Zipacna was frozen in place. He felt the familiar cold temperature, the familiar voice that made him think of the Devil himself, his pupils shrunk almost to the point of being invisible. A black miasma started to form above them, making the room look darker than it really was. La Muerte felt a shiver run down her spine, and instinctively she snuggled deeply into Xibalba's embrace, even the baby was frightened of such darkness, she was squirming and moving as if she were crying. Epona grabbed Zipacna's hand and gripped it, both assuring and in fear.
Finally, Zipacna glanced at Xibalba in fear.
"Z-Zipacna…" Xibalba cursed himself for stuttering, but right then that was the least of his worries.
"So he never told you?" The miasma started to take form, and soon a familiar pair of glowing red eyes appeared. However, Xibalba noted the spirit looked smokier and much weaker than the last time he saw him. Zipacna immediately pulled Epona close, wrapping his wings around her.
Akrinok ignored Zipacna and centered his attention on La Muerte. He felt amused at how she tried not to show her fear, but she stank of it. "Nice to meet you in person, dear La Muerte." He bowed his head mockingly, glancing at her abdomen, sensing the barely-forming aura coming from it. "How's my grandchild doing in there?"
Xibalba hissed. "Leave my wife and child out of this, Akrinok!"
Zipacna, however, was trembling and breathing frantically, staring in terror at the shadow of this long-gone father, recalling the last words he heard from him.
Akrinok tried to snicker, but could only cough. Still, he glared at Xibalba. "You thought you got rid of me, boy?" He growled. "Since you lost the crown, you have no power over this realm any longer. You turned out to be an even bigger disappointment than Zipacna." The spectre shook his head. "If you had used a spell to kill that… Itzlacol guy I would have been proud of you."
La Muerte would not tolerate the dragon talking her husband down again, and snapped, momentarily leaving Xibalba's protective wing. "Xibalba's not a murderer like you!"
Zipacna stared at Akrinok, then at the crown on his own head, then at the throne. An idea started to form in his head, but to carry it out he'd have to act… unpleasant. He glanced down at Epona, and subtly whispered into her ear. "Play along. I got an idea." Then he stepped away from her, gathering all his courage. "Quite on the contrary of what I did…" he smiled proudly, barely managing to contain shivers when his father turned to him. "…isn't it, father?"
"What are you talking about?" Xibalba inquired in confusion, which was further augmented when his brother chuckled evilly. La Muerte had a bad feeling about this. Akrinok narrowed his eyes.
"Well, dear hermanito…" Zipacna started pacing around, a triumphant smirk on his face. "How naïve can you be?"
Xibalba noticed how Akrinok's miasma-made body seemed to 'boil' with anger at Zipacna's bragging, and realized what was going on. Zipacna surely came up with smart ideas when he wanted. "…You set this up." He said, playing along the game too.
"Do you have any idea of how hard it was for me to play along all this time? The moment I came to you about the fact La Muerte was pregnant… When I saved your life in Egypt… But it was worth it. I finally got what I wanted…"
Soon after, La Muerte noticed Akrinok stiffening, and caught on to Zipacna's plan just as Xibalba frowned. "I guess I wasn't wrong after all."
Zipacna glanced at his father, and it didn't take him long to realize it was working… at least, to some extent. Akrinok was catching on the acting, but the real purpose of it was to make him realize what had happened. "Well, father, this is what you wanted to keep away from me. My home, my birthright…!" Zipacna stomped his foot, growling. "This was my right to take in the first place! And your plans didn't obviously work quite how you wanted. You 'favorite' son, if you actually call him that, made a sad mistake. And I obviously took the chance to take what should have been rightfully mine!"
Akrinok didn't even bother to hide his animosity toward his eldest son's smugness. "You…! You bastard!" he hissed angrily, his eyes glowing red. "You are nothing of mine!"
"Oh, really?" Zipacna laughed in a mocking tone. "That's sad… so sad that your other 'son' took what was yours once… No other god was ever this powerful, you know, ruling two realms at the same time."
Definitely, he was only provoking his father, considering he was complaining about having two realms about five minutes ago.
Zipacna sat on his brother's former throne. He felt weird in sitting down there, but he continued with his game. "So, Xibalba, I guess I have to thank you for it." He chuckled evilly.
If the circumstances were different, maybe Xibalba would have laughed at Zipacna's attempt to sound evil. However, he had the feeling Akrinok would react aggressively soon enough, and pulled his wife and Epona closer with his wings just in case.
"So, papi, who is the failure now?" Zipacna finished, crossing his legs and leaning in against the throne, his eyes glowing a cold green contrasting his father's hateful red.
Like both Zipacna and Xibalba expected, suddenly everything around them turned pitch black, almost as if they had been consumed by nothingness, and Akrinok's face turned sharper and more frightening than before, his eyes burning in ire.
