The Punic goddess was surprised to see how Loki had stopped a warlike conflict between the Toltec gods and herself. Now both groups were willing to listen to one another.
“Just… do not ask us to bow,” Xipe Tótec said. “Doing so before our humans would bring consequences upon us.”
“I would never ask you to bow before me,” Tania replied.
Tláloc and Tania looked at one another, and after hesitating a little, both gods shook hands.
“My group will face the Hummingbird God and recover your city for you,” Tania said. “But my condition will be the abolition of human sacrifice,” she warned.
“Tania, we cannot fulfill that demand because it is part of our culture,” Tláloc replied.
“I understand that now, Tláloc,” Tania added. “But you can, little by little, begin changing those customs and replacing them with others.”
“That will take some time, but I suppose we can attempt it,” Tláloc answered, then turned to look at Xipe Tótec.
The god did not look pleased with the idea at all, but he decided to comply because Tania and her group represented his last ray of hope in recovering their city.
Tláloc then squeezed Tania’s hand firmly.
“Then it is a deal. And I commit myself to ensuring that no human sacrifice shall be performed in our territories while you remain within them,” the Toltec god said.
Tania smiled and squeezed his hand even harder.
“Then we have a deal,” she said.
After that, Tláloc communicated the new orders to the people. A certain relief could be seen when the god announced that no human sacrifices would be performed in honor of him or Xipe Tótec. After all, only about ten or five percent of the entire population of that great city had survived, and sacrificing their children would have been devastating.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the cenotes,” Tul apologized to Tania again.
“It’s all right, Tul,” Tania said.
“Where I come from, children were sacrificed too, but I hope I have taken the first step here to change the culture,” Tania replied.
Both goddesses were sitting on the abundant grass of that mountainous area. Tania smiled because no life had been lost in any human sacrifice that day, and they had been able to save those people.
Then Loki sat beside the goddesses.
“Tania, I want you to hear something I learned during my brief life on Earth,” the Norse god said.
The Punic goddess looked at Loki with intrigue.
“Do you know why the civil war in Denmark began?” the Norse god asked.
“Because you started it,” Tania replied.
Loki began to laugh.
“I just sped up something that was gonna blow up anyway,” Loki answered.
Then the god relaxed and stretched his legs while lying down on the grass.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
“The previous king, Harald, converted to Christianity, and since Christian customs weren’t compatible with Norse customs, a lot of people died when they refused to convert. That was gonna explode sooner or later,” Loki began telling his story.
“Yes, that is one of the ways Lel has spread Christianity,” Tania replied angrily.
“You’re wrong, ebony beauty,” Loki said.
“Harald wasn’t manipulated by Lord El or Anat into doing those things. He believed himself above the morality of the Norse people, and he persecuted them to force them to think like him,” he explained.
Tania became thoughtful at that moment.
“Even though several Norse customs, like slavery or human sacrifice, were part of Norse culture, there were also social elements, dances, and ancestral knowledge that people valued in those cultures. But the Christians threw all of that into one sack and highlighted the negative to justify the cultural genocide of an entire people,” the Norse god continued explaining.
Tania understood what Loki was trying to explain and lowered her head.
“Tania, even if you feel you’re right on a moral or ethical matter, remember that every people has its own version of it,” Loki said.
“Forcing them is doing the same thing Harald did to his people. Every individual must reach ethical and moral conclusions on their own, without somebody putting a knife to their throat,” he continued explaining.
Tania smiled and looked at him directly.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I never expected to see your beautiful smile lighting up my life, so I assume this means you’ll let me court Ana now,” Loki replied, laughing mockingly.
“Do not push your luck,” Tania answered with an annoyed look.
But in truth, the goddess had finally begun to appreciate that god who, little by little, was cleansing his own past.
Tawa’s light? Tania wondered.
After they ate, and after Tul healed the injured people of Xochicalco, the gods flew over the city and confirmed that Tlaltecuhtli had indeed been defeated by Tul and Loki’s combined attack and no longer represented a threat to the people.
Fortunately, the city had suffered no damage, thanks to the terrible monster’s strange ability to fuse with the earth itself. So the inhabitants returned joyfully to their great city. Although life would be complicated because of the enormous number of people who had died, there was optimism on their faces.
“We must prevent that disgusting Itzpapálotl from carrying out another massacre like this as soon as possible,” Tláloc said.
Tania nodded while everyone said farewell to the great city and flew back to Xaltocan.
Everyone met again in the royal palace of Xaltocan.
Menrva had returned shortly after Tania, Tul, and Loki had departed. Together with the rest of the group, she had gone to several cities in the Otomí kingdom and defeated various monsters. Almost all of them returned at the same time.
The sun was setting when Ana hugged Loki, telling him that she knew he would succeed too.
Tania then had to accept the obvious: her friend had finally fallen in love with the Norse god.
Susanoo likewise congratulated Tul, just as Freyja grabbed her by the waist and lifted her into the air, full of excitement.
“Congratulations, Tul!” the goddess shouted joyfully.
Susanoo felt displaced by the Norse goddess’s affection, but said nothing because of his warrior’s honor.
In the royal hall, Otontecutli thanked the gods for cleansing the Otomí kingdom of the monsters sent from Tollan to attack them. He was so moved that tears flowed from his eyes.
“It would be best to attack Tula tomorrow,” Tania said.
“Wait, Tania,” Ana interrupted. “Rui still has not returned from Cholollan.”
“If Rodrigo joins us, we will have greater chances of winning,” Menrva interrupted.
“But how do we communicate with him?” Epona asked, worry on her face.
At that moment, Tláloc interrupted the gods’ debate.
“If he went to Cholollan, then there is a very high probability that he encountered Tezcatlipoca, and they are currently fighting,” the blue god said.
“Damn it! Then we have to go stop them!” Epona said, alarmed.
“I doubt our king would wish to be interrupted,” Xipe Tótec said mockingly.
“No, Epona. Wait,” Tania interrupted. “We must believe that he will win and return here after meeting with Quet… Quel… well, that god.”
“Quetzalcóatl,” Anpiel corrected mockingly.
Tláloc and Xipe Tótec began laughing when they saw that Tania could not pronounce the Nahuatl names, which only made the deity blush.
“Anyway,” the goddess finally continued. “I am certain Rodrigo will return and join us in battle,” she said.
“Yes. I have faith in Rui,” Ana said.
“And so do I,” Epona added.
All the other gods nodded.
“Then tomorrow we shall depart for Tula without fail, great Otontecutli,” Menrva said to the Otomí god, and he nodded.
“Wait a moment,” Tláloc interrupted.
“Before you go to Tula, I would like you to pass the trial of the Thirteen Heavens,” the blue god said.
Everyone then looked at the Toltec god with uncertainty.