gloved, reached up to stroke her cheek. She giggled lightly in return. He sighed happily.
"We should have done this so long ago, Muertita," he confessed. "It would be just us more often. No one to bother us…"
La Muerte smiled at her husband and tossed a grape into her mouth. "This is really nice, Balbi." She chuckled. "And I love it when you're in such a good mood."
Xibalba placed his arms beneath him and sat up to meet her eye. "I have you to thank for that, mi amor." He pressed his lips against hers and kissed her sensually. La Muerte touched his cheek and her eyes nearly fluttered as she closed them.
"Aye Balbi…" she whispered, unable to wipe the smile off of her face. "It's moments like this that I regret losing all of those yeas with you.
He placed a long, thin finger over her lips and hushed her, kissing her forehead gently. "We will make up for that time, my love." He took her small hands and held them as if they were the most precious things in the world. "I will never let you go, never leave you, no matter what comes out way. You're the only for me."
La Muerte's smile shined as brightly as the glow in her eyes did. She tossed her sombrero aside and leaned into him. Sh felt the safety of his arms encompass her. "I never want to leave…ever."
The two knew the goddess spoke too soon when they heard a "poof!" noise nearby. Out from a cloud of smoke appeared the Candlemaker, and holding his enormous hand was a tiny girl. She had a veil draping over her long black hair, and big doe eyes that curiously, yet nervously, looked at the gods.
"Candlemaker?" La Muerte asked, pulling away from her husband slowly. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" Her eyes fell onto the little girl, followed by a grin of admiration. "And who's this adorable chiquitita?"
"I'm just here on business, as usual," he replied lightheartedly. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Oh!" He placed a hand on the little girl's back. "And this is Puddle."
La Muerte stepped up to the child, wo recoiled shyly into the Candlemaker's side, the bottom of her blue dress bubbling like water. He coaxed the poor thing to greet the goddess, who had knelt over calmly. La Muerte smiled gently as Puddle slowly faced her.
"Hola, pequeña," She said quietly. "Oh how pretty you are…"
The little girl blushed timidly and swayed from side to side on the balls of her feet. She smiled just a bit and peaked at away from La Muerte, obviously glad.
"Did you make her, Candlemaker? She's absolutely beautiful."
"She was a product of life wax and, well, a puddle," he replied happily, picking up Puddle in his huge hands. "I've been her papi ever since. She's my little girl, right Puddle?" He smiled proudly and she snuggled into his arm. La Muerte beamed.
"That is beyond sweet…"
"Are you guys doing business?" Xibalba interrupted, just finishing a sandwich. "I'd kind of like to get back to my date. With my wife."
"Aye, Xibalba!" La Muerte scolded lightly, while looking back at Candlemaker.
"Actually, he's right," Candlemaker replied. "I need your help in the Cave of Souls. The royal folks from the Land of the Heroic are there too. Someone messed with the waterfall portals and they keep getting sent here instead of back to their place."
La Muerte sighed and shook her head. "I bet it was Xochiquetzal. She's always finding herself where she doesn't belong. Ixcumane gives his daughter way too much privilege for her young age."
She uncrossed her arms and peered back in Xibalba sadly. "I'm sorry, Balbi, we'll have to do this again."
"What?!" the god exclaimed, his wings flaring in exasperation. "But this was your idea! And it was the only good day to do it!"
She frowned apologetically. "I know…but duty calls Xibalba." She snapped her fingers, and their picnic supplies assembled back into the basket. Puddle managed to summon an apple her way and bit into it happily. Xibalba stood stiffly and slithered over to them.
"Well, at least let me come with you."
"Uhm, that might not be a good idea," Candlemaker interjected. "You know how the guys in the Land of the Heroic feel about you."
"Oh come on!" Xibalba shouted. "That beast wasn't let loose by me and you know it!"
La Muerte placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. "Yet you were the one that gave the man the keys to the stable gates, just so you could amuse yourself.
Xibalba rolled his eyes, but glanced at his wife as her hand gently brushed against his arm.
"Just let me deal with it," she said softly. "I'll come back and for the rest of the day, I'll be completely yours."
She kissed his cheek softly and disappeared, along with the Candlemaker and little Puddle.
It had been a while since Xibalba read a book for pleasure, but he had no better idea of how to pass the time. H had contemplated traveling to the Land of the Living to "interfere with affairs of men", but then remembered that La Muerte had strictly forbid him from "interfering with the affairs of men". Instead, he grabbed any random book from the castle library, disappeared to any random tree in the realm woods, and opened up to any random page to begin reading. Frankly, his eyes barely focused on the context of the book, and just skimmed over words so that he would appear remotely interested.
