Rodrigo’s mind then found itself inside a world of complete darkness. Millions of agonizing laments could be heard. All those sounds made the young man nervous.
Then the young tannin saw Huitzilopochtli as a child in the past. He could hear his thoughts, and all of them were about suicide and self-hatred. Rodrigo understood that, since he was little, he had been forced to hear those laments day after day, and he understood the reason behind such negative thoughts.
In a dark world, the god blamed himself for the deaths of hundreds of humans every day. He carried their voices and laments every day since he was a child.
One day, while he was in Chicomóztoc, he found an eagle devouring a serpent on a hill. That image stirred his curiosity, and he approached the place. Hidden in the undergrowth, there was a very deep cavern. The young boy entered it.
After descending several floors underground, the child reached a small subterranean lake where the legendary weapon Xiuhcóatl was embedded in a small islet.
Little Huitzilopochtli approached curiously and took the weapon with both hands. However, the moment he did, a voice spoke inside his mind, begging him to defend his people from the threat that was approaching.
The boy saw visions of bearded men in armor bringing fire and disease to his people. He saw the typical architecture of Anáhuac take forms he had never seen before, and his people become servants or slaves, while local customs and languages were replaced by sounds he had never heard.
“I have chosen you to defend this world, you, the Sixth Sun,” said the voice speaking to the little boy.
Huitzilopochtli breathed deeply and heavily. He did not realize that the weapon had bound itself to his right arm when he fled that cavern.
A new vision appeared before Rodrigo’s eyes. Huitzilopochtli blocked Anat’s path in the desert, near the territories of Chaco, but she defeated him with ease.
The god of Aztlán, defeated, bowed before Anat’s power, hoping that this alliance might give him an answer as to how the goddess from the other side of the world could be so powerful. The only way to defeat her was to learn her secret.
The vision continued several years later, when Anat informed Huitzilopochtli that she had prepared everything for him to take Tollan, considering the previous Tezcatlipoca weak and unreliable.
The king of the north, who had heard rumors of foreign gods on the continent, agreed when he realized he could lure them to Tollan, and thus learn a way to increase his powers, defeat Anat, and prevent the apocalyptic future awaiting his people.
“I finally lost my mind, did I not?” Huitzilopochtli asked Rodrigo inside his mind.
“I am sorry. It was my mistake,” Rodrigo replied, ashamed.
“No. It was my arrogance that kept me from telling you anything,” Huitzilopochtli replied in torment, just as the god materialized within his own memories as a being of light.
“When I found Xiuhcóatl, it was the moment I found a purpose in my life, and I decided to bear my curse until I became the most powerful god in existence,” the hummingbird god continued.
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Melancholically, the god lowered his head.
“I knew you would arrive, and I wanted to use you to make myself stronger. Forgive me for that,” he said, ashamed.
“Do you desire strength to prevent that future from becoming reality?” Rodrigo asked.
Huitzilopochtli nodded.
“I do not justify my actions. For that reason, I apologize, not only to you, but also to your friends,” the hummingbird god replied melancholically.
“And you must not carry this alone,” Rodrigo replied. “I will help you so that future does not become reality.”
Then the young tannin showed his right hand to the god Huitzilopochtli.
“With this hand, I swore before the previous Tezcatlipoca that I would fight against Lel and prevent you from being invaded in the future,” he said.
Huitzilopochtli remained silent for a moment and finally looked Rodrigo in the eyes.
“Why would you do that?” he asked. “Why would you care about this kingdom?”
“Because I have decided to fight for all humanity, the humanity we protect,” the young man replied. “Unlike you, I was also born human and raised as one.”
The hummingbird god then nodded.
“Very well. I will bet on you,” he replied. “Even so, I still want to keep growing stronger so I can fight against that future if it repeats itself.”
The two gods shook hands, and at that moment, the illusory world disappeared. Huitzilopochtli lost his monstrous transformation and returned to his human form. There was something on his face that had not been there for several centuries: tears. Rodrigo had likewise returned to his normal appearance.
Both gods also had their hands clasped in the real world. The hummingbird god wiped away his tears and thanked Rodrigo for saving him.
“When elder brother Huitzilopochtli needs help, his younger brother Rodrigo will support him,” the young man said shyly.
“That was very corny, but I thank you,” the hummingbird god replied, embarrassed.
Both gods released their hands, and then Huitzilopochtli turned around.
“I will return to Aztlán to continue my training,” the god of the north said. “You may consider this your victory. I will abandon Tula and take with me all the Chichimeca warriors who were here.”
Rodrigo then thanked him for the gesture.
With a movement of his hands, the hummingbird god created a portal to return to Tollan. It was a white circle that emitted an intense light.
Behind Rodrigo, a doorway opened, and Epona appeared carrying Tul, who had received the most damage. Ana, Tania, Freyja, and Menrva had already recovered and were the four of them supporting one another as they walked.
Then Huitzilopochtli bowed before the four goddesses and apologized for his actions.
The goddesses accepted his apology, but Tania demanded that he apologize to all of Tula as well, which the god accepted without objection.
When they returned to Tollan, they found Anpiel, Susanoo, and Loki tending to the wounded together with Ixchel. Ana then erased the alternate dimension so they could heal the humans who had lost their divine powers after falling unconscious.
Unfortunately, Otontecutli was very weak, and the Maya goddess’s treatments did not seem to have any effect.
The Otomí god received the hummingbird god’s apologies for his actions.
“I only hope that now you become the protector of this land and not just another oppressor,” he told him.
Huitzilopochtli accepted while holding the god’s hand with both of his own.
Then Otontecutli looked at Rodrigo and his friends and smiled.
“Thank you for awakening courage in me, even if it was right at the end of my life,” he said with a smile.
Then the god’s ichor ran out, and he stopped breathing.
Tajín and Tlatlauhaqui also could not awaken after being attacked by Cihuacóatl in serpent form. Ixchel shed a tear for them, feeling powerless because she had not been able to bring their souls back from the Beyond.
Huitzilopochtli’s generals were healed, bound, and sent to prison inside Tollan. Although the Toltecs had won, too many divine and human lives had been lost to see it as an absolute victory.
Tula and Tollan did not suffer considerable damage, thanks to the fact that most of the battle had taken place inside Ana’s alternate dimension.
After Huitzilopochtli spoke before the entire kingdom of Tula, apologizing and bowing before them, he departed once again toward the north, to his land called Aztlán.
The war had finally come to an end with Orniskem’s victory.