"Go! Go now, while you still have the cover of darkness!"

          Despite her tone of strict, unwavering finality, the princess is quick to accept hugs from the both of her friends. You sigh at the exchange, and a head of white hair once again catches your attention when he approaches you with his hands bared open. "Do I get my own?"

          "As if you'll be long." You teased as you lightly flick one of his earrings, yet are just as quick to accept the embrace while the prince chuckles in nothing but amusement.

          "I'll see you soon, princesa."

          "Make it sooner, principito." You laugh softly as you both pull away, your hands landing on his forearm as you look off in thought. He could only raise a brow, opening his mouth to announce the urgency of his exit before you continue. "Actually, uhm. . .I've been meaning to do something for a while now."

          Zatz's eye widens as your hand goes to cup his cheek, a noise of either protest or agreement squeaking out of his throat as the world around him slowed and panic settles in his chest. What the fuck?? Was it finally happening?! Right now?!?

          Your hand grew cold on his cheek as it glowed a light yellow, before you're quick to retract it and take a step back to let him take his leave.

          . . .

          . . .

          . . .

          "Aha," He clears his throat, trying to get even a semblance of his composure back. "What was. . .what did you just do? Exactly?" You could only blink slowly at him. Cat-like, if he had to describe it.

          You were quick to shrug. "You'll find out. Now go! Go, go, go!" You push him away as the two mortals have long since left, left in the presence of an awkward feeling Maya that refused to look at your interaction in fear of seeing something she might not want to. Eugh, lovers.

          "Alright, alright!" He slowly floats off the ground with a chuckle, hand mimicking your previous gesture before he eventually flies high enough and out of your reach. "Adios."

          He disappears into a group of bats, before flying off swiftly into the direction of the Golden Mountains.

          . . .

          "Adios." You whisper into the night, left staring at the bright moon before you turn to the encampment.

          The fire in the middle had gotten smaller now, still flickering and fighting to stay on as Maya shuffles around the sticks in an attempt to help it. Her brows are furrowed and you still see the remnants of previous tears, and you're not sure if you want to disturb her.

          Next to a rock was the cloud they had managed to make float with your mother still sleeping peacefully on it, sighing quietly as you approach a much smaller rock that you could sit on while next to her. You found that preserving your energy right now might be for the best.

          You look back at the princess once you've taken your seat, but her eyes are laser focused on the fire in front of you. You decide not to disturb her for now, and let yourself rest.

• • •

          It felt like maybe an hour at most, but for a brain that thought too much, it wouldn't be a surprise to think that not much time had passed at all.

          Such was the case for the both of you. Maya was currently stressing herself going over plan after plan in her head trying to think of a way to somehow win against the literal God of War. While you were flinching and jumping at every noise and chirp that resounded in the cave. Your brain worked on overdrive as you yourself stressed over the fear of seeing Mictlan once again, the consequences of your betrayal having yet to catch up, yet ironically enough the fear of it is more than enough to make you on edge.

          The uncomfortable silence continues for maybe a few more minutes, but in your hypervigilant state you were quick to jump to your feet the moment you heard a groan from Lady Micte.

          "Mama. . ." You mumble, almost momentarily forgetting how to speak as you stumbled for the cloud. Maya had looked up at both that and the sound of your voice.

          "Mi vida," She whispers, a smile gracing her painted features as she extends a hand to your cheek. You accept it gratefully, before you see her eyes dart to the side and catch sight of your half-sister. Her smile only grows. "Maya?"

          You could only watch in growing offence as she stands to take a step back from her, before lifting an apple onto the tip of her weapon and extending it to the goddess. You bit your tongue, once again reminding yourself that she had every right to fear the gods that have done nothing but screw her over.

          . . .

          But still, you could only have so much self control, and you find yourself snatching up the apple with an angry glare before handing it to your mother yourself. She sighs at your temper, but is quick to understand it with a nod. "Thank you, hijitas."

