Meanwhile, Ana, Menrva, and Tul arrived in a world of perpetual night. Only millions of stars could be seen in the firmament, with lights that evoked beautiful galaxies. The ground, however, was covered in lush grass, reminding the goddesses of the terrain in the Zacateco kingdom.
“Welcome, outsiders,” a woman’s voice was heard. “Congratulations on reaching the second Heaven, Citlalcuauhco.”
The goddess descended slowly from the firmament, shining as if she were a comet. She wore a skull mask covering her face, and her bluish hair shone as though lit by a star. A necklace of shining skulls covered her breasts, while her long skirt, drawn with hundreds of constellations, fluttered through the firmament like a flower in the wind.
“My name is Citlallicue, and I am the goddess of the stars,” the goddess continued as she approached the surface without ever touching the ground. In her hands, two white lights appeared.
“I’ll ask something very selfish, ch’úupalob,” Tul said. “But I want to face that goddess.”
“Are you sure, Tul?” Ana asked.
“I’m more worried that, without my help, you won’t be able to remove those bracelets I put on you,” the rabbit goddess said.
“But since I already left ch’úupal Tania with him, I think you two can win anyway,” she added.
“If you have come to face the trial, step forward. Otherwise, return whence you came,” the goddess Citlallicue said.
“I have a question,” Menrva shouted. “Where is the exit?”
“The brightest star will take you to the next heaven, but you may only pass if you defeat me,” the Toltec goddess said.
“All right, Tul. We will fly there while you stay and fight her,” Menrva said.
“Before we begin, I’m going to put on one of the bracelets,” the rabbit goddess said, searching for it in her bag, but Ana stopped her.
“Tul, I think that is fine for monsters like Tania or us. You should only increase your powers in this fight,” the Irish goddess said.
“All right, ch’úupal,” Tul replied, then looked directly at the Toltec goddess.
“If you have come to face the trial, step forward. Otherwise, return whence you came,” the goddess Citlallicue repeated.
“I will face you,” Tul said.
Then the goddess’s fur changed to a white as pure as snow. It was so bright that it illuminated the starry sky of that heaven.
Drawing the moon behind herself, Tul fired her powerful sacred beam while shouting:
“Kili’ich uj léets (Sacred Radiance of the Moon)!”
The shot struck Citlallicue, who did everything she could to withstand it. At that moment, Menrva and Ana left the rabbit goddess behind and flew toward the brightest star in the sky, disappearing from that world.
Meanwhile, Epona, Loki, and Susanoo appeared in a world completely covered in pavement. At the center, however, there was a very curious circular drawing, since it divided the world into four parts.
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The ground in the northern part was black; the east was red, the west was white, and the south was blue.
The gods were standing in the southern section, where the ground was blue. They also saw, far away, four gigantic pyramids, each in a different cardinal direction. These pyramids shone with the color that corresponded to the ground beneath them.
The sky was golden, and fluffy clouds, as if made of gold, floated in the air. The gods then realized that Xipe Tótec was standing before them, with his knife drawn and his characteristic tunic made from the skin of a human being.
“Welcome to the twelfth Heaven, Teteocán,” the Toltec god said. “My name is Xipe Tótec, and I am known as the Flayed God. If you have come to present the trial, step forward. Otherwise, withdraw whence you came.”
“Tania would’ve liked to face this guy,” Epona said, laughing.
“Mina-san,” Susanoo said imperatively. “Leave this opponent to me and continue onward.”
“It’s not like I’m thrilled to be alone with this pervert, but fine,” Epona replied, turning to look at Loki.
“Come on, woman, I don’t bite,” the Norse god said with a mocking smile.
“Excuse me, where is the exit from this world?” Epona asked the Toltec god.
“You must travel toward my opposite direction,” Xipe Tótec replied. “I am the red cardinal point, therefore you must go to the white cardinal point, that is, the west.”
“Daijobu,” Susanoo said.
Then he made the figure of a gigantic dragon appear, formed from his water-control power, while shouting:
“Mizuchi no ikari (The wrath of the Dragon Mizuchi)!”
The enormous reptile traveled at full speed toward Xipe Tótec, who did nothing to avoid the attack. A dull explosion of water, caused by Susanoo’s technique, created a huge crater in the ground while rain began falling over the surface.
“Iku!” Susanoo shouted, and both Epona and Loki flew at full speed toward the enormous western pyramid. There, they climbed to the top, and inside the temple they found the portal that led them out of that heaven.
Meanwhile, Xipe Tótec, without receiving any injury, walked out of the hole and launched several bloodstained daggers toward the west, where Loki and Epona had flown. But Susanoo quickly deflected them with his weapon.
“Iie, you shall be my opponent,” the eastern god said, pointing his katana at the Toltec god.
On the other side of the trial, Ana and Menrva arrived in a place that seemed like outer space, yet the ground was covered in rainbow-colored light. It looked as if the goddesses were standing upon an aurora borealis.
A gigantic sun could be seen in the distance, while lights traveled at tremendous speed across the starry sky. Then Ana understood what was happening. They were standing on the tail of a comet.
At that moment, one of the lights in the firmament approached at tremendous speed toward the two goddesses, and Ana quickly stopped the attack with Excalibur.
When the light dissipated, there was a beautiful warrior woman wielding a macuahuitl that emanated energy, with which she intended to break Ana’s sword, Excalibur.
However, the Irish goddess pushed her back, and the woman fell elegantly to the ground—or rather, onto the beam of the comet.
“I assume you have come to the fifth Heaven, Mamalcuauhco, for the trial, since it would be foolish for you to have reached this place without fighting,” the warrior goddess said.
“The fifth heaven?” Menrva asked, confused. “Should it not be the third?”
“The third heaven, Tonatiuhtlán, and the fourth, Huitztlán, were removed because their gods abandoned their divine duties in Tollan,” the goddess replied.
Then she struck her chest and roared.
“My name is Citlalmina, and I am the deity of the celestial stars. I will be the one to evaluate your trial here,” she said.
The goddess wore a headdress of black feathers, and a white eagle covered her breasts. She wore a long black skirt and several golden bracelets on her arms and legs. Her face was painted black, and she had pink eyes that shone with colors in the comet’s light.
“I will handle this girl, Menrva,” Ana said, placing Excalibur in a defensive stance. “You go to the next heaven.”
“How does one reach the next heaven?” Menrva asked the Toltec deity.
“You will find the exit at the end of this comet,” Citlalmina said.
But without giving them time to process the information, the Toltec goddess attacked Ana and Menrva again. Once more, Ana stopped the attack of her macuahuitl with her sword.
The Toltec goddess then covered her fist in sacred power and tried to strike Ana, but Ana resisted the attack with only a thin line of blood emerging from her skin. Immediately, Ana’s wings turned into a flock of ravens that attacked Citlalmina mercilessly.
“Go on, Menrva!” Ana shouted, and the Etruscan goddess nodded, leaving that heaven after crossing the gigantic comet completely.