A Tale of Forbidden Love and Rituals

Chapter 8- Confrontation


Marigold peeked around the corridors of the castle carefully, as not to run into her father while she still had the bouquet of roses Juan Carlos had given her. If he saw her with those roses, there was no way she could invent a excuse for that. Latoso trailed after her, wagging his little tail and helping his owner make sure there was no one around. She was already past her curfew again; they had fallen asleep under the tree, and it gave them eleven o'clock before waking up.

Marigold and Latoso were passing through the Throne Room, which was unusually inky dark, but she knew her way through here even if blindly. She slowly made her way towards the corridor that led to her room…

"Where were you, jovencita?"

Marigold jumped when she heard her father's voice, and the candles of the throne room immediately lit up. Xibalba was sitting on his throne, his arms crossed, his eyebrows puckering into a frown as he gave his daughter a cold glare. Marigold had been quick to hide her bouquet of roses behind her back, but she couldn't help but tremble a bit in nervousness at her father's tone of voice.

"Well?" Xibalba pressured, standing from his throne, taking his arms behind his back and walking towards Marigold. "I'm waiting for an answer, Marigold."

When he didn't call her mi florecita, or my sweet, or my dear, she knew she was in trouble.

"I was in San Ángel, papá, remember?" Marigold managed to speak without stuttering, but her father's eyes glaring unto her were making it difficult. Latoso hid behind her, sensing Xibalba was very angry.

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Eleven o'clock."

"And you know your curfew starts at nine o'clock. And yet, look at what time we are. Is there any particular reason for you to stay out so late?"

"No, papá…" Marigold slowly made her way to the corridor without exposing her back nor the flowers. "I'm sorry about it, it won't happen again-"

"What do you have in your hands?"

She froze. "M-My hands?"

Xibalba narrowed his eyes. "Yes. What are you hiding behind your back?"

"It's nothing, papá… I'm just trying to stretch over my wings a bit…" She extended her wings to try and hide the bouquet from view even more, if that was possible, and now was walking even closer to the corridor.

Finally, Xibalba lost his patience. "Don't you think you've lied to me enough for one day?!" He stepped forward and snatched the bouquet of roses from her hands. Marigold stepped back in horror as her father examined the roses with narrowed eyes, before looking back at her. "Who gave you this?"

"Papá, I-"

"No, no, I don't need you to answer that question."

When Ponzoña slithered up his master's arm and gave Marigold an apologetic glance, she realized what had happened. He must have sent Ponzoña after her. She grew angry and incensed, but now was not the moment, especially since she was already in deep hot water.

"How long, Marigold?" Xibalba hissed, his eyes expressing a mixture of anger, disappointment and hurt. "How long have you been seeing that boy behind my back?!"

"Papá, it's not what you think-!"

"Then what is it?!" With a snap of his fingers, he transported the three of them to Marigold's room. Latoso immediately ran to the underneath of Marigold's bed, in case Xibalba exploded.

"Juan Carlos is just my friend!"

"Really? Because you looked pretty cozy to me!"

"I don't get why are you so angry, papá! I was just-!"

"Why? WHY?!" Xibalba yelled at her, though he refrained himself from doing anything stupid. "If I listed the reasons down, I would never finish! You lied to me twice, you saw a human behind my back, and you're about to break the Ancient Rules!"

"What?!" Marigold snapped. "Don't you think you're overreacting?!"

"Don't you think you're taking things too lightly, jovencita?! Not only you hang out with a human, but you hang out with that good-for-nothing boy-!"

"Don't refer to Juan Carlos like that!" now it was Marigold's turn to snap at her father. "You can't judge him if you don't even know him!"

"I don't need to know him, all humans are alike! They're nothing but dirty, treacherous, untrustworthy beings!"

"BUT I LOVE HIM!"

Marigold gasped in shock at her sudden outburst and took her hands to her mouth in horror. Xibalba stared at his daughter with wide eyes, frozen in shock and bewilderment, before anger took over. "Have you lost your mind?! He's a human, and you're a Goddess!"

"I don't care!" Marigold crossed her arms and looked away.

Xibalba sighed in exasperation and closed his eyes, massaging his temples to try and calm himself down. "Marigold… You don't know what you're saying; whatever you think you feel for that boy is not real. It's easy to confuse your feelings at your age-"

"I'm not confused, papá! I'm sure that I love him!"

"What do you know about love, niña?! You're only fifteen!"

"You fell in love with mamá at your teens too!"

"Do not compare it, Marigold! Your mother was a goddess!"

"What's the difference, papá?!"

"There's a big crevice of difference, my child. Mortals are not like us."

"Papá-!" Marigold was close to tears now. "Look, I'm sorry for lying to you, but I knew you'd react like this!"

