Everybody! Guess what, we're nearing the end of this story. I must say, this is the longest fic I've worked on, and also the one I've enjoyed the most. So much I'm going to miss it. But like I said, certain stories are so great they DON'T need sequels. BUT I MIGHT make a spin-off, and one-shots every now and then if I come up with a story worth sharing.

Enjoy!


"I think I almost got it…"

"Knock it off! You'll only get us all in trouble!"

"Come on, what could possibly be worse than this?"

Roberto winced and cried out in pain when he felt a sharp pain on the tip of his tail, and withdrew it from the lock, even going as far as to suckle it to alleviate the pain in a rather childish way. Emilio rolled his eyes and went back to his game of poker with Juarez and Lorenzo. Regina and the rest of the lizards were trying to look for other ways out of the cell, but to no avail, while Aimé was in her father's embrace, and the two of them were sitting in the worn, but long unused bench. For some reason, Sol felt annoyed at how calm the lizards seemed to be.

"How can you be playing poker in such a situation?" he asked Emilio, half-annoyed.

"We're bored." Juarez told him curtly, not meeting his gaze. "And since nothing we do will get us out of here, we might as well do something to entertain ourselves."

"Sides, do you even know where we are?" Emilio stated. "There are probably lots of guards out there, and we're both weaponless and helpless. Or do you have a plan, your majesty?"

"Would you knock it off?" Regina growled at both parties. "Now's not a good moment for that!"

"How long have we been here, now that we're on it?" Gael inquired.

"Judging by the position of the sun, I'd say it's been three days ever since we got brought here." Lorenzo spoke out of sudden, though he didn't remove his gaze off his cards.

"Hola?! Is there anyone out there?!" Roberto cried out in desperation while banging on the thick, wooden door. "When are you planning on feeding us?!"

"You fool, you will just make them mad!" Sol snapped.

"You're the one to talk! We're in this mess because you held the fire worm in a pedestal, and now look where we are!"

Despite the ruckus, Aimé managed to hear something going on in the upper levels. It sounded like fighting, but her father's bickering with Roberto made it hard for her to listen properly. Knowing So would ignore her for the time being, Aimé instead spoke to Regina. "Miss, do you hear that?"

Regina initially thought the guards were just making a ruckus, but then she noted how the noise didn't seem to be playful… rather, it looked like there was a big fight occurring upstairs. Soon the other lizards noticed it too, except for Roberto, and Sol.

"Roberto, Majesty…!" Emilio called out to them, but they ignored him.

"Do not dare to judge me! You're not a father!"

"I'd rather not be one than being a lousy one!"

"How dare you-?!"

His patience gone, Emilio yelled at them at the top of his lungs. "QUIEREN CERRAR LA MALDITA BOCA, POR TODOS LOS CIELOS?!" he soon regretted it when everybody, Sol and Roberto included, stared at him in surprise. However, instead of stuttering, he gathered all the courage he had to speak clearly. "Now's not the time to be bickering! Something's going on out there!"

The noises became louder and louder as the commotion was brought downstairs until they noticed it was occurring just outside. Emilio panicked and picked up an old metal pole on the ground, holding it in both hands in a defensive way.

"Good idea, genius! A little pole is really going to bring them down!" Roberto said.

Emilio rolled his eyes. "Well, if you have a better idea, then share it!"

Just as the door burst open, Emilio yelled and charge, swinging the pole in a panicked fashion aiming to strike, but a black hand caught it.

"Seriously, Emilio," Zipacna said, chuckling as he lifted the pole, and Emilio with it, "You wouldn't hurt a fly by swinging a weapon randomly."

"Zipacna?!" the rest of the lizards cried out in surprise, approaching the god in disbelief.

"Not only me," He said, just as Epona stepped into the cell.

"Itzlacol really needs more better-trained warriors," She said casually.

"What…?" Aimé stepped forward, looking relieved, "How did you find us?"

"Xibalba had lot of contacts and acquaintances who owed him favors," Zipacna said simply, glancing at Sol, "Even if some people don't deserve it."

"Where are we?" Sol inquired, changing the subject.

"It wasn't easy to find you, we had to ask three pantheons for their help. Thankfully, Odin's Valkyries soon discovered mysterious activity in a supposedly inhabited castle in Sweden's mountains. After some more digging, we discovered it's one of Itzlacol's 'summer homes'."

"Valkyries? Odin?" Aimé asked. "Do you mean…?"

"Yes, you were brought to Sweden, and out of the Book of Life's jurisdiction. Pretty convenient for Itzlacol."

"Zipacna, if you don't mind, think we could get out of here?" Regina said. "I don't want to stay in this awful place any longer."

