"Are you going to eat us?" Ulisses was the first one to break the awkward silence as he held Elizabeth tight and looked up at the feathery snake.
"I have no intention to eat you, unless you are being offered as a sacrifice." The snake slithered around the two humans, positioning its long body around them.
"Of course not!" Elizabeth quickly replied as she found herself surrounded by the beast. "Nobody does sacrifices anymore, it's so uncivilized."
"Uncivilized you say? What people have done to this land is more uncivilized than any sacrifice I have ever seen."
Ulisses wrinkled his nose as a thought came into his head. "Wait a minute, are you that one Aztec god?"
"Aztec god? I do not belong to a certain civilization. I am simply a god. Quetzalcoatl." The snake leaned closer to the two visitors in its temple. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ulisses." A gulp was heard going down his throat as the snake got too close to them, they could actually feel it breathing. "I'm Mexican I guess?"
Elizabeth looked panicked. She was not Mexican and one of their gods was staring at her, close enough to probably eat her in one quick bite. She decided to stay quiet and let Ulisses do the talking, this way she could be sure before saying anything to secure her safety.
"Mexican? Yes I've heard this is what this land is called. It has been a long time I left this place. Without the proper sacrifices, I have lost access to your world." Quetzalcoatl leaned back and his feathers rattled for a second. "Now, all I do is listen to what happens to this land. It pains me to hear that my once free people have been enslaved, mixed and stripped out of their land's resources."
"Yeah, things could be better." Ulisses chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood, to avoid getting the giant snake upset. "But what can you do? Cartel and the government are in control."
"Then it is settled! We will eliminate them."
"Sorry, we?"
Quetzalcoatl took in a deep breath, his feathers beginning to shine in a light blue color and they rattled loudly. Ulisses placed himself in front of Elizabeth, who hid behind his back as they watched the serpent god unleash bright blue flames towards them. They both closed their eyes, expecting to feel their bodies began to burn, but to their surprise, it was more like a cold wind, with a surprisingly minty smell. Ulisses and Elizabeth opened their eyes, only to see a big flash before them, making everything turn blurry and the golden walls around them slowly turn into dark gray and mossy once again. The two looked at their hands as the moonlight came in and showed the way out.
"What just happened?" Elizabeth said while she quickly pulled Ulisses towards the exit. "That didn't just happen. We probably drank something we shouldn't."
Ulisses followed, too confused to actually argue back. "Yeah, strong stuff."
"I wish to try that drink if I may."
"What?!" Both Elizabeth and Ulisses quickly looked around for the giant serpent, but there was nothing, just the entrance to the old pyramid and far in the distance the party they had been at. "Did you hear that?" She asked the young man.
"Yeah, maybe the drug hasn't worn off?" Ulisses looked up in the sky, just in case the snake was above them.
"Drug? If I am to inhabit your body, please refrain from harmful substances, this is my home now."
"What is going on?!" Elizabeth cried out as she let go of Ulisses and stepped away. "This is too weird, I have to go, sorry." She gave him a sympathetic look and walked away.
"Your mate is leaving."
"I am not his mate!" Elizabeth called out as she walked away faster.
Ulisses dropped his arms helplessly. "This was all an illusion right?"
"No. This is real. We are one now."
"Maybe I need some sleep."
"You think I am a side effect of a drug?"
"Some sleep and maybe a psychologist."
"I will prove to you I exist."
"No! No more weird stuff. IF you are real, I need a clear head to understand what is going on. So, be quiet until I call you."
"Giving a god orders? That's either very brave or very stupid. Good enough, I will let you be. Maybe you can still mate with the girl."
"I doubt it." Ulisses dropped his head as he began walking back to the party.
The rest of the evening Ulisses and Elizabeth stayed away from each other. Although their friends were mixed together, they avoid having conversation and looked away whenever they made eye contact. They wanted to talk deep inside, but they were afraid the voice in their heads might come back. Soon enough, the sun was beginning to rise and each left to their given hotel. They were going to sleep four hours and meet up again at the concert, hopefully this time with no weird gods bothering them.
The following morning the group got up, bought tacos for breakfast, took a shower and headed down to the festival as before. Ulisses avoided trying to speak to Quetzacoatl, afraid it might actually respond. On their way over they met with Brenda and Elizabeth and as if things weren't awkward between Ulisses and Elizabeth, they were sent to buy the first batch of beers. The two walked side by side, avoiding any contact, making it the longest beer run in the history.
