The day after Huitzilopochtli departed for Aztlán, leaving the city of Tula behind, Tezcatlipoca returned accompanied by Tláloc and Xipe Tótec, as well as a retinue of warriors who had escorted him to the north of the continent.
The king of Tula came seated upon a ceremonial litter with a roof lined in feathers and jaguar skins. It could have felt like a festival parade, but no one applauded. No one danced. All the people watching their king return wore somber expressions.
However, it was not because they did not desire the return of their former king, but because this was a funeral procession. They were going to honor the lives of the gods and soldiers who had died during Itzpapálotl’s invasion of Tula.
Even though Tezcatlipoca had returned, for many of Tula’s inhabitants, it was completely irrelevant. Very little had changed in the life of Tula, that is, where the humans lived, and it had only been a problem that affected the gods and the neighboring kingdoms of the Toltec Empire.
In Tollan’s main esplanade lay the inert bodies of Otontecutli, Tajín, and Tlatlauhaqui. The gods’ bodies were wrapped in white sheets and laid upon mats made of palm. There was also an empty mat, which represented Mixcóatl’s lost body.
Gods and diplomats from the various neighboring kingdoms had gathered to see their rulers who had fallen in battle. Tajín’s wives stood before everyone, performing funeral dances while weeping without finding comfort.
Tezcatlipoca finally reached the esplanade where the bodies lay. Before those bodies, Ixchel also stood with a depressed and somber gaze. She had only been saved by luck, and, moreover, she had healed the wounds of Cihuacóatl, who had murdered two of them.
“Why did I agree to my disciple’s request?” she asked herself in frustration at that moment, but it was already too late to take it back.
Tezcatlipoca went up the esplanade and saw Ixchel, giving her a somber smile, a gesture the Maya goddess returned.
The king of Tula then cut a lock of hair from each of the gods and bathed their faces with water.
Behind the gods’ corpses stood Tláloc and Xipe Tótec. The other Toltec gods standing behind the bodies were the prisoners Itzpapálotl had sent to the dungeons. The members of Orniskem, who were also there, recognized some of them, since they had met them during the Trial of the Thirteen Heavens.
“Inhabitants and allies of Tula,” Tezcatlipoca proclaimed in Nahuatl as he stood before the corpses of the fallen gods. “Thanks to the sacrifice of these gods and several Toltec and Otomí warriors, we have been able to recover control of our beloved city of Tula and continue the expansion of our great empire.”
But the people felt little empathy for that. To them, Tezcatlipoca was just another of those monarch gods who lived in their palaces and never came down to the streets of Tula to listen to their problems.
The tlatoani, that is, the human king who governed Tula and who stood one level below the esplanade where the gods were, desperately and angrily gestured for the people to express their sympathy. Only then did the people begin to applaud.
“Have you done nothing to win over your own people?” Ixchel asked the Toltec god in annoyance, while he could not hide his frustration. He knew the people felt no sympathy for him.
“Now I understand the apathy I saw in Tula’s streets before the battle began,” Epona said sarcastically, but the Toltec gods asked her to be silent.
Tezcatlipoca cleared his throat and continued speaking.
“This victory could only be made possible thanks to the visit of ten deities from corners beyond our Toltec kingdoms,” the king of Tula continued proclaiming. “It is thanks to them that the cities being attacked by the terrible beasts of Mictlán are now safe.”
Rodrigo and the rest of Orniskem walked to the front and timidly greeted the people. However, when the people saw Tul, they began to boo.
“We will not thank a whore from Mayapán!”
“Out with the Mayas from our kingdoms!”
“Get out of here, you shitty rabbit!”
Ixchel was furious, even more so when she saw how Tul felt ashamed and powerless to do anything.
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It had been Tul who had begged her to spare her enemies. Moreover, she knew the hatred Tul felt for the Toltecs, and even so, she had given her life to rescue a kingdom she did not care about.
Ixchel wanted to shout at that moment, but she saw Tul’s pleading eyes asking her not to do anything, and she restrained herself. After all, diplomacy was still at stake.
Tania, who was behind the rabbit goddess, did not understand anything the people were saying, but she understood from Tul’s expression that she was being insulted. She quickly embraced her.
“Ignore the comments. Do good no matter who it is,” the Punic goddess said in a very low voice to the Maya goddess.
Susanoo, likewise indignant, lowered his head in frustration at seeing Tul’s honor stained. But like Ixchel, he did not act.
The Maya delegates listened to this with great shame. It was as if the people of Tula were truly trying to break their diplomatic alliances with their kingdoms.