"Hey, watcha reading?"
Xibalba's head twisted in all directions, trying to find the source of the noise. It had to come from someone, or something, young, so he peered up into the treetops. He nearly jumped when he noticed the boy sitting in the branch above him. He had to be no more than ten years old, black hair sweeping over a side of his undead face. He had luminous eyes, widely stretched as he gazed down at the dark god.
"Wait a minute!" he snapped excitedly, jumping down from the tree. "You're-"
Xibalba broke his train of thought and sprang up to his tallest, stiffest stance. His wings flared up threateningly, casting a full shadow over the boy.
"What are you doing here, boy?" he growled.
He showed no signs of fear, rather, the boy beamed with admiration, like a kid at a churro stand.
"Your wings are so cool…" he droned.
Xibalba glared at the kid, surprised to see he infatuation on his face. He tended to have a terrible reputation with children due to the nature of his appearance. In all his years, he had never gotten a reaction like this.
"What are you doing here, boy?" he asked. "Have you no family here?"
The boy shrugged. "Not that I know of. I'm here alone."
The dark god scoffed. "Living parents?"
"No, mi hermana says they're in the Land of the Cursed."
Xibalba's eyes widened in complete shock, but he kept a commonplace appearance. "How do you know about the Land of the Cursed?"
"I read about it once. My sister said that our parents went there after getting killed, since they were bad to us while they were alive." The boy bit his lip slightly and his voice retreated. "They were part of the drug cartel."
"And this knowledge doesn't bother you?" Xibalba leaned in. "Do you know what happens in the Land of the Cursed?"
"Not directly…" He smirked a little. "It's where the bad people in life get punished. For the rest of time."
He eyed the boy quizzically and crossed his arms behind his back while standing erect.
"What's your name, boy?"
"Victor, sir. Victor Frances."
"And do you know who I am, Victor?"
Victor squinted a little, his mind obviously processing the looks of the dark god. He tossed the hair out from his face to get a better look.
"The books never showed pictures… but… you must be Xibalba. From the Land of the Forgotten!"
Xibalba was indeed impressed, but it would take a lot more than that for him to admit it.
"Well, Victor, it sounds like you really know your stuff." The god slithered around the boy. "My question is, why? Why do you know so much? It isn't normal for kids your age, not from what I've seen, anyways."
Victor glanced down at the grass and shrugged shyly. He was used to being compared to the norm, both in the Land of the Living and in the Land of the Remembered. He touched his arm and nearly recoiled into himself. "When I was little, papi used to scare us to bed with stories of the gods punishing us if we weren't good kids. Sometimes mi hermana told me it wasn't true, so I had to know for sure. I snuck into the libraries late at night when mama and papi were away, and Sasha, my sister, was asleep. There were tons of books on the realms and gods and the ancient civilizations…" His fists balled up excitedly; he nearly exploded. "It was just so awesome! Aztec sacrifice was the coolest thing I've ever read about!"
Xibalba meant to interject, but he noticed the small boy's smile retreat into a neutral line. He continued on, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Papi told me I was weird for liking these things. Him and mama used to laugh at me. Sasha never did, though."
The god crossed his arms and involuntary cracked a comforting smile, something he wasn't used to doing.
"Would you like to know more, Victor?" he offered. "I'm sure those books didn't teach you everything."
Victor's eyes suddenly shot up at him, gleaming with excitement. "Would I ever…:
"So let me get this straight," Victor questioned, gesturing his hands in a parallel position. "The ruler of the Land of the Cursed is your brother, he's married to the ruler of the Land of the Unknown, and they're going to have kids?"
"That's exactly right." Xibalba replied, leaning back against the tree they sat under. He had proceeded to tell the kid everything he knew first-hand, leaving his family circle for last.
"Were you two child rulers?"
The god laughed. "My brother and I weren't always gods. I'm surprised you don't know about that. I'm sure it was in one of your books."
"Well, it wasn't," Victor defended. "What happened?"
Xibalba crossed his arms and peered up at the sky, recalling the events that took place centuries ago.
"My brother and I were raised as heavenly knights, angels of sorts. It's what we grew up doing, it's who our father was, and it's who we were supposed to be. My brother knew chivalry better than I did, but to this day won't admit that I can handle a sword twice as well. When we were young adults, the 'orders on high' knighted us into his order. Several decades later we became commanders. We fought for the safety of the realms, which had not been evenly divided at the time. This was eons ago."
Victor's eyes seemed to study Xibalba's appearance. "How did you get…here?"
Xibalba chuckled lightly. "The two of us got too cocky for our own good. We got into a bet, and rather than one of us winning, both of us just got into a heap of trouble."
