A/N: We're halfway through the journey, Dudes and Dudettes. Hardcore stuff is just around the corner. ;D

Sciencegirl - /starts singing It's a Small World Afterall/

musicluvr86 - OMG. You just made my week. Thank you, thank you! I'm ECSTATIC you've enjoyed the long journey thus-far and hope you will continue to enjoy it as it keeps progressing. I have lots in store. :D

CHAPTER 21: RIPPLE

Wet Season had officially arrived and, with it, steady downpours that lasted for hours. The storms were hardly a surprise for Coyolxauhqui or Yolotli, but they had startled Leonardo a time or two.

"And I thought summer rains in New York were bad," the turtle-man muttered. He leaned back through the doorway of Coyo's personal hut, grimacing when Yo perched on his scalp and shook water off his bright feathers. "Ow," Leo hissed. But the cochotl only squawked.

"Summer gone," Coyo said. She wiggled her toes as fat raindrops left streaks over her dirty feet and breathed in the scat-like scent that the wet soil awakened. "Winter now. Coyo love winter."

"So far, me too," Leo added. "The humidity hasn't tried to suffocate me in weeks."

"Suff-oh—"

"Suffocate. Stop my breathing."

"How?"

"From the thick air. You didn't notice? You didn't feel heavy?"

Coyo's head cocked as she shared a look with Yo. It was true she breathed a little harder during Dry Season, but not enough to where she felt threatened or weighted.

"I see," continued Leo. "Native. Used to it. Got it. I mean, I'm pretty tolerant of weather, but Dry Season…sucks."

"Suck? Suck mean, uh." Coyo lacked the vocabulary to explain, so she made a 'fish face.'

The turtle-man smiled in turn, eyes crinkling with laughter. "Suck can also describe something unpleasant. It's slang in this context."

"Ah." The Chieftain scrunched her nose; she hated slang.

"So, how much longer do you think this rain will last?"

"Leo meet Zaddir, yes?"

"You gave me the message. Remember? The dream? She says she's recovered from that"—Leo shrugged—"shock last week."

Recovered? Not quite. Coyo still felt Zaddir's confusion, anger, and sorrow like a flat stone in her chest. It had eased over the last few days but remained, and the Chieftain hugged her knees to keep focused on Leonardo.

"Mozallo mean Coyo feel Zaddir, not know why," she said.

The lines over Leo's face softened as he sighed. "She wanted to wait to tell you. Just for a while."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Meanwhile, you have other things on your plate."

Eh? What plate?

"Sorry." Leo chuckled half-heartedly. "I mean you have other troubles. Between your shortening food supply, the sabotages around your borders, and Xelihuiyan receding, I'm surprised you have any time for…"

"For?"

Leo chuckled again with less heart, whispering, "This." He stared at the harsh rainfall ahead, voice barely audible. "You've been good to me right from the start. Why? How? You didn't know what I was, who I was, what I had done. And I clearly let you know I wanted to die."

"Inside Leo want death," Coyo said, frowning. "No outside. Body live."

"And that somehow makes me special?"

"Leo special! Coyo—" The Chieftain snapped her mouth shut then turned aside to ignore the red-brown eyes that often mesmerized her. "War hurt K'ekchi. Coyo want no more take, no pain. Want help. Want save. Even strange ayotl in mud."

"I could've been a danger to your people."

"Amo."

"How could you tell?"

"Coyo see sickness. Leo hurt, need aid, need…hope. How I leave him?" The Chieftain's attention fell on a water puddle gathering at her feet. She counted its ripples in hopes the turtle-man would drop the subject.

He turned sideways, back shell clanking against the wooden entryway. "Guess I find it weird," he said. "Back home, no one's ever tried as hard as you to be my friend. Not that I could afford trust. But that's the biggest difference between you and me, huh? I—I can't help seeing the danger in everything. While you see the positive, even in the broken. It's—I mean, I…I think that makes you special, too."

The rainfall lifted as Leonardo grew silent. When an ozomahtli howled in the distance, the turtle-man touched Coyolxauhqui's shoulder, and she buried her face against her knees—not from shame or frustration but because his large fingertips deepened the stone inside her chest. It stung, made her head dizzy with heat, and she swallowed, trying to keep her breath level.

"Coyo?"

The Chieftain inhaled, saying, "Cualli, cualli. Thank you." Leo retracted his hand when she nodded, and the loss left her frigid.

"You're meeting a neighbor tribe soon, right? When I go see Zaddir?"

