Chapter Eight: Natalie. The Rain Court Has Bad Taste In Ambassadors

Here's the eighth chapter of Heroes: The New Level for you.

The Rain Court Has Bad Taste In AmbassadorsEdit
Tlaloc brought me to the middle of a humid ground.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Tamoanchan," Tlaloc said. "The origin of the Aztecs, made from sacrificed blood from Mictlan. Thus, it is where the gods keep our courts. Every set of gods rules from their own people's origins."

I vaguely remembered my mother mentioning Tamoanchan and Mictlan. The paradise where people came from, and the Aztec underworld.

"So why did you bring me here?"

"First of all, I must know why the Ahuizotl behaved the way it did, mentioning the Merge so casually. Also, there is the matter of the temple in Tenochtitlan. It is not supposed to be there. Somehow, it had been built right in my territory without my knowing. You, of course, are one of my representatives. Thus, you need training at the Rain Court."

"And that's where we're going?" I guessed.

"Exactly. You will meet the other Aztec representatives and begin your training. And before you ask, yes, Jocelyn knows about this."

A guy with black jeans and a Metallica T-shirt walked up to us. "Tlaloc, it is great to see you again," he said respectfully. "And... I'm guessing you're his new rep?"

"Natalie, yes. Natalie, this is Cam, representative of Huitzilopochtli and leader of the Tamoanchan students."

"Nice to meet you, Cam. So, where are the others?"

"In the Temple of Aztlan, underground. That's where you'll be headed while we experienced students do something about the new temple in Tenochtitlan."

"Alright, as Cam can take you to the others, I will return to the Rain Court to find out what I can as you begin your training."

"One last thing," I pled. "The Ahuizotl - what was the Merge it was talking about?"

Tlaloc paled. "With luck, it was simply trying to cause a fright."

Tlaloc vanished. Cam turned to me.

"Well, Natalie, we'd best get you to Tlaloc's other reps. I'm sure you'll get along great." Cam looked at the ground. "Abré!" he said in a booming voice. The ground opened up, revealing a torch-lit tunnel. Seeing my expression, Cam grinned. "Don't worry, Aztlan is much nicer on the inside."

Cam led me into the tunnel until we came upon a huge pyramid decorated with carvings of Aztec gods. "Welcome to the Temple of Aztlan, training center for the Aztec representatives," Cam said. "My favorite part of welcoming the new reps."

We continued inside until we got to a door with detailed, realistic paintings of storms and rivers. "This is the Tlaloc room. You and Tlaloc's other reps will be staying here. The head of the Tlaloc room is Simon, he'll show you around the rest of the way."

"How does someone get to be a head rep?" I asked.

"By default, it goes to the oldest, or the one who's been there the longest. But if someone else gets nominated, they have the chance to challenge the current head rep. Hopefully, it won't come to that - nominations and challenges are pretty rare."

He walked off - probably headed for the Huitzilopochtli room - and I opened the Tlaloc door.

"Hello," a voice said. "And you would be...?"

"Natalie Rain, new representative of Tlaloc, Aztec storm god."

"I know who Tlaloc is," he replied, amused. "I'm his head rep, Simon Garcia. Welcome to Aztlan."

Additive Words
Just so you know, the fact that Cam is head rep of Huitzilopochtli's Sun Court is the reason why he's the default head of Aztlan. Huitzilopochtli is basically the Aztec version of Ra and Zeus - so his head rep gets to be head of Aztlan as a default. Tlaloc was important too, though, so Natalie's not that bad off. "Abré" is Spanish for "open", so the Aztecs, who'd dealt with the Spanish, would be able to speak it. As for Simon, any ideas if he's going to even be friends with Natalie? Or is he going to be one of those heads like Drew or Zia had been? And how does Jocelyn Rain know about the Aztec gods? Is she sort of like a clearsighted mortal who can see through the Aztec version of the Mist? And, of course, what is the next chapter's mysteries? If the pattern continues, it should be Tara's turn next.

Here are the links.

Heroes: The New Level

Chapter One: Tara. Some Weird Kid Fights Something