Were the circumstances different, perhaps Xibalba would have laughed.
Itzlacol exposed and humiliated face had no price, really. But now was not the moment to relish on his enemy's misery, all his instincts and all his body were directed to protecting his wife. He had been dying to go in there sooner, but they had told him to wait until Itzlacol had been exposed, and he had to admit, it was worth it, especially when he heard the whispers of shock all around him.
"Why, Itzlacol…" the dark god chuckled, gently leading his horse down the carpet and towards the couple. "It's been a while. Are you okay, you look like you've seen a ghost."
Itzlacol wished that was the case. The nearer the damn black horse got, however, the more he could see this wasn't a nightmare, and that Xibalba was alive and well. No, no, no, NO! "X-Xibalba…?! This c-can't be, you're d-dead…!"
"Itzlacol, Itzlacol…" Xibalba snickered, shaking his head while pulling down the hood. Apart from his messier beard and moustache, and the slightly exhaustive look in this eyes, he looked the same as two weeks ago. "Really, I thought you knew me better. By now, you should be aware that you're not getting rid of me that easily." He momentarily tore his gaze away from the Fire God, and glanced at his wife. "Well, my dear, how about we get out of here?"
"Over my corpse, Xibalba! She belongs to me now!" Before Itzlacol could try and grab her arm, however, Tezcatlipoca had already gotten on his feet and made his way towards him, stopping him with his sword.
"Don't you dare taking another step." Tezcatlipoca said in a dark tone.
Xibalba took advantage of it to get closer to his wife, and holding out a hand. "Come on, La Muerte, we don't have all day!"
She didn't need to be told twice. Dropping the bouquet, La Muerte quickly took his hand and he pulled her up unto Medianoche's back; her initial fear that this was only a dream disappeared when she felt his smell of tar and his strong arms holding her close. Xibalba himself was dying to embrace her and make up for his long absence, but first they had to go somewhere private. He pulled Medianoche's mane to turn him around the way they came, glancing back at Itzlacol.
"Nice try, Itzy, but if you'll excuse me, I have some catching up to do with my wife."
Itzlacol had been angry before, but it was nothing compared to the rage he felt when he saw Xibalba stealing away his victory yet again. So much he ignored the tip of Tezcatlipoca's sword against his chest.
"Lord Itzlacol, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of Xibalba, and the kidnapping of King Sol and Princess Aimé, as well as that of Xibalba's servants." Much to the jaguar god's confusion, however, Itzlacol chuckled darkly.
"I'm sorry, My Lords…" the fire god hissed, his eyes starting to grow dark. "But I've come too far to be ridiculed and deprived of what should rightfully be mine!"
This time, even Quetzalcóatl felt incensed at his presumptuousness. "Lord Itzlacol, watch your tongue!" he snapped with a growl and a severe glance. "Don't dig yourself a deeper grave."
Before they could seize him or cast a spell to keep him from getting away, however, suddenly the whole air grew dark and a dark energy was emanating from Itzlacol. A large wave spread out quickly, seemingly freezing all the present people, even Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl found themselves unable to move: the former recognized the taint of dark magic.
"Xibalba and Zipacna are not the only ones who have been practicing dark magic." Itzlacol said, snickering evilly. "After all, one should have tricks up their sleeve, shouldn't one?" He walked down the aisle, snapping his fingers and creating a fiery horse made up of purple flames. None of the present gods could do nothing to stop him as he climbed unto the mount with a cruel expression.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take back my trophy."
Xibalba wanted to stop momentarily to catch up with his wife and explain what had happened, but he felt a shiver down his spine and a source of darkness coming from the palace. Even Medianoche seemed to sense it, he lifted his ears and snorted in discomfort and nervousness. La Muerte wasn't as receptive to dark magic, but she could tell something in the air had changed, especially when she felt Xibalba stiffening.
"La Muerte, hang on." He whispered to her, wrapping his wings around her. "We have to get out of her quickly."