"Pesto Tribe," whispered Coyo. "Coyo ask permission for hunt. Use Chieftain Xilonen's treaty. Citli's treaty."

"Your grandmother."

The Chieftain gave a slow nod, unwilling to explain further.

"Well"—Yo squawked as Leo rubbed his head—"you convinced me to work with Zaddir. I bet this other chief will listen, too."

'Doubtful,' Coyo thought. 'The Pesto and K'ekchi have not spoken in generations. There's no guarantee they'll help.'

"Rain stop," Coyo told Leo. "You seek Cochitta."

"Which is?"

The young woman watched the turtle-man stand, stretching her neck so Yo could perch on her shoulder. "Cochitta Languu garden. Allum home."

"So it's filled with alien plants and bugs? From Talkkik?"

"Quema. Cochitta beside Intzalan. Zaddir waits."

"Guess I'll go." Leo flashed a grin then stepped into the drizzle beyond the hut. "Totazkeh, Coyo."

Coyo dug her feet into the cold mud and mirrored his wave, unable to smile or understand why the increasing distance seemed greater than usual.

Cochitta was not what Leonardo expected, even for an alien garden. Its atmosphere was not only breathable but much cooler than the rainforest—a welcomed break from the hot, sticky air. Its darkness was lit by two mock moons suspended by something unseen, and its bioluminescent plant life glowed with variations of blue, white, and purple. Still, the mutant could only tell where to walk by following Zaddir.

"Do Languu hate the sun?" he asked. He slipped through a curtain of transparent, blue-veined leaves the size of his body and shivered as his foot sunk into something moist. "How does your garden grow without light?"

'There is light,' Zaddir answered. Call Leo crazy, but he no longer found it strange how her layered voice sounded close when she walked a yard ahead. 'Everything inside Ixtli is lit this way, with replicas of stars and planets around Talkkik. All save for the entrance, that is.'

"Ish-tl is your ship?"

'The Eye, according to local lore. To them, it is an odd circle floating in an oblong lake. When it reality it is our shelter, our means of hiding from Earth's harsh sun.'

"So the sun does hurt you."

'The radiation is potent, its energy overstimulating. We cannot focus under it, and when we cannot focus—'

"You lose balance. Guess that makes sense of why Nia's such a night owl." Zaddir let the conversation fall and slowed her speed, so Leo closed the space between them, saying, "Coyo was disappointed she had to stay."

The Languu nodded. 'She sensed my imbalance through Mozallo. I will apologize. It must've been uncomfortable.'

"Understandable."

'I apologize to you as well.'

"Me?"

'I—I had lost control, touched you.'

"Yeah, that." Leo rubbed his shoulder. It was tender, although the glossy sheen from where Zaddir gripped him had long-since faded. "It's alright."

'No, it is not.' Zaddir approached a cluster of enormous white flowers, whose petals corkscrewed into a puffy tip as big as a dinner plate. She ran a fiery hand along its side without touching it, and its petals unwound with dancer-like grace. 'I should not have let myself been so affected.'

"That sort of shock's difficult to control though, right?" The Languu didn't answer, but her silence spoke volumes. Her shoulders slumped as she turned from the flower to continue down the pathway and Leo tagged along, nearly tripping over several vines that wiggled around him like snakes. "Is—is that what happens whenever Nia gets upset? The whole dimming lights and making our bodies tingle thing? Does she lose balance too?"

'Of course, she does,' Zaddir said. 'She is Tlatlaco, half-way, a hybrid—forbidden. She…she should not exist. If other Quizzinteyo knew of her, they would see her killed.'

"Hold it." Leo came to a stop, glaring at Zaddir's backside as a vine curled over his foot. "She's your niece, your vein, whatever. How could you—"

'Tlatlaco always become Yohualli. Their Yolloyo is malformed or non-existent. Their sanity decays. They become monsters. It is blasphemy to create one.'

"But your brother did."

The Languu spun and made a sound like a clicking tongue, even though she lacked one. 'Languu do not have children or spouses. We have roles, a chain of life that is never broken or shifted. A family structure is very…human. My brother always had been smitten by their kind.'

"Did he?" Leo jerked away from the vine when it stuck him with short barbs. "Did he fall in love with a human?"

'Love, another human thing.' Zaddir seemed weary; the beads of light flowing through her slim body slowed. 'They were both selfish. Thinking of their desires above their peoples' needs.'

"Who did?"

'My brother, Ekeinni, and Chieftain Tacapantzin.'

