You tricked me! Tezcatlipoca howled. Because, after all of his hard work, he still wasn't free of this dratted prison. Instead, the god's physical body was stuck inside the figurine as tightly as ever, and Ixxie wasn't even incarcerated along with him.
That latter option would have been an acceptable resolution, in the short term at least. Because while his sister god might currently choose to represent herself as a crone, Ixxie possessed a lovely face in her maiden persona. And Tez was quite certain he'd be able to talk her into the maiden...and out of her skirt...in short order if the two shared the same physical plane. It had been a long time since he'd lain with a woman, and his hand just wasn't cutting the mustard the way it used to....
Tezzie, dear, do try to focus, Ixxie admonished gently. Yes, I tricked you. But you tried to trick me first. And as these modern humans say, turnabout is fair play.
But it should've worked! Tez howled. Just his luck that using the exact same ritual and words that Yo Pe had utilized to trap him two millennia earlier now gave a very different result. Had everything changed?
Or maybe the ritual wasn't the issue at all. I thought I'd recharged enough, but maybe I shouldn't have let those mortals call me by anything except my full name, Tezcatlipoca mused aloud.
Oh, yes, as if having a woman think of you as Tezzie is really going to deplete your godly powers, Ixxie said.
In her grandmother persona, Ixxie was so smug, so all-knowing. And drat the goddess (yes, he'd call her a goddess if he felt like it!) for being right, because Tez could now feel Ixchel's thoughts turning in his direction. And it did appear that the mortal's intention alone was helping refill his godhood despite the pet name the woman persisted in using.
What then? I said the words exactly right!
And now he decided he might like Ixxie's grandmother phase after all, because the god could almost feel his companion's soothing hand stroking his cheek. It's all in the intention, Tezzie, she explained. You intended to lock me away in a prison...
...Which is exactly what Yo Pe did to me!
Not quite, Ixxie rebutted. Yo Pe went into his incantation planning to imprison a god who had become a danger to his people. Your worshiper wanted to protect other innocents from your depredations.
Depredations! Not likely. Tezcatlipoca had ruled his followers with an iron fist, of course. But he'd given back too. Otherwise, why didn't they all just jump ship and run begging along after Q or Ixxie instead?
Don't you remember moving the course of their river? Ixxie asked softly. Lack of water is bad for crops. Your people were starving.
Well, they forgot my birthday first, Tez replied sullenly. Okay, so, sure, he might have changed the course of the Coatzacoalcos River (which, by the way, they should never have named after his archrival!). But if Tezcatlipoca's worshipers had groveled just a little bit more, sacrificed a few maidens, begged for his mercy, then Tez would have brought the water back.
Still, the wind god was getting nowhere with this line of reasoning. And, after all, Tez was a deity. He should have been able to swap places with Ixxie even if his intentions hadn't been entirely pure.
Yes, that's right, dear, his sister god said, not bothering to wait for her companion to speak. (Talk about rude!) But you also got another thing wrong. Ixchel's cat charm isn't a strong enough link to my person to pull my physical self into your mirror, not when the girl has yet to swear herself into her role as my chief priestess. And, despite all that, Ixchel is still mine. You know very well that no worshiper of mine can unintentionally do me harm.
Contradict yourself, why don't you? Tez countered. If the mortal hasn't sworn to you, then she isn't yours, now is she?
Well, suit yourself, Tezzie, the goddess answered before fading away. But I've broken the tie you built to my dear Ixchel's mind, so you'll just have to wait and see what exactly she does choose to do. Now won't you?