The group almost jumped when they felt a whole temblor in the castle's ground level, coming from the outside. This time, nothing stopped La Muerte as she was the first to dash out of the bedroom Zipacna had been put in, followed suit by Aimé and Sol, though Epona stayed behind with Zipacna, who was put in a temporary deep sleep so he wouldn't suffer for the time being while Asclepius arrived.
As soon as they rushed into the courtyard, La Muerte stopped in her tracks when she realize the maze had been completely obliterated, and in its place there was a deep crater, and in the center of the crater was…
"XIBALBA!" La Muerte ran towards him, miraculously not tripping from all the debris, and fell to her knees right next to him just as Sol and Aimé teleported right next to him, and the lizards landed their winged ponies on the ground to get off and run towards their fallen master. Sol placed a hand on the dark god's neck, looking for a pulse, and sighed gladly when he found a heartbeat, though a very faint one.
"He's just unconscious." He said, earning a breath of relief from the others. "But he's very weak, it appears he used a lot of energy against Itzlacol…"
"Considering he had to keep up with him in his weakened state, perhaps it was natural…" Aimé said, taking a look at Xibalba's injuries.
"Yes, but it's strange… it feels like he used an mount of energy he shouldn't even have… Like he obtained it from somewhere else…"
La Muerte knew what he meant, and she had an accurate idea as to where he had gotten that power. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the strength to make a crater such as this.
"Well, we can say the labyrinth goodbye." Roberto commented, looking around.
"Seriously? Lord Xibalba is unconscious and very weak and the stupid labyrinth is all you care about?!" Emilio snapped at him.
"Just a comment, don't get worked up over it!"
"When you two are done fighting, you could lend us a hand in taking him inside." Sol said dryly, crossing his arms as Aimé used a levitation spell to lift her brother-in-law's limp form in the air, face-up.
"We'll get his room ready for him!" Regina announced as she dragged Emilio by the sleeve towards the inside, followed soon after by the rest of the lizards.
"Don't you dare die on me again, idiota." La Muerte growled at her unconscious husband, though there was also worry and anguish in her voice, plus she took his head gently into her hands.
"From what I can see, he'll recover, but it might be a while before he awakens." Sol explained. "I can't really tell, his doctor will take care of that."
Carefully, Sol and Aimé levitated Xibalba's body, careful not to move him too much, while La Muerte held his head in her hands. His wings were dragging half-way, until Gael and Luis noticed and walked alongside them while holding one wing each.
A few minutes later they finally arrived at Xibalba's bedroom, where Regina and Emilio were just done in accommodating the bed properly. They carefully lay Xibalba on top of it, though his expression remain unchanged and he still hadn't moved; the only thing that let them know they were alive was his rising-and-falling chest from breathing.
Sol sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait for now."
With no other option, they agreed on it, even though La Muerte was still worried. About an hour later, Asclepius finally arrived and was aghast at the condition of the castle, and its master. He checked on Xibalba first, and like Sol has concluded, Asclepius said he was merely unconscious, but since his energy levels were extremely low, he asked for an explanation. La Muerte had to tell him about the venom, the two weeks in comatose state, and most importantly, his fight against Itzlacol in his weakened state. Asclepius noted Xibalba's seal had broken and the Darkness had taken hold of him for a few moments, probably as a last recourse since he had no more energy.
"That explains where he got the energy to make such a crater…" Sol muttered.
Regarding his body, Xibalba didn't have many injuries, apart from the slightly-open injury from Itzlacol's dagger, a few bruises and cuts which could be healed with a simple healing spell, though in the case of the former Asclepius had to re-stitch it properly and disinfect it.
Then he went over to check on Zipacna, who was in a worse condition. He had internal hemorrhage, like Sol had feared in the beginning. It took a few more hours, but Asclepius finally managed to stop it and heal most of the internal injuries, though the process left Zipacna heavily sedated to avoid pain, plus for Asclepius to give him a very bitter brewage to heal his insides he wouldn't have drunk otherwise. Afterwards, Epona stayed behind with Zipacna to make sure he didn't move in his sleep.
The next day, the Candlemaker, Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca paid a visit, having seen Itzlacol's Story come to an abrupt end, and Tezcatlipoca sensed Xibalba's darkness reaching an alarming height of power; they were shaken when they saw the crater formed in the castle courtyard. La Muerte and Epona explained what had happened with Xibalba, and how Itzlacol had apparently died at his hands. Tezcatlipoca seemed disappointed, since he had been wishing to punish Itzlacol under his own terms for using dark magic out of his jurisdiction, overall using it on him and Quetzalcóatl, but what was done was done.
Thankfully, this time Tezcatlipoca decided to 'let slip' the fact that Xibalba had used a Forbideen Spell again, given that he did have a good reason to do so this time.
