A few days passed since she had returned to the Land of the Forgotten.
Aimé did her best to write letters 'from her sister' and gave them to her father to make him think she was with Xochiquétzal, while Xochi kept insisting to Sol that La Muerte needed her time alone for a while. But both knew he would find out sooner or later, and thankfully she had already arrived back home.
Meanwhile, La Muerte knew yet another side of Xibalba. He was very tender and attentive, and surprisingly he did go to great lengths to bring home any cravings Regina didn't know how to make to make up for her having to drink that bitter tea. He picked her up and carried her whenever she had to go to the bathroom, and often accompanied her in the bathtub, massaging her back and stroking her abdomen gingerly. She never thought he could be so caring when he wanted to. Other times he'd lie down next to her, hold her hand and speak sweetly to her. Some nights, he'd sneak out of the room, and the next morning she'd find him asleep next to her, snoring (she had to say, his snoring was quite funny), and sometimes she found a few drops of pink paint on his cheek.
There was something that worried her, though. Lately, her husband's seizures had become a bit frequent. Once every two days, but whenever it came out of sudden she couldn't do anything to help him this time since she was stuck in bed, but after these episodes he was confined to bed for a day too, and no matter where he was he'd always find a way to go back to his… their bed to cuddle up next to her.
The next morning, she found him missing again. She wondered if he had gone to his mysterious project again, maybe he had, she just hoped it didn't have anything to do with his epilepsy again. She felt a little much better after a week in bed, but it'd take a few more days to be out of danger. La Muerte shifted a bit in bed and stroked her abdomen. "Buenos días, bebé." She whispered to the little one with a small smile. "Did you see papi leave bed?" She didn't really expect an answer, but she wanted the baby to hear her voice as much as possible. Almost on cue, she felt a little movement inside, as if the baby had reacted to her voice.
The door creaked open and Xibalba walked in, holding a tray with warm, good-smelling food and a small jar with some red flowers aside. When he saw his wife was awake, he gave her a sweet smile. She returned it as she shifted under the covers. "Good morning…" she whispered. "You woke up early today."
"Well, I had to make breakfast for my two girls." Xibalba replied with a shrug as he sat down on the edge of bed.
"You made it? I thought you only cooked on special occasions."
"This is one. You are back home."
La Muerte smiled tiredly at him. "What did you cook?"
"Well, Asclepius said you needed lots of green things." Carefully, he placed the tray on her lap. It was an omelet with mushrooms, a small fruit salad and some orange juice. She felt her mouth watering at the pleasant smell.
"If you actually made this… It looks good." She felt another movement in her abdomen. "The baby seems to like it too…"
"I'm glad, I made it especially for her…"
La Muerte smiled and cut a small piece to take a bite from the omelet. Her taste buds felt on paradise as the blending of the tastes complemented each other in an harmonious way. Without offending Tiana back in the Land of the Remembered, she might say Xibalba's cooking was even better. She decided to tease him about it. "You should change your job, mi amor. Maybe a chef."
Xibalba chuckled. "I'm comfortable with just being a papi.
"In six months, Xibalba…" she continued to eat, enjoying each bite from the omelet and sip from the juice. She could even taste the pure love in it, it was evident Xibalba had put his heart in it. "Now that we're on it, we never discussed the matter seriously…" She hesitated to continue until she felt his hand gently squeezing hers reassuringly. "What are we going to do, Xibalba…? After she is born, I mean…"
Xibalba hadn't lost his cool and his sweet expression as he brushed hairs away from his wife's face. "I will look after the both of you."
"I don't know if Father has realized I'm here. He will eventually find out, and when he does I'm not sure if he'll let you look after us. He would drag me back to the Land of the Remembered."
His hold on her hand became slightly tighter. "He can try, I won't let him put a foot here…"
"How? Itzlacol is likely to find me too…"
"Those two can try whatever they want, I'm not letting take you away."
She wished it was that easy. "Ay, Xibalba…"
A few moments later when she was done with her meal, Xibalba remained thoughtful for a few seconds. Maybe he could show her now, it had been a few days and the previous day Asclepius said she could walk by herself a bit, without any kind of stress of pressure. "La Muerte, I have a surprise for you." He smiled gently.
"What kind of surprise?" she inquired, sitting up and snuggling against the pillows.
