Against all Odds

Chapter 10- Betrayal

The next day, Aimé slid through the halls of Aztlan in the form of a blur of marigold petals, one of the many things she and her sister had in common. She was heading towards La Muerte and Xibalba's room, carrying something with her, she knew they were probably out, and that they wouldn't be back until later. She didn't have much time. Looking around to make sure there was no one around, Aimé entered the room and closed the door behind her. She headed towards the desk, and placed a tray with a jar of lemonade and two glasses on top of it. Making sure no one was coming, she took a vial with a dark liquid out of her bodice.

She was starting to hesitate about this course of action; as she stared at the vial, she wondered if it would truly work, if it would truly make them be together for eternity. She remembered Víbora's words.

Pour it all into the drink, and have him drink it. Then you drink it, and nothing will set you apart from him. You will be together forever…

Aimé put all doubts aside, and she poured the contents of the vial into the lemonade; the dark liquid dissipated into the grayish green color of the drink. Footsteps echoed outside; Aimé quickly teleported into the bathroom to hide herself from view, not before leaving a small note next to the jar of lemonade for Xibalba to read. Luckily for her, her handwriting was identical to La Muerte's, so he wouldn't see any difference. She quickly but silently closed the door when she heard the door open.

Xibalba glided into the room to take a little nap, unbeknown to his wife; he told her that he was going to leave Ponzoña-which was partly true-, but he had no intention to listen to one of Toci's sermons again. The dark god noticed a jar of lemonade on the desk; it wasn't there when he and La Muerte left. Had someone left it here for them? He noticed there was a note attached to the jar.

Balby

I made some lemonade for you, I imagined you'd be thirsty.

Love, Muertita.

Xibalba couldn't help but smile a bit; seriously, he never understood how his wife always seemed to know when he was hungry or thirsty, but he thanked the heavens she did. Pouring a bit into one of the glasses, he drank it with one gulp, quenching his thirst. It was sweet, just like his wife, it was like everything she touched turned sweet.

A door creaked behind him. Xibalba turned around with a grin to meet his beloved La Muerte when she asked him if he liked the lemonade.

But his smile vanished when he found someone else in her stead, someone he had hoped never to see again.

"Hola, Balby…" Aimé stepped out of the bathroom door, holding a dagger in her hand, and pointing it at the dark god's chest. "Did you miss me?"

Xibalba was speechless. What was she doing here? More importantly, how come no one had seen her during all this time? She had not been seen for centuries ever since she left after being banished. The rational side of him snapped at her. "You?!"

"You recognize me, Xibalba, you don't know how happy that makes me…" Aimé spoke, but all malice and cruelty was gone from her face and her voice, instead talking to him like she were talking to a lover. "It means that you didn't forget me…"

"How did you get in here?" Xibalba hissed with sharp teeth. "And when?"

"Don't you remember? We've been spending time together the past days."

"What the heck are you talking about?!"

"I've been very close to you, my love… Or did you forget what happened between us yesterday?"

"What…?" Xibalba's eyes widened in realization. "Y-You… You are La Noche?"

"I was." Aimé approached him, but he stepped back. "All I wanted was that you tasted me as a woman, Xibalba. I would have taken you to heaven and hell with me if you had. You would have left my damn sister when you felt what I could make any man feel."

"It was you…" Xibalba started connecting the dots. "You were the one who planned that I saw La Muerte with Veneno! And you got me with you in bed so La Muerte would catch us!"

"You left me no other choice… You didn't want to see the kind of woman I was… My sister had you blinded…"

"The only one who's blinded is you. Don't you realize? Your envy, your hatred turned you into a monster."

"Why….?" Aimé was close to tears now. "Why couldn't you love me? Why did you have to adore my sister while I never existed for you?!"

"You know what, Aimé?" Xibalba sighed, shaking his head. "Maybe I did consider giving you a chance at one point, but then you became a despicable being that only provokes me revulsion."

"I warned you, Xibalba, that I was capable of doing anything for you. You brought me to that extreme." Her voice turned resentful and hurt. "You turned me into what I am today."

"Oh, no, don't blame me for your choices!" the dark god snapped, clenching his staff. "I'll have you thrown into the dungeons, along with that accomplice of yours!" he clutched his chest when he felt a sharp pain in his heart as it started drumming, his vision blurred and it was followed by a migraine; he had to lean on his staff to prevent himself from falling over.

"Call whoever you want…" Aimé said softly. "By the time they get here, it'll be too late."

"What have you done to me?!" Xibalba yelled, struggling to get to the doors.

