Teotihuacan, the same time as the attack…

At the same time that the attack on Xochimilco was happening, another important event took place in the legendary city of Teotihuacan. The Pyramid group consisting of Dr. Escobar, Leticia Marino, Raul Diaz, Angela Conte, Victoria Salazar, Stefan Albu, Antoine LeFleur and Ana Cortes visited this city without knowing what fate had installed…

The place is filled with tourists…

Teotihuacán is a large Mexican archeological complex northeast of Mexico City. Through the center of the place, which was once a flourishing pre-Columbian city, passes the Calzada de los Muertos. This unites the Temple of Quetzalcóatl, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun.

“Aww…I wanted to go with Uriel…” Victoria whines as she walks alongside Angela. The group enters the city, Dr. Escobar gives her lecture; “Now, everyone listen up…we are in an important Archeological site, this is where the Aztecs lived a long time ago…”

The students seem uninterested, Angela,Victoria and Ana are taking selfies in front of many birds. Raul reads a book as usual. Antoine looks at the girls. Leticia and Stefan are the only ones paying attention. Doctor Escobar feels down:

“I see…this isn’t interesting for you huh…”

Stefan draws the pyramids:

“This is Gold…I have so many ideas for my manga…”

“Uhmm…Doctor?” Leticia asks Doctor Escobar. Doctor Escobar answers enthusiastically; “Yes dear?”

“I-I-I ummhh…” Leticia looks really shy, she points at the sign that is written in Ancient Aztec; “Why does it say there; Danger…Do not enter…”

Stefan and Dr. Escobar look at her impressed; “You can read aztec?”

“A little, I study a lot…”

“WOW, THAT’S INCREDIBLE?” Stefan looks at her with “star” eyes. Leticia gets embarrassed; “Y-Y-Yeah…”

“To answer your question, historians don’t know why, but they say that this place was sacred for Aztecs and here is where the Gods resided…maybe that’s why…”

“I-I-I see…”

“Well, students, let’s go to the Sun Pyramid and investigate to see what it looks like…”

The group heads towards the Pyramid of the Sun. The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacán and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. Found between the Pyramid of the Moon and the ancient city of Teotihuacán is the bread of the ancient world. ​

Slowly, clouds cover the sky and the sun, the environment gets darker.

“Now everynone, this is the Sun Pyramid, this is where Quetzalcoatl the Feathered Serpent descended…” Dr. Escobar explains, once again, the others ignore her, she feels down again.

As they walk, the crowd pushes everyone. Antoine looks at Ana slowly moving away; “Hey!” Antoine pulls Ana; “You can get lost…” Ana blushes; “T-T-Thank you…”

“Stay close to me …or you will get lost…”

Ana, who is red as a tomato, grabs Antoine’s arm; “H-H-Hey, what are you doing?”

“This way, I won’t get lost right?”

“Idiot…” Antoine also blushes.

Stefan gets closer to Leticia; “So…do you like History?”

“I-I-I do…I am a big fan and I learned to speak so many languages from the books I read…”

“Really? I also like to read, you should come with me and Alejandro…we like to study supernatural stuff…are you a fan…”

Leticia, who looks more comfortable around Stefan, smiles; “I really like it…I like to read Legends and Myths…here in Mexico…there is the Legend of La Llorona…do you know it?”

“Oh yes…back in my country…I read about her; wasn’t she the ghost who lost her two kids and is now looking for them screaming; “AY MIS HIJOS?” (OH MY CHILDREN)

“Yes…she’s the one…I read that she was part of the Aztecs…but it is uncertain…”

“I know right, maybe she is around here…aw man, I wanted Alejandro to come with us…he likes this kind of stuff…”

“I wanted Uriel to come, he is my partner…” Leticia gets sad, Ana overhears their conversation and joins:

“So, La LLorona, I also heard about that name…according to our family’s history, she was a traitor…”

“Fot you guys, everyone is a traitor…” Antoine laughs, Ana gets mad; “Oh shut up…”

Leticia gets unforgettable, however, she takes a deep breath and replies:

“She was…she was Hernan Cortes’ wife…well that’s what I read…”

“Really? I didn’t know that…” Ana asks with enthusiasm, Leticia gets behind Stefan, Stefan gets nervous; “She smells nice…”

Leticia nods in agreement, Ana acts shy; “H-H-Hey, mind if we talk about this at lunch time, I want to know what you know…I mean if you can, I am not forcing you or anything…”

Stefan and Antoine think the same; “Oh wow, she’s a tsundere…”

Stefan looks at the Doctor; “Hey, isn’t it strange that we got separated like this? I mean we are already separated in groups right?”

“Y-Y-Yes…something is off…” Leticia looks at the sky; “And this feeling, it’s like a great energy is coming from over there…” Antoine and Ana also notice that something is off.

“Hey, everyone, look at this…” Victoria shows the picture of Quetzalcoatl on social media; “It looks like something happened in Xochimilco…”

“That’s where the others are…” Angela comments. Everyone tries to call the other group but no one answers. Dr. Escobar looks nervous; “Alright students, I think we are just seeing a prank right and…”

“Wait…where is everyone?” Antoine notices that the place was empty.

