The next morning, the servants brought dishes of shrimp with squash, an iguana with roasted grasshoppers, and more chocolatl to the gods’ room.
“Are these insects?” Epona asked nervously.
“Well, I thought the cuisine of these lands would please you more, since they hardly eat meat,” Anpiel replied.
“But I don’t know if I can eat insects. Besides, they give me the creeps,” Epona continued worriedly, staring at the fried grasshoppers.
Then Tania and Menrva began grabbing the insects by the handful and eating them.
“Try them. They are very good,” Menrva said as she ate. The scene reminded Rodrigo of Athena eating grapes while speaking.
Is she all right? she wondered.
Then Susanoo saw that some sauce had been placed in a small bowl.
“Mina-san,” he said, “I believe we should spread this sauce upon the shrimp and insects.”
The god tasted a grasshopper that way, when suddenly his eyes became bloodshot, and he went silent for a moment.
“What happened, Susanoo?” Freyja asked, puzzled. “Is it poison?”
“Tsurai!” the Japanese god shouted, sticking out his tongue and beginning to drink chocolatl by the gallon.
“Hey, Susanoo! Don’t finish all the chocolatl,” Loki said irritably.
Tul burst out laughing.
“Yuum Susanoo, you really have no endurance,” she said.
“Wasabi desu!” the eastern god shouted as he continued drinking.
“I assume it is a spicy sauce,” Tania said.
The goddess then dipped a grasshopper into the sauce and tasted it. She made a gesture of surprise.
“Well, this is quite strong,” she said. “But it is very addictive.”
Having said that, the goddess continued dipping her food into the sauce.
“It ain’t strange that a fire goddess has resistance to spice, while a water god doesn’t,” Freyja said jokingly, also standing to taste the sauce.
“Hey, this is actually mighty good,” the Norse goddess said after trying it.
“What kind of warrior are you, Susanoo?” she asked mockingly.
“In these lands, the spicier the sauce is, the stronger you are,” Tul said, and showed them how she drank the sauce as if it were water.
Everyone was shocked by the rabbit goddess’s resistance to such a spicy drink.
“Don’t worry. It’s very mild,” Tul said, laughing. “The problem is that yuum Susanoo isn’t a real warrior.”
The gods laughed and spent a pleasant moment while eating.
After the meal, Rodrigo stood from the table.
“My friends,” the young man said. “The time has come for us to say goodbye for now.”
Rodrigo wore Otomí clothing: a white tunic with a red cape. The tunic had red geometric motifs along the lower part and was fastened by a belt at his hips.
“Are you leaving already, Rodrigo?” Epona asked melancholically.
“Yes. Ehécatl does not have much time left, and I must hurry to meet this Quetzalcóatl,” Rodrigo said.
The young man embraced Epona and kissed her on the lips, then stroked her temple.
“Take care, Rui,” Ana said, hugging Rodrigo very tightly. “If something bad happens, teleport back here.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Don’t worry, Ana,” Rodrigo replied. “Actually, according to what Ehécatl told me, it is very possible that Tollan will retaliate for the death of its monsters.”
“We will stay on guard the whole time,” Ana replied.
“Chan Rodrigo,” Tul said very cheerfully. “Meeting the Feathered Serpent is a great honor in these lands. Be respectful,” she said, then hugged him.
“Thank you, Tul,” Rodrigo said.
“I do not know what dangers await you, Rodrigo, but return safe and sound… and stronger,” Tania said as Tul stopped hugging the young man.
“I will fully break the barrier this time,” the young man replied.
“Rodrigo-san, I shall not wish thee good fortune, for I know thou shalt achieve victory as my rival,” Susanoo said, giving him a farewell gesture. The young man nodded.
“Take great care of yourself, Rodrigo,” Menrva said, also embracing him.
“Lord Rodrigo, we place all our good wishes upon your journey, and we hope you may learn the secret of your past,” Anpiel said to the young man.
“We haven’t spent much time together, Rodrigo, but you’re a strong and brave man. I’m sure that if Thor had known you, he would’ve considered you a great ally,” Freyja said, then hugged him.
The goddess let Rodrigo go and said:
“The harder the trial, the more triumphant our victory will be. Those were Thor’s words. No matter how difficult your trial is, when you overcome it, you will be even stronger than you were before.”
The goddess then gave Rodrigo a thumbs-up and smiled at him.
