Epona's castle rarely had any visits, particularly because she didn't have many friends in her own pantheon, but on this occasion various chariots or single steeds were gathered outside. The female centaurs working in the kitchen were busier than ever, in part because all their guests were from different pantheons and had different tastes.

Zipacna had never been so nervous, not even when he returned to see Xibalba for the first time in centuries. This time it wasn't his little brother he was going to talk to, but rather his… 'acquaintances', as he always put it. Turned out Xibalba had lots of 'acquaintances', more than Zipacna imagined. And unfortunately for him, he was not in good terms with some of them due to his former days as a womanizer.

Zipacna glanced around the dining table subtly, counting heads. Sobbek, Anubis, Sekhmet and Horus from Egypt. Thor and Odin from the Nordic pantheon. Ganesh the elephant-head from India. And last but not least Amaterasu and Lord Izanagi who came all the way from Japan.

He wondered what Xibalba had done to have so many deities call him a friend; so much they were willing to help him. Damn it, he was a wreck of nerves right then, he was never good talking in public. And Epona had to stay behind with La Muerte to keep her company and safe from Itzlacol. He better choose his words carefully. Shivering internally, Zipacna coughed loudly to call the attention of the other gods, but his nerves started again when all the pairs of eyes set on him. It took him a few more seconds to calm down and speak properly.

"Thank you for coming…" he said, trying to properly articulate his words. "I suppose most of you know why I asked you to come at all…"

"Does it have to do with Xibalba-kun?" Amaterasu said, her expression stoic.

"In a way, yes. As most of you must have probably heard by now, my Pantheon has declared him dead after two weeks missing and no signs of him found-"

"Frankly, they gave up too easily, if you ask me." Sekhmet said, swishing her lion tail. "If they knew him better, they'd realize he wouldn't fall so easily."

"That's what brings us here." Zipacna said. "All you must have heard of Lord Itzlacol at some point, right?" he took the mutters and grumbles of agreement as a positive reply. "And as you know, nowadays he has been obsessed with La Muerte, to the point he committed…" Zipacna couldn't bring himself to say it.

"He committed what?" Sobbek inquired.

"He confessed to La Muerte that he was behind Xibalba's death."

There was a long silence and looks of utter shock in the room, before Thor frowned, clenching his fists. "Then he must pay for what he did!"

"I never thought I'd say this, thunder-head, but I agree with you." Sekhmet added.

"If what you say is true, then we must bring him to justice!" Odin added up.

"Hold your horses, all of you." Anubis raised his voice. "As we all know, it would take a solid, actual proof to accuse a god of murdering one of his own kin."

"Lord Zipacna, couldn't you consult the tome your Pantheon uses to keep track of nearly everything under its jurisdiction?" Izanagi pointed out matter-of-factly.

"The problem is the Book of Life cannot record events that occur out of my Pantheon's territory. If a god committed a crime outside our boundaries, that paragraph of his Story wouldn't appear in the Book."

"Looks like we're not the only ones with jurisdiction issues…" Sobbek muttered. "What are we doing here, then?"

"Itzlacol kidnapped King Sol, Princess Aimé and Xibalba's servants. He is using them as a leverage to force La Muerte to marry him, and I was hoping you could help me find them before it happens."

"Why do you think we can find them?" Horus inquired, crossing his arms. "If your Book of Life is unable to record whatever happened to them, what makes you think we have any means to find them? If he's as smart as you make it sound, he would make sure not to put them anywhere in our jurisdictions."

"That's the detail." Zipacna said, chuckling. "He doesn't know Xibalba 'had' lots of contacts around the pantheons. So I figured it would be easier to find if you asked around to see if there's been any… suspicious movements in your respective territories." He got nervous when most of the gods seemed to doubt what he was proposing, but Horus was the first to speak.

"Very well, then. We shall do anything within our power to find those you seek."

"But we'll do it for Xibalba and his wife, not you." Sekhmet quickly added, glaring bitterly at Zipacna.

Zipacna gulped internally. She had been one of his 'conquests', and he could tell she was still resentful about it. "I couldn't have said it better…"

"My pantheon shall be on the lookout for anything suspicious." Odin nodded. After all, he did owe it to Xibalba after his son was responsible for the former's epileptic seizures.

Both Izanagi and Amaterasu bowed politely. "We shall assist you in honor of the friendship we shared with Xibalba." The latter said.

"I really have to know what the heck Xibalba did to earn their loyalty." Zipacna thought to himself, before nodding. "Thank you all…"

"If I may ask, what do you plan to do if we do find their location?" Thor inquired.

"Break them out of there before La Muerte can wed Itzlacol, of course!"

"Something tells me you will ask for help on that too, right?" Sobbek stated with crossed arms.