At that moment, a group of people shouted:
“Shut up! The Maya goddess and her friends saved the city of Xochicalco!”
Tul recognized that group of people. They were the ones they had saved from the monster Tlaltecuhtli, and she smiled discreetly.
“Indeed. They are the ones we saved,” Tania added, while continuing to embrace the Maya goddess.
Certainly, the insults continued damaging the goddess’s self-esteem, but the small voices thanking her were what the goddess began to treasure.
“Just like ch’úupal Tania, I also want to continue this journey helping others,” Tul thought at that moment.
“Can you be silent?!” Tezcatlipoca shouted furiously. “How can you say such racist words in front of two Maya goddesses and the committee of delegates from Mayapán?”
At that moment, the sky darkened and thunder began to fall, causing the people to fall silent and feel fear. Tezcatlipoca was furious, and his anxiety could be felt as he tried to control his mind. His addiction began taking control of his body.
“That rabbit goddess risked her life so you would not be destroyed by the Chichimecas while you drank pulque like the disgusting drunks you are!” the Toltec king continued shouting furiously.
Tul shook her head as she looked at Tezcatlipoca and told him in the divine language that it was not necessary.
“Tul is right,” Ixchel said to Tezcatlipoca as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “You are only earning more and more contempt from your people.”
Tezcatlipoca calmed down, and the sky returned to normal. Though by then, the people were no longer murmuring or saying anything.
“I understand… that you did not care about the war in Tollan, nor that I had been deposed as Tezcatlipoca of this kingdom by the Chichimeca kingdoms,” the king of Tula confessed, now more calmly, though with a certain nostalgia in his voice.
The people did not answer anything. Many were surprised that Tezcatlipoca was showing humility. The few times they had heard him speak, they had only seen him as another tyrant.
“I believe we have acted wrongly; not only I, but all the Toltec gods, and we have realized it,” Tezcatlipoca continued explaining. “That is why I have decided to tear down the walls that divide Tula from Tollan. We gods will live among you, and you will be able to enter these complexes regardless of your status or class.”
Tláloc and Xipe Tótec were surprised, since those had been among the words Loki had told them in Xochicalco. Tear down the walls to finally unite gods with humans.
“I also understand that we have performed many human sacrifices in recent years; all caused by our selfishness as gods,” Tezcatlipoca continued explaining. “But after speaking with my fellow deities, we have decided to reduce the number of human sacrifices we perform.”
The people were perplexed. Had those foreigners come to tell them, the Toltecs, what their culture should be like? Obviously, that did not please them, and they began to murmur.
Anpiel translated the king of Tula’s words for Tania. It was obvious that the Punic goddess could see the people’s rejection of that proposal with her own eyes. For a moment, the goddess remembered Carthage and felt contempt.
“I know these measures are not to the liking of many,” Tezcatlipoca continued explaining. “But I am certain they will be important for our progress as a society; the society my brother Quetzalcóatl dreamed of.”
Until that moment, Tezcatlipoca had never mentioned his brother’s name before his people. But that gesture silenced everyone, and they did not know what to say. Quetzalcóatl’s administration had happened more than ten years ago, and many did not know it, but it was remembered with great love and appreciation.
Indeed, human sacrifice had been abolished during Quetzalcóatl’s administration, but it was known that the practice had continued in secret. For many citizens, it was a way to generate fear among their neighbors, get rid of undesirable people, or show their worth and courage by voluntarily choosing self-immolation.
Rodrigo was also surprised to hear Quetzalcóatl’s name. He felt that, finally, both gods had made peace, even if one of them was in the Beyond.
Then Tezcatlipoca lit a torch with fire.
“We will honor not only the gods who died, but also the human victims of our empire and of our neighbors,” he said.
Immediately afterward, the god set fire to the corpses of the three gods. The fire quickly consumed their bodies while the people watched the funeral pyres.
The Otomí delegation wept as they watched their lord Otontecutli burn in flames. Tajín’s wives finally stopped dancing and broke into tears among themselves. The Zapotec delegation and the Xicallanca delegation remained silent in mourning.
Then the people began to murmur.
“And when will the people who invaded us be sacrificed?”
“I inform you that there will be no human sacrifices today, and the Caxcan prisoners will remain in prison,” the tlatoani of Tula told the people. Something that, obviously, did not make many of them happy.
Even so, several multi-tiered altars were raised with tablecloths and food. They were lined with painted maguey paper. The food placed upon them was generally tamales, which were balls of corn wrapped in the leaves of the same plant, and pulque. In addition, pots of chocolatl and peyote abounded throughout the city.