“Wait, but this place was full of tourists…where is everyone?” Ana looks around; “Where is Raul?”

“GGYYAAHHH” At that moment, Victoria and Angela disappear.

“EVERYONE STAY CLOSE!” Antoine shouts, the remaining people get together. Dr. Escobar looks worried; “Alright students, we must look for the others…”

(RRRAAAWWW)

Sombras slowly approach the group; “I’m sorry Doctor…” Antoine knocks Dr. Escobar unconscious. He gives her to Stefan; “I know you can see them…stay back and guard her…you too Leticia…”

Leticia and Stefan get back as they are frightened of what they are seeing. Antoine looks at Ana; “Hey, these are strong…are you able to stop them?”

Ana chuckles; “What are you talking about, of course I can…”

Antoine gathers mana in his palm and creates flames; “Ô art des magiciens ; Boule de feu” (O art of magicians; Fireball)

Antoine releases flames and attack the Sombras, Ana moves forward and closes her:

“Escúchame madre tierra; Pilares de cuarzo” (Listen to me mother earth; quartz pillars)

Ana puts her hands on the ground and creates quartz pillars stabbing the sombras.

(SSSLLLAASSHHH)

“Oh wow…” Antoine blushes as he sees Ana's strength. Stefan looks at them with stars in his eyes:

“WOW, YOU GUYS ARE JUST LIKE THOSE FROM NARUTO!”

“SHUT UP!’ Both of them continue their attack. Sombras continue to attack. Antoine fires with his right hand; “This is weird, why are they attacking non-stop…”

“Antoine, we need to run away…”

“Oh, I don’t think so…” Antoine and Ana hear someone speaking behind them. Leticia shouts with despair; “BEHIND YOU!”

Antoine turns around and sees El Muerto standing behind him; “Who are…” El Muerto gets closer to Antoine and puts his hand on Antoine’s stomach.

(PPPUUUMMM)

With a powerful force, El Muerto sends Antoine flying and crashing into a tree.

“ANTOINE!” Ana screams, El Muerto opens a portal and specter hands grab Ana as she is distracted. Stefan and Leticia look at El Muerto with fear, El Muerto turns to see them. He walks towards them:

“Greetings Leticia, my name is El Muerto and I will be needing your assistance…”

“M-M-Me?”

Stefan, who is carrying Dr. Escobar on his back, looks impressed; “So he is El Muerto? The legendary ghost who hunts the souls of the sinners…”

“That is just legend, now then, if you don’t want to get hurt…I need you to shut up…”

Stefan shuts up, El Muerto looks at Leticia; “Now then, Leticia Marino, I came here to ask a favor of you…”

“A-A-A favor?” Leticia feels her heart beating faster, her legs shaking and her eyes feeling with tears.

“That’s right…I need you to come with me…I understand that you have knowledge over the Ancient Aztec language, am I right?”

“LETICIA RUN!” Antoine releases a fireball heading straight to El Muerto. El Muerto sighs as he opens a portal behind him and a portal above Antoine.

(BBBBOOOMMM)

The fireball hits Antoine, leaving him unconscious. El Muerto opens three more portals, Leticia and Stefan look with horror as they see Angela, Victoria and Raul appearing before them. They have specter hands grabbing their limbs. El Muerto also creates two more portals, grabbing both Antoine and Ana. Stefan has Dr. Escobar with him as he is surrounded by specter hands as well…

“Leticia Marino, it’s time for you to choose…come with me or I will start killing your friends, one by one…you have 10 seconds…10…9…”

Leticia feels anxiety, fear and powerlessness. “8…7…”

“What do I do? Uriel…please help me…” Leticia cries as she breathes heavily. “6…5…”

“I need to do it…Uriel, where are you?”

“4…3…”

Leticia remembers Uriel’s words; "Leticia, it's normal to feel scared but listen...If you are ever in danger, I will protect you...right now you are my partner and that means that you are someone who I will protect…"

"2...1…"

"Wait...I'm going with you…" Leticia stops El Muerto. El Muerto chuckles; "Excellent…"

"N-N-No...you idiot, you need to run…"Ana says as she almost loses her consciousness.

"Wait...Leticia…" Stefan extends his hands but feels fear. Leticia smiles at him; "I'll be alright…"

"I won't kill her...stay here...I will leave my friends to guard you…" El Muerto leaves four sombras guarding everyone. He makes let's everyone go except for Leticia as they slowly walk away.

"W-W-Where are we going?" Leticia asks with fear. El Muerto looks at her and oints to a pyramid; We're going to the pyramid of the moon…"

El Muerto and Leticia enter the portal towards the Pyramid of the Moon. Antoine and Ana use the opportunity to break free from the specters.

(BBOOOMMM)

They easily defeat the Sombras and look at Stefan. Stefan looks at them with “star-shaped” eyes; “WOW… YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!”