"Two can play this game, boy." Akrinok snapped. "Have you ever wondered how Selena died? Xibalba only told you she was pregnant at the time, but did he tell you how I made her die?" Akrinok chuckled darkly when he got the reaction he had been expecting from his sons. It was a sore spot. He noticed Zipacna's grip on the throne tightening until his claws were gripping the stone, and his eyes emanated a brighter glow. "I had been planning to dispose of her for a while, but I wanted to wait at a time it would hurt you the most. What a better way than to kill her when she was going to bring another bastard to the world? And who knows? It might have been actually mine. After all, that night when I tasted her body, her curves, against her will… she made it funnier.
La Muerte couldn't believe that monster was bragging of how he took a poor woman by force. She felt Xibalba's grip on her tightening, she took a glance and noticed the old pain reflected in his eyes. He had seen how his father had killed her, and Akrinok was reopening that wound.
"All that blood… Her screams, they were priceless."
However, Zipacna's reaction, a simple sigh, confused the rest of them, including Akrinok himself. "Well, papi… you fooled Xibalba, but not me. Just to clarify, what were those on our cheeks when one night you went to mamá's roses and cast a spell to keep them alive forever after she died?" he smiled. "They were tears, right?"
Bingo! He knew he had hit the jackpot when he saw his father's eyes widening in shock, like he hadn't been expecting it. "I saw you. I was hidden in the garden when you went to weep. And I hid it the whole time, I do know the actual reason you killed her." He felt bad when he saw Xibalba's shocked expression, but he had the right to know. Out of thin air, Zipacna made a purple-blue scarf appear, smiling as he spoke to his father again. "Is that why you always slept with this after she did? And you yelled at us whenever we tried to touch it.
By then, Akrinok was trembling. Xibalba stared at the blue scarf with a feeling of déjà vu; he had faint memories of it, of trying to grab it only to be violently pushed away from it by his father.
"Or scratched the walls each time you remembered her?" Zipacna continued, fidgeting with the scarf. "I still remember one night when you were whispering her name, and to think these all appear in the Book of Life, written as a tragic love story… Sad, isn't it?"
Akrinok couldn't bear it any longer. With a roar of anger and grief, he flew forward, opening his maw. La Muerte and Epona gasped in shock, but Zipacna didn't move an inch. He calmly crossed his arms as his father's shadow flew directly through him, making his cape flow backwards a bit. Akrinok was panting heavily, green acid tears running down his shadowy snout. "You don't understand…"
Zipacna chuckled. "I don't? I think I'm the only one here who actually understands."
"What…?" Xibalba stuttered in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You loved her… As unimaginable as it seemed, you did love her. and unfortunately for her, that love was her doom."
Akrinok didn't want to hear anymore, and the blackness started to recede as he absorbed more of it to turn into a monstrous version of himself. "SHUT UP!"
The attempt to intimidate him didn't even make Zipacna tremble. "You have no power here. You used to…" he glanced at Xibalba for a moment. "But as long as I'm here, both as ruler and Xibalba's brother, you are powerless. And there is a tiny proof that I am your son… though I wish I was not, considering how we were conceived. With all the screams… how your heart was breaking when you heard her… all the tears…"
Akrinok glared at him, hot, acid tears of anger rolling down his cheeks. "You will pay for this humiliation, boy…!"
"I know, I know I will… But no in the way you expect I would… Why do you call this a humiliation? Loving someone is nothing to be ashamed of. Well, if you didn't kill anyone that is."
La Muerte stiffened, and she embraced her own abdomen protectively, as if to hide the little one from Akrinok's gaze, and buried her face against Xibalba's chest when the specter turned to her.
"Since they have witnessed everything, and I'm a discreet and elegant man I'll do it the easy way… if you accept, that is." Zipacna said, taking his hands behind his back, continuing when his father didn't reply. "One, leave this castle forever…. Or no… Even better, live forever in this castle in one particular room… A room that will bring back the most horrible memories to you. Or two, making you disappear by force, and since I got the dark magic talent from my dear dad, that won't be a problem at all." Slowly, the darkness in the throne room started to disappear and dissipate as Akrinok's ghost calmed down.
"Choose. There is no way to torture you like you tortured Xibalba, but there is one way to torture you the same way as you did to me. Choose, forever disappear and never exist ever again, which means there will be no more memories of her in your non-existent mind. Or spend the eternity in the room."
The next few seconds were so silent a falling pin would have made a lot of noise. Xibalba felt his heart skipping a beat, expecting the answer his father would give, but he was also somewhat scared by Zipacna's air, and the way he was looking at Akrinok. He could tell he was enjoying this very much.
Finally, Akrinok spoke. "The room." He would rather be tormented by Selena's memories than spend eternity in Oblivion, without her… Zipacna snapped his fingers, and in mere seconds Akrinok had vanished in a swirl of darkness, he would be forever trapped in Selena's old room tormented by his memories. Lastly, Zipacna cast one more spell to permanently seal the door, keeping the specter from ever leaving the room.
