𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚

Chapter 11: Festival of Pteros (Part 1)

The sun shined over the canopy of the vigorous forest that the heroes had been walking through. They have finally found their last ally, and now they are heading to the Divine Gate to Tezcatlipoca's realm and put an end to the war once and for all. It was quite, but not in a way that it was awkward, but rather peaceful way. Everyone minded their own business, Maya guiding her comrades to their final destination of their adventure and Zatz talking to the others. Meanwhile Tira sat on the edge of Chiapa's back silent, unsure on what to do or say to her fellow companions.

Rosetta took a peak at her while she was talking to her allies, noticing that she was being left out from the group. The Savage Beast being the good-hearted dear she is, she called out for her.
"Hey Tira! Do you want to talk with us?" Her voice snapped Tira from her daydream, turning her head to the others as they look at her. Her reaction was slow, unable to respond to her question. Rosetta looked worried, thinking that there is something wrong.

"Is there something wrong?"  
Tira's expression turned into shock once she heard that. She got the wrong idea about her.

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm fine. It's just..." She paused as her voice grew softer. Now the others were curious on what she is going to say.
"I just haven't talk to people in a VERY long time."  Zatz overhear this while helping Maya and disagreed. He knew that there were other bedrooms in the temple, therefore, other people would have lived with her. But he decided to not cause any sort of drama with new recruits, so he kept that hunch to himself until it was appropriate to tell.

Suddenly, a shocking pain had struck on Zatz shoulder. It wasn't extreme, but it was very agonizing. He hissed through his teeth, clutching his hand onto his shoulder; that is when Maya noticed his state.
"Zatz! Are you okay?" Maya pleaded for him to answer. Luckily, as soon as the pain came, it disappeared. Zatz decided to shook it off as nothing.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." He manage to say before harshly rubbing his shoulder. Tira notices this from a far, not falling for his lie. Although, she had a gut feeling not to bring up the topic, assuming that it wasn't anything; but she was in the mood to have a conversation with the one and only Princess Maya.

"So..." Tira began. Her voice was loud enough for the others to hear.
Maya, when do you predict the approximate day or time we will arrive at the Divine Gate?" Maya had turned her head around to see Tira, with a confused look from both her sudden question and her complicated use of words. The look made Tira huff in mild frustration, which caused her to repeat her sentence in a more casual vocabulary.
"When we will get there?"
"Oh! Well, it will take a while to get there, and Chiapa won't have enough energy to get there." She explained while her hand patted the furry head of her battle cat. He let out an exhausted whimper, indicating that she wasn't lying.
"But! Luckily, I found a nearby kingdom so we can rest for a bit before continuing the journey again." She announced; Rosetta groaned loudly.

"Finally! We can relax in the life of luxury!" Hearing that sounded like a relief to her, but Azuru snickered before saying:
"Since when have you been IN the life of luxury?" Rosetta crane her neck to the side in a flash, her hand clutching into a fist and hitting her shoulder harshly. Azuru burst out of laughter, amused with her reaction. Rosetta was NOT happy with her comment, but new she was teasing her; so she let out a small giggle.

"Speaking of, we're here!" All of Maya's comrades looked in Maya's direction; they saw a glorious kingdom filled with decorations and statues that stood tall on each side of the entrance. Vines covered the buildings and ruins that lead the heroes to The Mauli Kingdom.

As they enter to the kingdom, multiply people were enjoying their lives as they talked and helped each other add golden flowers to their house and painting on their faces. Children roamed around as they played with wooden toys and instruments. Maya thought about her kingdom, and how they have been plagued with Metztli's disease. Her smile was completely wiped off her face, praying that everyone was safe and doing well.