Oya unclenched her fist and took a deep breath. "Look Xtabay I'm not here to fight, I just want to see Mul, and Cassius said you would know where he is." Xtabay relaxed and returned to her seat. "Like I said he's dead, he died blooms ago." Nanette pushed herself away from the table and approached Oya. "He's not dead." She said looking Oya in her eyes. "Nanette, what are you saying? How would you even know who she's talking about?" Nanette looked at her mother, her eyes filled with pity. "You really think you could keep my father locked in the dungeon and I wouldn't find out?" "Father?" Oya looked at Xtabay for confirmation but the queen silently stared down at her plate. "He told me everything about you. You're even more beautiful than I pictured!" Nanette hugged Oya tightly "I've always wanted a sister. Don't get me wrong Tai is great but there's just some things you can't share with a little brother." Oya pushed Nanette away and took a step back. "You knew he was locked away and you left him there?" "No, it's not like that, he wanted it." Nanette tried to explain. "Go talk with him yourself." Xtabay slammed her fist on the table. "Enough! You aren't doing anything but leaving. And Nanette, go to your room and wait for me there." "Mom, she has a right to see him." "SHE HAS NO RIGHT!" Xtabay's eyes shifted as she rose from her seat, knocking over her chair. "Not after what he did." Her voice was softer but the tension still hung in the air. Nanette didn't say anything; she just stared at her mother, tears filling her eyes. "Where's the dungeon?" Oya asked Nanette, ignoring Xtabay's outburst. Nanette hesitated looking back and forth between Oya and her mother. "Out that door and down the hall. Take the steps all the way down." Xtabay answered, sparing her daughter from having to choose. Oya nodded in understanding and proceeded to the dungeon.

Oya's footsteps echoed through the damp halls of the palace dungeon. She stopped when she arrived at the crossroads of the T shaped corridors. She looked left and then right and noticed a familiar aura radiating out through the bars of a cell at the end of the hall. She approached the cell and stood in front of the bars, but the cell's occupant was towards the back cloaked by shadows. Silence flooded the dungeon for a few minutes before it was broken by a quiet "Sorry." "How'd you end up in there?" Oya's voice was flat but her question was sincere. "Killed the queen." Mul answered, still hidden by the shadows. "Why?" She asked, her voice still flat. "Didn't have a choice." He answered. Oya's eyes narrowed. "There's always a choice. Although I understand that you must have felt that your hands were tied, you didn't answer my question." Mul chuckled "Seems like you did a lot of growing up." "Had to, can't be alone in this world acting like a child and expecting to stay alive." Mul didn't respond right away. "She didn't leave me a choice. She said you and Nanette were going to die if I didn't kill her right there." Oya's eyebrow went up. Mul continued. "It was because of some deal she made but she begged me not to tell Xtabay about it. Those were her last words. What was I supposed to do?" "You could have come home." Mul could hear the uncharacteristic emotion in her voice. "Not after that. I honestly thought Tabs was gonna kill me but when I met Nanette I understood why she didn't." Oya swallowed her pain. "Who she make the deal with?" "Don't know." Mul answered but Oya was already gone.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Xtabay and Nanette stood out on the balcony outside the dining hall. "I'm no fool Nanette, I knew you'd met him I just didn't want to face it." "But why keep him from me?" Nanette asked while watching the sunset. Before Xtabay could answer, Oya burst through the door. "Who did your mom make the deal with?" "What deal?" Xtabay asked, caught off guard by Oya's brashness. "Whatever deal she'd die not to keep." "I don't know...." Xtabay stopped and thought for a second. "Piasa." She thought out loud to herself. "Who?" Oya and Nanette asked simultaneously. "Piasa, she was there the night my mother died and then again the night I found Tai." Xtabay answered. "Where can I find her?" Oya asked impatiently. Xtabay thought for a second. "I'm not sure she just kind of appears." The symbol Xochi branded into Xtabay's chest when she was born began to burn. Xtabay winced at the unexpected sensation. "You called?" The three of them turned around to find Piasa standing on the balcony's railing. She was wearing a pink kimono with her hair braided in elaborate loops and her face was covered with a golden mask. "Piasa?" Oya asked quickly. "Why yes and who..." before Piasa could finish her sentence Oya fist connected with the mask that covered her face launching her into the air. Piasa stopped and stabilized herself in the air standing on it like it was solid. Her mask crumbled to pieces of her face revealing six eyes. One extra above and below the two normal ones. "Hahahahaha. You must be Oya. And to think we'd meet so soon after my father told me about you." "Father?" Nanette asked. "Apep." Piasa answered, summing a large scythe in her left hand and getting into stance.