Then he broke. Much to the other's surprise, Zipacna fell to his knees and started to sob, tears trickling down his cheeks as he took his hands to his face. Xibalba gently released his wife as he went over to his brother, kneeling down to embrace him. As soon as Zipacna felt his brother's arms around him, he returned the hug, sobbing and crying his heart out.
"I had to… I'm sorry I didn't tell you… And all those words…!"
"I know…" Xibalba said, understanding, his own eyes swelling up with tears. "I did the same…"
Epona felt terrible at Zipacna's state, but she was still shaken at what just happened. "What was that…?" she asked gently, almost low enough for them to miss it.
Zipacna heard, however. "That, Epona, was my dad…"
"No…" she pointed at Zipacna. "That."
"What do you mean?" Xibalba asked in confusion.
"Didn't you see it?" Epona took a few tentative steps forward. "Zipacna… how did you do that?"
Realizing neither Xibalba nor Zipacna himself knew what they were talking about, La Muerte explained. "You used dark magic too, Zipacna…You just…"
"Oh." Xibalba sighed. "Like I said, my dear, ups and downs."
"What you saw is what an older brother does." Zipacna declared, patting Xibalba's shoulder. "And, yes and no. It wasn't quite forbidden magic. It's a milder one."
"Milder?" Xibalba asked.
"Sort of. It's almost the same spell you used on the realm to keep everyone out. But what I did…" Zipacna sighed. "I made him ask to be trapped forever, and since it was used as punishment… dark magic is usually used to punish people, and since it's technically my job to punish people I don't think the Kings will tell me anything."
La Muerte started to relax now that Akrinok was gone, apparently for good, however she felt the baby still squirming inside, as if still frightened that the monster might return. La Muerte gently took her hands to her abdomen, stroking it tenderly. "Shh, it's okay, chiquita… The monster's gone…" Xibalba walked closer to her and pulled her close into an embrace, planting a kiss on her forehead and placing his hand on her abdomen.
"This time forever." Zipacna added. "And I mean it."
Epona chuckled slightly as she patted Zipacna's shoulder. "I had no idea he could be such a good actor.
"I hope we can put a soundproof spell in that room…" Xibalba sighed. "At least I took mamá's portrait and the music box out beforehand. He doesn't deserve such mementos of her…"
"He'll cry his heart out." Zipacna stated. "I'm not called Lord of the Cursed, Master of Pain for nothing, you know." He sat down on the throne, sighing. "Why do I feel so good about this?"
"He did the same to you, to us…"
"I guess…" Zipacna felt comfortable in his seat… until he realized there was only one seat in that room. His face turned red as he quickly stood up. "Sorry!"
Xibalba chuckled. "It's okay. You're the ruler for now, remember? If I try to sit right now, you know what will happen."
"Right…" Zipacna bit his lip. "Don't consider me your King, okay? As far as I'm concerned, you're still the higher authority here. Like I told you, I only have the official title. Okay?"
Xibalba nodded. "Okay."
"Oh, and before I go home…"
"What is it?" La Muerte asked.
"If the Kings come and ask why I'm not here, say something that will keep us both out of trouble… Like 'he has to keep the Cursed Beasts under control and put me temporally in charge while he gets back' or something, because right now all I want after today is a long nap."
Xibalba chuckled again, shaking his head. Zipacna would never change. "I'll figure something out."
Epona laughed too. "And he's back."
"What? Do you want me to keep being the bad guy?" Zipacna stated. "Please! By the way…" he glanced at Epona nervously. "Epona… shall I get you home, or you want to stay here to chat with La Muerte and Xibalba a bit?"
Epona sighed, rubbing her temples. "I think I've been in this pantheon for a bit too long already, the Kings will notice. If you could get me home, I'd be more than happy." She glanced at La Muerte and Xibalba. "I'll come over when I can."
La Muerte smiled. "Gracias."
Epona winked at her, and curiously grabbed unto Zipacna's arm. "Shall we go… Lord Zipacna?"
"D-Don't say it like that!" Zipacna said, blushing..
As both Zipacna and Epona disappeared in a swirl of black feathers, La Muerte almost felt like fainting from the experience, but she leaned unto her husband's shoulder to keep her footing, sighing in dismay. "Did you know Zipacna could do that?"
"I didn't." Xibalba responded gently, glancing at the spot his brother had just disappeared from. "I guess he has lots of tricks under his sleeve."
"And that was your father…"
"He was." His hold on her hand tightened. "I'm sorry you had to presence this…"
"I had to. I've wanted this for a while now."
"To see my dad?"
"No…" La Muerte smiled, pacing her hand on Xibalba's cheek. "To finally know you're at peace."
"I think peace is still a little more farther than we both think. There's still your dad."
"Yes, I guess, but we're close."
Xibalba was still worried Sol might try and take La Muerte away, but he hadn't heard from him since he came with Itzlacol, and he hadn't spoken against him in the Trial. "Are you sure you want to do it, La Muerte?"
La Muerte nodded solemnly. "More than anything."