          "You don't get to call me that." Now Micte had to hold your hand, her cold touch enough to remind you to keep yourself in check. "Perdon," She whispers, nodding as she pats your hand and looks at the wary princess. "You're right."

          Maya goes to sit back down on the dirt, eyes never leaving Micte as she places her weapon down unwillingly. Micte nods, before she groans in pain and goes to sit up with you never ceasing to assist her. She squeezes your shoulder in thanks, before she looks around the now-empty cave with a confused furrow of her brows. "Where are your friends?"

          "I sent them away to warn their kingdoms that your husband is coming to kill them." Your hand slammed on the cloud, but it being a cloud, it remained quiet. Even so, your mother couldn't help but wince. The change in your attitude apparently just meant a shorter temper.

          The fire crackled as Maya tosses another log into it, eyes still furrowed and squinting at the orange light. "One friend dying for me is one too many." She pauses, before she sighs. "I can't lose another one."

          . . .

          "I felt Picchu's death." Micte whispers, and you finally decide to speak with a statement of your own. "And you already know that I sent him away."

          That catches the goddess' attention, turning to you with wide eyes and her mouth slowly quirking upwards in a growing grin. You refused to meet her gaze. "You—"

          "Yeah I said I wouldn't do it again." You mumble, hands gripping the soft material of the cloud tightly. "But. . .but he's one of the few that deserve it."

          . . .

          "I'm proud of you, mija." Your mother says quietly, a cold hand reaching your cheek and turning you to look at her. You could only nod. "Thank you, mami."

          Micte turns to Maya with a soft smile, continuing on her previous statement as she goes to stand up. "Picchu. . .for him—"

          You could only watch in what you could describe as horror when Maya so clearly looks at your mother in disgust, scrambling away from her hand that had attempted to touch her knee. The cloud you have been gripping finally dissipates with an audible pop. Your mother only shakes her head at you in reassurance, before she turns back to the princess and clasps her hands together in prayer. "For him, it was not a loss. It was a triumph!"

          "You. . ." The girl catches your less-than-amused gaze with her bottom lip trembling, but she steels herself as she shakes her head. "Why? Why'd you save me? Why the change of heart?"

          You open your mouth to retaliate with a snarky comment of your own, but she's quick to scramble away again and standing up. "You hated me! You wanted me dead!"

          . . .

          You watch as Micte hesitantly turns her gaze to you, then she looks back at Maya, then to the ground, before she nods to herself.

          "This. . .is a story, I've told your sister only once, back when she was but a little girl."

          The queen watches the fire in sad concentration, memories of the first time—and sadly, only time—she snuck you out of the underworld coming back to her for her tale.

          The sun sets behind them as Lady Micte walked the bright trail of a large forest, a girl's giggle making the goddess crack a smile and turn to look at her. Gods you were such a small thing.

          . . .

          She looks at you now, standing with your arms crossed and glare not-at-all hidden at the turned away princess. You've grown so much, so beautifully. . .

          She shakes her head, continuing. "When I was a young goddess, I had no plans of ever seeking love. I wanted nothing more than to be the best of the best, and even from a young age I knew that my best chance at ever achieving that. . ." Micte takes a deep breath, "was to marry Lord Mictlan.

          "I had it all set. I'd ask him if he ever wanted a bride, I'd tell him that I was the best chance he got. . ." A small smile graces her lips when she turns to you, "But then I met your father, mi amor."

          Your heart tightens at his mention, nothing but the vaguest memories of a colorful, smiling god being all that you could recall.

          "Oh he was the best thing that had ever happened to me." She giggles like a young schoolgirl, opting to sit on the dirt floor and leaning back on the rock behind her as she shakes her head playfully. "He was kind, he was caring. . .and he always gave the sweetest kisses." Okay now you were starting to get awkward, looking away out of respect before your mother seemed to snap out of her trance and continue with her point. "And then a miracle happened."

