Everyone, I'm going to clear a bit things regarding Marigold and Aimé's pregnancies. Marigold has about 4 weeks of difference with Aimé, since she got pregnant much before Aimé did. Right now, Marigold is nearing the eight months, while Aimé has just entered the seventh month.
Days passed.
Ever since Marigold had found the truth about her aunt, and reunited with her mother, things changed. When she saw the state her uncle was in, she refused to leave his side, which put her and Juan Carlos's 'quality time' on waiting for now. Xibalba unfortunately had to leave often to keep Aimé distracted, and whenever she asked of Marigold he lied to her saying he hadn't seen her, since he thought she and her husband needed their time alone. He could notice Aimé looked more relieved and happy around him without Marigold around.
Then he'd make the same excuse, that he had work to do back at the Land of the Forgotten, lots of paperwork, and all that. Aimé would understand, and say it was okay, that she'd be fine. Then he'd return to his castle to meet with his wife and daughter. Today the stitches would be taken off Zipacna, and he had the feeling they would need some support.
And he was right. He didn't stop complaining as Asclepius carefully cut the stitches and removed them as slowly and carefully as he could, but Zipacna wasn't helping at all. The other four gods were having a small 'meeting' in the couches.
"I still can't believe it… My aunt wanted to kill me?" Marigold was still in the denial state, rubbing her forearms.
Xibalba nodded. "She thought I gave you too much attention. She wants me all for herself."
"Tell me about it- OUCH!" Zipacna winced, and glared at Asclepius's hand. "Be careful!"
"It wouldn't hurt so much if you stopped moving!" Asclepius simply said.
"Easy for you to say! You're not the one who was almost torn apart by some loony…!"
"Zipacna!" now it was La Muerte who snapped at her brother-in-law. That was when he realized he was not alone.
"Loony what?" Juan Carlos inquired.
Xibalba changed the subject. "It doesn't matter… What matters is how we are going to stop her!" He glanced at his wife.
"We have to expose her to the Kings."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Zipacna winced.
Juan Carlos said. "Well, we have the pages from her diary where she confesses using the poison on La Muerte and Marigold."
Marigold blinked. "Pages? What pages?"
"These pages." Xibalba searched in his cloak, and took out the pages of Aimé's diary. "Aimé confesses here with a conveniently large amount of details about both her plans, the one for your mother and the one for you."
The young goddess frowned, crossing her arms. "Don't you think it would have been prudent to show me those pages in the first place?!"
"I wanted to, but I didn't want to worry you. You're still pregnant, sweetie, I was afraid it could have affected the both of you." The dark god wen to sit between his wife and daughter, handing them the pages of the diary so they could read them. As they read about Aimé's plans, their eyes swelled up with tears, but for different reasons.
"My own sister did this to me…" La Muerte sobbed.
"I still find it hard to believe… She was so friendly and attentive…" Marigold added.
Juan Carlos took her hand. "It was all part of her scheme, to earn your trust and then stab you in the back."
Zipacna nodded. "Yeah, to poison Xibalba and make him fall in love with her-OW!" He bit his lip in pain.
"Don't move!" Asclepius snapped.
"Fine! Just be careful!"
"Zipacna is right." Xibalba continued, glancing at his two (potentially three) girls. "She poisoned us, all three of us. She nearly killed you, sweetie, and your uncle, and almost made me fall in love with her… and she took…" he grabbed his wife's hand tightly. "She took you away from me, mi amor…" he couldn't continue as his eyes swelled up with tears.
"Balby…" La Muerte squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"But now that we are all here, we can put an end to this once and for all."
"But we need more proof than those pages." Juan Carlos stated.
Xibalba glanced back at his brother. "Zipacna?"
"Hmm? What is it?" the older god winced in pain again, but managed to contain a complaint.
"Can you testify that she took you to The Pit?"
"To sink that woman? I'd even say she dragged me down to Hell!"
"The Pit?" Juan Carlos repeated the two words; whatever it was, it didn't sound pleasant. "What's that?" He noticed Zipacna glancing at Xibalba, who glanced at his wife and she gave him a nod. Xibalba sighed.
"It's the prison of my land, accessed only from my throne room, and by those who carry my blood. The worst criminals are kept there."
"Wasn't that the Land of the Cursed?"
