No one knew how many days had passed when Tania awoke on the floor of a dark, damp room, where the squeaking of mice echoed without cease.
All the goddess could make out was that it was a narrow chamber built of red bricks. The stench in the air was nauseating, a mixture of dampness, blood, and stool. Tania felt the urge to vomit, but forced herself to endure it.
When she tried to rise, a terrible wave of dizziness swept through her body, and she collapsed to her knees. She realized that nearly all her ichor had been drained from her, and that she was in an anti-divinity prison, much like the one in Onondaga when they had been captured by Sawiskera.
Being taken prisoner twice in such quick succession does not speak very highly of my reputation as a warrior, she thought, lowering her chin to the ground. But the moment she did, she realized the floor was smeared with blood and excrement, and she shot upright with a disgusted look.
“What kind of place is this?” the goddess shouted as she tried to stand, only to fall once more, utterly against her will.
“Are you awake, ch’úupal?” came a very sweet, rather childish female voice from somewhere within the cell.
Tania turned toward the sound and saw the silhouette of what seemed to be a woman, though something like rabbit ears appeared to rise from her hair.
“Who are you? Where are we?” Tania asked, only to realize that even speaking exhausted her, and she felt her voice fading away. Much to her displeasure, she had to lower her head back to the floor to keep herself from growing more dizzy.
“Oh no, ch’úupal! You’re lying right in all that poop! Here, let me give you a sheet,” said the person beside her, pulling a reddish sheet from what looked like a bag. The girl then approached Tania, lifted her head, and placed the cloth beneath it. Then, gently raising her body little by little, she spread the sheet until it covered the goddess entirely, keeping her from the filthy ground.
“I put a sheet under you earlier while you were sleeping, but now it’s all stained and dirty,” said the girl, whom Tania could now make out more clearly. She looked like a rabbit, yet with a human silhouette.
“Thank you...” Tania said, though she did not know how to address her, since she did not know her name.
“My name is Tu’ul-Uj, but you can call me Tul,” replied the mysterious rabbit-like person.
“Tul, thank you very much,” Tania said, and just then her stomach growled.
“Don’t worry, I’m ready for everything, ch’úupal!” said the rabbit person, and once again she pulled something from her bag—a potato.
Tania had never seen such a tuber before, but she was so hungry that she took it without thinking and began devouring it.
“You were super hungry, ch’úupal. I’m happy it helps you,” Tul said, smiling brightly.
When Tania had eaten half the potato, she stopped and offered it back.
“This is the food they gave you, isn’t it? I can’t eat all of it,” she said.
“No, ch’úupal, you’re in worse shape than I am,” Tul replied, and then suddenly began coughing.
Tania saw that she coughed up a little blood. She could also make out the red eyes of the person beside her, and though Tul had the appearance of a rabbit, her eyes were entirely human—only terribly tired and sorrowful. Her breathing was slow and labored. The Punic goddess immediately understood that the person beside her was dying.
“Do not lie to me, Tul. I can clearly see that you are in worse condition than I am. Tell me—how long have you been imprisoned here?” Tania asked.
“I don’t know. I lost count after two months,” Tul said, and then looked at the potato.
“Are you really not going to eat it, ch’úupal?” she asked.
“No, Tul. Go ahead. Eat it,” Tania replied.
Tul’s face lit up with a huge smile, and she gobbled the potato down with astonishing speed.
She must have saved that for when I woke up, Tania thought.
“May I know your name, ch’úupal?” the rabbit person asked after finishing the tuber.
“My name is Tania, and I come from beyond the ocean.”
Tul’s eyes lit up with intense excitement, and a broad smile spread across her face.
“Really?! Really?! Where are you from? Tell me, please, ch’úupal!” Tul nearly shouted, when a harsh metallic clang rang out from somewhere in the distance. A guard had struck the cell door.
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“Keep it down, you fucking rabbit,” the man said in his native tongue. Neither of them understood him, but both guessed well enough what the reprimand was for.
“Sorry... when I get excited, I can’t control my voice,” Tul said sadly, her ears drooping until they covered part of her face.
Tania smiled and tried to sit up on the sheet. The potato had given her just enough strength to do so.
“I am from a kingdom called Córdoba. It is a land of great mountains, deserts, forests, and many castles and mosques. The people there make beautiful jewelry and rugs,” Tania said.
“What is a mosk? A temple?” Tul asked eagerly, her ears springing upright again.
“Yes, temples—but their roofs are shaped like this,” Tania said, tracing the rounded shape of Muslim domes with her hands. Tul listened in absolute fascination.
Tania and Tul kept talking for a long while as the Punic goddess described the landscapes of Spain, North Africa, and Europe. Tul was so enchanted that tears welled in her eyes.
“Ch’úupal... I would love to see that world. But I think I’m going to die here. Thank you for telling me all that,” the rabbit girl said, growing sad once more.
“Do not say such things. You will see—we will get out of here,” Tania said.