"Indeed. I wish to inform Lords Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca of this as soon as possible!" Sol said with a snarl. "I want to make sure Itzlacol will pay for this betrayal!"

"It's a little too late for that, anciano." Was the bitter retort from Zipacna. "My brother is dead because you couldn't see the truth beyond your nose."

"But we can still avenge him." Epona said, cracking her knuckles in a menacing way. "I want his head on a silver platter."

Most of the lizards gulped when they noted the darkness in Epona's voice. The times she had visited their master, they noted she had a character similar to a wild, untamed mare, and could tell that whoever crossed her would get a good thrashing.


The way back was slower than he intended, but he wanted to make sure his wife was comfortable, so he led Medianoche on a slow but steady pace, having used the energy he had left for a teleportation spell to skip most of the travel, he had no power left to face against the Forgotten Beasts should they encounter any. His wound still hurt, even though the venom had been purged out he needed to save his energy and recover.

Medianoche sensed his master's anxiety, and slowly made his way across the bridge leading to the castle. As they got to the stable, Xibalba refrained himself form calling Juarez, knowing none of the lizards were present right now. La Muerte said Epona and Zipacna were looking for them, but considering they hadn't turned up at the wedding, she could tell they had not found them yet.

Blanca was still in her stall with some untouched straw (left by Epona in Juarez's absence) when she heard familiar hooves clopping against the stone. She turned around and stuck her neck out of the stall door, neighing when she saw Medianoche returning. As happy as the stallion was to see his mate, he waited until his master had dismounted, and helped La Muerte dismount, before heading over to Bianca's stall and exchanging affectionate nuzzling with her.

"Guess we won't be the only ones to catch up." Xibalba said with a chuckle, holding his wife in his arms, close to his body. He guessed she was still too much in shock to walk, and he wanted to make sure the baby was okay. He walked into the castle, though it felt lonely without the lizards around. However, he had momentarily forgotten about his hounds. They heard the doors opening and came to deal with the intruders, but their mode turned joyful when they realizes it was their master who had finally returned. Xibalba barely had time to place La Muerte back on her feet before the whole pack pounced unto him and started licking him all over, wagging their tails.

"Knock it off! I know you're happy, but now's not a good moment!" Xibalba told them, trying to keep them from stepping into his bandaged sides. "Abajo, muchachos!"

La Muerte laughed at the sight. The dogs had been so depressed on Xibalba's disappearance that she was glad to see them back to normal, though Xibalba didn't seem thrilled at being covered in his dog's saliva. After a few seconds he finally managed to push them away and stand up, his bandage mostly intact.

"These dogs are going to kill me…" he muttered under his breath. When the annoyance passed, he went back to his wife's side. "Anyway, now that we're home, how about we go back to our bedroom?" he whispered the word in a particularly affectionate way which made her blush.

"I wouldn't like anything else, Balby…" she said, twirling some hairs of his beard with her finger.

Xibalba picked her up bridal style once again and made his way back to his bedroom. Thankfully, Itzlacol didn't seem to have changed anything, probably because Zipacna hadn't allowed him to. He'd have to thank his brother for that later, if he didn't kill him for disappearing and letting him think he had died, that is. Much to La Muerte's surprise, Ponzoña was on top of the bed on his hardened staff form, immobile. Xibalba felt relief; at least that nymph had kept her word and brought his beloved pet back home.

When they were next to the bed, Xibalba placed his wife gently down unto the matress and touched Ponzoña. Immediately, he was reanimated, and upon seeing his master he hissed in delight and slithered up his arm.

"I'm still in one piece, Ponzoña." Xibalba chuckled, stroking both heads with his hand tenderly.

"I was wondering where you might be." La Muerte added, running her hand down Ponzoña's scaly body, which the two-headed snake accepted thankfully.

Xibalba had the feeling Itzlacol would try and come after them, so the first thing he did was to recast the very same spell which caused him to lose his crown in the first place. La Muerte was concerned at first that he had used Forbidden Magic yet again, but he stated that since he wasn't the ruler of the realm anymore, it didn't really matter if he used it. Sides, this time he did have a viable reason to have cast it: self-defense against Itzlacol. He was certain Tezcatlipoca would let this one slide… hopefully. Unfortunately, it meant Zipacna, Epona and the others wouldn't be able to come into the Land of the Forgotten either. Xibalba felt bad to unintentionally kicking his brother out of 'his own realm', but then again, Zipacna had never been thrilled about ruling in his brother's stead, so he wouldn't really mind. Maybe get confused as to who would want to kick him out, but he'd come around eventually when this whole mess was done.

