The stories tell many things about Mictlan—ghastly things, terrifying monsters beyond our imagination, endless suffering to reach the lord of the dead and obtain a well-deserved rest. However, this time there is a rather peculiar group passing the trials of the lord of the dead without any trouble, and now we return to where we left off.
Our friends discovered a person trapped in a well inside a cave, and now they are discussing whether to pull him out or leave him there.
DANTE HERALDI: Guys, there's someone down there. What should we do?
GIORGIUS: Um, I don't know why, but it seems familiar to me.
MALEKIN: Do you guys think it would be a good idea if we pull him out? He is a person, after all.
REX: Perhaps we should ask him what his name is first.
DANTE HERALDI: You're right, REX. (calling down the well) Hey, can you hear me alright?
MYSTERIOUS PERSON: Yes, I can hear you. Could you please help me get out? Truthfully, this place severely weakens my powers.
DANTE HERALDI: (turning to his friends) He said powers. This guy must not be a normal person. What do we do?
ELENA: Ask him what his name is.
DANTE HERALDI: Yeah, you're right. (calling down the well) Hey, one question: What is your name?
MYSTERIOUS PERSON: Ah, well, my name is Quetzalcoatl. A pleasure.
Everyone hears that name and stops to think.
DANTE HERALDI: Wait, I think I've heard that name somewhere before.
ELENA: (swallowing hard) Hey, DANTE, isn't that the name of a Maya god? One of the most important ones.
Dante racks his brain for a moment and remembers.
DANTE HERALDI: Wait, um… you're right. The white light, Quetzalcoatl, or the Feathered Serpent.
Quickly, DANTE pulls a rope out of his bag and tosses it down the well. Within a few minutes, a highly striking individual emerges from the well: a man with a feathered headdress, a gold necklace, wearing attire worthy of a god, a small shield in his right hand, and something curious was that he wore a sort of bra-like garment. Everyone looks at him a bit strangely since the person in front of them was a man, but they simply proceed to greet him so as not to be disrespectful.
DANTE HERALDI: Highly pleased to meet you, my name is Dante Heraldi, Lord Quetzalcoatl.
ELENA: It is a pleasure. My name is ELENA.
MALEKIN: Hello, my name is MALEKIN. I have heard a lot about you—many stories told by Lord HUEHUETEOTL. They say you are highly powerful.
QUETZALCOATL: My friend is still alive? He must surely still be held prisoner in that forest.
REX: Hello, my name is REX. A pleasure.
QUETZALCOATL: Interesting, an inferior animal managed to make it all the way here. Wait... is that you, GIORGIUS? It's been quite a while.
GIORGIUS: Do I know you, sir? I've never seen you before.
DANTE HERALDI: You know this guy? (turning to Quetzalcoatl)
QUETZALCOATL: Not very well, in reality. We only met in the world of raining arrows. I found him wandering around the area, and we became friends for a time. I built the halfway points so that those crossing this hellish place could rest. I left him at the stone house, but it seems he ran into you. I don't know who he truly is, but he is highly powerful.
DANTE HERALDI: So it seems. Lord Giorgius, do you seriously not remember who you are?
GIORGIUS: (speaking directly to Quetzalcoatl) Um, now I remember something! You helped me back then, hahaha. It's been a while, sir, but I remember you looking different.
MALEKIN: (staring at DANTE)…
DANTE HERALDI: (pissed off) Don't say it, MALEKIN. That old man ignored me again.
QUETZALCOATL: Very well, let me introduce myself once more: my name is QUETZALCOATL and I am a god. I am on a mission, which is to retrieve the bones of creation so I can return to my land and fashion new humans.
DANTE HERALDI: Um… (in a low voice) so history repeats itself. Our mission is almost the same, Lord Quetzal. We could go with you to help you. We might not look like much, but we are highly powerful.
QUETZALCOATL analyzes the situation and decides to take them along on the journey, and everyone feels far more relieved to have a god in their ranks. Then, DANTE proceeds to reveal all the information and their mission to him. The god is astonished that that monster BELL chose him, and our friends realize that his power is formidable and recognized by all the gods, making them wonder who BELL truly is.