"I tried calling it this morning and nothing answered back, so I guess we were drugged." Elizabeth finally said as they stood in line.
"Really?" Ulisses turned to look at her, but she seemed to be trying to avoid looking at him. "I have not tried it."
"Try what?"
They both felt their hearts sink as the voice of Quetzalcoatl sounded in their heads. They both finally looked at each other, confirming they both heard the voice by the expression they had on their faces. The worried look on Elizabeth's eyes made Ulisses feel bad, thinking this was all somehow his fault. But the young woman seemed to grow frustrated as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the crowd.
"So it was real?" She asked Ulisses, her eyes searching for an answer in his.
"I guess so, honestly I have no idea what is going on."
"You could ask, sorry to have interrupted your odd mating ritual, but I grew bored of being quiet. It has been so long since I have seen my land and I wish to ask some questions."
"This isn't happening, why me?" Elizabeth asked as she covered her forehead with her right hand.
"You? No, I chose the boy. But if you two are to be future mating partners, I allowed you access to hear me. I only need him to clear this land from its evil."
"Wait, what else is there to hearing your voice?" Ulisses asked.
"You have access to a portion of my powers, whenever evil is in our way I will lend you my abilities to destroy it."
"Okay..." Elizabeth looked a bit more calm as she listened. "Now I want to have some of this powers."
"Impossible, you are not a native of this land. When you two reproduce, I might consider it."
"Um we're not going to reproduce." Elizabeth said firmly.
"We're not even going to try?" Ulisses said with sad puppy eyes.
"Of course not!"
"Practice?"
"No! Look I like you, but we're not going past that. Specially now that a weird snake god is listening to us."
"People used to be honor to have me as a witness as they create new life."
"That's really creepy now, in the present." Elizabeth's face was beginning to turn red.
"I wouldn't mind to be honest." Ulisses laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm just glad I found someone I can have a nice conversation with."
"Really? Yeah me too. To be honest everything was going fine until ancient god snake thing appeared."
"Once this land is cleared of evil, I can go back to my slumber."
"Great, I'm going to be single forever."
"I have no intention to eat you, unless you are being offered as a sacrifice." The snake slithered around the two humans, positioning its long body around them.
"Of course not!" Elizabeth quickly replied as she found herself surrounded by the beast. "Nobody does sacrifices anymore, it's so uncivilized."
"Uncivilized you say? What people have done to this land is more uncivilized than any sacrifice I have ever seen."
Ulisses wrinkled his nose as a thought came into his head. "Wait a minute, are you that one Aztec god?"
"Aztec god? I do not belong to a certain civilization. I am simply a god. Quetzalcoatl." The snake leaned closer to the two visitors in its temple. "Who are you?"
"I'm Ulisses." A gulp was heard going down his throat as the snake got too close to them, they could actually feel it breathing. "I'm Mexican I guess?"
Elizabeth looked panicked. She was not Mexican and one of their gods was staring at her, close enough to probably eat her in one quick bite. She decided to stay quiet and let Ulisses do the talking, this way she could be sure before saying anything to secure her safety.
"Mexican? Yes I've heard this is what this land is called. It has been a long time I left this place. Without the proper sacrifices, I have lost access to your world." Quetzalcoatl leaned back and his feathers rattled for a second. "Now, all I do is listen to what happens to this land. It pains me to hear that my once free people have been enslaved, mixed and stripped out of their land's resources."
"Yeah, things could be better." Ulisses chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood, to avoid getting the giant snake upset. "But what can you do? Cartel and the government are in control."
"Then it is settled! We will eliminate them."
"Sorry, we?"
Quetzalcoatl took in a deep breath, his feathers beginning to shine in a light blue color and they rattled loudly. Ulisses placed himself in front of Elizabeth, who hid behind his back as they watched the serpent god unleash bright blue flames towards them. They both closed their eyes, expecting to feel their bodies began to burn, but to their surprise, it was more like a cold wind, with a surprisingly minty smell. Ulisses and Elizabeth opened their eyes, only to see a big flash before them, making everything turn blurry and the golden walls around them slowly turn into dark gray and mossy once again. The two looked at their hands as the moonlight came in and showed the way out.