"One I think you're going to like very much, my dear." Placing the tray on his bedside table for Regina to pick it up later, he helped his wife stand up from bed, holding her hands and pulling her closer with a wing as he led her towards the door. "Close your eyes."
La Muerte smiled teasingly as she closed her eyes. "Let's say I trust you." She didn't see where he was taking her, but she heard his door being opened and closes gently, then their footsteps as they walked to a nearby door, and this said door being opened.
"Just a bit longer…" Xibalba whispered, making her giggle in expectation. She sensed lights from a possible chandelier above being lit up illuminating the room, and heard Xibalba's voice again. "You can look now."
When she opened her eyes, it took her a while for her pupils to adjust to the sudden light, but when she finally saw the contents of the room, she barely contained a small gasp of amazement.
The atmosphere of the whole room was very different from the gloomy, dark atmosphere of the rest of the castle. The walls were painted a gentle cotton pink with white edges, the black curtains replaced with a darker shade of hot pink. The frames of the window had been painted a cake whitish pink color, contrasting the pure white velvety floor. The furniture consisting of a rocking chair, changing table and a few other drawers to place the clothing and other things for the baby were all coated in white paint, with cherry blossom pink and lavender swirls adorning it. A beautiful crystal chandelier with aromatic white candles gave the room an even calmer feeling, but the cradle was the masterpiece. It was a beautiful round bassinet with white bars, while the blankets and the little curtain consisted of different pink and gentle lilac shades.
Her eyes swelled up with tears of endearment as she took a hand to her lips. "Xibalba, this is…"
Xibalba smiled, happy that she had liked it. "Most of the furniture was sent by some of my… acquaintances when they found out. They just couldn't wait to send it." He rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks turned red. "I painted the walls pink and made a few adjustments in the color when you said we'd probably have a girl." He all but melted when his wife stroked his cheek as a gesture of gratitude, the redness of his cheeks extending to the rest of his face. It took him a good few seconds to regain his composure as he grabbed his wife's hand and led her closer to the bassinet. "Take a look at the cradle. It came from Epona."
"Epona?" La Muerte made a mental note to thank Epona for the detail. She took a look at the inside of the cradle, finding a few white cushions with intricate trimmings, and a beautiful mobile with little plush animals hanging from above. "It's beautiful, I can't wait for the baby to arrive. I bet she's going to love it." She placed her hands on her bump as she leaned against her husband's chest. "Gracias, Xibalba."
Xibalba returned the smile as he pulled La Muerte closer by the waist and planted an affectionate kiss on her cheek. "Anything for you…" his hand went to rest on her bump, stroking it with his thumb as he directed his words at the baby. "…And you."
La Muerte leaned in closer to his face and her lips came into contact with his, twirling around to wrap her arms around his frame, and it didn't take Xibalba long to correspond with a kiss of his own, his hands coming to his wife's cheeks as he held her face with the most gentle touch. A few seconds later they pulled back their eyes locking in a loving gaze before La Muerte lay her head against Xibalba's chest, allowing his wings and arms to embrace her protectively as she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
"I'm glad you liked it…" Xibalba whispered into her ear with a playful smile. "You won't believe this, but half of my acquaintances have been betting on the baby's gender." A sigh of dismay escaped his mouth at the last sentence.
"Really?" La Muerte reacted and lifted her head from his chest to glance up at him. "What did most of them bet on?"
Xibalba gave an uncomfortable grunt. "Boy."
La Muerte let a giggle out. "Oh, dear… I told you I have the feeling she'll be a niña." She wrinkled her adorable little nose at him while her fingers fidgeted with his beard. "And you know what happens when I sense something."
"Sort of…"
"I love you…" the expecting goddess kissed him again, this time on his cheek, which became redder at the contact. "Never forget that…"
"I w-won't…" Xibalba cursed himself as he stuttered, but nevertheless he smiled at her while running his fingers through her dark silky hair. "Ever again, mi amor…"
"Xibalba… Could you do one thing for me?"
"Anything."
"Do you think we could go to the garden? I miss that place, and I think it'll do good to the baby…"
Xibalba had the feeling she was going to ask that. "Sure, my dear. Maybe it will do good for the baby, but I think you shouldn't be going up all those stairs all by yourself yet." He smirked and picked La Muerte up bridal style. "Hang on tight, my dear."