QUETZALCOATL: So that thing helped you for no apparent reason. It is highly suspicious; not even we, the gods, fully know the history of that monster. I only spoke with him once, and he looked down on me despite the fact that I am a god. But well, I have never seen him or heard from him again, until now.
DANTE HERALDI: Yeah, he's a weird guy. He hasn't appeared to me again since, but it feels like he's a good guy. I don't know what he wants, but I'm placing more trust in him.
QUETZALCOATL: Be careful with him, sir DANTE. Perhaps he is merely earning your trust. As a god, I have sensed that thing's power, and I have seen nothing good from him.
DANTE HERALDI: I'll keep that in mind, sir Quetzalcoatl. Well, friends, what do you say we rest for a bit in this spot, and then we will proceed to keep moving forward?
Our friends agree with this idea and sit down on some stones to rest, conversing for a bit before setting off… DANTE builds a campfire, pulling wood and a lighter out of his bag. MALEKIN looks at him in surprise, noticing that DANTE manages his pouch highly well compared to when he first met him, and asks him about it.
MALEKIN: Hey, DANTE, I've noticed that you pull things out of that pouch now like it's nothing. What happened?
DANTE HERALDI: Haha, did you just notice? Honestly, when we defeated MAMMON, I took the pouches he had. They were shredded to pieces, but they possessed power, so I managed to fuse them with the pouch I already had. Now, on my status bar, the pouch shows up at max level, and that granted me the ability to pull out whatever I want—though it also has its limits. If it's small items, I can pull them out with no problem because it only requires energy. But more complex things do cost me, since everything requires energy and gold, and I can't be wasting gold. Remember, I don't obtain that easily. There are things that only require energy in exchange, which is manageable, like everyday articles. But enchanted weapons or clothes and things like that require gold as well. Perhaps for MAMMON, with his powers, it was easy, but even though I devoured his heart, I didn't obtain his power to transmute things into gold.
MALEKIN: Oh, now several things make sense.
QUETZALCOATL: That device you possess is interesting; it is highly useful. And I see you have a partner by the way you stand next to that woman.
DANTE HERALDI: Ah… (embarrassed) Yeah, she is my future wife, hehe.
ELENA: (embarrassed) Don't say that, DANTE! Even though it makes me happy, we are in front of a lot of people.
REX: hahaha! ELENA is always so easily embarrassed. We're among friends here, right, ELENA?
ELENA: Yes, but… (she blushes)
DANTE HERALDI: hahaha, don't worry, love. And excuse the boldness, but do gods also care about these matters of love? Do you have someone special, QUETZALCOATL?
QUETZALCOATL: Um… well, it's complicated, hehe. Truthfully, we do look into these things, but it would have to be true love. We mostly see it as the fun of being with a partner, and I especially—(he gets embarrassed). Better leave it at that, maybe you'll find out later, hehe.
GIORGIUS: (looking at him with narrowed eyes) Hey, no matter how hard I tried to remember you, you were different from how I first met you.
QUETZALCOATL: Yes, sir GIORGIUS, perhaps that's because…
At that moment, a colossal earthquake forced all our friends to rush out of the cave, as it began to collapse. Our friends manage to escape from the cave, and thanks to the clothes DANTE had provided and MALEKIN's barrier, they manage to withstand the freezing cold perfectly fine.
DANTE HERALDI: Lord QUETZALCOATL, aren't you cold? Do you want me to give you a coat?
QUETZALCOATL: No, truthfully, there is no need. This cold is nothing to me.
MALEKIN: Excuse me, but with all of this happening, what caused that immense earthquake?
GIORGIUS: Um… I sense a power heading right this way.
DANTE HERALDI: Yeah, I sense it too, and by the way—WHERE ARE YOUR CLOTHES, YOU PERVERTED OLD MAN?!
GIORGIUS: Oh, no wonder I was feeling chilly, hehe.
DANTE hands another set of clothes to the old man.
DANTE HERALDI: Wait a moment... why did the blizzard vanish, and now everything is peaceful?