La Muerte had no idea of what was going on, but nevertheless she held on tight to her husband as suddenly he kicked Medianoche into a gallop. Just as the horse was going into the jungle, a fiery fire-made equine emerged from the gates of Aztlan, neighing in pain as its rider whipped its flank mercilessly, hoping to catch up with the couple.
"XIBALBA!" Itzlacol roared at the top of his lungs, barely managing to see the speck of black ahead of him. "GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!"
"Wonderful, he just doesn't know when to give up, does he?!" Xibalba muttered, snapping as he held on tight to his horse's mane and doing his best to hold his wife and keep her from falling off.
"What's your plan?!" La Muerte yelled at him, holding on tight.
He chuckled nervously. "Well… Let's say I was hoping on Quetzal and Tezcatli to put him in a cage or something! I have no idea of what he could have done to escape from them of all people!"
"I guess you don't have a plan B, then!"
"Muertita, you're looking forward to argue with me, but I'm glad to see you!"
La Muerte felt partly infuriated that he was joking at this moment, but she guessed she'd save the scolding for when they were safe. Xibalba led Medianoche through the jungle, trying to avoid the fireballs Itzlacol was throwing at them, but one of those loose bullets struck a large tree's base; with a loud creak, it fell to the ground blocking the path and forcing Medianoche to stop. Thinking quickly, Xibalba had Medianoche turned leftwards.
The chase got more intense as the foliage became thicker, and Itzlacol was catching up to them, his steed leaving trails of fire behind. Medianoche galloped as fast as he could, but suddenly it saw something ahead; when he realized what it was, he neighed in alarm and stopped just in time to avoid falling off a cliff. La Muerte yelled in fright as Xibalba pulled her closer with an arm, and pulled Medianoche's mane to have him move backwards.
"Maldita sea!" he growled. The cliff was very high, but he noticed there was a lake down there. It would be a very long fall… unless…
They both heard hooves stopping a few feet away from them, and Xibalba looked back to find himself staring at Itzlacol; by then, the fire god looked disheveled, and there was a strange glint to his eyes… there was anger and frustration, as well as a great hatred, but over all Xibalba thought he saw insanity in those eyes. He pulled La Muerte closer with his wings, narrowing his eyes.
"La Muerte…" he whispered to her. "I need you to really hang on…."
She looked at him. "What?"
"I've got an idea, but it's a bit risky."
"The chase's over, Xibalba!" Itzlacol snapped with an ear-to-ear grin. "You better hand her over now and I will consider killing you quickly this time!"
"Itzlacol, really? How many times will you try to kill me before realizing you can't get rid of me that easily?" Xibalba retorted, internally grinning when he saw Itzlacol's face turn sour. "Sides, since I'm alive and kicking, by law La Muerte's still my wife."
"I don't care! She's mine now!"
"She was never yours to begin with!" Xibalba subtly patted Medianoche's neck, and whispered when his horse's ear pointed backwards to hear him. "Chico, get ready, and I'll cross my fingers that your Kelpie grandpa was generous enough to give you some of his genes."
Medianoche snorted in agreement.
Itzlacol created a fiery sword and dismounted, advancing towards the black horse. "I have come this far, Xibalba, and I will not let my greatest triumph slip away form me! Hand La Muerte over!"
La Muerte felt Xibalba's hand squeezing her own, signaling her to hold tight unto him, which she did. Once he was certain La Muerte wouldn't fall off with the following stunt, Xibalba glanced back at Itzlacol once again, this time smirking.
"Itzlacol, I heard that you tried to steal my horse during my absence. Hopefully he got away from you, but I must say, I understand why you would covet him. Medianoche is a good horse, and Epona bred him from Kelpie ancestors… And with that heritage came a few surprises."
Much to Itzlacol's confusion, Xibalba smacked Medianoche's flank, and the horse neighed loudly as he jumped off the cliff and into the lake. The fire god ran to the edge of the cliff in shock.