“Well, good luck, kisses, blah blah blah,” Loki said, making an indifferent gesture.
“Thank you, everyone,” Rodrigo said. “And be careful.”
“Don’t worry, Rodrigo,” Epona replied. “We will see each other soon.”
Everyone else nodded, and the young man then jumped out the window of the room and flew east.
After the farewell, soldiers arrived at the room where the gods were staying and informed Tul that Otontecutli was waiting for them in his royal hall. The gods nodded and left the room, following the guards.
In a sumptuous chamber filled with nobles and soldiers, Otontecutli sat upon a small throne, which was elevated above the rest of the hall’s structures and also had a kind of roof above his seat. Beside him, a vessel emitted perfumes that filled the entire room with springlike aromas.
“It is good that you have come,” Otontecutli said as he stood and made a bowing gesture. The other men inside the chamber did the same.
The gods of Orniskem likewise wore garments of Otomí nobility, very similar to Rodrigo’s clothing: long tunics with short sleeves. The women also wore black skirts and had circular designs on their tunics. The goddesses had styled their hair according to the region’s fashion, with two side buns.
“Well, we are grateful for Your Excellency’s hospitality and generosity,” Menrva said with a smile.
“Were there not more of you yesterday?” the Otomí god asked.
“I ask your forgiveness regarding Rodrigo, but he had to depart toward a land called Cholollan,” the Etruscan goddess said. “It seems he must meet with a god named Quetzal or something of that sort.”
“Quetzalcóatl? Is he not dead?” the Otomí king asked.
“Yes, we learned that as well. However, he is being guided by one of that deity’s former servants,” the Etruscan goddess continued explaining. “You need not worry about him. He too was very satisfied with Your Excellency’s hospitality.”
“Well, I am glad,” Otontecutli said. At that moment, the god seemed to collapse into his chair.
“Is something wrong, Your Excellency?” Menrva asked.
“Yes. The truth is that we are in one of the worst situations possible,” the Otomí god said, straightening himself in the chair again.
“Rabbit of the Moon,” Otontecutli said, addressing Tul.
“Yes? What is it?” Tul asked, puzzled.
“I must give you grim news. Your teacher, Lady Ixchel, is currently captured in Tollan,” Otontecutli said bluntly.
Tul turned pale at the news.
“My kaansaj?” the Maya goddess wondered worriedly to herself.
“It all began with a coup d’état in the Toltec Empire,” Otontecutli began recounting. “Ixchel, I, and a group of neighboring deities of that empire went to see the new Tezcatlipoca because the people from our embassies had been murdered by the new regime… or, to be precise, sacrificed.”
“How terrible,” Tania said anxiously at those words.
“But the new tlacatecutli of the Toltec Empire, Itzpapálotl, laid a trap for us in order to keep us as prisoners in Tollan. Only I was able to escape,” the god said.
“So those creatures attacked you to punish you for escaping?” Menrva asked.
“Indeed. At this very moment, they are attacking my kingdom with similar monsters freshly emerged from Mictlán,” the Otomí god said bleakly.
“Unfortunately, I am not that strong, and my subjects are doing everything they can to keep those beasts at bay. But we know Tollan will attack again,” he said pessimistically.
“Actually,” Tania interrupted, “we came here so that you might grant us access to the Toltec Empire and, if possible, allow us to train in your kingdom.”
“Perchance by engaging those beasts in combat, we may become stronger,” Susanoo said.
But then Tania turned to look at Tul. The goddess was pale and trembling.
“Tul, are you all right?” the Punic goddess asked.
“Ch’úupal, I want to become stronger too, so I can save my kaansaj,” the rabbit goddess said with tears in her eyes.
Tania embraced her.
“Do not worry. We will rescue her,” she said.
That made Tul stop trembling and feel more relieved.
“What guarantee is there that the prisoners are still alive?” Menrva asked.
“Tollan wants us, the neighboring gods, to bow before its power. Therefore, they must have released more monsters in the important cities of those gods in order to subjugate them,” Otontecutli explained.
“It is a very egotistical plan,” Menrva said, unable to see much logic in it.
“That is because it is a Chichimeca plan; in other words, barbaric,” Otontecutli said.
“Do not worry. We will save your kingdom from those monsters so that we may enter Tollan and rescue all the prisoners,” Menrva said with confidence.