"Those are worse, they commit sins against the gods themselves, not only to humanity." Zipacna explained. "The ones here are not bad enough to be sent do my realm, but are too dangerous to be allowed to simply roam free like the rest of the Forgotten. So dangerous Xibalba had to take precautions, and that's why it was so hard to get out of there in the first place!"
Xibalba glanced at him, incensed. "I never thought you'd end up down there! Besides, unlike a certain someone, I do take potential threats seriously!"
Zipacna was about to retort when he winced and grit his teeth, nearly growling when Asclepius started to treat a deeper cut.
"Wasn't it where Chakal was imprisoned?" Marigold inquired, shivering in discomfort at the memory.
Xibalba nodded. "Yes." He didn't want to remember the whole mess with Víbora and Chakal either, and he could tell those two were an uncomfortable topic for La Muerte as she shifted uncomfortably. There was a sad look, and she was unusually quiet. Zipacna decided to change the subject before they got all teary out again.
"Anyway, what other proof do we have against her?"
"Good point. She's smart, she could say those pages were from when she was resentful, and that we forgot the other one."
Marigold thought for a moment, before smiling. "Juan, I think we have the most important proof here." She took her mother's hand tightly as everyone glanced at her. She did have a point there.
"Exactly-MALDITA SEA!" Zipacna roared, clutching the blankets, glaring down at Asclepius.
"Just a few more."
"The worst of them? Just don't do that thing with the alcohol again!"
"I will if the wound reopens because you don't stop moving!"
"So, how are we going to lure Aimé to Aztlan?" Xibalba spoke outloud to call his brother's attention before he started to argue with Asclepius again.
"Well, she's head over heels for you, Balby." La Muerte stated. "If you tell her to meet you there for something… romantic, she won't resist."
"You are right, my dear. But how could I get her to the King's presence? If I take her to the throne room directly, she will know what are my intentions. It would be better to take the Kings somewhere and see themselves."
"Why don't you take her to the garden while we tell the Kings to hide somewhere they can hear?" Marigold suggested. "Then we trick her into confessing."
"Good for me!" Zipacna stated.
Xibalba nodded. "That's a good idea…" he smiled. "You're as smart as your mother."
La Muerte blushed. "Ay, Balby…."
"I can't wait to see the Kings' faces when they see La Muerte, alive and breathing." Zipacna chuckled.
"That's the main idea. And we should also mention her minions, the ones who kidnapped Zipacna."
"ESPECIALLY THOSE IDIOTS!" Zipacna flinched when Asclepius pinched his arm-the little part of his arm that wasn't injured.
"DON'T MOVE!" Asclepius snapped at him.
"Sorry…" Zipacna muttered under his breath, wincing as the old god continued to remove the stitches. "Anyway, who else could have a proof against her…" a bell ran in his brain. "Itzamna! He can testify about the poison!"
Marigold glanced at her uncle. "Itzamna knew of this?"
Both Zipacna and Xibalba glanced at Juan Carlos, before the former nodded. "Camazok knows as well."
"We have more than enough witnesses." La Muerte said.
"Asclepius here can also testify on the state he tended me in." He glared at the doctor, who now had shifted his attention to one last stitched cut.
"Just one more…" he whispered.
"Aha."
"And don't forget the Candlemaker." Xibalba pointed out. "He is a key witness to this. Not everything appears in the Book, but most of the important details should be there."
Suddenly, Marigold felt another migraine. Her hands instinctively went to her baby bump, feeling her little one shifting, and her consciousness fading away. Xibalba noticed. "Sweetie, are you okay?" he stood up warily. All eyes set on her.
"My head… I…"
"MARIGOLD!"
Xibalba caught his daughter just in time as she lost consciousness. La Muerte immediately went to his side, touching her daughter's forehead and shaking her shoulder, her eyes swelling up with tears. "Marigold! Dios mío, she's boiling hot!" she sobbed.
Asclepius had just finished with Zipacna's wounds when he saw the scene. He ran towards Marigold, sensing his services would be needed for a little longer than planned. "Quickly! Bring her to bed!"
Xibalba picked Marigold up and rushed to bed, followed by La Muerte, Juan Carlos and Asclepius as he placed her down on the other side of bed. Asclepius placed his hand on her forehead and his hand glowed white, then he slowly ran it down her frame. Juan Carlos didn't think as he pushed his father-in-law aside (lightly) and sat down, taking his wife's hand. "Is she okay?! Is the baby okay?!"