A few days went by, and none of the two injured gods awakened, though thankfully their conditions didn't worsen either. Xibalba was healing on a slower pace than Zipacna, though, since the use of dark magic took heavy toll on its user; Xibalba's alignment with darkness was the only thing that stopped it from draining his life force and killing him. Zipacna wasn't fully conscious, since the brewage Asclepius used caused lots of cramps and pain as it did its job, and as such Epona had to constantly use sleeping spells on him as a sort of sedative. Still, there were a few moments when he was a bit lucid.
Curiously, Sobbek, Anubis, Thor and a few other foreign deities paid a visit to see if Xibalba had made it alive, even lending the lizards a hand in fixing the courtyard, and the wall in the garden. Sadly, though, Xibalba's blue roses were gone, long turned into ashes, the only thing that remained were the few burned out branches that had survived the fire. Lady Freya, one of the visitors, concluded it would be very hard to bring back such roses, they probably had been lost forever.
Well, they had to focus on the things they did manage to save.
Xibalba's pets were very worried about their master, they could sense he was very weak, but they were unable to see if he was alright. Medianoche paced around in his stall upset, while the pack of hounds waited outside their master's bedroom, and his usually noisy raven was very silent. Ponzoña was the only one who could be close to Xibalba, and spent most of the time curled up in his arm, rubbing both heads against it.
La Muerte was the most affected. Though Asclepius assured Xibalba was out of danger and would eventually awaken, she was partly afraid he might never wake up. But since on this occasion her husband was home and she could look after him, she took the experience more calmly than Sol and Aimé had hoped. She ate and slept normally, and made sure the baby was healthy, though she spent most of the time in Xibalba's room, next to his bed. She wouldn't leave his side unless she was sure there was someone looking after him, usually Emilio or Regina.
A week after the battle, most of the castle had been restored back to normal, though now the courtyard was completely empty, given that the maze had been obliterated. Oh, well, they would decide what to do with the extra space later. What worried most of the lizards was Xibalba's reaction when he learned Selena's roses couldn't be saved.
Epona walked into the bedroom Zipacna had been put it, carrying a cup of coffee. It wasn't for Zipacna, though, it was for herself. She had been awake for various hours, and she was a bit too drowsy. Besides, Zipacna would need bandage changing soon and she couldn't afford to be sleepy when it happened.
A few seconds after she sat down, suddenly Zipacna started to stir only to wince in pain. With a grunt of pain, his eyes cracked open and his crest bristled when he felt as if his insides had been revolved with a mixer. "Mmmm…." He grunted with a hoarse voice.
"Zipacna?" Epona said as she put her coffee aside and went over to the side of bed to check on him. "Are you okay?"
"Where's the tractor that ran over me?" Zipacna asked dryly, coughing a bit.
She had no idea what he meant with tractor, but she guessed he wasn't feeling very well. "Try not to move much, the brewage Asclepius gave you is still doing its job."
"Brewsclepius? Ascage? No wonder I feel like my stomach on f-fire…" Zipacna whispered, and he glanced at Epona. "Speaking of which, don't panic, but I think your head is on fire too."
Epona was momentarily confused until she recalled Asclepius's instructions. He had explained Zipacna might not be fully conscious when he woke up; it was a side effect of the brewage combined with the sleeping spells, and it would take a while for him to be back on his senses. For now, she guessed she'd have to play along with whatever he had in mind at this moment.
"No, wait… I think it's your hair, or spaghetti, which of the two?"
Epona couldn't help but blush and fidget with a lock of her curly hair. "It's hair, though I admit on my bad hair days, it does look like red strands of spaghetti."
Zipacna chuckled. "Do you have any spaghetti? I'm quite hungry…"
"You can't eat solid food until you've healed."
"Aw, come on. What am I supposed to eat? Baby mash? I'm about three hundreds years old… I think."
Epona did roll her eyes this time; really, even while drunk he acted like a baby when things didn't work out his way. "I'd thank you if you'd remain still, I need to chnge your bandages."
"Bandages?"
"You know, the white things wrapped around your torso."
"Why do they need changing? They're white."
Epona ignored the comment and relied on telekinesis and enchantments to move around the bandages and gently lift Zipacna's torso from the bed so she could unwrap the old bandages, and replace them with the clean ones. Zipacna continued to complain and speak nonsense all the while, which in part made her wish he'd fall asleep again. But well, Asclepius said that it would actually be good when he woke up; it meant he had healed considerably.
"Hey, linda, where's Balby?"
Epona looked at him in surprise. "He's in his bedroom, healing from all what happened."
"And what happened that got him hurt? Nobody touches my hermanito!" Zipacna declared, but as he tried to move, he had to lay back on bed with a deep grimace of pain. "Ouch! Nevermind, he's all grown up and can take care of himself."
"He fought against Itzlacol and won, now stop moving."
