“Judge me if you will, but this is the cold, hard truth about being the Goddess of the Underworld. Because I’ve seen the future. It holds no joy or hope. There is no sunlight. No love. No glorious garage sales where once useful items are given a second chance at a new life. There is only death. So much death.
And it’s up to me to stop it. Me alone.
Okay, Minky and me, but mostly me. Potatoes, patatoes.
And what’s my plan? Try to forget him. And avoid watching Love Boat marathons. And definitely avoid bugs. Can’t afford any distractions. Not now. Not when this giant mess is all my fault.
Why did I ever dare to dream that I could find love and happiness?
I. Am. Evil.”
“3000 BC (Give or take a few centuries. Who the hell’s counting?)” Cimil and Narmer. The early years. She went to Giza, Egypt to bring back Kinich who was currently living within the mortals pretending to be a commoner.
She saw Narmer - Pharaoh there.
"My king,” Adom explained nervously, “has taken a vow of chastity until he finds his queen. He believes women rob men of their power and will only share his with her.”
He was waiting for her. He prayed to the Goddess Bastet to deliver her, a minor goddess, to his bed. "You are mine now, and you shall be my queen, the mother to my children.” He collared her thus she cannot use her powers. He wanted her to vow eternal fealty to him.
7 days later, Cimil still hadn't acknowledge him. He wanted to capture her heart.
So he asked his priest - Mitnal to make contact with the Gods. Twenty moons ago, a mysterious band of nomads—short in stature, straight black hair the texture of linen threads, high cheekbones, and fat cheeks—passed through Egypt, telling tales of being from the future. They spoke of a magical tablet made of a material called black jade and called themselves the Mayans. They claimed to have built great stone structures that reached high into the sky, allowing them to speak to their gods. Narmer bartered with Mitnal for weeks, granting him anything he wished—small boats, gold, women—in exchange for two things: to publicly declare that the Mayans were but simple people with large imaginations and to deliver Narmer a queen, a divine queen—irrefutable evidence of the gods’ favor toward him.
“Let go of me!” I squirmed, but he was much, much larger, and I, powerless without my… um… powers.
“No. Not until you submit.”
“Never!” I screamed.
“Then I shall never let you go,” he growled.
Stubborn man! I growled back.
He growled again.
I meowed.
He…
… Burst out laughing.”
“He scratched his clean-shaven chin. “I suppose it’s the absurdity of the situation. I have spent my entire life on the throne, ruling the people, trusting that the divine blood in my veins would guide me.”
Should I tell him he doesn’t have any divine blood? Many cultures believed their rulers were descendants of the gods and therefore had the right to rule, but the truth was that they were just normal humans who’d been born at the right time to the right family. Nahh… let him live his dream.”
She asked him to kiss her again and they stopped making out when his penis burnt.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” I barked, trying to wiggle from his grasp. “You’ve already been made a fool of! I can’t be your queen. I can’t be anyone’s queen. Deities and humans are not compatible. That little ‘trick,’ as you called it, was just the chemistry of our bodies reacting.”
“What is this thing you call ‘chemistry’?” he asked.
Ugh. It was a futurist term. “It means that your body is like wood and mine is like lightning. Put us together and they create fire.”
He loosened his grip. “You are telling the truth?”
I nodded.” He went to find magic to fix their situation.
He made the first vow to her. 😍
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I, Narmer, son of Ka and king of Egypt, vow to you, Cimil, Goddess of the Underworld, my eternal soul, my eternal loyalty, my eternal love—”
I blinked and Narmer was on his side, blood oozing from his chest, a giant spear sticking from him.”😱
“I, Yum Cimil, Goddess of the Underworld, vow eternal loyalty to you, Narmer, pharaoh of Egypt. For as long as I live, my heart and soul belong to you and no other. I love you. I love you. Please don’t die,” I cried.
My collar fell to the floor, and my body buzzed with divine energy.
I’m free!
I cracked the spear sticking from his body and pulled it out so I’d be able to carry him over my shoulder. But there was so much blood.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I pulled strips of fabric from the bedding and tried to plug the hole, but the blood came too fast.”
“You have vowed to give your heart to this man, yes?” Mitnal asked.
“Yes! Yes.” I had such a bad feeling about this.
“Then in the name of the divine Creator.” He reached out with his long, blackened fingernails and plunged his hand into my chest, pulling from it my beating heart. I looked at the human organ, unable to react or speak. Mitnal held the heart in the air, and the dark energy whooshed inside it, disappearing”
“With this divine spark of life, the blood of the pharaoh shall live forever.”
He plunged my heart into Narmer’s chest, and the sky burst with lavender. I felt my light flicker.
I held my hand over the gaping hole in my chest. “What have you done?” I hissed.
Mitnal grinned. “I saved him, just as you asked. With a piece of your light. And soon, my people will have an immortal army with which we will conquer the world. We will be the greatest civilization ever to rule.”
A black splotch spread across my line of sight, and then death swallowed me whole.”