Xibalba was too worried for his daughter to get angry at Juan Carlos for pushing him aside, and instead glanced at Asclepius. "Asclepius?"
He continued to examine her, and found something. "There's poison coursing through her."
"WHAT?!" All in the room yelled, though Zipacna winced in pain at his injuries.
"Whatever was used to poison her still clings like a parasite. It's feeding on her children."
"You have to do something!" Xibalba looked at Marigold and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Marigold, my sweet, you have to be strong." He took a glance at his wife, and saw her anguished expression, her eyes swelling up with tears as she took her hands to her lips, sobbing. That was how a true mother would react.
"Mijita!" she sobbed, trying to shake Marigold awake. "Marigold!
"Did you give her an antidote?" Asclepius inquired.
"We did!" Xibalba retorted in alarm.
"I gave it to her myself!" Juan Carlos confirmed it.
Asclepius continued to check on her. "There must be something… It should have purged the venom entirely from her system, unless…" Could it be possible?
"Unless…?" Xibalba repeated. "Asclepius, what is it?"
"Unless one of the babies has absorbed the venom."
The other gods gasped in shock. "What are you saying with 'one' of the 'babies'? Xibalba continued to ask. "Babies?"
Asclepius nodded. "She's carrying twins."
"…Wha…?" the dark god glanced at his wife and son-in-law, who were as surprised as him.
"Twins?" Juan Carlos repeated. If only the circumstances were different…
"Is there something you can do about it?" La Muerte said.
"I have to determine which one is infected with the venom and try to purge it out." Asclepius replied, now placing his hand on the baby bump.
"How are you going to do that?" Zipacna stated.
"With a purification spell it should be enough, but something's not right…"
"What? Tell us what is wrong!
" If the child absorbed the venom it should have died, but…."
"But?" Xibalba pressed.
"It looks as if it's actually absorbing it on its own account, it does no harm to it. Something protects it from the poison…" Could it be possible? He had treated Akrinok hundreds of times, but he never showed signs of… Unless... "Xibalba, did your father use dark magic?"
Xibalba was both surprised and speechless at the question. Zipacna had to answer for him. "As, I think it's pretty obvious he was pretty immersed in it." He was also confused that Asclepius asked that question if he had known and treated his father.
"Akrinok used normal dark magic, but there's something else he never told me… and you're not telling me either."
"What do you mean?" La Muerte inquired.
""Simple dragon genetic can't do this unless it's modified in any way. Akrinok knew something we didn't."
"Excuse me, but who is Akrinok?" Juan Carlos inquired.
Oh, right. He didn't know. Xibalba and Zipacna exchanged somewhat sad glances, before the former sighed. "My… father."
"And what does he have to do with this?"
"I have my suspects of what kind of magic he used." Asclepius stated, removing his hand from Marigold's belly.
"It's the same… as…. Father and I…." Zipacna's eyes widened in realization.
La Muerte was the first to notice. "What's wrong?"
"Zipacna?" Juan Carlos shook his shoulder very carefully lest he wanted to hurt him again.
"Father and I were the only ones in the family to be immune to any type of venom or poison." Zipacna said, not looking at them. Could it be…?
"What does that mean?
Asclepius turned to the rest of the Gods with a grim expression. "Have you heard of what the Book of Death contains?"
"The Book of Death...?" La Muerte repeated. She thought she had heard the other gods mention a few spells from that book, but whenever they did it was in whispers and apprehensive tones, as if they knew they were forbidden to speak of in front of the younger generations in fear they would attempt to seize the Book to try it out. She and the others turned to Xibalba, if he guarded the Book of Death it meant he must have seen the inside.
"H-Hey, don't look at me!" he said, lifting his hands defensively. "Just because I have to keep an eye on the Book of Death doesn't mean I read it on my spare time!"
Asclepius sighed. "It's not really surprising, it's a very delicate subject."
"But how can you be so certain?" Xibalba inquired. "Wait… You treated him a few times. Didn't he tell you anything?"
"It was strange. His wounds healed unnaturally fast for a dragon, but he refused to tell me anything. It was as if it was a… touchy subject for him."
"Excuse me, but I still don't understand." La Muerte said. "How can the Book of Death have affected Akrinok?"
Xibalba shrugged. "We don't know either." A groan called their attention, and they noticed Marigold was starting to shift awake. But La Muerte could see a nervous expression on her husband's face, as if he were hiding something. "Xibalba, are you certain?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
Before Xibalba could say anything, Marigold's eyes cracked open, and she groaned as she sat up, blinking a few times. "What.. What happened?" The rest of the gods sighed in relief as Xibalba stroked his daughter's head.