"Itzy? About time someone kicked his ass, it's a pity I didn't get to see his face!"
"Need anything, Zipacna? You know, something non-solid like tea?"
"Noo. Anything but that…" Zipacna snorted, thinking a bit. "But if it's made by Epona, then I wouldn't mind."
Epona blinked. What did she just hear? "Zipacna… Do you know who I am?" she whispered.
"A nice spaghetti-haired lady who changed bandages?"
This time, she couldn't contain a small laugh. He was so weak and confused he didn't recognize her, yet she found it cute that he did like her tea. "I'll be sure to tell Epona to make you some tea."
"That would be nice on your part… Hey, think she'd also give me a kiss?"
"Excuse me?"
"You know, some people say women love injured gals because they have someone to mother temporally. And she has such sexy lips…"
Epona's cheeks turned red and she took the tips of her fingers to her lips. If he were in his senses, he'd make some comment like 'you could fry an egg on your face right now'. "Well, maybe she wouldn't mind."
"You're not that bad either, my dear. And you resemble Epona quite a lot.
"Am I? I didn't notice." Epona said, barely containing another laugh.
"Could you kiss me and I will imagine you're her? Pleasie!"
Epona had no idea what to say to that. She was uncertain, it had been a while ever since she kissed somebody, that somebody was in the other room recovering as well, but she didn't know if it would look proper to have that sort of interaction with his brother of all people.
Then again, it wasn't like she cared what other people thought of her.
Making sure no one was around, and the door was closed, Epona leaned in closer to Zipacna's head and gave him a kiss. Not a normal kiss on the cheek, but a true kiss. She had initially thought of a quick kiss, but she found that she liked it, and continued on with it.
She was so deeply into the kiss she failed to hear the door creaking open, and a pair of prying eyes staring at them for a few seconds before closing the door again.
If there was something the other lizards were afraid of it was to see Regina mad. When she was mad, she constantly cursed in Spanish, and she unintentionally snapped when she was talked to.
And if there was something Regina hated, it was two things: whenever people messed things around in her kitchen, or when anyone messed up with her master, whom she loved like a son. So naturally, now that both things had happened, she was in a terrible mood.
Emilio, Roberto and Juarez stood in the kitchen doorway, watching as Regina cleaned up the mess Itzlacol's minions had done, putting things in the wrong pace, or smoldering the very frail tableware, or letting the Fire God's plates pile up in the sink. She was currently trying to fix the mess, all the while cursing Itzlacol's minions in Spanish with whatever insult she could think of. No matter how many times they offered to help, she refused, stating she didn't want anyone else to touch her kitchen until it was back to its former splendor.
"I think one of us should approach her and calm her down." Gael suggested.
"Are you nuts? You know how she can get in that state!" Roberto whispered through grit teeth, modestly pointing at Regina with his thumb.
"And she will get worse if we do nothing about it." Juarez pointed out, wincing when she let another pile of plates fall unto the sink. They would have shattered if they weren't made of obsidian.
Emilio rolled his eyes, huffing. "Surely you exaggerate."
"Oh, really?" Roberto inquired, arching an eyebrow, and turned to Juarez. "Juarez, go talk to her.
Juarez blinked. "Why me?"
"Just go."
Juarez groaned in dismay and took some timid steps towards Regina, who had started scrubbing some grease spots on the floor. "Hum… Regina?"
"I'm a bit busy right now, if you don't mind." Was Regina's dry, direct reply, not even bothering to try and soften her tone of voice.
"Come on, Regina, you should calm down-"
"Oh, I'm completely calm alright! Can't you see it?!" Regina technically yelled at Juarez as she glared at him with a deep frown, a twitching eye, and her grip nearly snapping the brush in two.
Intimidated, Juarez gave a small whimper and quietly but quickly walked back to the others, looking almost pale. With his point proven, Roberto looked at Emilio once more. "Still think I'm exaggerating?"
"Can you blame her? I mean, Itzlacol's creatures did make a mess around the castle."
"And we'll put everything back in place faster if someone didn't act all prideful!" Roberto muttered with crossed arms as he subtly motioned at Regina with his gaze.
"How about you let me try? I mean, I don't think she'll snap at me considering I saved her life. Besides," Emilio glanced at Regina worriedly. "We've seen her like this before. Remember when Lady Selena died?"
The other lizards were silent at the proclamation. "She reorganized the library by herself almost daily for two weeks." Juarez recalled sadly.
"Exactly. It's the same thing, only this time it's because Lord Xibalba hasn't awoken." Emilio said gently. "She's dealing with her anguish the best way she knows: by focusing on something else to avoid thinking about it. So let me handle this."
"Would you like us to write your epitaph while we're on it?"
