A/N: I just finished watching Maya and the Three and when I searched for fanfics on it, I found a disappointing lack thereof, so I decided that I might as well write some of the ideas I had. This story was originally supposed to be about how Zatz lost his eye but then I realised that in the flashback of when Micte presented Maya to Mictlan (so many 'M's!) Zatz already had the eyepatch and he would've been around 2 years old then. So this just had a mind of its own and became what you will soon read. My usual beta was unable to do their job due to not having watched this show, so if there are any mistakes that I wasn't able to catch, I apologise. Anyway, more notes at the end, so you can get to reading sooner. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any familiar characters, dialogue, or locations. All of those rights go to Netflix and the writers.


Camazotz had tried to buy as much time as he could, but he knew he couldn't hide forever. And he could hide him either. The boy needed his mother, but that wasn't possible. Camazotz could manage without eating for days, weeks even, but the child needed nourishment every few hours and not cooked meat either.

Camazotz himself had needed to heal, and he knew it would be faster in the Underworld, but he needed more time. At least to come up with a plan.

After waking up in the canoe with a small weight on his chest looking up at him, Camazotz had immediately known what had happened. It wasn't just the implications of the situation, but he had felt it. He had felt the loss of the child's mother. But the baby was still happy as ever, oblivious to what he had lost, his mother's white hair highlighted by the bright moon. The sight just made Camazotz's heart ache.

But his last promise to her had been to protect the child. To protect his son.

And so here he was, standing in front of the Divine Gate, preparing himself for what was to come. He looked down at the little bundle in his arms. The little baby giggled and reached up to touch his father's nose. A single tear slid down Camazotz's face, falling onto his son's cheek who just giggled more. As Camazotz leaned to plant a kiss on the child's small forehead, he whispered three words, snatched away by the wind.

"I'm sorry Zatz."


How dare you!

Lord Mictlan was furious. He looked down upon his most trusted general kneeling before him and presenting his child. A half-human.

The God of War was fighting a war in his mind.

You traitor! His 'reckless side' as Lady Micte called it was blinded by rage. How could Camazotz even think of doing this?

His 'cunning side' piped up, calming the other down. No, this is good.

What good can come of this?! We should just kill the child now.

No! The cunning side was coming up with a plan, and stopped its counterpart from making decisions it would regret. Its voice grew sly. The child could be useful.

Useful!? That wretched, tiny thing?

Yes. You already suspected that Camzotz's loyalty was waning and he was having doubts. Plotting against you. The boy could be used as leverage against him.

Hmmm. Yes. I could mould the child to be the perfect warrior too, maybe even turn him against his father.

Exactly. There was a hint of smugness in the sly voice. He will have many uses yet. Killing him now would be such a waste.

Fine, I shall not kill it. Yet. But you heard the infernal noise it made.

The voice was referring to when the boy was first presented to him. When Camazotz had walked in, the child had been peacefully sleeping, but had woken up when Mictlan had shouted. Then it had started crying; a terrible and piercing noise that annoyed Mictlan to no end.

Mictlan had in no kind words told Camazotz to shut the child up, and his general had complied by placing some kind of bracelet in the child's mouth. It was disgusting, but it had stopped the noise.

The cunning side spoke again. The noise will only be for a short while. It will grow and learn to keep its mouth shut on its own.

But it is annoying.

The sly and cunning voice proposed its ultimatum. This is a chance to reassert your power then. To both father and son. Do something that will show Camazotz what will happen should he step out of line again or so much as think of treason. Something to ensure Camazotz will keep the child in line too.

The war loving side chuckled in sadistic anticipation, a perfect idea forming in its mind. Fear really is the best motivator. I have the perfect idea on how to achieve all of those with one single action. And make sure it is long term.

Mictlan stood from his throne and slowly walked down the few steps until he towered over the still kneeling Camazotz. He spared a glance at his wife. Lady Micte was silent, but she met his gaze and returned his cruel smile. Satisfied, Mictlan turned his attention back to Camazotz.

"My most trusted general, reduced to nothing." His words caused the god of bats to flinch. The action brought smiles to some of the faces of gods surrounding them. Mictlan continued, his voice level.

"I have considered killing you, after making you watch your son die first of course." He paused to let that sink in. "But I have decided upon an alternative option as I am feeling quite merciful today."

Camazotz visibly relaxed. "Thank you, My Lord."

"I'm not yet finished." Mictlan said tightly.

"Apologies, My Lord."

"You may have lost your place as my most trusted ally, but would you still stand by my side as my general?"

Some of the gods around them gasped softly, unused to Mictlan showing mercy. Camazotz looked up in surprise, but did not hesitate when answering.

"Yes, of course, My Lord. My loyalty to you remains strong and undying."

"Hmm." Mictlan was doubtful of that and said so. "Well, after this… unfortunate debacle, I can no longer be assured of that." His voice dropped lower and became menacing. "But I have my ways."

He moved so fast that no one reacted or even realised what had been done for a split second. They had seen a glint of claws swiping, but the quiet was pierced by the loud crying of the child. The sound broke the spell that had taken hold of everyone's mouths.

All eyes in the room went to the child, who was now covered in blood. It was hard to tell where the blood was coming from, but it was covering the young boy's face and running into his hair, the stark white turning deep red. Reactions were varied. A few gods had sadistic smiles, but most looked on in shock and horror. Lady Micte merely turned away, so no one would see the pain in her eyes.

