Bloom 794

It was the dead of night and Queen Xochi stood in the middle of the Goserra forest in front of a small fire. A young Xolo and Camazotz safely watched their mother from behind a pair of trees. "Lord Apep, Father of Emptiness, Breather of Chaos, I request your will to flow through my blood and cement your presence in this universe!" As she spoke those words Xochi held her arm over the flame and used a knife to slit her arm from the bend of her forearm to the base of her palm. "Oh sweetie, that's way more blood than the first two attempts." Piasa appeared on the opposite side of the fire, her face obscured by the flames "They are adorable by the way." Piasa remarked, gesturing towards Xolo and Camazotz who whimpered and shyly retreated behind their trees. "He will be pleased with this. And keep in mind dear, this much of an offering is bound to gain some... attention. So word of warning, keep an eye out for talking birds, they're bad omens." Xochi didn't reply, she just let the blood from her arm drip into the flames. "Well then I'll leave you to it sweetie." Piasa said before vanishing as if she was never really there. With each drop of blood the flame got larger until it engulfed Xochi completely. Xolo attempted to run to where his mother was but was stopped by his brother who simply shook his head in warning. Xolo complied and the two of them gazed into the flames. After a few minutes Xochi walked out of the fire her clothes were gone and her arm was healed, and in her arms she cradled a small white snake. Her sons ran up to her as she kneeled down to let them see the snake shift into a baby girl. The boys marveled at their sister as Xochi pressed her finger against the infant's chest and burned the same symbol that Piasa branded her with into the girl's flesh. With the fire completely burned out the four of them made their way through the forest and back to the palace.

Bloom 800

Camazotz sat in silence with his eyes closed using his superb senses to monitor his forces from atop a hill overlooking the battlefield. Even though his eyes were shut he could still perceive the bright blue flashes of his brother's attacks. Xolo had split from the main regiment to engage a platoon of enemies attempting to flank from the left that Camazotz had sensed approaching. From the hill he could sense the entire area and give out instructions to the troops on how to move through the thick pine forest. Suddenly his senses started to dull as what felt like a thick tar like substance being poured slowly over his mind. He opened his eyes to find a beautiful young woman with a pair of antlers jutting out of her skull standing barefoot in the mud staring at him. "Hiya." She greeted him when he opened his eyes. "Livia Bahn." Camazotz sneered when he realized who it was. Livia smiled. "I'm flattered, we have never met but yet you know who I am." Camazotz stood up. "I'll leave you more than flattered, witch." Livia giggled at the word. "Witch? That's adorable considering who your mother is. Even I wouldn't dabble in the Magics she participates in It's.....Blasphemous." Livia then brandished a smile that filled Camazotz with more anxiety than any battle he had ever been in. It called his mind back to the woman his mother encountered in the woods the night his sister was born. The malice she exuded forced him to shift immediately. His arms stretched and molded into a pair of bat-like wings, gray fur covered his body from the waist up, and his head morphed into the shape of a Mimon bat. From the waist down his body remained human. "Oh, how interesting! I wonder did your mother choose what creature you turn into or was it arbitrary?" Camazotz ignored Livia's question and with one flap of his wings shot into the air and created some distance between them. "Oh come on, don't be so aloof." Livia joked as the distance between them grew. From the air Camazotz emitted a sonic wave attack from his mouth that blew a hole into the hill where Livia was standing. Suddenly Camazotz felt a finger touch the back of his head. Somehow Livia was behind him still sporting her profane smile. "You missed."

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Xolo stood alone amongst the pine trees catching his breath after defeating the flanking enemies. He didn't wear a com piece like the rest of his men because of the telepathic link he shared with his brother. "Camazotz, I'm done here, where to next?" He waited for a response but didn't receive one. Every direction he thought about continuing in looked the same and the blood of the men he killed masked the scent of his own troops. "Zozo you there? Which way am I going?" But still he failed to receive an answer. "You fought well. Took out all those guys quickly and without aid at that." Xolo spun around to find a petite woman about half his height with long white hair. Her body was clad in black and gold armor that looked too heavy for her. She smiled at him and took a few steps closer. "I would be extremely grateful if you would do me the honor of facing me in combat." Xolo's eyebrow went up. "Which one are you? You don't look like a witch so I'm guessing Corrina right?" Corrina stopped walking. "You would be correct." A puddle of tar began to bubble up from the dirt next to her. Corrina bent down and plunged her hand into the muck and pulled out a double headed battle ax that was twice her length and her hand couldn't fully grip the haft of the weapon. Xolo's eyes squinted as he recognized the weapon the small woman dragged in the dirt behind her. "That's general Murdoch's weapon!" Corrina brandished a sinister grin that would fill her sister with envy. "That it is. I pried it from his cold dead corpse. Well, he was still warm when I took it but you get the idea." The tiny woman then hurled the ax on a horizontal trajectory with such force that it snapped every tree between herself and Xolo, who managed to avoid being split in two by bending back so it passed over him and continued on to chop the trees behind him as well. But before he could stand upright Corrina was in the air above him and delivered a punch to his chest that blew away what was left of the trunks around him and embedded the prince in a small crater. As the dust settled Corrina stood over Xolo's body with a triumphant smirk resting on her face before a pulse of electricity blew her out of the crater. Xolo crawled out of the Crater now standing on four legs as he'd shifted into a hairless dog whose size dwarfed the largest of his mother's carriages. His fangs and claws bristled with electricity as he let out a howl that echoed throughout the pine forest like thunder. Corrina scoffed as she once again pulled general Murdoch's ax out of another tar puddle. Xolo began to charge for her but stopped as his brother's head rolled to a stop in front of him. Livia appeared out of nowhere and stood beside her sister. "That was quick." Corrina remarked to her sister whose eyes were fixed on Xolo. "Looks like you're having way more fun than I had. Hopefully this one is more durable than his brother." Staring at his brother's decapitated head Xolo let out another thunderous howl before charging forward.

Back at the palace. "Why would you go there!" Xtabay screamed at Mul who continued filling a bag with food. "Well Tabs if a talking bird tells you to do something you should probably listen right?" "No!" She replied. "You kill it, is what you do." The sound of the palace door flying open and people rushing down the hallway drew the two of them out of the kitchen. The pair rounded the corner to find a messenger speaking to Queen Xochi. "You're the one with crazy monster hearing, what are they saying?" Mul teased at Xtabay whose eyes filled with tears. A single tear rolled down her cheek and off her face before evaporating from the intense scarlet flames that ignited around her. Mul backed away from Xtabay who burned with a rage she herself didn't think was achievable before the flames were extinguished by her mother's embrace. Mul watched in empathy at the two of them and even though he didn't know it, this was the last time he would see Xtabay cry.