"Wait. Coyo hasn't mentioned a Tacapantzin before."

'Nor would she. Her mother Coatlicue inherited her role when Tacapantzin became a Calpollitopan, a deserter. They were sisters.'

"If they were sisters then…" Leo's eyes widened. "Nia and Coyo are cousins?"

'Ripples touch everything in the pound.'

"What?"

Zaddir shook her head. 'Just a phrase my people use. Will you tell Coyo she has other family?'

"Depends. Do I need to I worry about any alien army marching over the border to kill her?" The turtle-man formed a snide smile. For the first time in months, he felt defensive over someone other than himself, and he left Zaddir with little doubt about where he would stand on the matter should she betray him.

'There is a reason I took so much time for myself,' Zaddir countered. 'I know what is necessary. I should report what I saw, lure Nia here, and show her mercy.'

"Killing her is merciful?"

'Many Tlatlaco beg by the end. They know their lives are not what they were meant to be. Even without the Davvu, we could find a way to ease her suffering.'

"What's a Davvu?"

'Something that was taken seasons ago. An underdeveloped Yolloyo budded during a time of strife, a generation before our ship left Talkkik. It is a poison that can consume the sick and unbalance the healthiest Languu. It is our last resort.'

"An—and something like that was just…swiped?" Leo half-scoffed. He knew the process must've been more involved than Zaddir made it seem, but he also couldn't fight a Mike-esque thought: maybe they should've invested in a stronger safe. "Okay, so, you haven't told anyone about Nia or me?"

'It would cause unrest. And, honestly? Against everything my kind considers right…I want to see her live. Guess Ekeinni, and I have that in common. Or did. Do you—do you know how long she has been alone?'

"Well, she was adopted as a toddler. We thought those parents died too. Turns out they didn't. Then she just never left our clan. So I wouldn't say she's alone."

'I saw it through your eyes.' Zaddir's layered voice broke. Should that be possible via a psychic connection? 'Tlatlaco do not carry Quizzenteyo memories; they are half-formed Languu. Nia has had to walk her life, ignorant of what she is, where she came from. She knows nothing of our Yolloyo or Allum or Kokee, which means—' Zaddir quivered, her white aura pulsing outwards. 'My brother never taught her. He is gone. Tacapantzin is gone. Those fools got themselves killed, and that monster will not stop hunting their…creation until he has her again. Like the other one.'

"Other?" whispered Leo. "Another hybrid? There are two?"

'Zarr, a boy created from a disillusioned couple who found inspiration with my brother and his lover. The Tlatlaco, the child, ate his parents.'

"Ex—excuse me. Did you say 'eat'?"

Slowly, Zaddir nodded, as if any admittance also damned Nia. 'My niece is not to blame for what she is. She had no choice. Still, she is Tlatlaco. She should be watched.'

"Then maybe you should visit her. Give her some pointers."

'Pointers?'

"Yeah." Leo stepped forward with a smile and spread arms. "Teach her about the Languu—about her real father, second parent, whatever. She deserves to know. It could even help prevent her from becoming a Yohualli. Besides, you should meet her."

'There are many dangers outside Ixtli, Leonardo,' Zaddir whispered.

"Like Bishop? That bastard's universal at this point. But you know something? Danger is everywhere. Out there. In here. In—in this." Leo steeled himself as he tapped his skull and caught the Languu's pinpoint gaze. "We just have to make a choice."

'About what?'

"Where the important risks lay. I—I'm not a fan of variables. I prefer order, knowing, predictability, assurance. That isn't life, though…is it?"

No, life was fluid. It was as Nenetl said, a river current—unpredictable like finding yourself in a compromising position, like being forced to chose the lesser of two evils, like enduring the worst tortures imaginable. The force swept Leonardo under the surface, and he hadn't been alone. His brothers had lived through the pain, too. As had Nia, Kaiya, Rupert, Coyo, and others. Since when did that become a comfort?

'You shoulder too much, Leonardo,' a single voice echoed in the mutant's head. Joseph? He hadn't spoken in weeks.

'Oh, get off the fuckin' high horses, both 'a ya,' Donald interjected. 'These chicks are warpin' yers minds! Ya don't deserve—'

'Coyolxauhqui?'

Leo jolted when Zaddir's layered voice overshadowed his ghosts. His limbs tingled, and his heart raced, but not from adrenaline. At least, not his.

"Zaddir, what's wrong?" he asked.

'Coyolxauhqui is in pain.' And that was all the Languu said before she disappeared.