"XIBALBAAAA!" La Muerte yelled at the top of her lungs in fright when she realized they were falling in free air, and she wrapped her arms around her husband, hiding her face into his chest in fright. Xibalba had spread out his wings to half-soften the speed of the fall, and held Medianoche's mane tightly.
"NOW, CHICO!"
Medianoche's green marks started glowing, and soon they turned into a bright shade of neon blue instead of their usual green. The surface of the water started rippling, and when the horse's hooves were meters away from it, suddenly a large wave rose and caught Medianoche, but instead of sinking, he galloped down the wave and across the water. La Muerte took a peek of what was going on, while Xibalba started to laugh.
"Gracias, Epona!" he yelled at the top of his lungs just as Medianoche got off the water and disappeared into the forest, snickering even more internally when he heard Itzlacol's scream of rage from the edge of the cliff.
However, he didn't stop there, he wanted to be sure they were at a safe distance, and away from Itzlacol. Hopefully, the clearing he and La Muerte used to play in as children wasn't much far, and besides, he wanted to make sure La Muerte was okay. She hadn't said anything for a while, and she was seemingly still frozen in place from the experience. He stopped Medianoche and climbed down, helping his wife to climb down afterwards.
"La Muerte?" he asked her, concerned. "Mi amor?" However, as soon as he touched her, she exploded against him.
"IDIOTA!" She yelled, hitting his chest with her arms and closed fists. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN US KILLED!"
"La Muerte, calm down!" he tried to defend himself, grabbing her by the shoulders, but he did his best not to hurt her.
"CALM DOWN?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN WHEN YOU WENT MISSING FOR TWO WEEKS AND I NEARLY MARRIED THAT HIJO DE PERRA?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN HE INVADED AND KIDNAPPED MY SISTER AND MY FATHER! REGINA, EMILIO…! EVERYONE! I CRIED FOR YOU THINKING YOU WERE GONE FOREVER AND NOW YOU TURN THIS UP!? I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"
Of course she wasn't actually serious, but there was so much in her chest that she simply had to let out. Hot tears of anger were rolling down her cheeks as she continued to physically assault her husband, though the force of the hits eventually diminished and soon she collapsed on her knees, sobbing. Xibalba kneeled down and pulled her close, shushing and planting a kiss on her forehead, his wings acting as a protective cocoon. There were so many things they had to say.
"Where were you…?" La Muerte asked in a whisper, almost too quietly for him to hear, but he heard her anyway. "What happened…? Why were you gone for so long?"
"It's a long story…" Xibalba said sadly. "Remember the day I left? I wanted to surprise you with some flowers that only grew in a certain part of the forest…"
"Where are those stupid flowers?"
Medianoche snorted impatiently, stomping his hoof on the ground, but Xibalba ignored him.
"Stop it, chico, I said I'd give you extra alfalfa when we got home! Sides, I never rushed you when you tried to catch up with Blanca, did I?" When the horse moved his head away in annoyance, Xibalba snickered, knowing he had won the discussion. After few seconds of looking through the trees, the dark god finally spotted what he was looking for: a few white flowers which gave a rather pleasant aroma. Nothing compared to his blue roses, but it would be a nice change.
Before he could go pick them up, however, suddenly Medianoche lifted his head and raised his ears, sniffing the air, and then he grew angry. Xibalba turned around to check on him.
"What is it, Medianoche?" he inquired, but the horse was on high alert.