"I made sure that we'll be together…" Aimé approached the desk and poured lemonade into the glass, before drinking it with one gulp. "For eternity, mi amor. You'll be by my side forever…"

Xibalba stumbled out of the room, and let out a yell of pain as his stomach churned and twisted, managing to get to the small garden before his body collapsed; every single joint hurt, his drumming heart started to ache, and his migraine just got worse. With the last of his strength, Xibalba brought Ponzoña to life; the two-headed snake immediately realized something was wrong with his master, and it hissed while rubbing his heads against the dark god's glove.

"G-Get H-Help…" he managed to utter, before losing consciousness.

Ponzoña quickly slithered away before Aimé tumbled into the garden, the poison started to take effect on her too. She stumbled towards the fallen god. "No one will ever love you like me, my love! No one!" Tears started streaming down Aimé's cheeks as she approached. "Don't be afraid, mi amor…" falling to her knees, she crawled towards Xibalba and finally collapsed next to him, holding him close. "Nothing will ever split us apart… It'll be you and me… forever…"

She closed her eyes to wait until the venom killed them both, a smile on her face; the first genuine, happy smile she ever gave.

La Muerte knew something had happened when Ponzoña came to her, alone; Xibalba never went anywhere without him, and viceversa. Her suspicions were confirmed when Ponzoña tugged at her dress with one of his heads, and then slithered away, he wanted her to follow him. She went after the snake as fast as she could, to the gardens. She couldn't get the feeling of dread off her.

"Balby…?" she called out once she found herself in the gardens, but there was no reply. Ponzoña hissed to call her attention, and then slithered to what appeared to be a dark-winged figure with a dark-haired woman… Her heart skipped a beat.

"XIBALBA!"

Immediately, she ran to her husband's side, but she had a heart attack when she saw who was with him. Aimé was still conscious, and her happiness turned into annoyance when her sister arrived. La Muerte shook Xibalba's shoulder to try and awake him, but she realized he was unconscious.

"Get your hands off him…" Aimé drowsily and weakly tried to swat her sister's hands away. "He's mine now…"

"What did you do, Aimé?!" La Muerte shrieked, before setting her attention back on the dark god. "Xibalba, please wake up! Wake up!"

"I'm just taking back what should have been mine…" Aimé smirked, pulling Xibalba closer to her.

Suddenly, Ponzoña felt a dark presence, similar to that of his master, yet different. Before he could do anything, he was swatted away into a bush.

"Xibalba!" La Muerte continued to try and shake her husband awake.

"It's no use, my dear. He can't hear you."

La Muerte froze at the familiar voice, but she still turned around to see Veneno standing a few steps way from her. "W-What do you mean?"

"He's dying. Aimé poisoned him." He said coldly. "In a few more minutes he'll be dead."

"No…" La Muerte turned her attention back to Xibalba and grabbed his face. "Balby! Balby, I beg you! Please, wake up!"

"Get your hands off him, he's mine!" Aimé snapped weakly, this time managing to swat her sister's hand away. But the older goddess grabbed his face again, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Balby, you can't die! We're going to have a baby! You can't leave us alone!"

"I've come to offer you something, dear La Muerte."

Sobbing, she turned around to face Veneno. "An offer?"

"I can save his life." Veneno held out a vial with a transparent liquid. "This is the antidote to the venom that is killing your husband, I can give it to you, and you can save his life." He saw hope in La Muerte's eyes, before she realized something.

"You don't want it for free, do you?" she asked with a dry mouth and wet eyes. "You want something in exchange."

"You're smart, aren't you?" Veneno smiled at her. "Indeed, there's something I want in exchange for this."

"What is it? Tell me, I'll give you anything for the antidote!"

"Anything?"

"Whatever you ask of me! Just please, let me save him!"

Veneno pretended to think for a moment, before grinning at her. "I want you to come with me."

La Muerte blinked in confusion. "What?"

"All I want you to do is to come with me. I'll let you save your husband's life, and then you'll accompany me."

La Muerte glanced back at her husband in desperation, then at the vial of antidote in Veneno's hand. With a sob of resignation, she nodded her head. "I'll go with you… If you save his life, I'll go with you with no resistance."

Aimé's eyes widened in shock, and horror and Veneno handed over the vial of antidote to La Muerte, and she immediately poured the contents into Xibalba's mouth. "You'll be okay, Balby… You'll be okay…"

"No…" Aimé felt anger, despair and frustration brewing up at her chest; she felt Veneno's eyes over there, she could tell he was enjoying this, like he was mocking at her. "No, don't take him! He's mine!" Her grip on Xibalba tightened, but her body started to weaken and weaken as the poison went through her veins.