Antoine looks at Ana, both of them sigh. Antoine asks Stefan; “Listen Stefan, can you take care of Dr. Escobar, we need to save Leticia.”

Stefan salutes like a soldier; “Yes sir, I will keep her safe sir…”

“Good grief…let’s go Antoine…” Ana shakes her head, Antoine smiles; “Mercy…”

“Take care you guys…” Stefan waves at them. Antoine and Ana head towards the Pyramid of the Moon as well.

*************************************************************************

A portal opens, El Muerto and Leticia arrive at the Pyramid of the Moon. The Pyramid of the Moon is located in the northern part of Teotihuacán and its contour imitates Cerro Gordo, called in Nahuatl tenan, which means "mother or stone protector".

As they walk towards the Pyramid, Leticia looks at it with shock:

“The Pyramid of the Moon, said to have been constructed to worship Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of water related to the Moon. Why are we here?”

“I see that you know your history…let me tell you something…this Pyramid has many secrets…I’ve been investigating it for years now…and I found something interesting…”

El Muerto gets closer to the wall at the side of the Pyramid. He pushes a brick and a door slowly opens, revealing a secret passage. Leticia looks with awe; “I-I-I-t can’t be…there was a passage here?”

“Let 's go…” El Muerto pulls her from the arm. El Muerto walks with Letcia down the passage, the passage is very dark, El Muerto creates a mana sphere at the size of his hand, lighting the room. There is a sign with Aztec writing on them. El Muerto pushes Leticia:

“Now read…”

Leticia looks frightened and nods in agreement; “It says; ‘Those who enter, beware, if you take a wrong footstep…you will serve as a sacrifice to the Gods’ the last part was cut off”

“I see…In other words…” El Muerto takes a step.-CLICK- A trap activates and arrows fly towards them. “GGYYAAHH” Leticia covers herself, El Muerto extends his right hand and destroys the arrows with a shock wave.

“Basically, there are traps in here…that explains why my archeologists never returned…”

Leticia trembles with fear as she sees many skeletons along the way. El Muerto creates another portal, releasing countless specters head towards the hallway, activating the traps. El Muerto grabs Leticia by the arm; “Move…the traps won’t hurt us anymore…”

Leticia has no choice but to obey. She continues to walk along with El Muerto as she sees arrows, rocks and spikes along the way; “This passage, it’s like the Aztecs wanted us to stay away. But why?”

“That 's right…if my theory is correct, we might find something interesting down here…”

They arrive at the end of the hallway, there is a large stone door completely shut off; “Looks like we have arrived…step back…”

Leticia steps back, El Muerto puts his right hand at the wall and releases an enormous amount of mana, slowly cracking the door until it crumbles.

(BBBBOOOOMMM)

Leticia falls back as she feels the rumbling and sees the door completely destroyed. El Muerto looks at her; “Stand up…it’s time to enter…” Leticia stands up.

Both of them enter the room, the room is huge, a lot of space, it is empty with a lot of drawings on the walls. The drawings represent the Ancient Aztec drawings that tell a story. At the middle, there is a huge black mirror of around 3 meters of circumference, with a ray of light shining down creating a “curtain” around the mirror. The mirror is on what it appears to be an altar with around 20 steps.

“W-W-What is this?” Leticia walks forwards looking at the drawings with surprise. El Muerto looks at Leticia and speaks:

“Leticia Marino, I’ve been watching you for years, you have the intelligence of a Sage. You mastered all types of languages, including Ancient ones…and you know all of the History of the world. I have been exploring these parts for a long time. However, none of my scientists could ever reach here. The drones who took pictures of these drawings were destroyed…I know that you will because you are a genius… I want you to read these pictures and tell me the story…”

“B-B-But I…can’t I don’t know about what it says here…”

“Leticia, you want to know the truth? The truth is that you concentrate you mana on your brain, that’s why you learn so fast…that’s why you know everything you read…your ability permits you to gather all of the information and learn in a blink of an eye. Don’t you think it’s strange that you learned everything with just one glimpse…”

Leticia opens her eyes wider as she thinks back; “It’s true, I always feel something weird within me when I read a book…I learn every language…every history…was this the usage of mana…”

“Enough…begin or else, I will kill your friends…”

-GULP- Leticia looks at the pictures; “This is Ancient Aztec, but it has a combination of Olmec and Mayan. Her eyes shine bright as she begins telling the story:

“For those who reach here, beware…that this is the prison for the traitor who opposed Hernan Cortes…Tezcatlipoca…For the Aztecs, Tezcatlipoca represented celestial creativity and divine paternalism. Tezcatlipoca, (Nahuatl: “Smoking Mirror”) god of the Great Bear constellation and of the night sky, one of the major deities of the Aztec pantheon. He was imprisoned and never to be released…The God of the shadows will remain dormant for eternity under the light of the eternal sun…If you wish to awake him…a living sacrifice shall be required…a life for a life”