"How am I supposed to react, Marigold?!" Xibalba took his daughter by the shoulders. "You're my daughter, I don't want you getting hurt."

Marigold stepped back to release herself from his grasp. "Juan Carlos would never hurt me!"

"That's what you say because you don't truly know him! Once his true colors resurface, you'll regret it!"

"Why Is it so complicated to talk with you about this, papá?!" the young goddess turned on her heels and crossed her arms, turning her back on her father.

His patience started wearing thin. Clenching his fists, Xibalba growled. "You're not seeing that boy again."

Marigold froze in place at those words she had been dreading to hear from him. She immediately turned around to see him and found he had turned his back on her as well. Xibalba grabbed Ponzoña gently and turned him back into a staff.

"Papá…!"

"You're forbidden from going to the Land of the Living until I say otherwise." He stamped his staff on the ground, and Marigold felt an unseen energy wrap around her wrists and neck, like shackles. A binding spell that would prevent her from leaving the Land of the Forgotten; she looked up at her father pleadingly and in disbelief.

"Papi, please don't do this!" she pleaded.

Xibalba closed his eyes shut in pain at his daughter's tone. "You left me with no other choice, Marigold. One day you'll understand that what I'm doing is for your own good." With this, he stepped out of the room and closed the door shut behind him, locking it from the outside with a snap of his fingers.

"PAPÁ!" Marigold desperately tried in vain to open the doors, but it was useless. "Open the door!"

One of the lizards that was dusting jars nearby saw the whole commotion and instantly knew something was very wrong. "My Lord, are you okay?!"

Xibalba glanced at him with a hard but pained look. "Do not let her out unless I say so, understood?"

Despite his hesitance, the lizard nodded and continued with his task, trying in vain to ignore Marigold's desperate cries as Xibalba walked down the hall.

It broke his heart to hear her pleading like that, but he hardened it and walked further away, but deep within broke each time he heard her pounding on the door, and her cries. This was for her own good; he had to be firm. She would come to understand it.

There was one more thing he had to do.

Meanwhile, Víbora's shadow watched the entire scene form the windows with an amused look. "Well, this is entertaining." With a sadistic grin, he vanished into thin air.


Juan Carlos had never been happier.

He had a great family, and now a kind and beautiful girl-well, they were not formally boyfriend and girlfriend, but he already saw Marigold as such. She was perfect in every single way in his eyes; sure, she did have a few setbacks such as her sometimes child-like innocence and her stubbornness at certain matters as well as her hot temper, but he still loved her just the way he was.

As he made his way back home, he was already wondering what other things they could do in their future dates, and was internally nervous for the sermon his mother would give him when he got home about staying out so late. He had to admit, though, it was very creepy at certain nights when there was new moon, without a single star on the sky. It got worse when he went through a dark alley as a shortcut to get home sooner, his parents were surely very worried.

Under these circumstances, it was natural that Juan Carlos grew startled when somebody grabbed him from behind and pushed him against the wall violently; when he glanced at the person responsible for this, he was shocked to find Marigold's father glaring into him with the fury of a demon, and yet he kept his cold air.

"E-Evening, s-señor…" Juan Carlos found himself trembling and stuttering, this guy was certainly creepy.

"Skip the formalities, boy." Xibalba snapped in his human glamour. "I assume you know why I'm here."

"Is it about Marigold?"

"I see you're not as stupid as I thought you were, so I'll only tell you this once. Stay away from her."

"Señor, I understand that you're trying to protect your daughter, but believe me when I tell you I have no bad intentions with her."

"I don't care what you say, I don't want you near my Marigold. She deserves someone better than you."

"I-If you would only let me s-show you that I c-can make her happy…"

"I don't need you to show me anything. This is my only warning, boy. If I ever catch you near my daughter again, I'll make you regret it. You don't know what I'm capable of for her sake. Am I clear?"

Not knowing what else to answer, Juan Carlos had to nod reluctantly. "S-Sí, señor… But please listen to me, I love Marigold-"

"I don't want to hear you, boy! I know what's best for my daughter, I won't let a common boy like you ruin her life. So you better heed my warning, stay away from her if you know what's best for you."

With this, Xibalba started walking away from the alley; Juan Carlos didn't know what happened next, but out of sudden a wave of courage to defend his love overcame him, and he didn't realize he had spoken until the man stopped right in his tracks.

"Excuse me?" Xibalba hissed dangerously, looking back at Juan Carlos with hate. "What did you say?"

"No." Juan Carlos repeated confidently. "I won't leave Marigold, because I love her with all my heart! I don't care what you say, we will find a way!"

"You better watch your words, boy." The disguised god walked towards the human threateningly, with clenched fists. "You don't know who I am."

