"Teca! Teca!"
"Protect Princess Maya!"
"Teca!"
"Destroy Divine Gate!"
"Teca!"
"Save Kingdom all!"
"Teca!"
The soldiers were chanting, getting ready for war. Meanwhile, a certain Teca Princess, Personal Royal Guard, and three Jaguar brothers, were eavesdropping on the King and Queen.
Literally.
"Careful, . . . careful. Careful!" Maya shrieked. I was helping our brothers lower her above the King and Queen's chambers, so we can listen in. Obviously, this was all the princess's idea.
". . . we need the other Kingdoms. This could have been solved with more diplomacy."
"Diplomacy?" The King repeated. "You want . . . Lord Mictlan . . . to sacrifice Maya?"
I heard Maya gasp. Please tell me she is still on the other side of the rope. I cannot handle the death of a princess right now.
"You guys better have a good grip." I hissed.
"Hold her, Daggers." Lance said.
"I got it, Shield." Daggers replied.
"No, I'm Shield." Shield corrected. "I think."
Oh. My. Gods. These idiotas. You have been using the same weapon your whole life and was literally named after said weapon. Maya better hurry her ass up before I lose any more brain cells.
She hushed them, trying to hear what her parents were saying.
"You should have told Maya the truth years ago." The Queen looked away shamefully.
"But if I'm not Shield, whose hands are these!" Shield whisper-shouted, freaking out.
He had also, unfortunately, let go of the rope.
Then the other two, had also, let go and LAUGHED.
I, the only competent one left, still held onto the rope. But apparently that wasn't enough to stop gravity. Because as soon as they released it, I went soaring.
The triplets tried to grab my foot but they were a second too late. Thanks for trying, I guess.
Maya landed on the King and Queen's balcony, I landed next to her a couple seconds later.
The rope whipped Maya's arm. "Ow! Look, I don't think my arm is broken any more."
"Thank you, helpful strangers!" She yelled.
"Any time, sisters!" They shouted back.
I rubbed my hand down my face and groaned.
Dumbasses.
Maya giggled nervously.
"Why would you two do such a foolish thing?" The Queen was straining her voice, I could tell she was going to lecture us later.
Maya got up. "I overheard everything."
The King sighed.
"This . . . This isn't easy to discuss." The Queen said.
"Well, Papa could have said . . ." Maya started speaking in a deeper voice, "And by the way, Maya, the gods do walk among us, and I cheated on your mother with one of them, and then boom! You were born."
I slowly clapped. Which was apparently the wrong thing to do, since they all gave me a look. "What? It was a great performance . . ." I mumbled.
"Mijaaa?" It sounded like the King was trying to be firm but failed, so it came out as more of a question.
"Don't "mija" me."
Oop-
"You could have told me my birth mother was Lady Micte." Maya looked down sadly. I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. I felt for her.
"When you were young, it seemed too soon to tell you." The King reasoned. "And then . . . well, too much time had passed."
"How could you betray my-" She stopped herself. "Your wife?"
Ouch.
"Ooh . . ." Nice response, Oh Great King. His wife looked away.
"Weren't you angry, Mama?"
The Queen chuckled. "Oh, I was furious. It was the first time I stabbed him."
"Wait, there were others?" I questioned. Why is no one concerned about this?
"I can still fit my finger in the stabby hole." The King was saying it like it was the coolest thing ever.
What. The. Fawk.
The Queen sighed. "You were just a baby when the forest spirits brought you."
"Your father recognized your necklace belonged to a death goddess. And right then and there, we knew."
"You were their child."
"But I couldn't be angry at you. This was not a choice you made."
"You were pure in an impure world." Her mother put a hand on Maya's shoulder.
"I am so sorry, Maya." The King spoke softly.
"And my birth mother, why . . ." She paused. "Why did she abandon me?"
Why am I even here listening to this? This seems like a personal conversation.
"Why does she want to kill me now?" The bird her brother gave her chirped.
"Ay, mija, none of us can hope to comprehend the gods."
"I hate her with all my heart." Maya spat. "And you for lying about my mother." She glared at her father.
I know she didn't really mean it but damn.
"Maya!" Her mother yelled. "Listen to me, mija." She spoke softer this time.
"You're a part of your father. And you're a part of me. I may not have given birth to you, but I raised you."
"I am your mother." Maya nodded her head and smiled. They embraced each other.
"Wait, wait. So, if I'm half god, am I invincible?" Maya posed.
The Queen poked her injured arm.
"Ouch!"
"No." She responded.
The King chuckled.
"Okay, okay." Maya said playfully, jumping on her parents bed and finally sitting down.
"I will make it up to you, Maya." Her father said. But she scooted away from him.
I guess she's not quite ready to forgive him then.
Chiapa came out of nowhere and roared.
"This I swear."
- -
The warriors were still chanting "Teca!", but some were drumming, dancing, or saying good-bye to their wifes and children.
They were all preparing to leave and destroy the Divine Gate.
"Could I just go and see them destroy the Divine Gate?" Maya asked.
"Just to watch. Please!" We begged the Queen.
"Oh, girls, you're not a part of the prophecy. I need you two to stay here and help me protect the kingdom."
We both looked at each other and grunted. This sucked.
"The Divine Gate will crumble before us!" The King declared.
"Teca!" The Jaguar brothers replied.
"We are the prophecy made flesh, mijos!"
"We got this, Papa!" Daggers wiped his fathers helmet off and handed it to him.
The King took it, but I guess he wasn't used to his prosthetic hand yet, 'cause he ended up poking himself in the eye with his eagle helmet.
"My eye!" He cried.
"Yeah, he doesn't got this." I said, shaking my head at the King.