El Muerto laughs; “I see now…Quetzalcoatl was revered as the Sun God…his opposite, Tezcatlipoca was revered as the Moon God…this temple also serves as a prison. A prison for the Moon God…”

Leticia looks at the mirror with fear; “Tezcatlipoca, one of the major Gods of the Aztecs is here? But that is a legend…”

El Muerto creates a huge portal. At that moment, a giant armor appears, the armor is black with reddish eyes. El Muerto puts his hand on the armor; “Now awaken…”

(BBBOOOMMM)

The armor shines and separates Quetzalcoatl from Adihe. Adihe appears to be unconscious. -RRRAAAWWW- Quetzalcoatl, now with black colored scales and reddish eyes, flies around the room. Leticia lies down trembling; “It can’t be…the creator of Life, one of the major deities; Quetzalcoatl…”

Another portal opens and another Muerto appears; “The mission was complete, Uriel Di Fiore was eliminated…”

“U-U-Uriel?” Leticia cries; “NO…WHY ARE THERE TWO OF THEM? WHAT IS GOING ON? PLEASE TELL ME THAT URIEL IS OKAY”

“He isn’t…he was killed by Quetzalcoatl a few minutes ago…”

“NO…” Leticia cries as she trembles looking at the sky.

Quetzalcoatl stops and looks at people; “Mortals, why have you interrupted my revenge?”

“We humbly apologize, but we brought you here to help us with our mission…Here lies one of your siblings…Tezcatlipoca…”

“Tezcatlipoca, that bastard is here? Where is he?”

“He is dormant in the mirror, trapped by the eternal sun…”

Quetzalcoatl looks up and sees a stone shining bright; “This is mana from the Red Witch, cursed her, this is her magic…”

Quetzalcoatl opens his mouth and gathers mana. He fires a mana beam to the stone.

(BBBBBOOOMMM)

Quetzalcaoatl destroys the stone, the room becomes dark. The mirror begins to glow in a purple color.

“GGGYYAAHHHHH” Leticia covers herself as crumbles fall to the ground. the two El Muerto looks up. One of them says to the other; “Excellent, everything is going to plan…”

“Indeed, it appears we have company…”

“LETICIA” Ana and Antoine enter the room, El Muerto looks at the other; “You let them come in…why?”

“Because we need a sacrifice…”

Antoine and Ana look up and see Quetzalcoatl; “THAT’S A GOD!”

“ANA, GRAB LETICIA AND RUN…WE NEED TO GET OUT NOW!”

Both of them look in shock. Quetzalcoatl notices Ana; “This mana, Cortes is here…”

Quetzalcoatl charges at Ana and Antoine. A portal opens and sucks away Quetzalcoatl. El Muerto creates another portal and makes Adihe disappear. El Muerto looks at both of them; “I don’t want them interfering…now then, I welcome you…”

“What are you doing?” Ana asks as she and Antoine prepare to fight. El Muerto points at the mirror; “We want to release an imprisoned God…and for that, we will need you…”

(SSSHHHIIINNNNGGGG)

The mirror shines brighter, releasing a purple light. El Muerto immediately pushes Antoine away, sending him to the wall.

(BBBOOOMMM)

“ANTOINE!” Ana shouts, El Muerto grabs Ana and slams her to the floor; “Don’t move…”

“A-A-Ana…” Antoine is badly injured. Leticia only looks at what is happening as she thinks; “What can I do? I am too weak…I am scared…and Uriel is dead…”

El Muerto carries Ana grabbing her by the neck and they approach the mirror; “In order for the God to resurrect, we will need a living sacrifice…that will be you…the one who bears the blood of the Conqueror who destroyed the Aztec empire…Hernan Cortes…”

“N-N-No…please…why are you doing these?”

“Because, we need the Golden City to reveal itself, and for that…we need the Sun and the Moon to unite…”

“N-N-NOOO…PPPLEASSEEE..STTOPPP…I DON’T WANT TO DIE…”

Ana cries and struggles. Antoine tries to stand up but the other Muerto pushes him down; “Don’t move, let’s watch the spectacle together…”

“NO, ANA!”

The mirror’s light reduces to a simple ray that shines directly to Ana. The mirror slowly pulls Ana:

“NO…SOMEONE…HELP ME! NOOOO!!!”

At that moment, Leticia pushes Ana away; “ANA!” -PPUUUMMM- Ana falls down the stairs of the altar. The mirror pulls Leticia. Ana opens her eyes and shouts:

“NO, YOU FOOL! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WE AREN’T EVEN FRIENDS!”

Leticia, who is being pull, looks at Ana and smiles; “I don’t know why, my body move on its own…I just wanted to protect you…I just wanted to be brave…Goodbye…”

Leticia slowly enters the mirror as she screams; “GYYYAHHHH!” Leticia disappears from everyone’s sight. The mirror stops shining.

Inside the mirror, Leticia floats in a dark space; “Where am I?”

“YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO BE MY SACRIFICE!”