1 year later, she came back to Egypt. He saw Narmer with 3 women on bed. 😭
“I turned away. I couldn’t bear to look. I couldn’t bear to let him see me crumble into a million pieces. I didn’t know what he’d become, but that was not the man I’d spent the last twelve months fighting to return to. It had taken me six tries, six bodies to cross the ocean. Each time I died, my light returned to the cenote in Mexico. But I hadn’t given up. It was the worst, most excruciating year of my existence, not knowing if he was all right. The fear, the sorrow, the panic consumed me to a point that I’d had no choice but to cut myself off from my brethren completely, lest the gods be overcome with my grief.” 😭😭😭
She went to Temple of Bastet hoping to rescue her unicorn - Minky. He said he already sucked Minky to Vampire just like what she had turned him into. They had a bantered where she called her unworthy blood sucking insect aka mosquito so he plucked her head off. 🤣. She vowed revenge. On the cenote, the future Cimil came to her. All 13 gods were already floating dead on the cenote. “Okay.” She clapped excitedly. “I remember sleeping with a lot of strange creatures. What did you call that pharaoh?”
“A bloodsucker.”
She touched her nose. “That’s it! I remember sleeping with a lot of bloodsuckers. I mean”—she fanned her face—“a lot! But something was always missing.”
A soul, perhaps? “So this is your big depressing clue?” I asked.
“No. That’s the happy memory. Several thousand years from now, you discover that you are actually the bringer of the apocalypse.” She sighed. “This is how the Creator designed you.”
That couldn’t be right. I always protected humanity, safeguarded them from destruction. Except when I felt the need to deliver pain to the stupid, humiliate the weak, destroy all things imperfect—gasp! That’s, like, everyone. Except for me. And Minky, of course.”
“Ha! I know that look!” She jumped up and down pointing at me. “You got a sign, didn’t you?”
Yes. I’d seen the vision in Narmer’s eyes. “I saw a glimpse of the gods going insane and destroying the world.” I sighed. “Because they are lonely.”
“Ha! I’m right! I knew it.” She hugged me. “Cimil, you must find them all soul mates. While doing the opposite of trying to do anything good, of course. In fact, you should start with yourself. Go find your man!” She started doing that little dance from the future called disco, and I resisted the urge to join along. Disco dancing always made me feel better.
“Love is not in the cards for me. Never has been, never will be.”
“Sorry, but the Universe has spoken.” She went into lightning finger mode. A timeless disco-move classic.
“The man I thought I loved crushed my heart and ripped off my head. Oh, he’s also turned into some dark, scary creature that drinks blood.”
“Other-me rolled her eyes. “They don’t need puppies. They need passion! They need romance! They need a reason to live. Besides, nothing is impossible. Especially for you. Or us. Whatever. We are the only ones who have mastered our gifts. We are the Goddess of the Underworld, Pain, Chicken Noodle Soup, Campfire Stories, Shopping, Rainbows, Bad Humor, and Deception, just to name a few.”
“You forgot Bringer of the Apocalypse,” I said dryly.
“Exactly! We completely rock. They should name an entire species after us. Penguins! Yes. They should rename them Cimguins!”
What happened to future me? I’m so… crazy.
“You will simply need to use your powers,” she said, “and choose the best match you can. Mold the situation to force our brethren to open their hearts.”
This plan was beyond any degree of insanity I’d ever witnessed. But as I mulled it over, I could not deny its logic and the facts before me.”
“Where do I start?” I sighed.
“What were you about to do next?” the Other-me asked.
“Kill Narmer along with his five brothers and sisters.”
“Then you shall help them live,” she said. “And you shall start the search for soul mates.”
“Yippee.” Good times. Good fucking times.”
Part two. Cimil and Rrroberto. The not-so-early years. “Fast-forward through mountains of boring crap to Barcelona, Spain, May 1, 1712
(Hint: This is right before a certain vampire has his date with destiny. Poor guy ends up accidentally married. Oops!)”
Narmer came apogizing to her. And he requested 30 days to prove that she is not the love of his existence in exchange for Minky. 🤦🏻♀️
She agreed to sleep with him at the end of the 30days if he satisfied her list of demands. 1)she changed his name to Rrroberto. 😝
She cohorts with Philippe, Narmer brother. And found Andrus Gray to distract the vampire queen.
2)they dry humped when he couldn't stand knowing she spread her legs for other vampires. 😆 she demanded him to tattoo her face on his back. “I turned and gasped. “You have a full portrait of me on your back… riding on Minky?”
I. Love. It. It was the finest work of art I’d ever seen. And adding Minky was most certainly an extra-special touch.
“It’s horrible,” I spouted. “My nose looks funny.” Again, I gave him my back and returned to my book, feigning disinterest.” 3)“You will go out and buy me the finest villa Spain has to offer. Then you will go to the town square, proclaim your stupidity, and declare your undying love for me.”
A flicker of a grin touched his lips, as if I were ridiculous for believing these tasks would come close to challenging him. “Done.”
“Dressed as a naked clown,” I added.
His mini-grin melted away.
“And,” I said, “after you’ve done that, you will donate all of your wealth to charity.” - her wealth accumulated for over four thousand seven hundred years.
“Just like you didn’t quit us,” I mumbled under my breath. “Ass.”
