Okay, everyone! Things start to heat up a bit after this chapter! And listen up, I've made a poll about all my main OCs in my profile page, there you can chose which of those is your favorite. Please, if you can, spread the word, I like opinions on my work.
Well, enjoy the chapter!
When his meeting with Osiris was over, Xibalba was beyond confused and nervous over what happened with La Muerte, so much he spent most of the meeting thinking about it instead of paying attention to Osiris's words, though thankfully he managed to catch on in the last minute. Still, he couldn't stop thinking about her, on how beautiful she looked in that moment, how his heart drummed like crazy as he felt her hand touch his chest. There was just so much inside his head, dammit! There was just one person in this pantheon who he felt would be able to help him.
After knocking incessantly on a pair of doors, finally a female human servant opened the door and looked up at the dark god with an inquiring glance.
"I would like to see Hathor." Xibalba said, clutching his staff.
Thankfully it seemed that this one did understand what he said, because she nodded her head and went back inside; for a few seconds he stayed outside waiting for the goddess's reply, when finally the servant came back and motioned him to come in. Xibalba glided into the room, and wrinkled his nose in discomfort at the scent of excessive incense, the room was decorated with carpets with intricate patterns depicting hieroglyphs and other symbols, mostly those related to the goddess.
The owner of that chamber was on a small tea table just outside on her balcony, underneath the pale moonlight and the nocturnal sky as well as the desert landscape around them. She had almost the appearance of a normal Egyptian, except for her cow-like pointy ears and long horns and brownish skin contrasting her dark, dark hair. Her attire consisted of a long dark red skirt and a matching bodice, exposing her abdomen completely, as well as gold chokers and bracelets. She seemingly sensed his presence, and turned her head around to glance back at him. "Xibalba, what a surprise."
"I hope I have not come on an inopportune moment, dear Hathor." Xibalba said, bringing his other hand on top of his staff as if he were caressing the snake's head.
"Oh, no, I actually have no pending business right now. Is there something you need?"
As incredible as it sounded, he felt embarrassed to speak of this. "It's… I need your help with something."
"You? The great and powerful Xibalba asking help from a woman? Wow, you really be in hot water." Hathor laughed softly, before noticing the annoyed look on Xibalba's face. "Or… is it something emotional?"
"How did you…?"
"I'm the Goddess of Love, remember? These kind of things have always been my specialty. But do tell me, what is wrong now that you come seek my help?"
Sighing, Xibalba took a seat on the chair next to the cow-like entity. "See, I've been feeling… weird. I can't explain it, but when I'm around La Muerte…"
"Ay, Xibalba…" Hathor shook her head with an exasperated grin. "You should know what that feeling is. IT's not that hard to figure it out."
"If what you're implying is that I'm getting soft because of her, you're losing your touch."
"Give me your hand."
"What?"
"It's been a while ever since I read your hand, who knows? It could say anything related to what you're feeling."
Xibalba had never really believed in these kind of things, but nevertheless he placed his staff aside for the moment, grumbling something under his breath as he removed his glove from his right hand to show it to the goddess. Hathor saw a golden ring on his finger, probably his wedding band, thought she could tell he did not keep it under his glove to hide it from view, rather she had the feeling it was so he wouldn't lose it. Hathor grabbed the dark god's hand and examined it, examining his palm carefully and thoroughly.
"Hmmm… it starts like the last time I saw it. You have had a difficult life, I see pain, and two great losses in your past that left deep wounds on your heart, and up to this day they have not healed even a bit. You are so hurt you shut your heart away to protect it from further harm."
"Tell me something I don't already know-"
"But… It appears that all of that is starting to change."
"What?"
"You're starting to come out of your shell from underneath all those layers of hurt, resentment and anger, showing your true self to one who has managed to see past your mask of cruelty and coldness, and into your bleeding heart."
"Okay, that's enough!" Xibalba retreated his hand abruptly from Hathor's sight, frowning and standing up from his seat and grabbing his staff. "Thanks for your… help, but I have to go." As he stormed off, Hathor couldn't help but chuckle triumphantly, she definitely knew where to hit where it hurt, if there was something she knew Xibalba hated was to be told the truth about himself, things he didn't want to admit. It was very clear to her he was falling in love with his wife, but knowing that stubborn tar god he would not admit it to himself that easily.
Meanwhile, Xibalba was heading back to his chambers, mumbling something about Hathor thinking herself a know-it-all before pondering on her words. How dare she talk to him like that?! He felt nothing for La Muerte! Other than the growing affection he harbored for her, and the physical attraction he has had ever since he first lay eyes on her stunning curves… oh, damn, here it goes again! Xibalba sighed in relief when he finally saw the doors of his guest room, though he was subtly worried about what to do after what nearly happened. Hopefully, La Muerte was already asleep.
But as he came closer he realized the door was open. Had she gone out? She didn't know her way around, what reason could she have to get out of the room?