"You guys need to look out for him." Maya pointed to our brothers.
"We'll help him fight!" Daggers claimed.
"We'll help him eat!" Lance said.
Next was Shield . . . and um . . . yeah. "We'll help him pee?"
We all laughed, I swear, how did Maya and I tolerate these losers for so long.
"Your brother Lance . . ."
"Your brother Daggers . . ."
"And your brother Shield."
They started posing.
"We swear an oath . . ." The triplets spoke in unison.
"To destroy the Divine Gate."
"And prevent the gods from entering the world."
"And ensure your safety, little sisters."
"Oh, my jaguars. You take care of each other, you hear me?" The Queen said. "I love you all."
"I'm so jealous you guys get to go on this adventure, hermanos." Envy was written all over Maya's face.
"Prophecy or not-" Shield stopped.
"You are a great warrior, Maya. And you, Y/N, will always be family." Daggers picked up.
"We'll see you soon, hermanas." Lance finished.
"Awww." They pulled us into a group hug, but it didn't last long because Chiapa dived in.
We all had a final laugh.
"Good boy, Chiapa." The King said. He hopped onto said Jaguar.
Chiapa was struggling to hold the King's weight, I almost felt bad for the poor guy.
Almost.
Shield came up to his father and handed him his weapon. "Here you go, Papa."
"Gracias, mijo." The King looked up at Maya and me. "If it is to be . . ."
"It is up to me." We said together.
The King nodded to us in approval and turned around, marching with the rest of the army.
"Teca! Teca! Teca!"
"See you soon, Y/N and Maya!" Daggers yelled.
"Come back to us in one piece, losers!" I yelled back.
"You know we will!" Lance smirked confidently.
"Be safe my loves!" The Queen shouted.
"Ohh! I have a battle jaguar. What could be safer?" The King grinned. "We ride for glory. We ride for Maya!"
Maya climbed up higher. "Ride, Mighty Eagle and Jaguars!"
I decided to join in. "Show the gods the might of the Tecas!"
- -
"Ahh, I can't wait for them to return, Mama!"
The Queen chuckled.
"Ay, Maya. The journey to the Divine Gate is long, mija. It'll take time. In the meantime, we need to keep ourselves busy."
"That's just a nicer way of us telling you 'please, for the love of gods, shut up'." I joked.
Maya feigned a gasp. "Mama, Y/N is being mean, again."
"Nah, just telling it like it is." I shrugged.
The Queen laughed at us.
"Mama, I'm hungry." Maya complained.
"I will cook both of your favorite dishes." Her mother walked off in delight.
"Gracias, Mama." We said.
When the Queen walked away Maya took off her sling. "This is such a cool scar! I can't wait to show our brothers!"
"Yes, Maya, I'm sure they're gonna find your scar cool." I sarcastically stated.
"Don't ruin my fun." She pouted.
"I mean we could wait until they come back . . ." I trailed off.
"Or maybe we can meet them halfway!" She squealed.
We ended up being successful in sneaking out of the palace.
Maya tracked their footprints while I scouted for danger. We didn't go far but still, I didn't want us running into that 'Zatz' guy again.
"I see something." I warned Maya. We hid behind a tree.
"Papa. Hermanos. It's us, Y/N and Maya." I pinched her arm.
"Ow!" She glared at me. "What was that for?"
"You don't know if it's them, that could be the enemy. Now they know our location."
She rolled her eyes and started climbing the tree, with me following close behind.
"Hey! I'm wasn't done talking-"
"Wait . . . is that . . . Chiapa?" I asked her.
Chiapa starts dragging something out of the bushes.
"What in the name-" Maya gasped, "Papa!"
"Maya. Y/N. Run, mijas."
Zatz and his fire-breathing cat came out of the brush, Chiapa whimpered and ran away.
"You want him, you'll have to go through me." Maya pointed two arrows at him.
"And if you want her, you'll have to go through me, vampiro." I spat, (f/c) magic leaking out of my hands.
"Ah, courage runs through your veins, m'lady." Zatz hops down onto the ground.
"Back. Up." I hissed. "Unless you want to be Chiapa's midnight snack."
"Oh? You mean the Jaguar that was running with his tail between his legs? Yeah, I'll take my chances, cariño." He smirked.
Never thought I'd want to punch someone so badly.
He took another step forward.
My powers flared up in warning, the King raising his weapon at bat boy.
"I mean you no harm, King Teca. You're hurt. A fight now will be dishonorable."
"Huh, and sacrificing Maya, a teenager, doesn't seem dishonorable to you? I see the bar is set low." Maya shushed me. How dare she? I was defending her 'honor'.
He kneeled and placed down a cloth with broken weapons. "Your brother's weapons . . ."
No.
". . . they belong to your family now."
No, no, no, no.
"Honor them."
My throat felt closed off. It was like I couldn't breathe, or I forgot how.
Maya had dropped to her knees and sobbed loudly. "No."
"I am sorry for your loss."
"Be well, Princess Maya." His cat roared. "See you soon, Lady Y/N."
I stood there, still in shock. I didn't register he was leaving until my name left his lips.
"Like hell you're gonna leave here alive." I whispered. I turned to Maya and the King.
They'll be fine.
I ran after the Bat Prince, trying to catch up to him between the trees.
I stop when I run into a clearing. I lost him.
I screamed out in frustration. Blasting a boulder.
"Next time, I swear." I turned around, "I will avenge our brothers, Maya."
What I didn't know was that the little bat was watching up from the sky.
2047 word count
My very, good friend, gave me the great idea of posting the chapters in smaller portions. So I will be doing that from now on, I'll try to get more out.
Thank you for reading! <3