After two weeks without bathing, Xibalba went directly to the bathroom to have a long bath, but when La Muerte insisted on accompanying him he couldn't deny her the petition. After all, two weeks without her was too much as well. They stayed in the bathtub for a long time, both to clean themselves up, and to catch up, cuddling together in the warm water. In their naked state, the dark god could properly see just how much his wife's tummy had grown, and stroked it tenderly hoping to feel any kicks or movements. The little one kicked against her daddy's hand, much to his delight. It was evident she missed her daddy too.

Some time later, they left the bathtub and went back to the bedroom, now clean, fresh and wearing bathrobes. As soon as they lay down on top of the bed, it took them a great deal of effort not to fall asleep; they wanted to make up for the lost time. La Muerte, in particular, felt a great weight being lifted off her chest as she cuddled against her husband's embrace once more, and felt his wings wrap around her in an affectionate, yet possessive way, letting her know he would never leave her again.

"Are you wearing a new perfume?" he asked, taking a sniff from his wife's hair.

"Itzlacol's idea, or rather, demand." La Muerte said bitterly, removing the engagement ring Itzlacol had forcefully put on her finger. She was also glad to be rid of that dress, yet she couldn't bring herself to destroy it. Xochiquétzal had put her heart into it, not knowing about the circumstances back then.

"Well, I must say he has a terrible taste."

"Don't you mean a terrible smell?"

"A lack of it, it seems." Both chuckled at that remark, before he spoke again. "Did he touch you…?"

"He didn't manage because Zipacna kept him away."

"I'll have to thank him for that later."

"He won't be able to come here after you used that spell. Don't you think he will freak out?"

"Maybe, but at least he'll get a hint that I'm not sleeping with the fishes." Xibalba frowned. "I swear, if Itzlacol did anything to Emilio or the others…!"

"Don't get down to his level, Balby. You're much better than him." La Muerte told him, seriously.

"I'd lie if I told you I could. After all he's done to me, to you, to the people we both love… heck, by now even the Kings would stoop down to his level just to punish him for... whatever he did in Aztlan to keep them there."

"Did you think he hurt them?"

Xibalba chuckled. "Are you kidding? Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca aren't the pantheon's rulers for nothing, I doubt whatever trick Itzlacol had up his sleeve hurt them. Maybe left them indisposed, but not crippled."

"What are we going to do if he tries to…?"

"He'll have to go through me to hurt you, mi amor…"the dark god whispered, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"But you're still hurt, and weakened. You wouldn't be able to face him on your own, maybe if I helped you-"

"Absolutely not."

La Muerte crossed her arms, incensed. "I will not stand by as you risk your life against that madman."

"And I will not let you put your life, and our child's, in risk." He countered, his tone still serious. "I'm still weak, but I have something that Itzlacol lacks greatly; something to fight for."

"Itzlacol will not play fair, and he might take advantage of it!"

"Exactly! If you're there he'll try to use you against me! And I'm pretty sure he will hurt you both against me!"

"But-!"

"La Muerte, listen to me!" He lost his patience to his wife's stubbornness and grabbed her shoulders in a firm but gentle way. "I've lost too many things in my life! I lost my mother, then my brother, and I nearly lost you twice: the first time because of my short-sightedness, and the second because of the Forgotten Beasts! Do not ask me to let you put yourself in risk yet again, because I cannot do that!"

La Muerte could not counter that, even if she wished it. The tone he used... it was just like when she first arrived into his castle, the dominance and irritated expression. However, she knew that it was different in this occasion: he did this out of worry and fear for her wellbeing, and that of the baby's. He was right in that sense, he didn't want to risk losing them both again.

"I'm sorry, Xibalba… I just… You're not the only one who thought he'd lost the person he loves…"

His hold and expression softened when she said those words, realizing she had gone through the same. Xibalba kissed her forehead again, and pulled her close with his wings. "I'm sorry, mi amor… I didn't mean to…"

She silenced him with a kiss of her own, and stroked his beard. "Let's not think about that right now… Let's enjoy our time together."

"Speaking of which…" Xibalba started stroking her abdomen, and leaned in closer to talk to the baby. "Sorry for disappearing for so much time, pequeña. I want to let you know that you and mami gave me the strength to hang on. Do you forgive me?" he received a small kick against his palm in return, which he took as a positive reply.

"She didn't move much while you were gone, you know…" La Muerte whispered, sighing.

"Well, my dear, we could… catch up…"

She giggled when she saw the look on his face. "You dork!"

"Come on, you missed me. Admit it!"

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

As they leaned in for yet another kiss, suddenly there was a loud thunder, and the whole place trembled as a voice screamed from the ourside.

"XIBALBAAA!"