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“So it can happen!” I didn’t care if Rosie was a little different. I was different, too. I couldn’t stand the idea of my dog being stuck in such a terrible place. “Please, can’t you try?”
“Zane.” Ms. Cab raised a single brow and shook her head. “I’d have to travel to another realm and leave you unprotected. It would go against my purpose and my nature. I’m sorry. Rosie is not my concern. You are, and tomorrow, when your destiny is fulfilled, I must be here.”
I was getting pretty sick of people telling me I was going to set this Puke monster free. I didn’t care about him or the stupid Prophecy of Fire. “Why would I release Ah-Puch, knowing he wants to destroy the world? And what’s his deal, anyway? How come he hates humans enough to want to kill them all?”
“It started eons ago. The creator gods, namely Hurakan and Kukuulkaan, were very powerful and wanted to make creatures to worship them.”
“Right,” I said. I’d read this creation story before. “They made the first humans out of mud.”
“And the humans were weak and useless,” she added. “Couldn’t even think, so the gods destroyed them. Then they made a different batch of humans out of wood, but they were dumb as… well, wood, so…” She ran her finger across her throat like a blade.
“The gods sure liked destroying things, didn’t they?”
“They wanted to get it right. To create a human that could think and mark time and keep records.”
Remembering the next part of the story, I smirked. “So they made them out of corn?” Made perfect sense.
Ms. Cab nodded. “Those humans were smart and could understand too much, so the gods sent a great fog to obscure some of their knowledge.”
“First they want smart humans, then the humans are too smart,” I grumbled. “Geez, these gods have serious issues.” (You gods could really use some psychoanalysis.)
“They hate competition.”
“How could humans ever compete against the gods?”
“Have you heard of the hero twins?”
“The brothers who tricked and killed some lords of the underworld?” They had gotten four whole pages and three illustrations in my book.
“Those lords”—she flapped a hand dismissively—“were weak-minded monsters ruled by Ah-Puch.”
Yeah, the “hero” part of the twins’ story had seemed a little overblown. Basically they wanted revenge because a few stupid Xib’alb’a lords had killed their father and uncle.
Ms. Cab went on. “After the twins tricked and killed the lords, legend has it that the twins then defeated Ah-Puch himself. Humans loved them for it and then saw the underworld as weak. Then humans stopped fearing the god of death, and there’s never a good outcome when people ignore the gods.”
“So Ah-Puch wants to destroy the world for the fourth time and make new humans that will pay attention to him?”
“Something like that.” Ms. Cab studied the paper spread across the table. “When you release Ah-Puch at the moment of the eclipse, he’s going to be good and mad, and out for vengeance. In his rage, he is likely to thirst for your blood.”
“Hang on! Why would he want to kill the one guy who finally let him out?”
“I didn’t say he was logical. Imagine being cooped up for over four hundred years.”
It would suck, sure, but I was pretty certain it wouldn’t make me thirsty for blood. More like an extra-grande chocolate milk shake. “So do you have some sort of magical dagger that kills gods or something?”
Ms. Cab’s eyes went wide. “Heavens no. My job isn’t to kill him, Zane. I’m not an assassin!”
“But we can’t let him destroy the whole world. I mean, everyone would die.” Mom. Hondo. Mr. O. Brooks. I felt sick.
Ms. Cab inhaled sharply through her nose. “It’s not my job to stop his reign of terror, Zane. My ancestral legacy is very clear. Keep the prophecy’s secret and make sure you’re safe.”
“Don’t… don’t you care about the world?”
“My ancestral legacy is very clear,” she repeated in an annoying tone, like a robot. “And besides, I don’t have the power to kill Ah-Puch. Only the gods do.”
“Then let’s call them right now! You have a direct line, right?”
“No, Zane. I do not have a direct line.” Ms. Cab rolled her eyes. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t call them. That’s not my job. I am not to interfere with or do anything other than fulfill my ancestral legacy.”