It was La Muerte's turn to blush. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she shifted in his embrace while he walked out of the nursery, and down the hall towards the stairs and corridors that would lead them up to the garden.
"Do you still have roses, Xibalba?" La Muerte inquired. "You gave me so many…"
Xibalba smiled. "They never run out. After you pick them they regrow in a few days."
It wasn't long before they came to the door of the garden, and Xibalba accommodated his wife in his embrace to put his hand on the door and mutter the spell to open the doorway. Like the last time, the marks glowed a gentle, pleasant green as the doorway opened, and he could walk inside, holding his wife in his arms. The fresh air was very refreshing, sometimes it surprised La Muerte how there could be such a pleasant air indoors. Xibalba walked through the stone path towards a fenced area; the fence itself was painted in blue, just like the roses growing abundantly in the bushes within the fence.
The very presence in that garden brought back memories of that night. She remembered the pleasant smell of the flowers and the aroma of the jacaranda as she and Xibalba expressed their love for each other. Her eyes swelled up with tears at the still fresh memory, Xibalba noticed. "Are you okay?" he whispered, glancing at the exact spot they had shared underneath the tree.
La Muerte nodded, but her grip on his hand tightened. He instantly knew what she was thinking about. He opened the small gate leading into the blue rose section; there were a few budding roses which would bloom in a few days, where he had gently plucked the gifted roses. La Muerte smiled at the sight. "They're even more beautiful here…" her smile faltered slightly. "Too bad I couldn't bring the others with me…"
"It's okay, you have these in their natural environment."
"I do, but… Why were you giving them to me? I know they mean so much to you… they were Selena's roses…"
Xibalba smiled at her. "It was the best way to show you how much I love you."
"Do you know what made them even more special?"
"What?" he blushed when La Muerte started twirling with his moustache. She had figured out it was one of his weak spots.
"The occasion you gave me each rose."
"Yes." Xibalba sat down just in the middle of the bushes, it was a small grass circle where one could lie down and relax in the good days. He accommodated La Muerte's not-so-delicate figure in his arms. La Muerte had a question she had been wanting to ask for a while, but never found the occasion. "Xibalba… How would you have been… If Selena hadn't passed…?" she quickly regretted the question when Xibalba's expression turned melancholic. "I'm sorry…"
"Maybe I wouldn't have turned out such a jerk…" he said, chuckling humorlessly.
"Maybe? Selena was an amazing woman, from what I could see…"
"She was. She truly was." Xibalba glanced around at the roses, smiling lightly at the sight, before his smile faltered. "I wish she could have met her granddaughter."
"…Me too…" La Muerte looked up at her husband. "Xibalba?"
"What is it?"
"You mentioned a few times that something happened while I was gone. What happened that made you realize about your mistakes?"
It took him a few seconds to reply. "The room… The music box…"
She had the feeling what he was going to say and stroked his cheek comfortingly. "What about that?"
"I saw my mother… She w-was…" His eyes were swelling up with tears at the image in his head. He couldn't get it out of his thoughts no matter how hard he tried. La Muerte turned his face towards hers so she could look into his eyes; he gathered the courage to continue. "She was going to leave him. She was going to take us away from Akrinok, but he… And she… She was pregnant…"
La Muerte's eyes widened in shock when she realized what he meant to say. Her hands went to rest protectively on her abdomen; she couldn't picture or even imagine something ever happening to her baby, even before she could see the world with her own eyes for the first time. A part of her didn't want to know what happened next, but she felt he needed to let it out. "What happened after that…?" her voice was barely more than a whisper .
"My father… He came back to haunt me again, but this time I finally…" Xibalba sighed, closing his eyes. "I stood up to him and he just… disappeared. Then Zipacna came and told me you were pregnant…"
"I'm sorry for asking something that hurt you…" La Muerte tried to lift his spirits a bit. "What matters now is that everyone is happy and at peace."
"Yes." Xibalba smiled, his lips coming into contact with La Muerte's forehead in a loving way. Much to his surprise, it was La Muerte's turn to look like she wanted to cry, and her grip on his shoulders tightened.
