The fall of a god, the dawn of a betrayal, envy, jealousy, slaughter, and the impending demise of multiple species draw near. All of this looms over the horizon in this tale.
A few days have passed since TEZCATLIPOCA was cast down from the Solar Throne. We shift to a hall carved of stone and gold, featuring a grand balcony where a throne of solid gold sits. Quetzalcoatl resides upon it, immersed in deep reflection, when two familiar figures enter the royal solar throne room: HUITZILOPOCHTLI and XIPETOTEC.
HUITZILOPOCHTLI: wahahahahahaha! Outstanding work, Quetzalcoatl! To think that weakling was no match for you—that battle must have been quite a spectacle for you to blast him all the way down to the mortal plane! (leaning in close to Quetzalcoatl) Come on, sibling, tell me how you brought him down!
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Quetzalcoatl remains silent.
XIPETOTEC: Leave him be, brother. Don't pester Quetzalcoatl so much; he must be concentrating on how to elevate the mortals. Let us leave him to his work.
HUITZILOPOCHTLI: (walking toward the exit) Fine, fine, I'm taking my leave. Unlike you two, I must resume the sacrifices. That damned fish refuses to perish, no matter how much power Father drains from it each day. At this rate, it will take over a thousand nights to bleed it completely dry. Anyhow, (opening the door) see you around. Govern these lands well, Quetzalcoatl—don't make me come up there to drag you down like you did to him, heh. (slams the door shut)
XIPETOTEC: Pay no mind to him, Quetzalcoatl. I know you've got this, but do exercise caution; our brother Tezcatlipoca won't take this lying down. (places a hand on his shoulder before departing) Farewell.
As night descends upon the mortal realm, Quetzalcoatl rises from his throne to grant the mortal world its rest, retiring to the adjacent bedchamber. Staggering slightly, he collapses onto his bed, whispering to himself.
QUETZALCOATL: Dammit... what have I done?! Everyone believes I defeated my brother in a fair duel... If only they knew I ambushed him! (sighs) I don't know if what I did was right, but my blood boiled watching him sit so triumphantly upon that throne... That bastard drove me mad with his arrogance, believing himself stronger than me! There's no turning back now—I must grow stronger. (lowering his head) Curses... I wish I could turn back time to make things right with my brother. I don't know... maybe...
While Quetzalcoatl remains lost in his thoughts, desperate shrieks echo from outside the solar throne balcony. Swiftly, Quetzalcoatl rushes out to investigate. Just as he reaches the balcony, his siblings burst into the room to warn him of the disaster, and together they look out over the edge.
To their horror, a terrifying deluge falls upon the mortal realm below—not of water, but a rain of feral jaguars tearing apart everything in their path. The first humans who inhabited those lands are viciously slaughtered and dismembered.
With his divine vision, Quetzalcoatl spots his brother Tezcatlipoca deep within a distant forest, channeling immense dark power to summon the rain of jaguars. Quetzalcoatl can only watch on helplessly as the first iteration of creation is annihilated. His two siblings place their hands on his shoulders to comfort him as Quetzalcoatl mutters through clenched teeth:
QUETZALCOATL: (furious) Brother... I see now that you will never stop. I swear upon my divine name that one day, you will die by my hands!
His siblings are visibly taken aback by Quetzalcoatl's grim declaration, though they remain silent. The three deities briefly discuss the future before taking their leave, leaving Quetzalcoatl alone on his throne to meditate.
Once his siblings depart, Quetzalcoatl sets out to engineer the next iteration of humanity. Pondering how to fashion them, Quetzalcoatl picks up an ear of corn resting on his table, struck by the brilliant idea to craft the new humans from maize.
Years slip by. The new humans are smaller in stature, yet vastly more intelligent—and considerably arrogant. They refuse to bow before the gods, deeming themselves superior due to their own intellect. Because of this defiance, a council of deities is convened, marking the first reunion of the four primary siblings in ages.