"La Muerte?" he called gently as he walked inside. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the state the room was in. It looked as if there had been a fight in there, with pillows on the ground, a broken pieces of glass scattered and a few cushions ripped off. "La Muerte!" he looked around the room, but his wife was nowhere to be found. Damn it, why in tarnation did he leave her alone?! As he was about to fly out of the room to inform Osiris of what had transpired, something caught his attention. pawprints on the ground, the marks were smoking as if an infernal beast had come inside. Xibalba grit his teeth and clenched his hands into fists as a name .
"Set…"
Before he could do anything, something else caught his eye; a few centimeters away from the paw prints, there were a few strands of dark hair. Picking them up, the dark god took a sniff to them, and caught the scent of roses and marigolds. He walked out of the room, and just out in the hall he managed to catch glimpse of yet another strands of hair, and he managed to see more forming a trail leading him somewhere; ah, La Muerte, what a smart woman.
He hoped his military training on tracking wasn't rusted.
La Muerte let out muffled screams through the rag in her mouth as she was led somewhere by her mysterious kidnappers, but they had covered her head with a bag and she couldn't see anything. She struggled against her bound hands behind her back, but her captors were much stronger. She had no idea what they wanted with her or who they worked for, but she was praying they didn't caught on her trick. Having so much hair had its advantages if you were smart enough to figure it out. She subtly plucked strands of her hair and let the fall to the ground, hoping someone would take notice.
Finally, after a long while of being the bag was removed from her head, but before her eyes could adjust to the light, her captor placed a cloth over her nose, and though she didn't stop struggling with all her might in hopes of getting free, soon whatever substance they had put on the cloth took its intended effect as her consciousness slipped away. When they were certain she was completely unconscious, the demons proceeded to do as their master told them; they had brought the foreign goddess to one of the old flooding chambers deep beneath the palace, where sometimes when the Nile was at its highest tide the rooms were completely flooded.
They quickly proceeded to bound La Muerte's hands behind a pole and wrapped some above her breasts to it and wrapped more rope around the mid-section of the belly, knotting it off tightly. Then they wrapped some of her upper thighs as well as her ankles. One of the demons produced a thick cloth and stuffed it into La Muerte's mouth, then tied another cloth over her lips and knotted it behind her head to ensure she wouldn't scream for help. When the demons were done with their task, they vanished into thin air, just as Set came from the shadows and approached La Muerte's unconscious figure.
La Muerte slowly began to wake up after the effects of the drug, letting out a long moan into her gag as her eyelids cracked open looking glazed before they opened and she felt her limbs restrained tightly. She immediately began to struggle, wiggling her upper body from side to side, moaning and screaming loudly into the gag as she shifted her legs slightly and tugged harder and harder at the ropes hoping to find some slack to get free. That's when she realized she was not alone.
"Give it up, you won't get free." Set chuckled evilly, not feeling intimidated by the murderous glare the goddess gave him. "Not even in this state do you know your place? You're even more stubborn than I thought."
"MMPH!" La Muerte growled through grit teeth.
"Stop your grunting, it won't help you escape. But do tell me, do you know how to swim?"
She gave him a confused look.
"Oh, sorry, you don't know what I mean." Set snickered, before heading over t the flight of rusted metal stairs that led upwards into a trapdoor. "Soon I'll be leaving you for a while, my dear. I'm afraid I'm not the kind of people who like to take a bath, especially in this room."
La Muerte had a bad feeling when Set started climbing up the stairs. She struggled to get free of her bounds, but they were tightly-knit. Set looked down at her one more time with a cruel smile displayed on his face.
"Have a nice bath, La Muerte!" he laughed maniacally, climbing out of the room and slamming the trapdoor shut.
For a while, La Muerte was alone in the darkness, with only the sounds of her struggling against the ropes and her muffled protests as she tried to get free. She grew alarmed when she heard something from behind the walls, it sounded like water rushing. Her heart skipped a beat and she looked around blindly seeking the source of the sound; La Muerte was startled when the sound of water grew louder, and suddenly she felt her feet wet. There was no water in this room a few minutes ago!
That's when she realized what Set intended to do.
Horrified, La Muerte screamed into the gag and attempted to take it off as she struggled violently, trying in vain to free herself from her bindings as she felt the water level augmenting, rising up to her knees, forelegs, and upwards. By the time the water was up to her chest, tears of fear were rolling down her cheeks. Closing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath through her nose as the water engulfed her completely; with time counted now, she mustered all her strength and attempted one last time to free herself from her bindings, but they were too strong, and her fear only augmented when she started to run out of air, and her consciousness started to fade away. Finally, her body surrendered as her oxygen depleted, and she lost consciousness; thinking it was the end, La Muerte's last thoughts drifted to her family and friends, but overall to a certain dark god…
But before everything went dark, she thought she saw something diving into the water and swimming towards her…
Xibalba knew Set well, he had known he would probably try to get revenge on his wife after the way she stood up to him. Having no time to go tell the other Gods what had happened, he quickly followed the trail of hairs La Muerte had left, and it took him beneath the palace, far deep, just where the drowning chambers were located. Xibalba knew he had little time before La Muerte succumbed to being underwater without air for too long, so he quickly opened the trapdoor leading to the one his wife was imprisoned in, and took a deep breath before quickly dove into the water. Indeed, la Muerte was tied down to a pole, gagged, and unconscious. Xibalba quickly swam towards her and tried to untie her bindings, but upon finding they were to strongly knit, he took out a small knife he carried for emergencies and started cutting through the ropes. Once he freed her, he took her in his arms and swam back towards the trapdoor, moving himself forward with his wings.