Leticia hears someone calling her. She opens her eyes and sees a black Jaguar. The giant Jaguar looks at her:

“YOU’RE SACRIFICE IS HONORABLE! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

“L-L-Leticia!”

“LETICIA…I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT NAME!” The Jaguar heads towards the light. Leticia floats in the darkness as she slowly sinks as if she was on water.

“Uriel, was I brave like you? I wish I could see you and be brave enough to tell you my feelings…but I guess I won’t…Goodbye…” Leticia closes her eyes as she sinks in the darkness.

“LEETTIIICCIIIAAA!” Ana screams as she cries for Leticia. El Muerto looks at her; “This wasn’t as planned, but I guess she will do…”

(BBBBBOOOOMMMM)

The mirror shines bright once more and Black Jaguar comes out of it. El Muerto who is holding Antoine down stands up and shouts; “OH WHAT A SIGHT, BEHOLD, ONE OF THE MAJOR GODS OF THE AZTECS. THE GUARDIAN JAGUAR…TEZCATLIPOCA!”

Tezcatlipoca has the appearance of a Giant Black Jaguar with Golden Aztec pattern around his body, he has large claws and large fangs. The mirror that was his prison is now hanging around his neck. He has greenish eyes, an Actec crown on top of his head.

“It appears that my slumber is over…I thank you for releasing me…” Tezcatlipoca looks at the people. Ana and Antoine are in shock upon seeing another God.

“This is bad, two of the Aztec Gods have appeared…this is too much for us, we need to escape…” Antoine looks at Ana who is paralyzed. The two Él Muertos approach the Jaguar:

“Oh great Tezcatlipoca, we are humble servants who have brought you back to life…you’ve been asleep for 500 years, this world has changed…we require your assistance as we are in need…of your services…in return, we will give you this girl as a sacrifice…”

Tezcatlipoca looks at Ana who walks back in fear. He notices her mana; “This girl holds the same mana of Hernan Cortes…that man who betrayed us Gods and joined forces with the Red Witch! And that makes me furious…”

(RRRRAAAWWW)

Tezcatlipoca roars, releasing a huge shock wave blowing Ana away. Antoine catches her; “Are you okay?”

“Antoine, we need to escape…we have no chance…we need to tell the leader…”

“I know, but right now…I only have one plan…but we need to work as a team…” Antoine puts his hand on floor; “Pare-feu” (Fire wall)

Antoine creates a huge firewall, both of them run to the exit. “Foolish mortals…this is nothing…” Tezcatlipoca blows the firewall, putting off the flames in an instant. Antoine and Ana arrive at the entrance. Antoine stops; “Listen, you must find Marjorie…She will know what to do…”

“But Antoine, we need to…” Antoine interrupts Ana by kissing her in the mouth. Ana opens her eyes wider. Antoine pushes her back; “Forgive me…” Antoine raises a firewall at the door.

“ANTOINE!” Ana screams, Antoine chuckles; “GO…NOW!” Ana runs as fast as she can, she stops and puts her hand on the ground; “Placa moviente” (Moving Plate) A large piece of stone separates from the others and moves at high speed towards the exit. Ana with tears in her eyes looks back as she thinks:

“YOU BIG IDIOT! PLEASE STAY ALIVE!”

Tezcatlipoca stands in front of Antoine, the two El Muertos also stand in front; “Are you planning to fight?”

Antoine chuckles; “Hell no you moche (Ugly), I know that I will get killed, so, I surrendered…besides, you know you can’t kill a member of the Mages Association…”

One of El Muerto chuckles; “You french always surrender so easily…very well, we will take you as a prisoner…we don’t want a war with M.A.G.I.C. just yet…”

“SHE ESCAPED! THAT MAKES ME FURIOUS”

(BOOOMMMM)

Tezcatlipoca shoots mana ray towards the sky, creating a hole in the temples sealing revealing the clouded sky, and a hole in the clouds. Crumbles fall down; “Incredible, he only has 30% of his power?” One of El Muerto says to the other. El Muerto who is next to Antoine notices an injury in the arm:

“You got careless…”

“I’m sorry…”

“You’re work here is done…go back…”

“Right…” El Muerto opens a portal and disappears. The other El Muerto creates a portal below Antoine and makes him disappear as well. He looks at Tezcatlipoca and asks; “Now then, can you please tell us about the Golden City?”

That afternoon…Leticia Marino became a sacrifice to revive Tezcatlipoca…The afternoon went forward and the moon showed up once more…

***************************************************************************

Hotel Mexica; Estado de México

On that night…Veronica and Giovanni arrive at the hotel as they find out where the trail leads them…They are dressed in casual clothes… Veronica has a yellow dress with a beach hat...