Suddenly, before either he or the horse could react, Xibalba felt a sharp pain on his side and something piercing into his body. In shock, Xibalba looked down at his waist and found a blade into it, and his own blood leaking out; He recognized the golden and red handle as Itzlacol's. Bad day to choose not to bring his armor, but it wasn't anything serious. He'd just make sure not to lose too much blood
"Seriously?" he said, asking apparently no one, sighing in dismay. "Itzlacol, you'll have to do better than… this… if y-you…"
Suddenly, he started to feel tired, and his vision became blurry. His chest started to feel tight, and he found it hard to breathe. Xibalba took a hand to his chest and had to grab undo Medianoche's saddle to try and keep himself on his feet, but soon he found himself on his knees as he started to sweat, panting heavily. Medianoche lowered his head and turned to him, nudging him with his snout in worry.
"M-Medianoche…" Xibalba whispered. He winced as he grabbed the handle of the dagger and took it out in a swift movement. It was tainted with his blood, but he also noticed it had been previously coated in…
Oh, no.
When he started to cough blood, he knew what was going on. The blade had been coated in poison, and judging by this symptoms, it was a very potent one. Medianoche continued to nudge against him in worry.
"M-Medianoche… g-go back…" Xibalba managed to tell him. "G-Get help…" Thankfully, Medianoche knew how to teleport from one place to another. Epona had taught him herself in case this happened. "I'll be fine… B-Boy…"
But the horse didn't want to leave him in this state. In other circumstances, he would have been moved by his loyalty, but right now he needed him to fetch somebody before it was too late.
"Go! Now!"
Reluctantly, Medianoche turned around and galloped away, neighing. Hopefully, he'd be back soon. Finally, Xibalba could not take it anymore and he fell on the grass, weakened both by the poison and the blood loss, despite pressing his hand against the wound to try and diminish it. He had to hang on until Medianoche came back, then everything would be fine… He couldn't panic… However, it wasn't long before his consciousness started to fade away…
….
The next time he opened his eyes, he noted his surroundings were not so bright anymore, and he didn't feel grass beneath his body anymore, but rather lots of leaves. He felt terribly weak and sore, and his waist was aching, just in the wound Itzlacol's dagger had made. When his vision got adjusted to the darkness, he realized he was inside a tree trunk… well, not exactly, more like a house inside a very large tree, and there was light filtering through a few windows. Xibalba tried to sit up, but his side stung harshly and he had to lie back down, gritting his teeth. Looking down, he saw a bandage around his waist. Who had done this?
"You're finally awake."
Startled, Xibalba looked around and saw a feminine figure approaching, but the closer she got, the more he realized she was no harm. She was a forest nymph, a guardian of the trees and the life in them. She was holding a wooden bowl with some sort of liquid in it. The nymph sat down in a small bench next to the bed and brought the bowl closer to his lips. "Drink." She whispered.
He felt he was in no position to refuse, so he did as told, despite the bitter taste of the liquid. It was probably a sort of medicine.
"What happened…?" he asked weakly, shivering at the terrible taste. "W-Where am I?"
"I found you dying in the forest while I was collecting berries. I brought you back to treat your wound, but since the poison that was used on you was already running through your veins, it was already killing you. To save your life, I had to put you in a semi-comatose state while I purged the venom from your system. It was risky, but you have a great strenght."
"Well, thank you for your help, my dear, but I really think I should be going…" Xibalba tried to sit up again, but his waist stung again and he had to lie down once more.
"Don't move." The nymph reprimanded him gently. "You're still weak and the wound hasn't healed completely, you could remove the stitches."
"It's okay, my doctor will treat it. But my wife must be worried that I've been gone for hours…" he noticed the look on the Nymph's face. "What?"
"Lord Xibalba, it has been two weeks since I found you."
Xibalba's heart skipped a beat and he stared at her in disbelief and shock. Two weeks gone?! Damn it, La Muerte would have his head! "TWO WEEKS?!" his outburst startled the nymph. "That's even more of a reason I have to go back…!" he blinked in realization. "Wait… how do you know my name?"
"From me."
Xibalba jumped at the familiar voice, and glanced at one side of the tree-home just as Quetzalcóatl stepped out of the shadows, looking relieved.
"Quetzalcóatl? What are you…?"
