"Adela!" Quetzalcoatl cried.
Before the vine could even make contact with its target, Adela whipped around and sliced the vine with her sword. She then quickly climbed a tree, grabbed a vine and swung herself towards her captured friends, slashing the vines and releasing them from their grasps (and causing Sanjay to awkwardly catch Jane, making them both blush).
"Girl's got style." Joaquin commented.
"Adela!" Manolo rushed to his great granddaughter's side and blocked a few striking vines with his swords.
"Wow." Adela complemented, "Who knew after a few centuries you still got it?"
"Hey!" Ehecatl complained as he kept avoiding the vines, "It was funny at first, but now it's getting really personal!" Suddenly, to his dismay, a vine wrapped around him, and Xochi.
"Really?" Xochi glared while the eagle god grunted.
Quetzalcoatl peered at the eyes of the Chaneque who kept making the vines go after the others. They were grey... That's when realization hit him.
"Tezcatlipoca." The King gritted his teeth.
"Miss me, brother dear?" Tezcatlipoca's voice resonated from both of the snake's heads (causing Clavel to faint).
The King had to avoid a striking vine before he could retort. As the others kept slashing on the vines, it became evident that the vines where going after Adela and the Book of Life.
Having enough, Mixco glared at the brain-washed Chaneque before running towards it. Before the tiny creature could even turn its back, it was trapped inside the rocky hands of the god of war.
The grey two-headed snake tried to strike at a distracted Sanjay, but a purple blur struck it onto the ground. The two two-headed snakes began fighting and striking each other, but eventually it was the grey one who laid on the ground in defeat while the purple snake held it by the neck with one head while the other head hissed at it in threat.
In response, the grey snake slithered away, leaving the purple two-headed snake to be approached by Sanjay.
"Um... Thanks." He said. Siniestro wrapped itself around his arm and hissed in response. But the hiss was less threatening than the last one.
Knowing the danger has been passed (for now), Quetzalcoatl approached the war god who was still holding onto the Chaneque.
"Release him." He ordered as he summoned a green snake in his hand.
Mixco did as he was told. Before the Chaneque could do anymore damage, the green snake bit it, causing its eyes to revert back to normal. It got dizzy at the moment, but once it was able to snap out of it, it gasped at the destruction it has caused. Feeling guilty, it solemnly bowed its head in front of Quetzalcoatl.
"No apologies necessary. The fault was not on your will." The King assured. The Chaneque smiled back before helping his fellow Chaneques mend the damage.
"Everyone okay?" Adela asked, clutching the Book of Life in her arms.
"That... was..." Goth Kid suddenly bursted out in excitement, "AWESOME!"
"You were like..." Joao added with exaggerated actions, "And he was like... And we were like..."
"Well don't get too excited." Quetzalcoatl warned, "We still have a long way to go."
"There has got to be a shortcut around here somewhere." Jane mused.
Chalchi began staring at her reflection on the water. At first, she just played with the water and created bubbles. Then, an idea popped in her mind (just as the bubble popped as well).
"We could go by water." She suggested, gesturing to the river, "It connects all the way to the Temple." The others nodded in agreement.
"Excellent suggestion." Quetzalcoatl commented before nervously gazing at Clavel who began to stir, "Just one teeny, tiny problem." A flash of light suddenly enveloped the King.
Clavel was able to regain consciousness as she got up and rubbed her head. The moment was short-lived when she saw a giant, winged, multi-colored snaked towering before her, causing her to faint once again.
"Yeah. That's gonna be a problem." Sanjay said.
"Enjoy your victory while it lasts, Brother Dear, 'cause it won't." Tezcatlipoca scowled as the grey two-headed snake slithered on her arm. That's when a banana peel landed on top of her head. Annoyed, she turns around, only to scowl at the Sanchez family, "Who keeps pelting me with banana peels?"
"Crazy Chris Sanchez." Rosa replied pointing to the cage beside her.
"Come on! Let us out, you giant garden worm!" A woman angrily clutched the bars of her cage. She then yelped back in surprise when the bars momentarily turned into snakes before reverting back to their original forms.
"How a family of bullfighters were able to win the favor of the gods I'll never know." Tezcatlipoca rolled her eyes as she resumes spying on the rescue team, "One thing I know; Luck always runs out."
Quetzalcoatl swiftly glided through the waters. The rest of the group lay on his back, either listening to Manolo playing his guitar, or fanning a still unconscious Clavel.
"Everyone's alright up there?" The snake god called.
"Yes!" Everyone replied.
"Majority speaking." Jane added as she fanned Clavel. When she moves forward, La Muerte's sombrero tilted in a way that it covered her eyes, causing her to awkwardly stumble.
"That look really suits you." Sanjay chuckled in amusement. Suddenly, Siniestro wrapped himself around the two kids.
"Thanks. But I prefer silk to scales any day." Jane smirked at a blushing Sanjay.
"Hey! Check this out." Goth Kid ran two sticks across his chest as if playing a xylophone to the amusement of his friends.
Adela shook her head in amusement. The Book of Life landed on her lap and opened to a page showing the Sanchez family. She wished she could run towards the warm, over-protective, skeletal arms of her abuelo.
"Miss them, huh?" Manolo's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Yeah. Me too. Just when you finally got reunited with the ones you love, they end up being taken away from you."