Note;This conversation is in Spanish…

“Hello, I would like to rent a room for me and my niece please…”

“I’m sorry, but due to the events of this afternoon, the authorities have told us not to receive any more tourists…many of the people left immediately…”

“I see dear, but don’t worry, we’re working with the government, we’re investigating the case…” Giovanni shows his identification. The receptionist looks at it; “I see…very well…I will give you a room…”

“Thank you…now, for the other tenants, I would like to ask on what floor they are staying?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell…” Giovanni interupts her by getting closer and making her nervous; “Oh come on dear…a favor for me…and in return, I’ll take you out on a date…”

The receptionist blushes; “Well…if you insist, I will tell you…they are in the 5th floor…”

“Thank you, I’ll see you when your shift ends…come along now, niece…”

“Hhhmmpmmm…” Veronica grabs her luggage. Giovanni and Veronica get on the elevator, Giovanni waves at the girl making her blush.

“That was a dirty move..”

“HAHAHA, But it worked right, and I got myself a date…” Giovanni makes a smirk. Veronica sighs with her eyes closed; “Remember we’re on a mission…”

“Yeah, yeah..calm down nipote (niece) I have this under control…besides we have taken our time, it’s not like we’re going to know who this mana is from right?”

The door and both of them see Kasumi running towards her room; “I must hurry…”

(BBBAADDUUUMMMPPP)

Both of them feel the enormous amount of mana coming from her. Kasumi turns the corner. Veronica has her eyes wide open; “Was she the one with that mana?”

“Hahaha…it looks we found one of our targets but we must be on our guard ragazza (girl), she is one of the members of Yggdrasil, the Orange Pheasant…and Elite member, Kasumi Miyazono…”

Veronica smiles; “An elite member huh? Excellent, it’s time for me to test my skill…”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to attack right?”

“Of course…” Veronica slowly releases mana in the form of lightning, making the lights flicker; “Kasumi Miyazono…you are my target…”

***************************************************************************

Unknown…

(BBBOOOOMMMM,SSSLLLLAAASSSH)

“AAAAAHHHH” People scream as they run away from men with horses and swords slashes down the people. Uriel walks beside them as people pass right through him like ghosts.

“What is this, a dream?” Uriel continues to walk observing the events and he hears a soldier say:

“General Cortes, encontramos a la que sabe la ubicación.” (General Cortes, we found the one who knows the location.)

A man on a horse whose face cannot be seen because of the darkness around says: “Excelente traigan la hacia mi.” ( Excellent, bring her to me)

Uriel turns around and sees a woman with brown skin, black long hair and brown eyes. Her hands are tied up, she has bruises all over her body and a torn up white dress. Another soldier on horse appears, he has black armor and red eyes along with another soldier with black armor and green eyes.

“Caballeros, Ella sabe la ubicación de la ciudad de oro.” (Gentleman, she knows the location of the Golden City)

The two soldiers get off their horse, fire rises higher preventing Uriel to see their faces. The soldiers begin to speak, however, Uriel cannot hear as he hears the roar of Quetzalcoatl.

(RRRAAAAWWWW)

He looks behind and in a temple located far away he sees the silhouette of 5 beasts. Uriel looks down and Ahide and Xochitl run towards the woman saying “MAMA” suddenly the General points at them with a gun.

(BBBANNNGGG)

“SSSSTTOOOPPP!!!” Uriel screams, suddenly, he floats in a dark space with nothing surrounding him. In a blink of an eye, a red moon appears in the sky, with a liquid surface below. Uriel takes a few steps; “I’m not drowning, I guess this is a special space, but what was that dream?”

“So, you can see my memories ehh? Young sucesor, your powers have improve”

Uriel turns around and sees a man standing behind him, he wears a “conquistador” attire.

The attire consists of a shirt, or camisa, a doublet (with or without sleeves), and some sort of pants, breeches, hose, or other covering for the lower body. With leather boots and gloves, the entire attire is black. He has morion, which is a helmet in the shape of a half almond to make the blows slip which covers his face and only his red eyes can be seen.

“So these were your memories? Who are you?” Uriel tries to see him better but his face is still covered by the helmet.

“I see that your powers aren’t strong enough…”

“Answer my question…who are you?”

“Listen well before I disappear…The night of the Conquest, the Golden City was going to appear; however, it was stopped…Young successor, the key lies within the heart of the Volcano…Remember this name well, Marina…”

The soldier slowly fades away, Uriel extends his hand as he shouts; “WAIT! WHO IS MARINA?”

Uriel disappears as well as he wakes up from his dream.

***************************************************************************

Inside a cabin…

Uriel wakes up extending his arm, he is sweating as he raises his body looking at the ceiling; “What was that dream…who was that man? He looked familiar…”

Uriel looks at the window and sees that it is dark outside; “I see, so it’s night time…I can hear the crickets singing…”

“Mmm-Hmmm” Uriel hears a voice coming below. He looks down and sees Marjorie who is in her underwear consisting of a black bra and black panties. Uriel notices that he is shirtless and covered in bandages.

Marjorie slwoly wakes up, she rubs her eyes and yawns:

“G-G-Good Morning”

“Marjorie…are you alright?” Marjorie hears Uriel’s voice, she takes a better look. Marjorie cries from happiness and hugs him:

“URIEL…YOU’RE AWAKE, THANK GOD…I WAS SO WORRY!”