"Well, it's not like I can ask anyone from my pantheon. They don't know about this, I doubt they'd believe me if I told them what Itzlacol has done. Heck, Sol himself didn't believe Xibalba or me until Itzlacol made the move that brought us here in the first place."

"Are they that… gullible?"

"Rather, Itzlacol is very good at manipulating people at his leisure. But you could say it too…"

And no matter what it took, they had to make sure to find them quickly.


Aztlan hadn't seen such a party in a while. And in such a hurry. Itzlacol made no expenses into preparing the wedding, though a few noticed La Muerte almost took no partake into the planning, it almost looked like Itzlacol wanted the event to be of his liking and didn't take into account what she wanted. Others assumed she was still delicate because of the pregnancy, but most of them were surprised she had agreed to marry him after her husband was just declared dead. Some assumed she was doing it because she would need support for her child. They were even more surprised to learn Sol and Aimé were on a trip and would unfortunately miss the wedding, but Itzlacol said no more of the topic.

The day of the event the ballroom was grandiosely decorated in white flowers, lamps and tables, the six-layered cake was extravagant, not to mention the chandelier. The main garden was equally decorated in the manner of a very expensive wedding. A few goddesses felt envy for La Muerte actually marrying one of the most desired bachelors in the pantheon.

If only they knew La Muerte was anything but happy.

She remembered when she had been in this very room a year ago, under the same circumstances, but the difference was that the first time she hadn't been blackmailed into it, she offered herself freely to save her family from being stripped of their rightful realm… on this occasion, she was being threatened on their very lives. And she was expecting a child from another man, the actual love of her life. She couldn't tell anyone about what transpired either or her father and sister would pay.

Epona stayed with her until the end, but Itzlacol did not want her in the event, so regretfully she wasn't allowed in. it meant La Muerte would have to go through this alone. She hadn't heard from Zipacna about the search either…

La Muerte was doing her best not to cry as she continued to stroke her abdomen. The wedding dress she was using was done in a hurry, but it was even more beautiful than the one she used in the wedding with Xibalba, yet this one was more loosened at the abdomen area because of her belly. She vowed not to let Itzlacol touch her child, perhaps the only thing she'd ever have of Xibalba left… she dreaded for the 'wedding night', she was pretty sure Itzlacol wouldn't care if she was pregnant… And he didn't stop until he got what he wanted.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. "W-What is it?"

"Milady, we are ready to begin."

Despite the knot in her stomach, La Muerte took a deep breath and grabbed her flower bouquet, emotionally preparing herself for what was to come. She tried to walk as slowly as possible on the way outside, but she wouldn't risk getting Itzlacol mad under these circumstances. By the time she had made her way into the courtyard, she noted all the gods were already in the seats, and Itzlacol stood on the altar wearing his best gala robes. She had to contain the urge to glare at him, and instead kept her expression stoic. Quetlzalcóatl stood just in front of them, waiting for the bride to come forward, while Tezcatlipoca was sitting in the front row.

She thought she saw the two brothers exchanging glances, but she was so worried right then that she didn't mind.

La Muerte didn't pay attention for the first part of the ceremony. She just stood her, absent, wondering if Zipacna had managed to find her family at least. If he hadn't told her anything, she guessed he hadn't, she wondered if he'd do something to prevent Itzlacol from taking her to his realm. He had said he would allow her to stay in the Land of the Forgotten if she wished to, insisting he'd protect her from Itzlacol should he not find her family in time.

"Itzlacol, do you accept La Muerte as your wife to love and protect her for the rest of eternity?"

"I do." Itzlacol replied, smiling satisfactorily.

Quetzalcóatl turned to La Muerte, and noted she was distracted. "La Muerte?"

She blinked twice before turning to him. "I do." She said curtly.

The feathered serpent chose to reprimand her. He partly understood why she didn't look happy at all. He looked frontwards and continued. "If anyone has an objection, let them speak now, or forever be silent."

All the present deities thought nobody would say anything, but everyone was caught by surprise when Tezcatlipoca stood up. "I'm afraid I do have an objection."

All the attention turned to him, including both Itzlacol and La Muerte's surprised gazes. "Excuse me?" Itzlacol inquired, confused.

Tezcatlipoca stepped forward. "According to the Ancient Rules, a married deity cannot be wedded to another unless the current spouse passes away."

"I don't understand. With all due respect, My Lord, what does it have to do with this? Xibalba did pass away, and La Muerte has no more ties-"

"You sound pretty certain of it, Itzlacol. Why is that?"

"Two weeks passed and there was no sign of him nor his body-"

"Precisely." Tezcatlipoca said matter-of-factly. "He is missing, alright, but if he were dead as you assure then why did we not find his body? Unless there was a necromancer around, even divine corpses cannot move around on their own accord unless someone moved it."