Emilio rolled his eyes and went towards Regina calmly, even though he was internally trembling, completely aware of Regina's temper. One he was a few feet away from Regina, Emilio coughed to call her attention. "Regina?"
This time, contrary to the other lizards' expectations, Regina did not snap at Emilio, she merely looked up at him with a frown. "What?" She said impatiently.
"Why don't you take a break? You've been cleaning for the past week and you're looking tired."
Regina rolled her eyes and let the brush fall unto the bucket. "Emilio, in case you forgot, we're dead, we don't get tired, hungry or otherwise."
"No, but we still can feel pain. We can get hurt when someone close to us is hurt and we can't do much about it."
"Emilio, I just c-can't…! Why do I have to stay here and clean stuff while-?! While Xibalba is unconscious and doesn't look like he'll wake up!"
"That's out of our hands."
"That's what's driving me nuts, maldita sea! I've tended to his wounds and illnesses since he was a little boy, and now I couldn't do anything to help him when he was injured!"
"Those times he only had some few scratches or an achy tummy. Anyone can treat those, but on this occasion he needed advanced medical treatment, that's something not even you can do."
The rest of the lizards, meanwhile, had proceeded to hide behind the doorway in case Regina threw something at Emilio and he was quick enough to dodge, but much to their surprise it didn't happen, and instead she started cooling off to some extent.
"By the way, Emilio…" Regina whispered, rubbing her arms. "Thanks for… saving me."
Emilio smiled kindly. "Well, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I'm glad you weren't hurt."
Suddenly, Regina's small smile widened, and she took some steps closer to Emilio, looking up to him. "Well, mister 'I spent all my life and afterlife as a butler'. How about you teach me some of your… tricks?" she mused, then winked an eye in a flirting way. "Or… No, maybe I should."
The other lizards went agape at what just transpired, with Luis's jaw even falling off to the ground, while Emilio looked like he had eaten a very spicy habanero. "W-Why, Regina…! You d-don't have to be so…!"
Regina started to laugh teasingly. "Oh, Emilio, you don't have to take it like that!" she said between giggles, patting Emilio's shoulder. "I always knew what you felt for me, I didn't say anything because I wanted to see how long it took you to take the first step."
Emilio was staring at her, if it were possible his eyes seemed to have widened even more.
"Don't worry, Emilio, you don't have to take it like that." Regina said, patting his shoulder. "How about you lend me a hand in cleaning around? The sooner we're done, the happier Xibalba will be when he awakens."
With that she went back to the dishes, which the others took as a sign they were free to come into her domain, but Emilio just stood there, frozen and with his face red. Just then, Lorenzo walked into the room, looking absent-minded.
"Hey, Lorenzo, where have you been?" Roberto asked, sweeping the floor with a broom. "Anything interesting to tell?"
Lorenzo pondered for a few seconds, and then said. "Nope."
For a brief moment, he felt like he was floating.
All the pain and exhaustion vanished, and instead he was just sleepy. He would have continued to sleep if he hadn't felt a gentle hand stroking his cheek, and his head felt like it was resting on somebody's legs. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and was quick to regret it when a great deal of bright light hurt his pupils.
Xibalba blinked a few times to get his eyes adjusted to the light, and noticed a shadow just above him, but as his vision cleared and the figure became clearer, his eyes widened when he saw a pair of gentle green eyes staring down at him with all the love in the world.
"M-Mama…?"
Selena continued to smile down at her son, stroking his cheek tenderly. He wished to get up and embrace her tightly, but his body wouldn't respond to him. So he could only keep staring at her face, which he had no seen for centuries, ever since he last saw her as a child.
"Mi niño…" she whispered with a sweet voice. "You have gotten so big and handsome…"
He had never considered himself handsome, but his mother had always said he was.
"M-Mother, I'm… I'm sorry, I couldn't… I couldn't protect your flowers…."
Selena smiled compassionately at him. "Balby, I've been in your heart and your mind all this time. You don't need the flowers to remember me, I live on in your memory."
"Mother, I've missed you so much…"
Just then, a small child approached. She was like a childish version of Selena herself, but the blue shades of her dress were brighter. She looked down at Xibalba curiously.
"Mama, who is he?"
Selena smiled at the child lovingly, and motioned her to come closer. "This is your big brother." Then she looked back at her older son. "Balby, this is Zalira…"
"Zalira…" A tear ran down Xibalba's cheek as he smiled at the vision of who would have been his little sister, if only she had survived. "You're as beautiful as mother…"
Zalira blushed fiercely.
"Well, my son, it is time for you to go back…" Selena whispered with a small air of sadness. "Your family awaits.."
"Mother, wait… will I see you again?"
This time, she didn't reply. Instead, Selena only smiled at him and planted a kiss on his forehead; as he felt her lips come into contact with his skin, he felt a strange sensation on his brain, as if something broken had been fixed…
"Goodbye, my son."