"Please, Xibalba… Don't leave me ever again… I couldn't bear it… I would… I…I wouldn't be able to…" a finger on her lips silenced her, and a gloved hand lifted her chin up gently to look into a familiar gaze. Xibalba was smiling reassuringly at her as his thumbs brushed her tears away.
"I won't." he said. "I promise."
La Muerte lay her head on top of his chest, weeping silently as she let everything out at once. Xibalba wept too, pulling La Muerte closer in his arms, embracing her with his wings in a protective way, not wanting to let go of her ever again. The couple cried for a few minutes, before they were calm enough to talk again, it was La Muerte who talked this time. " I missed you… Your embrace, your touch… Your love." She looked up to him tenderly.
"I missed your kind heart and your fiery spirit…" Xibalba smiled sadly. "I wanted to go so badly and beg for your forgiveness…"
"You did in the end." This time she giggled. "You are nuts, Xibalba. Risking everything just to see me at my birthday was one thing, but making me forgive you was another…"
"Like I told you, I would do anything for you and our baby."
La Muerte looked down at her still-flat abdomen, though she could feel it was starting to grow. Her hand was resting on top of it, when suddenly she thought she felt something.
"What's wrong?" Xibalba grew worried when he noticed La Muerte had started to rub her stomach with a frown.
Suddenly, a grin spread on the goddess's face. "Xibalba!"
"W-What…? Is something wrong?" His wife took his hand and placed it on her belly.
"I…! I felt her…! I swear I felt something for the first time…!" La Muerte was beyond happy when she felt a little movement inside, or at least she thought it was the baby moving. She hoped that was the case.
"A kick?" Xibalba was equally hopeful as he rubbed the stomach in an attempt to find a source of movement.
She nodded in complete excitement. "I think so."
"Baby… Can you kick for papi…?" Xibalba continued to explore the exterior of La Muerte's womb, trying to catch the lightest movement from the inside. However, much to both gods' disappointment, the baby didn't make any more notable movements.
"I don't think she'll move anymore…" La Muerte sighed sadly. "She is still very tiny and her kicks are not strong enough yet. I didn't expect her to move, though."
"But she did."
La Muerte smiled. "I think this is a good sign…"
"It surely is, mi amor…" Much to his surprise, his wife grabbed his hand and started tapping lightly on his palm.
"It felt like this, a small tapping, but from the inside." She said.
"I can't wait to feel her…"
"In a few weeks we will both will. When did Asclepius say he would come and check on me again? I really want to make sure she is safe…"
"In a week."
"A week?"
"He says its better safe than sorry. He will see if the baby's out of danger."
"I heard you had some health problems while I was gone. Are you alright? These days you've been having so many seizures…"
"I admit, my epilepsy did get worse for a while, and I had to rest for some days…"
"Are you sure you are feeling alright, love?"
"Don't worry, my dear. I've been dealing with it for centuries, it's no big deal."
"I hope so…"
"It's my father I'm worried about, Xibalba. Itzlacol has him blindfolded, he believes everything he says. I don't understand why he can't see who Itzlacol really is…"
Xibalba sighed. "Like Epona says, there's no worst blind than he who doesn't want to see what's in front of him."
"What do you mean?"
"He doesn't want to see he is wrong about me and Itzlacol. Without offending your dear father, he thinks he can't be wrong.
"But Father..." La Muerte sighed sadly. "He hates you. Father had never hated anyone, I don't understand why, but I can tell he does… I've been away for 5 days, Xibalba. He must already have noticed something is off, and in the worst of cases he might suspect you kidnapped me. I'm surprised he hasn't come already…"
"There's no need to worry about that."
La Muerte had a bad feeling about it. There was a glint of guilt in his eyes, like he had done something very wrong to make sure she wouldn't be taken away. "What did you do, Xibalba…?"
"Well… Ruling the Land of the Forgotten has ups and downs."
"What do you mean?"
"It's…" Xibalba decided the best would be to tell her the truth. "No one can come in unless I allow it."
"You cast a spell on the Realm?" La Muerte gasped at the positive nod. "But that can only be done with… Dark magic, and it's forbidden…" Realization came to her. Oh, no…
"My father passed on some things to me, unfortunately…"
"Some things?"
"Zipacna and I can use dark magic without any negative side effects… to some extent."
