The more time he spent with Algner, the more he got used to fatherhood. And the more attached he grew to him, and viceversa. As time went on, he also had to change lots of things in his behavior and daily life, in part because he had to give Algner a good example. It was harder without Camazok around, but he was happy the boy had a chance of reconciling with his dad… and he was still surprised Camazotl had such a change of heart. Maybe he couldn't bear the loneliness anymore. He did miss Camazok, though; not because he did technically all of his work for him, but because he knew how he liked things and was a good assistant, as he put it.

And his imps weren't exactly very smart.

At times like these, he missed Emilio and the others, and envied Xibalba.

A knock on the door interrupted him from watching Algner sleeping, and he bristled his crest feathers in annoyance. "What is it?" he asked in a low voice, loud enough for his servant to hear though.

"Sorry for interrupting you, My Lord, but a lady wishes an audience with you." The imp said from the other side of the door.

"A lady? Who?"

"No idea, she just said she needed to talk to you urgently."

Zipacna pricked his ears curiously. Women never came looking for him, it was him who went looking for pretty ladies, at least he used to. The only reason a woman would come looking for him was to give him a good trashing over something, or yell at him about bedding their sisters or something like that. As he neared the gates of his throne room, he put a neutral expression; Xibalba had taught him to be professional whenever someone sought an audience.

As he stepped into his throne room, there was a feeling of dejá vu as he set eyes on the visitor. She was a woman with light blue skin and wary dark aqua-green hair, she wore a long dark blue dress, its sleeves reached half her elbows and it exposed her shoulders partly. A long white cape with teadrop patterns cascaded from her shoulders, which let Zipacna know she was probably a water nymph.

"Good evening, ma'am." He said. "I hear you wanted to see me…"

When she turned around, he froze in place. He recognized those fin ears, those aqua green lips, and those greenish azure eyes.

"Hello, Zipacna." The woman said coldly, crossing her arms. "Remember me?"

He tried so speak, but no words came out. "I….I"

"Evidently, you do."

"N-Nadia?" He was surprised when she smiled at him.

"See? You remember."

"What are you? How did you find me?" he asked.

"It's not that hard, Zipacna. Considering most of the goddesses in the pantheon know about you and your reputation. And you have something that interests me…. Or rather, belongs to me.

"What do you mean?"

Nadia placed her hands on her abdomen. "Someone that came out of here, Zipacna."

His heard skipped a beat. Someone that…? Did it mean…? He started connecting the dots, she was the last woman he slept with, and it had been almost a year since then… This could only mean one thing… "You… You?!"

Nadia nodded. "I am his mother, Zipacna."

"But… what are you doing here?"

"I'm taking my son back home."

"What?!" Upon realizing what she meant, his feathers bristled in anger. "No, you won't."

"Excuse me? I'm his mother."

"The mother who abandoned him!"

At that proclamation, Nadia looked down in shame. "I… I was afraid, he was a shock for me… I didn't feel ready to look after a child…" she looked back at him with determination. "But now I am."

"But now's too late!" Zipacna snapped, growling. He did know what that feeling was like, but she didn't know what he had done. "While you were having fun with who knows who, I took care of him! And you didn't even bother to come and ask if he was fine! You didn't bother to come and see him, and you say you're his mother?!"

"I wonder if leaving him with you was the best thing. You're not precisely very responsible, I'm surprised he survived until now."

"People can change! You can't bring him into my life and just take him away just because you changed your mind!"

"Look who talks, the man who never liked kids or responsibility in general."

"That was before!"

"Oh, right! What exactly changed in you!" Nadia growled. "You tried to abandon him too! You nearly killed him!"

Zipacna's pupils shrunk, she did know about it. That could be the reason she wanted to take her son back, but he would not give up his son without a fight. "You abandoned him too, so don't come and give me moral lessons because you don't have the right either! At least I made up for my mistake! I took responsibility and took care of him!

"That's exactly what I'm trying to right now! I want to take my role as a mother!"

"If you love him so much why did you wait until now to 'reclaim your son'! You lost the right when you left him at my doorstep!"

"I had my reasons!"

"Nothing justifies it, and I say it because I lived it in flesh and bone! I have no excuse and no justification for what I tried to do!"

"How would you react if some bastard left you pregnant and disappeared without a trace?!" Nadia said, losing her calm momentarily.

"A real mother would have fought for her child!"

"And a real father would have taken responsibility the moment he knew, but you were gone before I could tell you I was pregnant! And who knows how many women had this same luck! I was in shock, Zipacna!"

"And how do you think I felt when I found a baby in my doorstep without a fucking clue as to who was the mother?!" Zipacna growled, taking a step forward. "I won't deny I was in denial at first, but now I've taken responsibility!"

"I want to do so as well!"

