I can't believe Papa wants me to return with Maya. I guess Papa is as scared as I am. What would Mama do?

Once I returned to Teca, princess Maya has already left but the king and queen remained in the room. "Why didn't we just tell her?" the king asked.

"Because I didn't think she was ready," the queen replied. "She isn't ready to know the truth." The truth? What are they talking about? I have to get in closer. I slinked in against the wall. "Why did you send her off?" the king asked. "She is ready. She needs to know."

"No, she isn't ready. I can't just say, 'Hey, Maya. You're half god so deal with it.' It's just not right. We need to tell her at the right time. She isn't ready to know that she is Lady Micte's daughter." So she was telling the truth! Lady Micte did have a daughter with a human! But why the Teca king?

"Mi vida, come on. She is ready. She's fifteen. You can't hide it from her forever."

"I know!" The Teca queen raised her voice. "It's just..." her voice lowered again, "I just can't imagine why you would go with her, with Lady Micte. Am I not good enough for you? You have to out with a god to have a kid?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I don't have an excuse for my behavior."

"So you are hiding something from me," Maya said, walking into the room with a blue gown on. Now she really does look like a princess. "So I'm half god then?"

"Maya, I-"

"Why would you not tell me, Mama? Is there a reason?"

"I tried to tell you," the Teca king whispered, elbowing his wife.

"Maya, I'm sorry."

"You better be, Mama! Hiding things from me! I knew I was different!"

"Maya, we can fix this later, please hurry. Your coronation is about to start."

"Fine! Whatever!"

I flew off. So she's half god then? Lady Micte wasn't lying to save her. She was telling the truth! So she isn't sneaky after all...

I fly into the nearby woods. I have to get my Papa, but I can't let Mictlan know I'm there. I have to-

"Zatz?" I muffle a scream. "Who's there?" I asked, pointing a sword towards the direction of the voice.

"Zatz, please don't hurt me! It's Papa!" The figure came out from behind the tree and sure enough, it is Papa. "Please don't do that!" I cried, putting my sword away.

"Sorry, Zatz. I just followed you here. One, to get out of Mictlan's way for a bit and two, to see where Teca is. Have you found the princess?"

"Yes, I found her. I was about to try to come and get you so I can get your army and-"

"And get her peacefully?"

"Yeah, that. But it looks like I don't have to go anywhere."

"Not this time." Papa pulled out a small whistle. When he blew in it, no sound came out. Bats use echolocation so there's no need for a loud noise. "They should be here any second."

"Thanks, Papa."

"No need to thank me, Zatz. I'm always here for you." He smiled before he flew away. In a few second, just like Papa guessed, the army came out from under the ground. Some came in through the trees. Colmillo heard the whistle too and came with the army. "Colmillo!" I cheered and hugged the horse. He tapped his foot on the floor as I scratched his neck. "You ready?" I asked, hopping onto his back. "We're going to get ourselves a princess." Colmillo threw his head into the air in agreement.

I raised my sword, making a helmet appear on my head and pointed the sword forward, towards Teca. Once I put my sword away, Papa's army followed me and Colmillo into the city. Once we entered, Maya and her parents were already standing in front of the palace. Colmillo came to a stop and I jumped off his back.

"Hand over the princess and we won't have to fight," I said, walking forward and removing my helmet. The Teca king stepped in front of Maya and the queen. "Why would we hand you our daughter?" he asked.

"Not much, just a little business the gods have with her."

The king and queen began whispering amongst themselves. "We will never hand her over!" the king said. I sighed. "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." I raised my sword and put my helmet on again. Once I lowered my sword, Papa's army charged into the city.

I have to at least get Maya alone. Then I can get her to Mictlan and this will all be over. Some of the Teca warriors charged toward Papa's army. Three men dressed in jaguar suits ran towards me. I fended them off, rather easily, and flew towards Maya. Once I landed in front of her, I bowed.

"Princess Maya. My name is Zatz-"

"Zatz?" she asked. "Why did you invade Teca?" I returned her eye contact. Her hair is a lovely shade of black and her eyes sparkled, even while she was mad. She stood a little under my chest but she looked powerful. She is...an angel.

"Why did you invade Teca?" she demanded for an answer. I stood. "Sorry, Princess Maya. I have come to take you to the Underworld."

"What? Why would I go there?" She tried to move her hands, but they remained stiff with her dress. "Ugh, stupid dress," she muttered.

"I was ordered my Mictlan to-"

"Mictlan?" Maya asked, raising her voice. The king heard his daughter and came over. "Maya, is this man bothering you?"

"Of course, Papa! He wants to take me to Mictlan!"

"Mictlan?" The Teca king turned towards me. His happy demeaner was replaced with an expression filled with anger. "Mictlan? You will not touch my daughter! She is not going to meet him!" He raised his sword towards me and held it up to my face. "Do you understand?"

"Of course, king of Teca. I completely understand." I floated upwards. "I'll just have to fight you for her."

"Oh, you would, huh?" His joyful expression returned once again at the mention of a fight. "Bring it on!"

On King Teca's head is a helmet with a translucent beak, tinted red. Which mean he must be the Eagle Warrior in the legends. Those three men from before must have been his jaguars. This family is a warrior family, which means the lovely Princess Maya can fight too. She's not just beautiful, she's a warrior.

I quickly beat the Jaguar Warriors, however, King Teca wasn't going to loose that easily. I have to retreat. Except, Mictlan doesn't want me to come back. Maybe I can persuade him to let me try once more. But first, it's time to flee. "I'm sad to say that you've beaten me, King Teca."

"Ha ha, I knew this would be an easy fight!" King Teca said, jubilantly.

"I will leave, but expect me to return. I will not leave without Princess Maya." I floated into the forest, Papa's army following me.

"Colmillo," I said to the horse. "We have to figure out how we're going to live. Mictlan is no one to return to without fulfilling your command." Colmillo neighed. "Yeah, you're right, Colmillo. I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm just overreacting."

Colmillo stomped a foot and nodded. "Thanks, buddy."

Author's Note

Thank you for reading so far. I'm actually having a lot of fun with this one, just like one of my other stories.
I was thinking, and I just think it's really cool how Jorge R. Gutierrez can connect two stories together (if he did or not, I'm not sure, but I assumed he did). The Book of Life is a 2014 movie and Maya and The Three is (I think) 2021 and he connected them so well after 7 years. I applaud him! *claps*
Anyway, like I said before, thank you for reading so far and don't forget to read and review! Now on with the story!