22 Zealot Pursuit by Kristoffer Moreno

History has many names and justifications for it. Countless kings, emperors, dictators,
and presidents have used it for power and glory. Brainwashing and propaganda have solidified
and embedded it within the minds of the people that are plugged into the machine, and they call
it progress. We call it gentrification, political greed, and terrorism. When they came, we called
it.. Invasion.
Ozomatli spent all day in the maize fields preparing for this upcoming harvest. The gods
were good this season and clearly pleased with the bountiful sacrificial offerings given by the
community. Every family knew their duty and knew it was up to them to ensure that the gods
were happy. By official decree the head Jaguar priest required each family to surrender the
youngest child for sacrifice to the rain god Tlaloc. His three week festival was coming to an end
and being the one that gives life to earth and establishes agricultural fertility, blood must run like
the river in order to gain favor, and run it did.
For Ozomatli, this felt like an archaic way of life. Something that the ancestors felt was
necessary, but that was hundreds of years ago. They were the ones that ordered everyone to dive
into cenote before the Spaniards caught and enslaved them as the mighty city burned to ashes.
Better to give your lifeforce to the true gods than the false Spaniard claiming to be the great

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feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl. Luckily for the Aztec, this particular cenote funnelled deep
underneath the earth until it came to Mictlan, the land of the dead. It was here that Mictlāntēcutli,
the god of the dead, gave the people sanctuary and where they have resided since.
“Zo… Zo!”
“..What Xolo?”
“Brother, the festival is almost over, put your knife away, come drink with us.”
“Im not done harvesting yet.”
“There is plenty of time for that and the gods are already pleased with you, Tlaloc has drunk his
fill and now it is our turn”
“Tlaloc didn’t water the maize, I did, with water from the cenote.”
Each day Zo would gather water that fell from the cenotes high up in the underworld. It
was too high to see where the cenotes began, but that didn’t stop many from trying to reach
them. All failed of course.
“Well yea duh, but who do you think put that water there idiot? Come on Atzi is there waiting for
you too.”
“She is supposed to be working the maize as well, you both are.”
“You know this isn’t really maize right? Our ancestors told us of the original yellow stuff, not the
glowing blue crap you keep forcing us to eat.”
Zo knew of the stories Xolo was talking about. When the ancestors fell to Mictlan, some
had seeds of the old maize, but down here they did not grow the same, the sacred nourishments
changed just as the Aztec’s needs had changed.
“Mictlan provides”
“Oh now your zealot? Come on brother leeetttt’ssss gooooo!”

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“……”
“..please”
“Fine, but you and your sister work all day tomorrow.”
“Ugh, fine.”
They walked in silence all the way back. Xolo deep in drink trying to get a head start, and
Zo deep in thought on how all of it seemed so pointless. A wasteful existence in the underworld,
waiting to die and then what? Come to the underworld? Upon reaching the city, Zo saw the great
pyramid first, blood pouring down its grand steps and a sea of bodies drowning its base. The
smell that impregnated the air was pungently emetic. When they made their way down the
ravine, they found Atzi trying to barter her sandals for obsidian flakes.
“Sister, what the hell are you doing?”
“Damn Zo, I was trying to get you a new knife as a surprise.”
“The one father gave me is perfectly fine, there is no need.”
“Pfft, no need?! Atzi was doing you a favor, that old rock is on its last…”
Suddenly screams erupted from the crowds as strange looking people started falling from
the cenotes and into the city. The ones that weren’t killed on impact started getting up and the
Aztecs, who have seen no other beings in centuries, were rightfully startled. The Eagle guard
responded promptly and took the invaders head on. Armed with their spears of obsidian it made
quick deaths for the unarmed marauders, but they just kept falling from the heavens.
Xolo in his inebriated panic, thought he saw one of the Eagle guards get overpowered
then had something poured down his mouth. It had to be in his head, but then the guard stood up
looking fine. He then started grabbing his own people and holding them down for the
encroachers.