"With all due respect, Majesty, what are you implying?" Itzlacol inquired, pretending to be offended, but in reality he was getting nervous.

"You tell us, Itzlacol." Now it was Quetzalcóatl who spoke, noticing the fire god's body language. "After all, you did try to kill Lord Xibalba before, so I guess you are quite an expert on the subject."

Gasps of shock came from the crowd, then the whispers amongst each other. Itzlacol went pale. It couldn't be… La Muerte glanced at Quetzalcóatl in surprise and relief.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Itzlacol lied.

"Are you sure? Lord Set from the Egyptian pantheon says otherwise."

At that, the rest of the present gods became incensed.

"What?"

"He spoke with an Egyptian God?"

"I can't believe he accuses Lord Itzlacol based on the word of a deity from another pantheon!"

"He would never do such thing!"

"SILENCE!" Tezcatlipoca roared at them, and the pantheon went silent.

"After Xibalba's trial, I decided to do some investigating on my own accord. Although not the usual method, I decided to directly speak with Lord Horus of the Egyptian pantheon, and nephew of Set, and told him of Xibalba's accusation against you. He in turn told his father Osiris, and they called Set in for questioning. Since he had nothing to lose, he admitted that you approached him with a proposal to get rid of Lord Xibalba, since Set held a grudge against both him and La Muerte because of what happened the last time they went there."

La Muerte shivered in dismay when she remembered the attempt to drown her.

Quetzalcóatl continued, his gaze on Itzlacol. "Set said he told you about the chambers underneath the Egyptian palace which became submerged under the Nile's waters at a certain time, and even gave you the key to one of them."

"Por favor, alteza! Set is a trickster god and a liar!" Itzlacol stated. "You can't possibly take him seriously!"

"Maybe, but if Set's claims were false, how come there are witnesses that say otherwise?" Quetzalcóatl glanced at the crowd momentarily, and the Candlemaker stepped forward, the Book of Life actually pushing him from behind. "The Candlemaker among those people."

"I was there." The Candlemaker gulped. "Well, actually it was kind of Zipacna's idea to sneak into Itzlacol's castle to find proof, and then we found a bit of correspondence with Set the… Man, Who knows what the heck is the animal his head is, nothing I've ever seen before-" he realized he was deviating off the main topic when Quetzalcóatl coughed. "Anyway, when we found it, we realized Itzlacol intended to kill Xibalba in Egypt. And since the Egyptian Pantheon's territory is off Book's jurisdiction, of course the deed would not appear in its pages. Me, Zipacna and Lady Epona went to Egypt ASAP and arrived just in time to save Xibalba's tarry hide. Afterwards, Xibalba went to the Land of the Remembered to confront Itzlacol, who had gone there to reveal to La Muerte and Sol about Xibalba's 'trickery and death'."

"Indeed." It was Tezcatlipoca who spoke next, and he made his way next to La Muerte. "King Sol came to us when Xibalba's sentence over the use of the Book of Death to tell us what happened. He described the event with quite an amount of details, even noting how La Muerte had always defended Xibalba despite your own attempts to make him look like a bad person in her eyes." Seeing how Itzlacol didn't respond, he continued. "Speaking of which, where is King Sol and Princess Aimé? You mentioned they were on a trip, but as you should know, rulers of the Thirteen Realms must ask me and my brother for permission to do so. And as far as I recall, Sol never approached us with such request." He narrowed his eyes. "So tell me, Itzlacol, where are you keeping them? That's how you convinced Lady La Muerte to marry you in such little time after she rejected your advances and not long after Xibalba's death, right? Otherwise, I doubt she would have even considered the idea."

Itzlacol realized he was done for when he heard the whispers from the rest of their pantheon. He felt the gazes of shock, disapproval and disappointment drilling unto him. His reputation, his social position, his credibility… everything was going to the Land of the Cursed. B-But he could still marry La Muerte…! And he'd c-control the Land of the R-Remembered…!

"Even if what you said is true…!" he said, trying his best to contain his nervousness. "You can't deny Xibalba is dead! If he weren't, wouldn't he have appeared around here already?!"

Much to his confusion, both Quetzalcóatl's serious expression gave way to a smirk. "well, now that we're on it, Itzlacol…"

A loud neigh called the attention of all present people, and the sound of heavy hoof beats echoed in the corridors around them. Suddenly, a familiar black steed galloped into the courtyard, stopping short and rearing up with yet another loud neigh before stomping his two front hooves on the ground.

But everyone's attention was set on the rider on top of the horse, clad in a black cloak, but a pair of black and torn feathered wings were stretched out in a menacing position, and even though his hood was up, La Muerte recognized the red skull-shaped pupils that were looking at Itzlacol, whose face was pale as if he had seen a ghost.

"Itzlacol, get away from my wife."