“Calm down, Marjorie…I’m alright…but please, your bra is going to fall off..” Uriel blushes as Marjorie hugs him tight. She finally comes to her senses as she sees her and Uriel shirtless and blushes:

“GGGYYAAHHHH!!! U-U-Uriel it’s not what it looks like.”

She turns around embarrassed holding her breasts. Uriel also turns around in order to prevent seeing her, after a few moments of an uncomfortable silence, Uriel asks Marjorie:

“M-M-Marjorie what happened to us after the explosion.”

Marjorie lowers her head and begins to explain:

“Well you see, first we fell to the river and got pulled by a water fall.I fell unconscious as well and we arrived on a small island in the middle of a lake. I saw you without breathing so I help-p-ped you”

Uriel turns around and asks; “How?”

He notices Marjorie’s red face and touches her lips; “Well you know.” Uriel realizes that she did CPR, Uriel once again turns around feeling embarrassed; “T-T-Thank you.”

Both of them begin to put on their clothes. Marjorie changes into a black dress with flower petals on the edges. She also grabs her hair with a red ribbon. Uriel puts on his black buttoned shirt with blue jeans.

“U-U-Uriel…I’m sorry, for not telling you the truth…” Marjorie feels down. Uriel sighs with his eyes closed; “Don’t worry about it, besides you can’t go telling everyone that your a member of M.A.G.I.C. Also, don’t forget that I am a dangerous man to them…”

“I understand…still, I should've told you…”

“Marjorie, don’t think about it…remember, that I am an evil being…”

“No…you’re not…you’re a good person, you saved us from the Chupacabras, and the Sombras in Rio Grande City.”

“So you knew about everything…” Uriel looks at Marjorie, Marjorie avoids looking at him as she nods in agreement; “ I did…my mission is to investigate the Borderland and it's unnatural levels of mana. I wanted to help you and Yggdrasil with all of the dangerous situations you faced but we couldn’t…we can’t interfere with Yggdrasil’s mission.”

“I see…so you know everyone who is involved in this right?”

Marjorie nods in agreement. “And the time I erased your memories?”

“I only pretended to act confused, and that’s because I couldn’t let my identity be revealed…”

Uriel sighs; “Is Aleister aware of your position?”

“No…I never told him and he doesn’t know anything…”

“I see…”

“About me and Aleister, I was also her girlfriend because I needed to investigate his family…The Lucifugus is a family full of mysteries…”

Uriel gets closer to her and grabs both of her shoulders; “Listen to me Marjorie…don’t ever go near them again…that family is dangerous, Aleister is dangerous…I’m afraid that something bad can happen to you…please, stay away…”

Marjorie smiles; “I really appreciate you being concerned about me but don’t worry…I am a Mid-level mage afterall…”

“Of course you are…” Both of them chuckle. Majorie puts on her sandals and necklace stands out from her neck. The necklace appears to be golden and cut in half, with an image of half of a rose. Uriel notices that and holds; “Marjorie who gave you this?”

“Oh, this?” Marjorie gets embarrassed; “Someone gave it to me, five years ago…it’s a little embarrassing but he gave it to me as a promise that he would return someday and make me his wife. At first I thought it was Aleister, but he never showed me his other half.”

“I see…” Uriel looks surprised. Majorie gets nervous; “B-B-But I think it was just a dream because I don’t remember his face or anything…Alejandro always said that it was someone…but I don’t remember him…all that I remember is that he was my first kiss and he told me that…”

“This medallion represents my life that belongs to you and I will keep the other half is your life that I will keep…we will meet again one day and once again put them together and make them a whole…because we are always going to be together…”

Marjorie is in shock upon hearing the same words she was going to say; “U-U-Uriel..how did you know what I was going to say?”

“Because…I know the person who told you that…” Uriel creates a small portal on top of him and a necklace with the other half of the rose. Marjorie looks at it with surprise, both of them put their medallions together completing. At the back of the medallion, there are the initials of “M&U”

“Uriel, you have it as well? Then were you…”

“No, this medallion belonged to Uriel Vazquez…the one who swore love to you…”

“I don’t understand, you’re not him?”

Uriel shakes his head. Marjorie, who doesn’t understand, asks:

“Uriel please tell me the truth, why are you El Charro Negro? What happened to you 5 years ago? Why are you not Uriel Vazquez?”

“Those are too many questions…don’t you think?”

Marjorie holds Uriel’s hands, she looks at him in the eyes; “Please…” -BBADDUUMMPP- Uriel’s heart skips a beat, Uriel sighs and makes a little smile; “Very well…I will tell you…”

Uriel decides to tell Marjorie part of his story; “The truth is that I am one of the causes of the Borderland catastrophe that happened 5 years ago…”

Marjorie opens her eyes wider; “You? How can this be?”