Tul smiled and thanked her.
“And how did you end up here?” Tania asked, noticing Tul grow a little embarrassed.
“I’m from farther south, from the kingdom of Mayapán, but I’ve always wanted to leave my boring life and see the world,” Tul said. “I’m the disciple of the moon goddess, Ixchel.”
“Mayapán? That lies farther south than the kingdom of Tula, does it not?” the Punic goddess asked.
“Oh yes! We live in the middle of the jungle, and right by the great ocean,” Tul said cheerfully.
“It sounds like a very beautiful place,” Tania said.
“It is, but I want to see the world. And I heard that up north there was a very handsome hare gentleman, and I wanted to meet him. I think his name was Buenabozo, or something like that,” Tul said with a smile.
At once, Tania recalled the bittersweet memory of Wenabozho trying to touch her, and her face turned very serious.
“No... no, I don’t think you missed very much,” the Punic goddess said, drawing a puzzled look from Tul.
“Well, I reached the Chichimeca territories, but they wouldn’t let me pass, and they attacked me. I tried to defend myself, but somehow I ended up in this cell. So I can’t tell you where we are, ch’úupal. I don’t know either,” Tul said sadly.
A soldier then appeared by the cell holding a torch, illuminating the two captive goddesses. At last, Tania could see Tul clearly.
She truly did have a human body, but it was covered entirely in fur. Her face was wholly human, though her mouth was slightly more rabbit-like. Over her chest she wore a sort of blue little vest that left her breasts completely exposed, though her nipples were covered by seashells. She also wore a blue skirt, and strips of cloth were tied around her feet so she would not have to step directly on the filth covering the ground.
Like Tania, she sat atop a sheet to avoid getting dirty, but her fur was already so stained and caked with waste that she looked like a spotted rabbit. Where human ears should have been, she instead wore two enormous golden discs. Her blue hair was a complete mess—wild and tangled.
Though Tania sensed that Tul was in truth very beautiful, the rabbit goddess was, besides being filthy, painfully thin, with red, sunken eyes. A huge bag hung from her shoulder, though it too looked torn and ragged.
“Look! The daughter of the foreign god has awakened!” the soldier shouted before running off. Neither Tania nor Tul knew what he meant, but both understood it was something serious.
“What do you think that was about?” Tania asked.
“I guess it has something to do with you waking up,” Tul replied.
“That is true. How long was I asleep?” the goddess asked.
“I think... maybe three days or so. I can’t really keep track of time from in here, so I don’t know for sure,” Tul said apologetically.
A few minutes later, the sound of the cell door opening echoed through the chamber, and a figure entered. He had a pair of greenish wings and wore a hawk mask. Tania could not help but see a certain resemblance to Horus.
“So, thou art Anat’s younger sister, foreigner?” the man asked.
“Where I come from, we introduce ourselves before asking questions,” Tania replied. But in that very moment, the man kicked the Punic goddess, and she felt her bones crack from the lack of ichor in her body.
This is what I deserve for hurting Loki when he was in the same condition I am in now, Tania thought.
“You are in no position to rebuke me, foreigner. But if you truly are that Tannit she spoke of, then your life shall be spared for the time being,” said the hawk-man.
The little strength the potato had given Tania vanished instantly. Lying on the ground and spitting blood, the goddess looked up at the man and asked:
“Where are my friends?”
The hawk-man drew back his leg, ready to kick her again, but Tul stepped between them.
“She asked you a question, K’aas xiib.”
“Move aside, you fucking rabbit. You have no worth whatsoever,” the hawk god said.
But Tul did not move an inch. She stared at the man with her fierce red eyes.
“Do not worry about me, Tul,” Tania said, trying to rise once more. One of her teeth hung loose in her mouth by a thread of blood, and the goddess was panting heavily.
The man then began to laugh.
“The two of you are little more than walking corpses. What harm could you possibly do to me?” he said, with a grin visible even beneath his mask.
“You would be in trouble with Lel if you killed this so-called Tannit, would you not?” Tania asked the hawk-man with a defiant look.
“So thou dost not deny it, hm?” the man said.
“I want to know where my friends are,” Tania repeated.
“They shall be sacrificed tomorrow in my honor, together with dozens of prisoners of war. Best forget them now and return to your palaces across the other side of the world,” the hawk god said.
Tania only looked at him with disdain.
The man turned away and said to both goddesses, “And by the by, I am Heshuka, emperor of this empire. Henceforth, you shall address me as My Lord. Consider it an honor that I deigned to come and see you personally, pieces of filth.”
Then he left the cell, and the soldiers shut the door behind him.
They could then hear Heshuka speaking to the guards in Pawnee:
“Give that girl plenty of food. Do not let her die under any circumstances.”
The soldiers nodded.
Tania then collapsed to the floor once more, and Tul began shaking her, but Tania had lost too much ichor from Heshuka’s kick, and she slipped into unconsciousness again.