La Muerte frowned playfully at him. "You are full of secrets, you old dork." She smacked his shoulder with a blurry of marigold petals, making the dark god chuckle fondly.
"I know."
Her face turned serious again. "And since I'm your wife, I think I should know everything. You know all my secrets."
Xibalba remained silent for a few seconds before he sighed in resignation. "You're right." He let La Muerte shift off his legs to sit down next to him. "One of the advantages of ruling this realm in particular is that I have control over the realm, not only the landscape. But yes, I'm afraid it takes a particular dark magic spell to seal it off completely; cielos, not even the Kings themselves can come into this realm."
La Muerte gasped in shock. Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca were the most powerful gods in the pantheon, they had power over anything they wished, there was no spell or enchantment they couldn't undo, unless said castings came from somewhere not even they dared to look… Was it possible? She had heard rumors, long before their marriage, that Xibalba was the guardian of the Forbidden Artifacts, and the Book of Death itself due to his immunity to the siren calls of those cursed objects.
Xibalba felt she deserved an explanation. "When Akrinok passed, I was too young to ascend to the throne, so the Kings looked after it until I came of age. On my 118th birthday, they came down to talk with me. The room the Forbidden Artifacts had been put in was closed off to me at the time since I wasn't the formal King of the Land of the Forgotten yet. The Kings opened the doors and took me inside. It wasn't the first time I saw the Book of Death, courtesy of dear ol' dad, but they didn't take me inside to learn more magic." Xibalba dug his claws into the grass as he remembered that day.
"Tezcatlipoca told me that if I ascended to the throne, I would have to refrain myself from ever use the Book of Death to cast a spell. My job was to make sure no one, not even I, used those forbidden spells. But he wouldn't be comfortable with a mere promise, you know how Lord Tezcatlipoca was always the most distrustful." Xibalba slipped his glove of his left hand and showed La Muerte his palm. There was a long-scarred cut that ran diagonally through his palm. La Muerte recognized the shape of the wound.
"Lord Tezcatlipoca made me make a Blood Oath." Xibalba sighed, slipping his hand back into the glove. "I gave my word I would never use the Book of Death for my own purposes. A few days later, I was crowned as the King of the Land of the Forgotten. During most of my rule, I fulfilled that oath impeccably, until… A few days ago."
La Muerte wanted to cry. He had broken a Blood Oath, the most unbreakable and ineludible promise that could be made, and with Tezcatlipoca, he was famous for being very severe in punishments regarding broken oaths. Xibalba could lose his crown, if not his life, for this unauthorized action… And it had been done for her.
"Ay, Xibalba… You… You broke a Blood Oath… for me…?"
Xibalba smiled sadly at her. "Like I said, I would do anything for you and the baby. I don't care if I lose the crown. Heck, I couldn't care less about that, as long as I'm with you, I can live in a small home in the forest."
Now she had no doubt of the love he had for her. She would have done the same for him if she were in his shoes. La Muerte pulled her husband into a tender kiss, pulling him close by the neck., Xibalba returned the gesture excitedly, his wings wrapping around his wife once more. A few seconds later they pulled back to take a breath. "Say, Xibalba…" La Muerte whispered, panting. "You think I could know the spell to come here? It's not dark magic, right?"
"No, my dear. Just a simple incantation." Xibalba leaned in closer and whispered the words into her ear. La Muerte memorized it instantly.
"If I say it, it will work, right? Doesn't it have anything to do with the person who says it?"
"It doesn't."
"Is t okay if I come here a bit more often? I really love this place…"
"All you want, my love…" He smiled again, running his hand down his wife's stomach. "It's both yours and the baby's…"
"And Selena's… And yours as well…."
"Indeed, it is.
La Muerte shifted closer, smiling sweetly at Xibalba as she placed her hand on his chest. "And I'm ours, mi cielo. For all eternity."
Xibalba placed a blue rose in her hair, smiling. "You and the baby mean the world to me, and more. Never forget that." He kissed her forehead and embraced her tightly. "Mi luz en la oscuridad…"
"Mi ángel guardián…" La Muerte whispered, snuggling against his strong chest. "Te amo…"
They were so lost in each other they didn't notice a small blue butterfly with beautiful intricate patterns in its wings landing on one of the roses and stare at them.