"I'm sorry, Aimé. But the vial has antidote for one person only…" Veneno licked his lips. "So you'll have to die alone." Then he turned to La Muerte, his eyes softening up as he took a napkin from his cloak and approached her from behind.

"Hang in there, Xibalba…" La Muerte stroked her husband's cheek tenderly, and placed his hand on her abdomen. "Do it for our baby…" Suddenly she felt a napkin over her mouth and an arm grabbing her by the waist; she was forcefully led away from Xibalba, instinctively struggling to get free, but she was becoming drowsy, probably because the napkin had some sort of sleeping potion. Her eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness, falling into Veneno's arms. Veneno stroked La Muerte's cheek softly; he was tempted to kiss her, but now was not the time. He'd take her to his hideout, then he'd regain all the years he lost trapped in that place…

Aimé's hand fell limply on the grass, and her chest stopped moving.

Xibalba regained enough consciousness to catch a glimpse of Veneno taking n unconscious La Muerte in his arms and disappearing in a flash of light, before everything went black again.

The next time he woke up, he was no longer in the gardens, but in back in the room. His vision was blurry, but he could hear voices around him; he no longer felt Aimé clutching him, for which he was very relieved. Xibalba shifted in bed, calling the attention of the surrounding voices.

"Are you alright, hermanito?" Zipacna was the first to speak, placing a claws hand on his brother's shoulder.

"What… What happened?" Xibalba managed to sit up a bit.

"You were nearly gone, that happened!" Ehécatl stated. "Thank heaven you were given the right antidote for the venom, or we wouldn't have been able to help you."

"What happened?" Quetzalcóatl questioned. "We found you collapsed in the gardens with… La Muerte's sister."

"All I recall is drinking the lemonade on the desk, then Aimé came out of the bathroom, everything after that is a blur… until…" Xibalba's eye opened like plates in realization "La Muerte! Where's La Muerte?!"

"What?!" Xochiquétzal shrieked.

"Hey, calm down, man! Tell us what you remember." The Candlemaker said.

"She left with that Veneno guy to save my life! I saw him taking her away!" Xibalba tried to stand up, but Zipacna gently pushed him back unto bed.

"Nonono, Xibalba, you're still weak from the poison, you need to rest!"

"How do you expect me to rest when my wife is being held against her will by a madman?!"

"Xibalba, there's something you should know about this 'madman'…" Toci sighed. "When we found you in the garden, there was an empty vial next to you. There was a single drop of the antidote left, and I examined it to see what kind of poison Aimé had given you…"

"And so?" Xochiquétzal inquired. "Where was that venom from? Where did Aimé obtain it?"

"The poison was from a Basilisk, the last of his kind."

There was silence in the room as the gods processed the information in their brains; Xibalba felt his heart skipping a beat, aching in every heartbeat from the effects of the poison even though he was out of danger.

"Víbora did this?!" he snapped with sharp teeth as the other gods started whispering amongst themselves.

"How did he escape?"

"It means he and Aimé were accomplices the whole time."

"and he has La Muerte now!"

"This is very grave." Quetzalcóatl sighed, shaking his head.

"Grave?! My wife and child are in danger!" Xibalba snapped at the plumed serpent, forgetting momentarily that he was speaking to his King. "I have to save them-!" Once again, Zipacna pushed him against the bed.

"You can't do anything in that state! You'll only get yourself killed!" the crocodile-headed god growled.

"I don't care! I have to try!"

"Listen to the voice of reason, man! How are you supposed to save them if you are killed?" the Candlemaker stated.

"I'm not standing by as Víbora harms my wife-!"

Xibalba was interrupted when suddenly vines bound his arms, legs wings and waist to the bed. He struggled to get free, but the more he wiggled, the more the vines tightened around him. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Quetzalcóatl sighed. "This is for your own good, Xibalba. You mean well, but if you act rashly you may endanger La Muerte further. We will make a plan to deal with Víbora and rescue La Muerte, but in the meantime you will remain here until you have gotten better from the effects of the poison."

"You can't-!" Before Xibalba could protest any further, another vine came from behind and wrapped around his mouth, gagging him. "MPH!"

As the other gods left him to rest (against his will), Zipacna and the Candlemaker gave him an apologetic look before going after them. For a while, Xibalba struggled to get free from the binds, letting out muffled protests, his wings flapping desperately, but it was futile.

A low hiss caught his attention. Xibalba glanced around the room to see where it had come from, and found himself staring into Ponzoña's two pair of eyes.