"Ay, por favor! You never cared for him! You never wrote to ask about his wellbeing! You never visited him! I do not think your maternal instinct simply kicked in when it was never there to begin with!"

"What do you know about parental instinct?!"

"Well, for starters, I actually stared to look after him! And I love him, and he loves me! You will not take him away, fin de la discusión!"

"As if! You don't even love yourself, Zipacna! How could you love somebody else? You never did!"

"HA! Says the woman who didn't love herself enough to fight for her child! What kind of mother would you have been?!"

"I am his mother!"

"There's more to being a mother than just giving birth to someone, mujer! A real mother wouldn't have abandoned her child! My sister-in-law is a better mother than you are, perhaps you should take lessons from her!"

Nadia hisses. "I don't want to make a scandal, but if I have to I will spill blood to take him back! And you know I would!"

"That's pretty clear! But hear this! You will only take Algner out of this castle over my dead body!"

Nadia narrowed her eyes, her arms crossed in a stiff position. "I tried to do this the good way, Zipacna, but you left me no other choice." With that, the water nymph was gone in a swirl of water. Zipacna growled as he continued to stare at the spot she had been standing a few moments ago. He could not believe it, she had to come at the worst time, precisely when the pantheon was still talking about how he nearly… He didn't even want to remember it. And sadly, he didn't know Nadia enough to tell if she would use underhanded methods to take Algner away, they didn't interact much apart from their time in bed.

He needed help.

If there was one thing Xibalba hated, it was being dragged out in the middle of something important. Especially when the person who dragged him out was a certain brother of his who gave him no other choice in the matter. He wanted to give La Muerte a surprise dinner, and Zipacna had to choose that very moment to send him a damn letter. La Muerte said it was okay, but it was not with him.

He made his way towards Algner's nursery after asking an imp about Zipacna's whereabouts, and saw Zipacna standing next to the child's cradle, and he looked… troubled.

"What is so urgent that you technically ruined my surprise dinner for La Muerte?!" Xibalba hissed in a low voice.

"Sorry about that, but it's urgent." Zipacna retorted in a low voice.

"What happened now? Did you lose another of your favorite magazines?"

The elder god rolled his eyes. "No, it's actually urgent. Algner's mother came today and told me she wants him back."

Xibalba's eyes opened wide in shock. "Wha…? His mother?"

"SHH!" Zipacna hissed, glancing and Algner and sighing in relief when he saw he was still asleep.

"Who is his mother, now that we're on it? You never told us."

"I only found out today. Remember the Scottish water nymph I told you about?"

"Yes."

"That's her. Her name is Nadia."

"And you say she wants him back?"

"Yes, it was out of the sudden! From the way she acted, I don't think she has good intentions with him."

"I see… Why didn't she appear until now, then?"

Zipacna scoffed. "I doubt she wants to make up for lost time. I mean, maternal instinct doesn't just come out of nowhere like that! Just ask La Muerte and Marigold!"

Xibalba sighed, leaning against the wall and fidgeting with his staff. "It's not about it coming out. There are simply women who are naturally good mothers, and women who weren't born for it."

"I'm afraid she will take this to the Kings… She doesn't belong to the pantheon, but she is Algner's mother, so she can at least appeal for his custody."

He knew where this was going. "What are you going to do?"

"For now, I have to find out what she wants with Algner. She will not take him without a fight. And I'd like your help with something."

"What is it?"

"You are good at dark magic. In fact, you have more experience in it than me. I put a protection spell on Algner, but two are better than one."

Xibalba couldn't deny him that. It was his nephew they were talking about, after all. He muttered a spell in the Ancient Language and stamped his staff, releasing a large field of green energy that expanded out of the room and around the castle. "If there's something I know about water nymphs, it's that they are repelled by dark magic. They are naturally repulsed by it."

Zipacna nodded. "Exactly."

"That spell will keep anyone and anything out of the castle's borders unless they are invited in."

"Okay…" Zipacna sighed in dismay and ran a hand down his face in frustration. "What am I going to do if anything…?"

"Nothing will happen."

"I don't want to take any chances, Xibalba." Zipacna growled in exasperation. "Damn it, Nadia… If only I could…"

"I know."

"Thank you for coming, Xibalba… and sorry for ruining your surprise dinner."

"That's okay. La Muerte would have killed me if I had ignored you, anyway. And if you need any more help, you know where to find me."

Zipacna merely nodded, and watched as his brother teleported away. He glanced down at Algner, who was completely oblivious to what had been going on, he simply continued to sleep, dreaming of who knew who. He stirred momentarily when his father picked him up, but then went back into stillness when he recognized the hold. He would ask the imps to lend him a hand in moving Algner's crib to his bedroom, at least until he dealth with Nadia.

She would not take him away.

Ever.