Adela smiled as her great-grandfather continued strumming on his guitar.
"Must be weird, huh?" She asked, "Ten years ago you were playing in the graveyard with your two best friends. Ten years later, you end up becoming a love triangle which two death gods make a bet on which two of you will eventually get married."
"You should've seen my face when I found out that I was duped by the Ruler of the Land of the Forgotten in ending my life just to win a bet." Manolo chuckled, "Then again, I wonder what would happen if that day never came. Would I still have won the Love of my Life? Would I still have my best friend by my side? Also, would I still have the courage to write my own story instead of letting others decide who I should be?"
Adela was caught by surprise at first, but she could relate. She also found it awkward talking to a deceased relative about the same dilemma he experienced years ago.
"Ever wonder how your grandfather got his name?" Manolo asked after a moment of silence.
"He said you named him after your Guardian Angel." Adela replied.
"Guardian Angels. It was thanks to them I finally realized who I was meant to be." Manolo smirked before he stopped playing and presented his guitar to Adela, "Want to give it a try?"
"Oh! Uh... I've never played before." Adela was a bit taken by surprise. That is, until she saw the excited looks on her students' faces, "But, I guess I could give it a try."
She grabbed her great-grandfather's guitar and plucked a few strings. At first, she just toyed with the strings, but gradually it turned into a set of tunes that got the kids swaying their heads to the beat. Even Yoti couldn't help but wag his tail.
When she finished playing, Adela almost jumped to her feet at the sounds of hands clapping in delight.
"Never played before, huh?" Joaquin asked slyly.
Adela hid her flattered red face under the brim of her Abuelo's sombrero. She flipped one side of the guitar to read the carved inscription behind it;
Always play from the heart.
Adela wondered if these were the words that made her great-grandfather make amends with the bull instead of killing it. If they were, she could really use the encouragement right now. And it's not just because an ancient snake goddess took her family hostage.
"No turning back now, huh?" She stared at the path before her.
"Guess so." Manolo replied, "No retreat?"
Adela smiled before replying, "No surrender."
Cocoa oinked in response as he raised his head in determination. His grand-pig bleated behind him, surprising him and causing him to awkwardly fall down, much to his annoyance and the others' amusement.
Unknown to the group, two familiar pairs of reptilian eyes were eyeing them from the waters...
"You know, I could really use some music right about now." Joao suggested as he laid on his back. As if on cue, harmonic voices can be heard in the background, "Hey thanks."
"Hey Manny, have you been practicing?" Joaquin asked, somehow hypnotized by the music.
"It's not me." Manolo replied.
"So, pretty." Sanjay said as if in a daze. That's when his eyes began to glow grey, along with the other boys'.
Quetzalcoatl took notice of this and the hypnotic music that began to grow louder as he drifted even further. He turned to his right, eyes widening at the group of women sitting on rock formations, vocalizing.
"Cihuateteos!" He cried as he glided faster, "Cover your ears!"
The women kept vocalizing as they dove into the water and swam towards the Feathered Serpent. Quetzalcoatl flapped open his wings and took to the skies.
"No!" Mixco cried, his eyes glowing grey. He tied several ropes on Quetzalcoatl before lassoing the other ends to several rocks, preventing the Serpent from flying any further.
"Are you guys out of your mind?!" Jane exclaimed as the boys scrambled towards the Cihuateteos as if they were in some kind of a spell.
Seeing Quetzalcoatl struggle to get out of his bounds, Adela quickly went to action. She grabbed her sword and slashed a rope off the Serpent' body. She was about to cut another one, only to be intervened by a hissing Cihuateteo who grabbed her by the arm. Luckily for her, a familiar pair of skeletal feet collided with the creature's face, knocking her back into the waters.
"Keep your claws off my great-granddaughter." Maria said. She then rushed and knocked over the Cihuateteo who was getting closer to Manolo, "And my husband!"
Even as the Cihuateteo were crawling towards them, the girls were still able to loosen a few bounds while at the same time knocking, and/or even slapping, a few of the vocalizing creatures back into the waters.
"Ugh!" Clavel was able to wake up in the middle of the fight, "Del, I just had the weidest drea..."
Once she saw the hissing fade of the Cihuateteo, she screamed... then began hitting it with the Book of Life.
Xochi was too busy whipping a few seaweed at the Cihuateteo that she didn't notice the one coming at her from behind. That's when she turned around...
"Oh Honey, that is not a good look for you." She complained at the surprised creature. She made a chair out of seaweed for her to sit on before wrapping her in seaweed, "This seaweed wrap should do the trick." She then pulled so hard, that it made the Cihuateteo spin and fall back into the water.
"You guys so owe us big time!" Maria exclaimed as she blocked a striking Cihuateteo with her sword. She knocked it back to the water. She was about to cut the last rope only to be tackled by another Cihuateteo.
Just when the Cihuateteo was about to finish her off, Adela whipped her at the eye with her poncho and kicked her back to the waters before helping Maria up.
Just when the boys were about to lay even one finger on any of the Cihuateteo, Maria slashed the last rope, causing Quetzalcoatl to fly away and drop the women back to the waters where they were trapped in a water prison made by Chalchi.
Quetzalcoatl took to the skies, but not before leaving behind a few snakes to snap (or bite) the Cihuateteos out of their trance.