"You fainted…" he said.
"Again?"
Juan Carlos grabbed her hand. "How are you feeling? Is everything okay?"
Xibalba was worried about his baby and grandchildren, he wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't bring himself to interrupt them anymore. Juan Carlos was the father, he had all the rights, he knew what it felt like. He couldn't believe what he was going to say, but he sympathized with him.
"I think I'm okay…" Marigold replied, trying to smile reassuringly.
La Muerte glanced at the doctor. "Asclepius, you didn't finish explaining what was going on with the poison and the baby."
"Poison?" Marigold glanced at Asclepius worriedly. "Is something wrong with my baby?"
Juan Carlos smiled. "Um, Mari, you mean babies." When his wife glanced at him in surprise and confusion, his smile grew wider. "Long story."
Asclepius sighed. "It seems the child absorbing the venom has an aura made of dark magic."
"But how?" La Muerte insisted, still glancing at Xibalba.
"I don't know, my dear, I swear… " Xibalba denied it once more. "He never told us anything about this."
"It's not a casualty." Asclepius explained. "Dark magic can cling to one's blood and genetic, and usually their descendants present certain traits that are derived from it. It is not fully understood, Akrinok never showed signs of losing his mind."
"So what now? We have to solve this, and Aimé."
"You won't have to worry about the baby. One of the effects of Dark Magic is that the host cannot be harmed by poison of any kind, it quickens the metabolism and eliminates any harmful substances that may come into their system. It seems the child knows the venom is harmful to its mother, and is trying to absorb as much of it as he can. It appears he knows it cannot hurt him."
Marigold gasped and her eyes swelled up with tears. "My b-baby is trying to… save me?" Could it be possible?
Zipacna groaned. "And you still had to use that alcohol on me!"
"ZIPACNA!"
Asclepius groaned. "You were injured, not poisoned! You don't have the regeneration Dark Magic sometimes presents...!" he thought for a moment." But Xibalba does to some extent…"
"You're saying they're made out of Dark Magic?" Juan Carlos inquired.
"US?" Xibalba scoffed. "Boy, we weren't born by magic, unfortunately..." He winced upon recalling how they were conceived.
The doctor shook his head. "Dark magic passed through genetic is very mysterious. Your father became physically consumed by it, but he not mentally, apparently he had a strong mind that withstood its influence. But it passed down into you two, and it manifested only mildly." Asclepius glanced at Marigold's baby bump. "But in this child it's fully manifested. Still, you should give her more antidote as a safety measure, but apparently the baby has already been taking care of it, with side effects."
Xibalba sighed. "It's good to have someone take care of you."
"And that's why I'll never have kids." Zipacna muttered under his breath, only to flinch when La Muerte glared at him.
"Shut up, you are not the one who carries the baby."
"Technically women do all the job, you just start it." Marigold added.
Zipacna rolled his eyes. "And after you have the baby the true hell starts for the father. Always mom saying the same, 'I sacrificed myself for this baby and what do you do? Huh'?" He knewhe had messed up when both his sister-in-law and niece were glaring daggers at him. "Well… so no, thank you."
"Guys, can we get back on track?" Juan Carlos called their attention again. "What are we going to do about Aimé?"
"What is right to do!" Xibalba snapped.
"You think the Kings will believe me?" Marigold said.
"There's enough proof and witnesses, and in a way we'll try to make her confess herself."
"You'll have to do that, Xibalba." La Muerte took his hand. "She's not the same around you."
"Unfortunately for me…" Xibalba muttered. "And when should we carry this out?"
"As soon as possible before she tries something else!" Juan Carlos said.
"OR before she gets the feeling something is off." Zipacna pointed out, wincing. "Pretend just for a little longer, hermanito."
"I know, you don't have to remind me."
"But papá, she is pregnant." Marigold pointed out.
Oh, darn. It was true. The Ancient Rules forbad any kind of harm on pregnant goddesses, and there was still the possibility that the child she bore was his. "Yes, I know…" Xibalba rubbed his temples in dismay. "But what I fear the most is what if what she says it's true…? If we hurt her, we could hurt the baby… who she says its mine." They had to be very careful.
"All we have to do is make her confess." Juan Carlos stated.