          She sighs in content, turning to you and you had no choice but to look back at her as well. "I had you, mi vida. Me, a goddess of death, had somehow managed to bring forth a life. It was a miracle, even for a deity!" Micte's smile holds on her face for a few more moments, but reality is quick to crash down on her as she recalls that this was sadly not the end of it. She had to bite her tongue trying not to let it affect her so much, but her smile fades anyway. "And. . .and well, Mictlan had actually started looking for a wife." She clears her throat, hand smoothing out the edges of her dress as she continues staring at the fire.

          "His brother, happy as he was with my sister, had urged him to go get a bride. News spread that whoever married him would be the queen of the underworld, and. . ." You watched with your heart tightening even further at her impression that got more and more upset, her composure disappearing when she finally let her shoulders slack. "And I got selfish."

          You look away as your mind went ahead and filled the blanks with the wildest of possibilities. Had she offered your father to Mictlan as a sacrifice? Had she tried offering you?

          . . .

          "So we ran away."

          "What?" You and Maya both say, momentarily meeting each other's gaze before turning back just as quickly to your mother. She nods. "Me and your father, we ran away. We both knew we were risking so much, that we had a choice to just stay put and maybe even be a part of Mictlan's growing legion of gods." She chuckles, but it was a sad one. "But we took our chances, and your father had to pay the price.

          "We were captured and he was beaten to an inch of his life. The gods you see serving Mictlan were just as ruthless as they were sixteen years ago." Micte looked. . .she looked ashamed to be recalling such a dark tale to both of her daughters that were far too young to be hearing of it, but the goddess knew there was no turning back now. "Your father was a kind, non-confrontational god, and it hurt him more to know that his family wouldn't be able to live a proper life if he didn't give up his."

          . . .

          "So he told me to offer him to Lord Mictlan as a sacrifice." Your mother's demeanor. . .had changed slightly. It was clear that recalling memories of such a dark time were not things she'd rather do, and it was evident in the way her eyes looked sort of glossed over and out of focus. "So I did. I. . .I offered your father to Lord Mictlan, and he was more than eager to consume the heart of the God of Dreams. He was. . .well he was impressed by my 'ruthlessness', so he'd called it, and offered me to be his bride."

          . . .

          She shakes her head, sending an apologetic smile to you and Maya before she continued. You wanted nothing more than to tell her she didn't have to, but selfish curiosity had taken over and you were left waiting for her to end it. "I accepted, and we got married. For a year my life was more than I could have ever dreamed of, and I was at least glad he stepped up to father Y/N." Micte shakes her head, groaning as she buries her face in her hands. "But even that didn't last long. As a child of death, we both knew that Y/N would be a powerful force to reckon with when the time came.

          "It just never occurred to that big oaf that she might overtake him one day." Your eyes widen at such an insult to somebody even the gods deemed a king, but she laughs softly and extends a hand. You take it, and she seats you next to her with a sigh. "But it did to me. I knew that Y/N would be more than capable of taking over the throne, but I feared that one day he might realize it too."

          . . .

          "So you had Maya." You could barely whisper out, watching the girl's eyes widen as she looked at you and her in disbelief. Micte visibly tensed, but she nods either way. "Yes. I had Maya."

          Even you couldn't help but look away at the betrayal evident on the young princess' face, your mother beside you rubbing a hand down your back as she steeled herself further and continued. "I had discovered that a god who sacrificed a half human, half god of death, would become the most powerful god in the underworld." Micte looked more than regretful as she looks at Maya, and quietly tells her, "So I gave birth to you."

          "All so you can sacrifice me?!" She was standing up again, pacing back and forth as she looked at your mother incredulously. "No se, Maya." She sighs, a hand wiping away at one of her eyes. "But death had already grown a heart. It just. . .it just learned to love again. And. . .and from the moment I held you in my arms!" She grabbed your hand as if to steady herself, and you more than willingly gave it, "I knew then that being a mother would be all that I've ever wanted to be."