"What kind of bet?"
"My brother and I used to train recruits, you see. And in their free time, they liked to fight one another for kicks. They were all boys, it's what they do. The Orders on High never liked it, so all of us commanders had an obligation to stop it. When the two of us found out… we bet on our boys. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, until my brother had one vicious kid in his group. He nearly mauled one of my guys to death." Xibalba shook his head slightly. "And it takes a lot for an angel to bleed. The fight got massive. The kid was on a rampage at some point, and by the time the two of us got there, probably three others had gotten hurt trying to stop him. The Orders on High came in and had him punished, but not before they punished us first for not sticking it to the rules."
Victor pulled his knees up to his chest. "What did they do to you?"
"They burned us. They burned every inch of us. First they seared our wings until they were ash. The rest of the fire spread. It spread down our skin, our hair, until every bit of us was charred." Xibalba found himself nearly cringing. "To tell you the truth, kid, I still have no idea how the two of us survived. I thought we'd be done for. The Orders on High never took punishment lightly. My brother claims that there was some ancient magic protecting us, but I doubt any magic would want to protect someone like myself and El Chamuco."
"Wait…who are the Orders on High?"
Xibalba laughed lowly. "I'm not at liberty to tell you, kid. That's why they're called 'The Orders on High'. But after the burning, we were of no use to them as knights, so they deliberated on our further punishment since we hadn't perished. Eventually they turned us in to gods, yet stuck us in the two worst realms of the thirteen."
Victor jumped to his feet. "But you guys are all powerful now! Being a god sounds awesome… You have power over death and life, and you can do whatever you want…:
"I'm not complaining, boy," Xibalba chuckled. "Good things came from it. I got married, that's for starters."
"Wait… you're married?"
Xibalba nodded. "Are you sure this isn't in those books of yours, kid?"
"No!"
As if on cue, the god heard the sound of his name being called from his right.
"Xibalba! There you are!"
La Muerte walked over with a smile on her face; she had obviouslt been searching for him. She glanced at her husband, but then at Victor, with the slightest inclining of confusion. In return, Victor's eyes lit up in awe.
"Woah…"
Xibalba stood casually. "Victor, this is La Muerte. She rules the Land of the Remembered, as well as my heart."
La Muerte giggled lightly. "Hello Victor. What a pleasure to meet you."
Victor glanced back at Xibalba and whispered. "You're married to her? You're so lucky…"
Xibalba smiled genuinely at his wife. "I know."
The goddess smiled back and crouched over to have a better look at the boy. "You know, Victor… I think there was a girl looking for you. A young woman, she just arrived here. She asked about your name and told me your age… you wouldn't happen to know a Sasha, would you?"
"Sasha's here?!" Victor cried out. "I have to go see her!"
"Would you like an escort?"
Before responding, Victor glanced back and forth between the two gods. "No, it's already, I can find my way back." He smiled. "Don't worry about me."
He turned to Xibalba and looked him in the eyes. "You're super cool, man… thanks. For everything."
Xibalba smirked back. "Right back at you, kid."
Victor grinned and ran off into the woods, excited to find his sister. Xibalba's eyes trailed him for a moment, but he inevitably found himself looking back at La Muerte. She stepped up to him and rested a hand on his chest, grinning teasingly.
"So what's this about you being 'cool'?" she giggled. "Where did you pick up this suave touch with children?"
He swatted at her hand jokingly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh yes you do!" she replied. "Where did you pick that boy up?"
"Please. He found me."
"He loved you."
"I wouldn't say loved, Muertita."
La Muerte smiled lightly and turned sincere, her hands sliding down his armor until their fingers intertwined.
"Children aren't as scary as you think, Balbi…. And you're not that bad with them either."
He relaxed at her gentle touch and met her eyes. "Do you think, if we had children… they'd be anything like that?"
"If we had children, they would be perfect." She reached up and touched his cheek. "And they'd love their papi just as much as I do. And I know you'd love them back. You're a greater lover than you think, Xibalba. At least, that's the man I know I married."
Xibalba nearly melted at the tone of her words. As he gazed into her eyes, she started to turn the gears in his head. He was beyond lucky to have her.
"I can't say if I'm ready or not," he admitted. "But let's do it." He cupped his hands around hers. "You deserve this more than anything. More than I deserve you."
La Muerte's bright eyes gleamed more than they had in ages, and the happy tears in them reflected as they trickled down her cheeks. "Aye, Balbi…"
She flung herself into his arms and gripped him tighter than she ever had before. She kissed him passionately, and his long arms wrapped around her lovingly. He scooped her up off the ground and held onto her as they walked back to the castle in the sunset.