“I did not quit us. You left!” he roared.
I popped up from the couch. “Left? Is that what you think, you moron? I didn’t leave. I died! That little fucker Mitnal plucked out my heart and used it to save you! To make you!”
“You lie,” he growled.
I stomped my foot. “Lie? I fought for twelve months to return to you. I was eaten by a shark! A fucking shark! Then I had to steal a fishing boat. Three times! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find fishing boats with a monkey’s ass of a chance of crossing an ocean? Do you? Impossible! That’s why they all sank! I had to swim the last thousand miles across the freezing Atlantic because someone had taken my Minky, and there was no other way. But I didn’t care. I was worried sick that that bastard was doing something horrible to you!” 😫😫😫
“He turned for the door and then paused. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t know. Mitnal said you’d left me, that you’d planned to have me turned into a monster all along. The gods’ revenge for my arrogance. I killed him for saying that.”
“Well, thank the Universe for small favors, but you’re a fool to have believed I’d work with Mitnal.”
“Am I? I know what you’ve been up to, Cimil. I know you taught Mitnal’s disciples to use their dark gifts. You created the Maaskab. And the Obscuros.” Yes. They were two of the world’s most evil forces. The Maaskab, the twisted, powerful disciples of Mitnal and masters of dark energy. And the Obscuros, vampires who believed that innocent humans were their personal treats.”
“In my early years, yes. I was reckless. But I have long since learned the errors of my way. I created the Pact to protect the innocent mortals from my kind. I created an army to fight my brother Philippe and the Obscuros. So you should not judge me, Cimil.”
Well, la-di-da! Look, I’m a supercool Ancient One who can do nice things and isn’t cursed with being the bringer of the apocalypse! “Well. Maybe you should not judge me.”
“How can I not?”
“If you bothered to look at what’s inside you—a piece of my actual soul—you might find your answer.”
Roberto left and a ton of emotional bricks came crashing down. Why did he have such a grip on me?
For the second time in my existence, I cried. And for the second time, Roberto was gone. I hoped for good.”
A week later, he accomplished her three wishes. She saw in his eyes that they were mated. He also already realized that he was wrong to believe Mitnal and believe there is goodness in her and that he loves her. In order to break his heart, he agreed to be with him for the remaining 19 days in the vila he bought for her in Spain.
“His shoulders raised and then sagged as his lungs released a heavy sigh. “I feel it. I feel it very well. It has been my constant companion, Cimil. All these years, not a moment passed when I did not wish to die because of the sadness living inside me—your sadness, your loneliness. And mine, I suppose. I tried to forget you and what I’d done. I knew it was unforgivable despite what I’d believed about that first year we were apart. But as many women as I took and drank from, none washed away the mark you left on my heart.” His head fell. “I finally gave up trying. Though I feed from them, I have not been with another for a thousand years.”
Roberto sifted in front of me and cupped my face. “I love you, Cimil. I know that you love me, too. Your light inside me glows when we are together. It does not lie.”
He told her about thw future-her, the apocalypse. And he believed her. So they made love for the first time.
“We turned our faces toward one another and gazed into each other’s eyes. There it was again. The beginning, the end, light, darkness, happiness, destruction, the entire fate of the world balancing on the tip of a needle. He and I together. Him doing good. Me doing bad, ergo, good.
“Holy shit,” I said, “we’re the weights, balancing the scale. Yin and yang.”
He shrugged his brows suggestively. “My yin is wanting more of your yang.”
I pulled my head back, wincing.
Roberto’s dark eyes narrowed. “What now? Please don’t tell me you have to go burn down a church or poke someone in the eye.”
I shook my head. “No. I have that scheduled for seven a.m. tomorrow. But we need to talk—”
He kissed me hard and thrust himself into me. I gasped from the raw pleasure of his invasion. “There will be time for talking later.” He thrust again and this time I saw stars.”
300 years later. 2012.
“Fast-forward three hundred years past a bunch of really fun and exciting stuff to New Year’s Eve, 2012
Near Sedona, Arizona, the estate of Kinich Ahau, ex–God of the Sun
(Hint: This is right after a certain Sun God finds his surrogate. And right before a certain Goddess of Suicide finds her yummy Spaniard.)”
“Roberto gazed straight ahead at the dark road. I could see from the way his jaw pulsed that some very serious plotting was happening. “Never fear, my dear goddess.” He stroked the back of my head. “I will figure something out. I will save us.”
“Why are you always so sure of yourself?” I asked.
“I managed to finally rid the planet of Philippe and the Obscuros while making a very deep dent in the Maaskab population. Why should I not be confident in my skills of undoing your treachery?”
Good point. He had done a magnificent job of playing his cards. He’d known that I had encouraged the Maaskab and the Obscuros to join forces recently—a truly evil union. Once the Maaskab had “vampirized” most of their population, Roberto hunted down Philippe. The moment his brother died, his bloodline went with him, including most of the O’Scabbies (aka the Obscuro Maaskab).
I bobbed my head. “It’s not you that I’m worried about. It’s the Universe.” Everything I’d done—bad-good, good-bad—had been pointless. She still wanted blood.”
End...for now