Somewhere in TOMOANCHAN
Great deities are seated at a large table, and in the center of this table sits Quetzalcoatl, flanked by his two brothers, HUITZILOPOCHTLI and XIPETOTEC, on opposite sides. Further back, in another chair, TEZCATLIPOCA, his hood covered, is seen as the meeting begins, Tezcatlipoca quickly rises.
TEZCATLIPOCA: Greetings, siblings! Your elder brother pays his respects. Today, I wish to speak of the arrogant humans Quetzalcoatl has created.
This remark visibly unnerved Quetzalcoatl.
HUITZILOPOCHTLI: You! You shouldn't even be here! Thanks to you, the first forms of life perished in a horrific tragedy!
XIPETOTEC: Wait, brother, let us not fight! We are assembled here to converse, not to wage war.
QUETZALCOATL: I acknowledge it was my oversight to create beings like that, but I granted them higher faculties—that is why they appear to have strayed from the path. But that does not make them inherently evil. At the end of the day, I believe they can be elevated.
TLALOC: You would do well to mind your tongue, Tezcatlipoca! Your reckless actions set creation back by centuries!
TEZCATLIPOCA: Dammit... all any of you care about is creation, isn't it?! But what about your own brother?! Not a single one of you stood up for me! When Quetzalcoatl betrayed me, no one punished him—he turned his back on me! And now that he creates a divine abomination, none of you utter a word of protest either!
HUEHUETEOTL: Do not be arrogant—you are weaker than Quetzalcoatl! I do not know why you attempt to threaten us; you are no match for anyone in this hall anyway. So get out—we shall debate this without you!
Murmurs erupted among all the deities assembled in the hall, and in unison, they demanded Tezcatlipoca's expulsion. Left without a single ally, Tezcatlipoca resigned himself to depart. But before vanishing, he uttered a final warning.
TEZCATLIPOCA: Are you truly certain of what you are doing?! I pray you do not live to regret this... And you, Quetzalcoatl: are you so certain you are stronger than me?
QUETZALCOATL just looks at him very seriously and says nothing. TEZCATLIPOCA looks at him with disappointment and leaves, disappearing into the shadows. The other gods discuss for a few hours what to do with humans and conclude that the most arrogant will be sacrifice's to appease CIPACTLI; after this, they depart.
Years rolled by. On a day like any other, as the twilight faded and night blanketed the skies, QUETZALCOATL concluded his solar duties when he felt a sinister power emanating from a forest on the mortal plane. Upon attempting to observe the disturbance, his divine vision was blocked by a strange barrier.
Driven by concern, QUETZALCOATL descended to investigate. Arriving at the forest, he was met by a peculiar dome of pitch-black mist that filled him with dread. QUETZALCOATL breached the dome, only to behold a horrifying scene: TEZCATLIPOCA was sacrificing a fellow goddess, plunging a dagger into her heart and offering her blood to MICTLANTEKUTI, who was conversing with him through a dark cauldron.
Realizing his brother had caught him in the act, TEZCATLIPOCA instantly dissolved the sacrificial site into shadows and lunged at QUETZALCOATL. The two deities traded relentless, earth-shattering blows without giving each other room to breathe. After minutes of brutal hand-to-hand combat, they separated slightly to catch their breath.
TEZCATLIPOCA: (panting) Cursed Quetzalcoatl... you have grown formidable...
QUETZALCOATL: (gasping for air) Unlike you... I have trained relentlessly to surpass you... and I will not yield! I will defeat you, brother!
TEZCATLIPOCA: (taking a deep breath) Very well... enough games. I shall end you here, sibling!