MALEKIN: What's more, the cold seems to have dropped a bit.
ELENA: Something is coming! LOOK OVER THERE, IN THE DISTANCE!
Everyone notices that in the distance, colossal men were approaching. They possessed white fur covering their entire bodies and a single horn atop their heads… they resembled snowmen or yetis. They were running at high speed; there were around 20 of them, and beneath the ground, a gigantic worm appeared with mouths all over its body, its main maw appearing to have infinite teeth. As it opened its massive mouth, tearing up the entire ground, it forces our friends to fall back.
QUETZALCOATL: This is serious. There aren't many of them, but will you guys be able to handle them?
DANTE HERALDI: Excuse me, but that question is an insult. Shit, this was the calm before the storm. Fine, let's begin this massacre.
QUETZALCOATL: Haha, it seems you guys are quite something.
Our friends assume a combat stance: REX grows using his power, DANTE activates his "Shadow Mantle" and draws Kusanagi, Elena provides support by casting strength and resistance spells on everyone, MALEKIN envelops himself in his red barrier, and sir GIORGIUS is sitting down, watching the others.
GIORGIUS: You can do it! Hang in there, hehe.
QUETZALCOATL: Hey, GIORGIUS, you fight too; I saw you unleash a power last time.
GIORGIUS: Meeee…? Um, let's see, let me think.
QUETZALCOATL: Now that I remember, you told me you can combine your spells like… how did it go? "EXIL" and "CUAS", and the other one you told me was… ah, right, "FORYT."
GIORGIUS: Ooooo… Right, I remember something! Very well, step aside, sir God, and observe, because thanks to you, I've remembered something.
Our friends, seeing the enemies approaching and now within 50 meters, all freeze, even the enemies. They all raise their heads because they see an immense portal opening in the sky. The enemies stare in astonishment at the portal, as do our friends. DANTE looks back, sensing a great power, and sees old GIORGIUS with white eyes, repeating the words spoken earlier by QUETZALCOATL. DANTE orders everyone to retreat and stand beside the old man, and to everyone's surprise, an immense meteorite, roughly the size of a city, emerges from the portal…
DANTE HERALDI: What the hell is that?! Hey, old man, that's going to kill us too! Stop this!
ELENA: DANTE, what is going to happen? I'm scared!
REX: Holy mother of all dogs, what are we going to do?!
MALEKIN: Dammit, I don't know if my barriers can withstand that impact!
QUETZALCOATL: Don't worry, place your trust in GIORGIUS.
Our friends can only watch as the meteorite crashes into the ground, crushing all the enemies, and a highly brilliant light fills the area, exactly as if an atomic bomb had detonated. Before the impact can reach our friends, the old man utters the word "Foryt," and a sort of dome manifests around all our friends. We witness an immense explosion take place, making all of hell reverberate. We now shift to the location of the god of the dead, who, due to the immense explosion reaching his domain, has bolted up from his bed to check his cauldron and find out what is happening.
MICTLANTEKUTI: Dammit! (sweating) This can't be. Who the hell did that? Is another god among us?!
Inside the cauldron, it can be seen that an immense crater has formed from the meteorite's impact, and all the snow was completely evaporated.
MICTLANTEKUTI: (pissed off) I can no longer leave this solely to the trials. These mortals are coming for me. I can't do anything about that location anymore, but in the next trial, I will give them something they will never be able to overcome.
We shift to the impact site and witness how our friends survived thanks to the barrier deployed by GIORGIUS, and everyone is left staring at him with faces of absolute astonishment.
GIORGIUS: hahahaha! I think I might have gone a little overboard.
Our friends are highly surprised by the immense power of this old man, truly wondering who this individual is. The entire landscape we look upon is completely obliterated, yet they didn't suffer a single scratch. Both the king of death and our friends are utterly shocked. Who is this so-called GIORGIUS, in reality? We will find out.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Well, these past few days have been wonderful thanks to the support for this project, and I'm very grateful for the views. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the project will be going on pause. Don't worry, it's not permanent. I'll be back around July 25th, if not sooner, haha. Thanks for everything.
With love, your friend aggret1.