"What just happened?" Elizabeth said while she quickly pulled Ulisses towards the exit. "That didn't just happen. We probably drank something we shouldn't."
Ulisses followed, too confused to actually argue back. "Yeah, strong stuff."
"I wish to try that drink if I may."
"What?!" Both Elizabeth and Ulisses quickly looked around for the giant serpent, but there was nothing, just the entrance to the old pyramid and far in the distance the party they had been at. "Did you hear that?" She asked the young man.
"Yeah, maybe the drug hasn't worn off?" Ulisses looked up in the sky, just in case the snake was above them.
"Drug? If I am to inhabit your body, please refrain from harmful substances, this is my home now."
"What is going on?!" Elizabeth cried out as she let go of Ulisses and stepped away. "This is too weird, I have to go, sorry." She gave him a sympathetic look and walked away.
"Your mate is leaving."
"I am not his mate!" Elizabeth called out as she walked away faster.
Ulisses dropped his arms helplessly. "This was all an illusion right?"
"No. This is real. We are one now."
"Maybe I need some sleep."
"You think I am a side effect of a drug?"
"Some sleep and maybe a psychologist."
"I will prove to you I exist."
"No! No more weird stuff. IF you are real, I need a clear head to understand what is going on. So, be quiet until I call you."
"Giving a god orders? That's either very brave or very stupid. Good enough, I will let you be. Maybe you can still mate with the girl."
"I doubt it." Ulisses dropped his head as he began walking back to the party.
The rest of the evening Ulisses and Elizabeth stayed away from each other. Although their friends were mixed together, they avoid having conversation and looked away whenever they made eye contact. They wanted to talk deep inside, but they were afraid the voice in their heads might come back. Soon enough, the sun was beginning to rise and each left to their given hotel. They were going to sleep four hours and meet up again at the concert, hopefully this time with no weird gods bothering them.
The following morning the group got up, bought tacos for breakfast, took a shower and headed down to the festival as before. Ulisses avoided trying to speak to Quetzacoatl, afraid it might actually respond. On their way over they met with Brenda and Elizabeth and as if things weren't awkward between Ulisses and Elizabeth, they were sent to buy the first batch of beers. The two walked side by side, avoiding any contact, making it the longest beer run in the history.
"I tried calling it this morning and nothing answered back, so I guess we were drugged." Elizabeth finally said as they stood in line.
"Really?" Ulisses turned to look at her, but she seemed to be trying to avoid looking at him. "I have not tried it."
"Try what?"
They both felt their hearts sink as the voice of Quetzalcoatl sounded in their heads. They both finally looked at each other, confirming they both heard the voice by the expression they had on their faces. The worried look on Elizabeth's eyes made Ulisses feel bad, thinking this was all somehow his fault. But the young woman seemed to grow frustrated as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the crowd.
"So it was real?" She asked Ulisses, her eyes searching for an answer in his.
"I guess so, honestly I have no idea what is going on."
"You could ask, sorry to have interrupted your odd mating ritual, but I grew bored of being quiet. It has been so long since I have seen my land and I wish to ask some questions."
"This isn't happening, why me?" Elizabeth asked as she covered her forehead with her right hand.
"You? No, I chose the boy. But if you two are to be future mating partners, I allowed you access to hear me. I only need him to clear this land from its evil."
"Wait, what else is there to hearing your voice?" Ulisses asked.
"You have access to a portion of my powers, whenever evil is in our way I will lend you my abilities to destroy it."
"Okay..." Elizabeth looked a bit more calm as she listened. "Now I want to have some of this powers."
"Impossible, you are not a native of this land. When you two reproduce, I might consider it."
"Um we're not going to reproduce." Elizabeth said firmly.
"We're not even going to try?" Ulisses said with sad puppy eyes.
"Of course not!"
"Practice?"
"No! Look I like you, but we're not going past that. Specially now that a weird snake god is listening to us."
"People used to be honor to have me as a witness as they create new life."
"That's really creepy now, in the present." Elizabeth's face was beginning to turn red.
"I wouldn't mind to be honest." Ulisses laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm just glad I found someone I can have a nice conversation with."
"Really? Yeah me too. To be honest everything was going fine until ancient god snake thing appeared."
"Once this land is cleared of evil, I can go back to my slumber."
"Great, I'm going to be single forever."