Now we see TEZCATLIPOCA take the form of a humanoid jaguar, leaving QUETZALCOATL speechless. Just as he's coming to terms with his situation, he's met with a powerful punch from his brother that snaps him back to reality, sending him flying into the walls of the mist dome he had passed through. This time, however, he couldn't escape. The walls were solid, and there was no way out. TEZCATLIPOCA grabbed his brother like a punching bag, slamming him against everything and hitting him repeatedly without respite. Finally, in the midst of the beating, TEZCATLIPOCA remembers his brother's cheerful and confident self from the first time and decides to let him go.
Quetzalcoatl lay battered on the ground, bleeding heavily and struggling to breathe, while his brother stood over him, glaring down.
TEZCATLIPOCA: You believed yourself superior, and look at you now—you are nothing! (dissolving the dome) I AM THE LORD OF THE NIGHT! You stand no chance against me while you remain so pathetically weak! And these crude creations of yours only prove your lack of resolve and divine strength—now they shall pay the price for everything!
TEZCATLIPOCA, invoking all his power, unleashes a thick black mist from his hands, which sweeps across the mortal plane and transforms humanity into different animals, most of them monkeys. With this act, TEZCATLIPOCA wiped out half of humanity to teach arrogant humans a lesson and leave them with a message: "Serve and worship the gods."
As Tezcatlipoca turned to depart, he uttered a final phrase to his fallen sibling.
TEZCATLIPOCA: You are weak, my brother. I hope never to see you again, and I also hope you do a better job next time. With this, I bid you farewell, hahaha!
QUETZALCOATL, battered and bleeding, manages to turn over and begins to crawl across the dirt, cursing his own weakness in his mind. He is consumed with rage toward himself—so immense is his fury that he slams his fist against the ground, causing earth tremors. His divine aura surges in response to his frustration and resentment. Through his blurry vision, he spots a massive snake slithering away from his tantrum and countless birds taking flight to flee his radiating power, sparking a sudden realization.
QUETZALCOATL: (furious) If I were as long and powerful as that serpent, and if I commanded the skies with wings like those birds... perhaps I could defeat my brother! DAMMIT!
Out of nowhere, the image of a feathered serpent flashes in Quetzalcoatl's mind, recalling his divine ability to shape-shift into any form he desires. A malevolent glint appears in QUETZALCOATL'S eyes, causing the entire continent to tremble as he transforms into a colossal winged serpent. On that fateful day, the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl was born.
Blinded by rage and his defeat, QUETZALCOATL, in his new form, roamed the human villages, unleashing his fury, destroying them with fire from his mouth, and killing the few remaining humans, extinguishing humanity for the second time. After some time, QUETZALCOATL, repentant for what he had done, renounced the solar throne and retired to sleep and control his newfound power, but not before creating humanity for the third time.
This time, the last two remaining brothers decided not to interfere in the solar throne race, leaving the nomination open. This was later decided at another meeting, which Tezcatlipoca did not attend because no one wanted him there. The god of the night had been exiled from TOMOANCHAN. This time, the god Tlaloc would take the place of the new sun, and the third sun was created.
The humans of this era resembled their predecessors, but they were kinder and more humble; Quetzalcoatl had learned from his past mistakes. All seemed peaceful until TEZCATLIPOCA decided to strike against the Nahua pantheon once again.
By this era, his power had grown significantly; he had acquired a magical artifact that granted him immense authority over darkness—a mirror from which dark mist continuously billowed. It came to be known as the Smoking Mirror.
While TLALOC governed the heavens as the Sun, TEZCATLIPOCA vilely abducted TLALOC's wife, driving the rain god into a vengeful fury. TLALOC refused to produce rain for years, plunging the mortal plane into a devastating drought. Desperate and helpless, the surviving humans pleaded for water.
After four endless years without a single drop, dark clouds finally blanketed the sky once more. The remaining humans rejoiced, but their joy turned to terror when the clouds unleashed not rain, but a catastrophic barrage of giant flaming meteors that incinerated everything in their path. The immense fireballs carbonized what was left of humankind.
Once again, Tezcatlipoca had wiped out humanity… TO BE CONTINUED.