As soon as they emerged from the water, Xibalba inhaled precious oxygen and pulled his wife out of the water, quickly placing her on the ground and taking to fingers to her neck; Xibalba grew alarmed. There was no pulse. Immediately he started to quickly apply compressions on her chest with his hands.
"La Muerte!" he cried out. "Wake up! Don't you dare die on me!"
When she still did not react, he applied the mouth-to-mouth on her, pinching her nose and opening her mouth to kiss her and insufflate some oxygen unto her lungs. She still did no react. Growing desperate, Xibalba repeated the process, all the while talking to her, hoping she'd hear his voice. He wouldn't know what to do if he lost her; she was the only friend he ever had, other than his childhood sweetheart. He felt affection for her, he didn't want anything happening to her. "Please… Don't leave me alone…"
Finally, La Muerte started coughing the water out of her lungs as rose violently, still scared out of her wits. Her vision started to clear, and she found herself out of that chamber, soaked to the bone but safe, and she was not alone.
"La Muerte!" Xibalba grabbed her shoulders and, surprisingly, placed a hand on her cheek, looking at her with worry. "Are you alright?"
She had no idea what happened, or why she did what she did, but a second didn't pass before she embraced her husband and buried her face into his chest, sobbing. She was so scared, and his embrace was the safest thing she had close. Although taken aback for a while, Xibalba soon returned the embrace and pulled his wife close, wrapping his wings around her and trying to rub some warmth unto her.
"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here."
"Xibalba…" La Muerte sobbed, snuggling deeply into his embrace. "It was horrible…"
"Don't worry, you're safe now."
"If you had not found me…"
Despite the tension, Xibalba smiled a bit at her and ran a hand through her long hair. "How could I not have noticed the trail you left? You have such a beautiful hair."
"What happened to Set?"
Xibalba frowned. "Osiris is not going to be happy."
After the rest of the Egyptian pantheon found out about what Set had tried to do, they were less than pleased, though most of them were not really surprised that he would try to do such a thing. Anubis and Thot took la Muerte and Xibalba before Osiris, after giving them warm tea and dry clothing. Set was brought before Osiris and judged by his actions, and he was cynical enough to admit he did try to murder her; it took Xibalba every fiber of self-control in his body not to attack Set (Sobek, Anubis and Khnum had to restrain him, actually). Set's punishment was banishment to the darker parts of Duat, even though the other gods knew he never took his punishments very seriously.
Osiris and Isis offered Xibalba and La Muerte an apology for what had happened, and as a show of goodwill, gifted La Muerte with an ancient spell that would serve her to defend herself if she needed it. The next morning they would return home at last, and thankfully they wouldn't encounter Set.
As they prepared to go to sleep, Xibalba pondered over what happened before La Muerte's capture an over the way he felt when he thought he was going to lose her. He told himself he just didn't want to lose his friend, but another pat of him told him that it was more than that, that he felt something for her even though he did not want to accept it. A while later, when La Muerte came out of the bathroom in her bathrobe, Xibalba had placed another pillow 'line between their side of the bed, this one better made. As he saw her coming out, he hesitated, but he had to speak with her. "La Muerte…?"
The goddess was surprised when he spoke, but nevertheless she sat down next to him in bed. "What is it?"
"Are you okay? Do you need anything?"
"I'm okay, Xibalba, really."
"If you feel uncomfortable that we share a bed I can sleep on the couch, I don't mind…"
"No, you have the same right to the bed as me. Besides," La Muerte smiled a bit as she leaned in and planted a kiss on Xibalba's cheek. "You deserve it after you rescued me, my knight on shining armor."
Xibalba blushed deeply, his feathers bristling awkwardly. "W-Well, I… I couldn't j-just leave you t-to… You know…" Damn it, here it went again! He was finding it difficult to even speak, he was starting to sweat and his heart nearly burst out of his chest. This woman was driving him mad, really! Finally, he managed speak calmly again. "Like I told you once, as your husband it is my duty to keep you safe. And by the way, it was very smart on your part, using your hair to leave a trail."
"I guess having so much hair turned out to come in handy after all…" now it was La Muerte's turn to blush as she shifted awkwardly.
They remained silent for a few minutes, afraid to break the ice, before speaking simultaneously.
"Xibalba, I…"
"La Muerte, I…"
Their faces were red of embarrassment as they looked away shyly.
"Sorry, you go first."
"No, it's okay…"
"I insist, my dear."
"Well…" sighing dreamily, La Muerte leaned against Xibalba's shoulder with a small smile. "Gracias por traerme, Xibalba. Despite what happened, it was beautiful."
Xibalba returned the smile and wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulder. "Your welcome."
He had an idea of what he could do for her.