"You have to be very careful, Balby…" La Muerte added, taking his hand once again.
"I will." Xibalba said with a determined expression. "What about you?"
"We'll give her the surprise of her life." Juan said, but there was not any hint of humor on his face. Xibalba had to say, now he was impressed. He was taking this seriously, he had Marigold's safety as a priority, not just petty revenge.
"What if she catches on?" Marigold inquired.
"In that case, we'll have to choose the hard way." Zipacna snickered.
"Don't hurt her baby!" La Muerte exclaimed, frowning. "You cannot attack a pregnant maiden, and that baby is still my niece or nephew!"
"Let me guess, Ancient Rules." Juan Carlos sighed in dismay. Man, he needed a copy of those Ancient Rules.
"They are right, Zipacna. We can't hurt her." Xibalba glanced at his brother.
"Ah, but her minions can be hurt…" the caiman-headed god snickered in delight. "Without them, she is powerless."
Asclepius coughed to call her attention. "If you won't be needing me, I will be taking my leave."
Xibalba nodded. "Thank you for everything, Asclepius." He glanced at Zipacna, who grumbled a 'thank you' under his breath. In a flash of white light, the god was gone. Once Asclepius was gone, Xibalba was still looking at his older brother. "Zipacna, is there any way to get her minions out of the way?"
"I only said we'd come to that if she realized what we were planning." Zipacna replied, shifting his 'good' wing to get comfortable.
"What kind of creatures are they?" La Muerte asked.
"They're not a kind of creature I've ever seen before. If I could only-!" Suddenly his broken wing jolted in a sharp pain. "ARGH! DAMN IT!"
Xibalba realized he was in no condition to move. "That's it, you're staying here."
"Oh, no! I'm not going to be absent when that arpía is uncovered! I hate her way too much to miss it!"
"You're in no condition to go anywhere!" La Muerte snapped.
Zipacna crossed his arms stubbornly, frowning. "I don't care! I'm going to see how she begs and cries! And none of you are going to stop me! I think you are all forgetting who is the eldest here! So I'm coming as well!"
"The Candlemaker is older." Marigold pointed out, rolling her eyes.
"I said from all the Gods present here! And please! Do you think I would listen to him?!"
"Well, he can use wax to hold you in place if we ask him to." Xibalba smirked triumphantly. And you know how much it hurts to remove it."
Oddly, Zipacna grinned mockingly. "Oh, yeah? But in that case you would lose a crucial witness, wouldn't you?" I was the only one to whom she spoke directly about her plan before she took me away.
"You two are acting like children, I swear!" La Muerte growled, standing up with closed fists, walking towards Zipacna and pinched his arm (the part without any wounds), making him yelp in pain. "We're not letting you risk your head just because you want to see my sister's downfall! Would you like to have another broken wing?!"
"To see her all humiliated and exposed, YES-AYAYAYAY!" Zipacna growled, his feathers bristling in pain. La Muerte released him, judging by his tone of voice, nothing would make him change his mind. He was as stubborn as his brother.
"Forget it, La Muerte." Juan Carlos said, and shivered when Xibalba narrowed his eyes at him, probably because he had referred to La Muerte informally, but nevertheless he continued to speak. "You should let him break the other wind and see if he learns the bad way."
Zipacna didn't fall for it. "You won't convince me! I had a big part in this plan, and I'm not going to miss it!"
Juan Carlos rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, you can come at your own risk."
Zipacna glanced at his brother with a raised eyebrow and a grin. 'Told ya', he was saying.
Marigold sighed. "When do we do it?"
"We should wait a bit more, I'm still worried about the baby, as incredibly as it seems." Xibalba muttered.
"We should leave Mr Grumpy face to sleep." La Muerte motioned at Zipacna, who turned his head away with a grunt.
Xibalba stood up from the bed, glancing at his brother. "I'd say more like Mr. Stubbornness."
"I learned from the best, you know." Zipacna retorted.
Marigold sighed, smiling lightly. "Sure you did."
As the group headed to the door, Xibalba opened and allowed his wife, daughter and son-in-law (Marigold had to lean a bit on Juan Carlos in case she fainted again) to walk out so they could have dinner, he glanced at his brother. But rather than a scolding glare, he gave him an almost thankful glance, and nodded. Zipacna returned the nod, grinning as his brother closed the door shut behind him.
Very few knew that look meant the brothers were up to something.