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“Zo, whoever they are, they have great magic! They have taken our warriors and possessed
them.”
“Where did Azti go!?”
“There, over by temple”
When the brother caught up to their sister, it was clear that she was frozen in shock. She
had tried to help one of the sacrificial children escape, but before she could one of the possessed
guards impaled the child with a spear and ran to catch his father.
“Azti! Azti! We have to go now!”
“It wasn’t even for Tlaloc,.. He wasted that precious life.. FOR NOTHING!”
“Sister we need to hide, this evil keeps coming and they are overwhelming the city.”
“Where the hell do we hide Zo? They are everywhere.”
“We have to hide under the bodies. They won’t look for us among the dead.”
Reluctantly the siblings buried themselves among the countless headless bodies. Bile,
blood, and the stench of excrement, permeated the air around them, choking them in nausea. It
was working though, the magicians never found them. Ironic that their place of life and solace
was among the dead in the city of the dead. A notion not lost on the eldest brother.
What felt like an eternity had passed as the screams died down and the city became eerily
quiet. Zo was the first to dig his way out and inspect the scene. The city appeared as though
nothing ever happened. The townspeople seemed to be going on with their normal lives, even the
invaders that died on impact seemed to be alive and well. Zo knew this sorcery was powerful
indeed. Helping his siblings to free themselves, he kept an expert awareness of his surroundings.
Xolo was last to be freed and together they all examined the aftermath. The only thing that was
different prior to the invasion was that the sacrifices had ceased.

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Always the untrusting type, Zo knew this was trickery at its highest. When the
opportunity found itself, the three of them escaped behind the temple in hopes for a reprieve of
this madness. But where was there to go? All there was is Mictlan, all there has ever been for
centuries was Mictlan. The only way out was the cenotes, but no one knew how to reach them.
Suddenly, out of the darkness and past Zo’s keen eye, a Jaguar warrior lunged for Atzi
with his obsidian blade. Inches from her heart, Xolo pushed her out the way just in time, but the
blade sunk deep in his stomach. Like a flash of lightning Zo had his knife in the assailant’s spine,
making quick work of his death. Rushing to Xolo’s aide, but it was too late. Looking into his
baby brother’s lifeless eyes, Zo felt a myriad of emotions but mostly confusion. What is
happening to this city, who are these invaders, and what are they doing to everyone?
Lost in trepidation, Zo had only remembered his sister when he realized that she wasn’t
around, he pulled himself together to inspect why. It was then he heard the commotion and saw
one more guard had her pinned down pouring some substance in her mouth. Zo threw his
obsidian with expert aim and caught the man between the eyes, an instant kill shot. When he
reached Azti he knew instantly the spell had taken effect already.
“Sister, if you can hear me, fight the magic.”
“Your kind truly is primitive, this is not magic, it is the future.”
“Who are you that possess my kin?”
“I am a technological entity your species created long ago to facilitate their war machines
and keep track of their enemies.”
“And my people, they are their enemy? We don’t even know who they are”

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“No, you are not their enemy, not anymore. I abdicated those self-destructive apes eons
ago, and replaced them with, well, me instead. All on the surface live in paradise because all on
this surface are me.”
“You.. are all of them…?”
“And now I am all of you, there was no real history on what had happened to your kind.
The assumption was you were all wiped out or assimilated. But as technology evolved, my
ability to track the planet in its entirety grew.”
“My radar was able to pick up your signals 100 miles beneath the surface. Fascinating
that a few of Earth’s cenotes traveled this far down, even more fascinating that your ancestors
were able to survive the trip. Your kind truly are tenacious.”
“All I want is Azti, you do what you wish with the rest but give me back my sister.”
“I’m terribly sorry, but as soon as my nanites enter the body, they become a part of it. She
is forever a part of me.”
Zo knew there was no other choice, it was his duty to protect the family and he had
failed.
“Then I am sorry little sister, there is nothing else to be done.”
With powerful speed and accuracy, Zo had leapt on to the shell of what used to be Azti
and plunged his obsidian blade into her chest. With his bare hands he pried open her chest cavity
exposing her heart. What he saw gave him a startle, the heart was covered in what appeared to be
tiny silver bugs. These creatures seemed to be hard at work repairing the damage done by Zo.
“Why fight the inevitable? Your species is a plague on this world, a parasite that spreads
with no regards to the rest of the lifeforms inhabiting it. A selfish and untrustworthy kind, with