“5 years ago, the Vazquez family was kidnapped by a mysterious organization led by Aleister’s father, Darius Lucifugus…In a desperate situation, Uriel Vazquez accepted to make a deal with the devil itself, El Charro Negro. El Charro Negro wpuld help him rescue his family and in exchange, he would become his successor…Uriel Vazquez accepted without hesitation and with the help of El Charro Negro, he rescued his family. However, Darius Lucifugus is the strongest man in the Borderland and he killed Roberto Vazquez, who sacrificed his life to save his family…creating a giant explosion, thus, creating the Borderland Catastrophe…”

“...” Marjorie is speechless, she sees Uriel with tears in her eyes; “Uriel Vaquez accepted the deal, but there was a drawback…his entire existence was going to be erased, his memories, his personality, his complete being was going to disappear. He accepted it with a smile because he saved his beloved family. On February 4th, 5 days after the event…Uriel Vazquez died and Uriel Di Fiore was born…”

“I’m sorry, it must have been hard for you…” Marjorie sheds tears, Uriel looks at her and chuckles; “It was…luckily, my mother, my sister Valerie and my brother Daniel didn’t left me alone…also my Predecessor became my guardian…at the end, I think I was blessed with them…” Uriel smiles at Majorie. Marjorie cries:

“Thank goodness, I knew it, the first time that I saw you, I knew that you were special to me.” Marjorie gets closer, she takes a deep breathe and gathers courage:

“Uriel…I love you…I’ve been in love with you since the first time I saw you…even if you say that you’re not Uriel Vazquez…You’re still Uriel…and that’s enough for me…I love you…”

(BADUMP BADUMP BADUMP)

Uriel is speechless, he feels as if his heart is about to explode and turns red. Uriel avoids looking at her; “Sorry Marjorie, I can’t answer to your feelings…because…”

“Because, you love someone else right?”

“No, it’s not that…” Uriel looks at her and sighs; “You’re right, I did love someone, but she left me for another man…” Uriel thinks back about a pale skin girl with red eyes and black hair; “Serena”

Marjorie looks down, Uriel observes her worried. Marjorie lifts her head; “Uriel, kiss me…”

“Kiss you?” Uriel gazes at her surprised. Majorie gets closer to him; “Kiss me…I want to feel the sensation I felt 5 years ago, when we gave our first kiss…”

“Marjorie, we can’t…not here…”

Marjorie puts her hand on his cheek and gently moves forward, Uriel sees her eyes as she slowly closes them; “I’ll make you forget that other girl…please kiss me…” Marjorie closes her eyes, Uriel leans forward, he also closes his eyes. Both of them get closer and their lips are about to touch. Uriel moves back, Marjorie opens her eyes; “Uriel?”

“How long are you going to stay there?” Uriel turns to the door, there is an old woman standing there. The old woman chuckles; “Ahh…young love…it brings back memories…”

Marjorie looks away embarrassed. Uriel stands up as he thinks; “I barely sense her…her mana is weird…”

“You rhythm sense didn’t work? Sorry but I know how it works muchacho…” The old woman goes and sits to the table. Uriel looks in shock; “She knows about the rhythm sense, she’s dangerous…”

“Uriel, this woman helped us when we were washed away…” Marjorie stands up as well. Uriel looks at the woman; “I see…thank you…”

“No problem muchacho…”

“Who are you?”

“They call me Bella, I´m the guardian of this Island.”

Note: Bella has the appearance of an Old woman. Her skin is brown with wrinkles, she has a little hump on her back, and has only one eye open. She has white hair without brushing.

“My name is Uriel Di Fiore…”

“My name is Marjorie Bellerose”

“MMEEEOOOWW” A small black cat enters the house. She goes with Uriel and rubs her body with him wanting to be pet. Uriel pets her head making her smile. Marjorie wants to pet her too, but the cat repels her; “HHSSHSHSSSSSS”

“Stop Carla, leave her alone.” Bella says to the cat. The cat jumps in the window and lies down. Bella sees Uriel:

“Now then, El Charro Negro, or should I say Juan´s successor.”

“Wait, how do you know that?” Uriel asks her with doubt.

“Well he and I share a long history”

“I see…” Uriel looks at her, analyzing the situation.

“I’m sure you already know, but Quetzalcoatl is after you right?”

Uriel nods in agreement; “Those children…they were Aztecs right?”

“Indeed they were…muchacho, do you want to know why all of this is happening?”

“I do…”

Bella smiles and says: “Come with me outside”

Uriel and Marjorie walk outside the house and open their eyes surprised. The trees are covered with beat up dolls hanging in every branch. There are dolls standing in line making a road, there are others in puddles, many of them look beat up.

Marjorie grabs Uriel´s arm frightened and:

“What is this place?”

Bella extends her arms to the sky:

“WELCOME TO LA ISLA DE LAS MUÑECAS” (ISLAND OF THE DOLLS)

“I knew this place, but are they here?” Uriel looks in shock.

“Just wait, she will appear any second now.”

“AAAAAYYYYY MMMMIIISSS HHHIIIJJJOOSSS!!!!!!”

Uriel and Marjorie are paralyzed to see a woman with a white dress with hollow eyes walking down the road with two children holding her hand.