"I was starting to worry you would never awake." Quetzalcóatl told him. "Things have been… turbulent since your disappearance."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"Mixca is an old acquaintance of mine. She found you in the wounds and brought you to her home to heal you. She informed me promptly, and I came to check on your condition." He took out Itzlacol's blade. "She found this next to your body."
"You now who that belongs to, don't you?"
"Indeed. But to accuse Itzlacol we needed you to be present, and in your condition that wasn't possible at that time." Quetzalcóatl chuckled. "Tezcatlipoca came up with a plan to expose Itzlacol in front of the pantheon, and you awakened just in time to carry it out."
"Finally!" Xibalba said with reinvigorating glee, this time managing to sit up. "I've been wanting to see the look on his face for some time now!"
"Before you do anything, there's something I need to let you know…" Quetzalcóatl sighed in dismay. He better tell him everything now before he found out the bad way. "Part of Tezcatlipoca's plan involved having Itzlacol lower his guard completely, and that would only happen if he really thought you were out of his way. Two weeks after Mixca put you in a comatose state to heal you, we declared you dead and soon Itzlacol kidnapped King sol, Miss Aimé and your workers to blackmail La Muerte into marrying him-"
"QUÉ?!" Xibalba jumped to his feet in shock, though he soon regretted it when the stinging in his side turned into a burning sensation that forced him to sit down once again, pressing his hand against the wound, but he still glanced at Quetzalcóatl. "Dead?! Blackmail?! Marriage?! Why didn't you do anything about it?!"
"Calm yourself!" Mixca said firmly as she had him lay down against his will.
"If we tried to act against Itzlacol, he might have brought harm on King Sol and the rest."
Xibalba muttered under his breath, crossing his arms. He glared at Quetzalcóatl resentfully. "So what's Tezcatlipoca's brilliant idea?"
"…That's pretty much what happened." Xibalba finished the tale, sighing. "I wanted to go see you, but Quetzalcóatl insisted that I recover as much as possible before their idea was carried out." By then they had sit down under one of the trees to take a break, particularly in Medianoche's case. The horse wasn't used to running on top of water, so he guessed he must have been exhausted by the way he had lied down a few feet away.
La Muerte didn't say anything right away, but he could tell she was pissed. After a while, she muttered. "Wait until I put my hands on those two…!"
He chuckled. "Serves them right."
"Don't laugh, you're as much in trouble as them!" La Muerte snapped at him. "I thought you were DEAD, Xibalba?! Do you have any idea of how I felt when they declared you dead?! I wanted to die to join you...! I would have if it wasn't for…!" Her hands went to rest on top of her abdomen. The tears gathered in her eyes once again, but this time it wasn't tears of pain, but rather tears of frustration.
"I'm sorry for causing you so much pain, mi amor, even if not on purpose…" Xibalba whispered to her, reaching out to touch her face gently, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "I wanted nothing more than to go see you and make you're the two of you were alright… "
La Muerte couldn't take it any longer. "Just shut up and kiss me already, you big idiota!" she snapped, pulling his face closer into a kiss. Xibalba was momentarily stunned before he returned the kiss, once more wrapping his wings around his beloved wife to let her know he was there for real. La Muerte felt happier than ever when she had the familiar sensation of his feathers brushing against her once more, something she felt she would never feel again a few hours ago.
They would have continued to kiss if Medianoche hadn't snorted in annoyance, reminding them they had no time to catch up just yet. Itzlacol was probably still after them.
"We have to go." Xibalba was the first to speak, standing up and helping his wife get back on her feet. "Itzlacol's still out there in all his fucking madness. We need to get back to the castle, at least it'll be harder for him to attack there."
La Muerte nodded. "Okay."
As they walked over to Medianoche, Xibalba unclasped his cloak and gently put it on La Muerte's shoulders to keep her warm. Medianoche remained on the ground until he felt both their weights on his back, then he stood up and continued on their way.