"You can't keep her isolated forever! You think you're protecting her, but you're actually locking her up form the world-" he couldn't continue, for the man grabbed him by the throat and glares daggers into him. Still, Juan Carlos refused to back off. "If you continue to fight her about this she'll end up hating you." He was quick to regret these last words, for he felt his fingers tighten around his throat; he had struck a nerve.

It took Xibalba every ounce of self-control to retain his human form and stop himself from killing the boy on the spot for talking to him in such a manner. Really, this kid was just like his father. There was no way he'd ever let his baby hang around this human. Finally, the dark god released Juan Carlos and stared down at him coldly as he coughed to regain lost air.

"I've warned you." He spoke.

With these, he walked down the alley into the night, leaving a bewildered Juan Carlos behind. Juan Carlos picked up his guitar and resumed his way home; he'd have to find a way to see Marigold without her father finding them. He was in such a hurry he failed to see a crow perched on top of a roof, having watched the entire scene.

Zipacna had to admit that he was genuinely impressed by the boy's courage; no one had the guts to look at his younger brother at the eyes without fainting, let alone stand up to him. The only human he'd heard was brave (or foolish) enough to do so was the mortal named Manolo Sánchez, this kiddo's father. It seemed Juan Carlos inherited his father's will for fighting for his love to the end; maybe in a different circumstance, his niece could be happy with the boy, but she was born a Goddess, and he was born a human. That could never be, the Ancient Rules forbad it.

Zipacna took off into the night sky with a flap of his dark wings.


Marigold was confined to her room all day, except when her meals were taken up to her room, but she didn't touch them, she didn't want to eat anything. She was far too depressed. She spent the whole morning and afternoon in bed, her hair undone, still in her nightgown, her eyes red and puffy form having cried all night, and she was still crying. Latoso tried to comfort her by licking on her cheek, but she couldn't find it in her heart to smile at him for his attempts. She stiffened when there was a knock at her door.

"Marigold?"

Latoso hid beneath the blankets, while Marigold buried her face into a pillow as she wrapped her wings around herself. "Go away." She growled in a raspy voice.

Xibalba turned the knob on the door and walked inside, finding his daughter still on bed, her back towards him. Sighing, he made her way next to her bed and sat down, placing his staff aside temporally. "Emilio told me you have not eaten."

"If you came to give me another sermon, then leave."

"Watch your tongue, jovencita." He hardened his voice a bit, before calming down. "I came on peaceful terms."

"As if." Marigold thought to herself.

"Mi florecita, I understand you're angry at me, but you have to understand that I'm just doing what's best for you."

"How? By locking me up?"

"You took me to that extreme. You lied to me twice, Marigold, I can't overlook it for a second time."

"You know there's a reason for everything, don't you? If I didn't tell you about Juan Carlos was because I knew how you'd react."

"Marigold, I'm your father. My duty is to protect you, I'll never stop acting like even if you hate me for it sometimes."

Marigold didn't say anything to that; she simply tried to retreat further into her covers. Xibalba took advantage of the following silence to continue. "My sweet, if you feel like you're ready to start a relationship, the Candlemaker could introduce you to some gods-"

"Seriously?!" Finally, Marigold snapped and she looked at her father with bloodshot eyes. "You really think I can simply throw my feelings for Juan Carlos away to hang out with a ton of prepotent and arrogant spirits?!"

"Marigold, not all gods are like that. Your mother was a Goddess and she was kind and benevolent, you can find yourself surprised by them if you'd just give them a chance."

"In case you forgot, when I did try to be friends with other gods I ended up with chewing gum stuck to my hair and plucked feathers."

"Things have changed, they're all grown up now, they have matured."

"How can you be so certain with them but not with Juan Carlos?!"

"Marigold, I would see you married for love but that human-!"

"Juan Carlos! His name is Juan Carlos, and he is more noble than any of those snobs!"

"Why must you be so needlessly difficult, Marigold?! I already told you why you can't have anything to do with that boy!"

She was close to tears of both anger and pain once again. "Papá, please!"

Knowing it was futile to argue, Xibalba stood from the bed while glancing back at his daughter in pained disappointment. "No, Marigold. You will do what I say, no arguments."

"But papá-!"

"I SAID NO!" Xibalba shouted as he turned around quickly to face his daughter with bristled feathers and sharp teeth. Marigold backed away in bed at the sound of his loud voice; he barely raised his voice, but when he did, it gave one chills. She could see it pained him to be speaking to her like this, it was clearly all over his face. He had never liked to deny his daughter anything unless he needed to put a limit on how much he pampered her, and this was one of those occasions.

Sighing, Xibalba walked towards the door without looking back. "We will not talk about this again, Marigold." He muttered. "Soon you will see that gods can have good qualities, if you only give them a chance."

These were the last words he spoke before leaving the room, his heart torn, leaving Marigold to cry herself to sleep once again.