          "But you were never there!" Maya was quick to retaliate, catching the briefest moment where she almost glared at your intertwined hands before shaking her head. "I—"

          "I was there!" Your mother defends, voice breaking halfway as she swallows the ever-growing lump in her throat. "I risked everything, to visit you! Everyday, on your day of birth!"

          There was no question in the look of suspicion that Maya gave Micte, but your own attention is turned when she starts humming an all-too familiar tune. A familiar staple of your childhood was Bolom Chon, and some locked away memory of her humming this to you as a child makes your own bottom lip tremble.

          You watched the growing look of recognition on the princess' face, and it didn't take much to figure out that she recognized it as much as you did.

          The goddess sheds a tear as she recalls all the times she's snuck out of the underworld, and all the times she regretted not bringing you along with her to introduce you both. She knew that taking you would be too much of a risk, and you were far too young to be trusted to be able to keep it a secret. And as you grew older, well. . .

          . . .

          She recalls the first time you so mercilessly killed a god in the throne room at the very young age of eleven, and she has to shake her head to get rid of that memory. By then it had been too late for her to ever trust that you wouldn't tell Mictlan everything.

          You couldn't help but slowly back away when golden holographic images of three different women emerge from your mother, a passing thought of 'her different disguises' being quickly confirmed when the very same images hum the same tune. Her voice quadruples in a harmony as she lets herself rise off the floor, eyes closed and hands clasped tightly against her chest while you and Maya watch in awe.

          The three women converge back into her form, and she ends the song with a sob as she once again wipes away at her eyes. "I couldn't let Lord Mictlan know I was coming to see you."

          "Oh mama. . ." Maya herself sobs as well, running past the fire and towards your mother. She hesitates right before she could hug her, and Micte only smiles sadly as she cups her cheek. "I'm so sorry, mija. If it was up to me I would've raised you both, even on my own." She hugs the young princess as she lends you her hand, accepting it as she squeezes and sighs into her hair.

          "I will always be with you both." She kisses her head, and tugs you closer as you lower your own and let her kiss yours too. "Always."

          You didn't know how long you three stayed there, and at one point Maya had pulled you into the hug repeatedly mumbling 'I'm sorry' as if she had any faults. You let your mother reassure her as she hums the song in quiet content, and once again you found yourself breaking down. Nobody said anything about it.

• • •

          The moon was still high in the sky a few hours later after that little emotional reunion, and you were currently the only one awake.

          At least, you thought you were.

          "Mija? You okay?" You hear Micte ask from behind you, turning as you shake your head. "I'm fine. Sorry, did I wake you?"

          "No, not at all." She reassures, leaning her head forward as she yawns, one hand stroking the hair of a sleeping Maya. They both rested on a cloud you had summoned a few hours before, the princess out of most of her armor and your mother sitting right alongside her. It was an oddly endearing sight.

          "Why are you awake? Something on your mind?" You hesitate as you think of an answer to give her, looking back behind you at the moon with a longing look. You shrug. "I'm. . .not sure, either."

          . . .

          She chuckles, sending a flurry of marigold that formed a small crown on your head. "I know the look of a lovesick girl, mija, I was one." She shakes her head. "You miss Zatz, don't you?"

          "What?? Pfft, nooo, what?!" You scoff incredulously as you look at her and her wild accusation, laughing louder as, with a flick of her wrist, the marigold rearrange themselves to the vaguest form of a bat. You swat it away desperately. "That's crazy! Not at all! I don't even— I don't— HAH! Who. . .who— who even is this Zatz, hmm???"

          "Oh my me, Y/N," Micte had her head thrown back in laughter now, the marigold you had swatted away now gathered to cover the ears of a still-sleeping Maya. She never ceased brushing the princess' hair. "Oh, goodness, a romantic, just like your father."

          Her laughter slowly dies into a giggle as you continue sulking, your face the hottest you've ever felt it being in quite literally forever as you groaned in annoyance. Micte could only smile fondly. "You're a growing goddess, mi vida, no need to be ashamed of it."

          "It's a thing to be ashamed of when your own mother finds out