Camazotz stayed kneeling, still in shock as his son kept crying. Mictlan didn't tell him to 'shut the boy up' this time though. He let his voice drop, quiet but somehow even more menacing.

"If you step out of line again, make any more silly mistakes like this," he gestured to the child. "Even do so much as think a treasonous thought, the boy will pay." Despite the unnerving calmness and quiet in the God of War's voice, it still echoed, reaching everyone's ears even over the endless crying.

He continued. "If you cannot control the child, I will not hesitate to kill him and then you. This boy will be trained and will work for me. You better hope that he has inherited some of your powers otherwise if he turns out more human than god, I may kill him or show yet even more mercy and just use him as a sparring partner. If he's skilled, he may even last a whole 5 minutes."

No one spoke, their focus either glued to or avoiding the scene playing out before them. Mictlan's voice grew louder as he addressed the whole room, but still looking at Camazotz. "No one is to help you raise this child, unless explicitly instructed by me to help train it. Anyone who dares defy this will at best, have their loyalty towards me questioned, or at worst, killed." He looked around, making eye contact with everyone in the room.

"Understood?" Everyone nodded.

He leaned in close to Camazotz, using a single claw to turn the god's face up to meet his gaze. His voice was once again quiet and menacing. "Understood?"

Camazotz nodded. "Yes, My Lord."

"Good." Lord Mictlan turned towards his throne, slowly walking back but still talking to the disgraced general. "Now go, and get the child to shut up or else…"

The implication was enough. With a whispered "yes, My Lord" from Camazotz, he got up and left. As he scurried away, murmuring to the child in his arms, Mictlan sat down. He watched the retreating form of the God of Bats, the small child still persistently crying.

But this time, Mictlan found that the sound wasn't as annoying now.

Instead, he relished it.


Camazotz sat down heavily.

He was exhausted. And this was only the beginning.

After the events in Mictlan's court, Camazotz knew that he wouldn't be getting time off to focus on taking care of Zatz, so he intended to get as much rest as he could now.

After he had left the courtroom, Camazotz had managed to get Zatz to calm down. It had been challenging, and had taken many different trials but Zatz had finally fallen asleep after Camazotz had hummed the tune that Zyanya had loved so much. Sucking on his mother's bracelet, the small boy had quieted and drifted asleep.

Blood was still everywhere. Zyanya had given Zatz to him because he could protect their son better, but he had failed.

They had reached Camazotz's residence and he gathered some spare blankets into the shape of a nest for Zatz. The god of bats had tried his best to clean the wound, and had managed to shabbily bandage the boy's eye. The huge claws that were so useful in battle were now just an obstacle, stopping the god from properly helping his child. He was no healer, but he already knew that his son would never have both eyes again.

After he had dealt with that, he sat down with his head in his hands.

He was really tired. He hadn't had a chance to rest which meant that he hadn't gotten to heal fully yet. He looked back at Zatz. The infant was sleeping peacefully, Zyanya's bracelet still clutched in his hand. He had his mother's hair but his father's eyes. Well, eye, now.

Camazotz sighed. He knew he wouldn't get another chance at rest for a while. There were still many problems to deal with, but he could deal with them after he slept and healed. Zatz was sleeping, and safe for now, his eye bandaged. So this was the perfect time to rest.

And so he did, collapsing onto his bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

While he slept, he had a dream. It must have been because what it showed was impossible, even if it felt like he had woken up for a second then fallen back asleep.

In the dream, he saw Lady Micte. She was here, in the room next to the makeshift bed for Zatz. But she wasn't harming the infant. She seemed to be singing to the boy, rocking him gently in her arms. But it was just a dream, as such a thing could not have occurred.

Morning came, and Camazotz woke with the dawn. The first thing he did was check on his son. What met his eyes was a peculiar sight.

Zatz was already up, but where he should have been screaming for food or something similar, he was quietly sucking on a baby bottle. Inside the bottle was rapidly disappearing formula. As he drank, Zatz looked up at his father with one red eye, the other covered expertly by a black eyepatch.

Seeing that his son was safe, excellent even, Camazotz wandered into the makeshift kitchen in the next room. On the table and countertops were bottles of formula and diapers. The God of Bats was baffled and returned to his son's side.

The bottle was almost finished, and Zatz was playing with his toes. Camazotz picked his son up, still puzzled. The mystery was solved when he saw something fall onto the nest of blankets as Zatz nestled into the crook of his arm.

In the middle of the blankets, there now lay a single marigold petal. Camazotz knew where it had come from almost immediately. It seemed his dream may have not been a dream. Because the petal had come from an elaborate headdress which included a crown of marigolds.

The trademark of a certain Goddess of Death.


A/N: Hope you liked it. I kind of fell in love with Zatz since his first appearance and had to write about him and his background. It couldn't have been easy, living as a half-human in the Underworld with one parent and one eye.

I also wanted to explore why in 'The Bat and the Owl', he seemed to really care for Micte and it didn't seem like it was just the fact that she saved their lives. I might post another 'chapter' though these are more like oneshots, but don't get your hopes up as i currently have no other ideas. If you have any prompts or ideas for me, please don't hesitate to put those ideas in reviews (my pm function is off for my own reasons) or just try your own hand at them. I am working on another fanfic with Zatz though, so that should be up sometime soon.

Stay safe. See ya.

-CrowofArcadiaOaks