Don Videl and the zombies play a triumphant melody.

I walk into the botánica with the wannabe goddess wrapped around me like a shawl.

Through Abuelita's shop and its well-kept shelves of herbs, votives, and occult merchandise, we proceed into the kitchen. The chocolate brew is on the counter where I left it. It's ready in time for the ceremony, after all. Abuelita will be proud. But first, we have to deal with this snake goddess.

To my relief, the door to the shrine is still open. The chamber within is silent. I approach the tree, where the trunk swells and shudders. A vague outline of Abuelita's body protrudes through the bark.

The villagers fill the room behind me. Their footsteps scuffle through the entrance. Uncertain whispers and stares press upon my back. Now that we're here, I don't know what to do. Will Mictecacihuatl keep her promise?

Fire-Snake shifts around my neck and stretches her head toward the cacao tree. She slithers onto the nearest branch and twines herself around the trunk. "Power. Life. Feeds. Mine."

Without warning, my throat tightens. I cough and double over. My hat falls to the floor, the marigolds scattering in a shower of small orange petals. A convulsion rips through me. My tlahuelpuchi aura radiates, spreads against my will, and surrounds Fire-Snake.

Caught in my vapor field, Fire-Snake is stunned in place.

Lady Death's voice thunders through the shrine. "Xiuhcoatl, eons ago you stole my cacao tree and elevated yourself to a station you never deserved. If you'd chosen to quietly exist as an immortal and cause no strife, the gods might have forgiven you. Alas, you are a troublemaker who desires only power and sows only discord."

Fire-Snake's eyes roll back in a fearful expression.

Smoke darker than the bowels of Mictlan curls out of my mouth and thickens before the tree. Lady Death floats out of the rolling mass, skeletal arms crossed over her bare ribs. Ebon hair cascades around her waist, the skull mask alight. Her jaw gapes to swallow the stars, as the old stories always told. A jaguar skin girdles her hip bones, fastened with a belt of hammered gold.

The villagers kneel and murmur prayers. Some cross themselves. Others merely stare at this legend made flesh.

"S-spare me." Fire-Snake wheezes. "A humble snake am I. Lonely. Eating dust. One day, I find beauty. Wander, s-search. World is big.I only want to see. Forgive, Great One. Forgive."

"It's too late for sympathy. You've upset the balance, and the gods have sent me to correct it." Lady Death places a hand on her gut, and a swarm of black witch moths spills out of her intestines. Their wings bear tiny white spots resembling skulls.

The moths smother Fire-Snake, small mouths biting her skin. Blood drips down the cacao tree's trunk.

With Lady Death removed, I'm free to stand on my own. Fire-Snake's agonized wail stirs something in me. I withdraw my vapor cloud from her, but she doesn't flee. Her confession of only wanting to discover the world strikes at my own deepest wish to travel and seek adventure. I may be a creature designed to kill by nature, but it's not what I am inside.

All my life, I've tried to remain myself despite the circumstances which have shaped me. If Fire-Snake speaks true, then I'm a lot like her.

"Holiest Muerte, wait." I fold my hands in reverence and kneel before the death goddess. "Have mercy on Xiuhcoatl."

Lady Death's fathomless sockets flare red. "Why do you pity her? Her punishment is just and necessary."

"Punish her, yes." I speak louder, for all to hear. "But she's a living creature thrown into power beyond her means. Magic changed her into something she can't fully understand. I see this, now. She's my sister. Everyone in this room is my family, whether a heart beats inside of them or not." I glance at Rodrigo. "Please, don't kill her. Life is precious. No matter what form it takes."

For a moment, the only sound is Fire-Snake's moan.

Lady Death's laughter is dry and deep. "You mortals are funny things. Death is your only certainty, but you cling to the erratic virtues of life regardless." Waving a hand, she calls the moths away from Fire-Snake. They flutter around her in a dizzying swirl.

"I will spare you, Fire-Snake-Weapon," Lady Death says. "You've somehow earned an ally in this remarkable young woman. My condition is this. You will stay with the cacao tree and nourish it, but for one night of the year. On this, my holy Day of the Dead, you may accompany Melosa Rojas into Mictlan to bring me the chocolate. If you try to escape again, or cause any more harm, every god and goddess of the Nine Planes will hunt you down and rend the beating heart from your chest as a sacrament."

Fire-Snake shudders, her wounded coils knotted around the tree. "Yes-s, Great One. I obey."

The cacao tree's mouth opens wide.

Fire-Snake pauses and looks at me. Her tongue flicks once, and a smile curls over her scaled lips. She slinks into the tree's mouth and disappears inside it.

As soon as Fire-Snake enters, a human hand thrusts out. Chocolate and blood stain the fingers and the gaudy bracelets around the wrist.

I spring to my feet. "'Lita!"

Abuelita's arms and head emerge. She swears and reaches for me. "Que desastre. Pull, mija. That pinche serpiente's tail is wrapped around my leg."

I tug her loose. Next thing I know, we're hugging and smiling and kissing. Bloody chocolate smears all over us. I lick my fingers. The sweetest taste I could hope for, and all of my hunger subsides.

Abuelita bows to Lady Death. "What a pleasure to be in your presence, Santisima Muerte. If you stay, may I offer you some of my special chocolate? Made just for this occasion."

Lady Death inclines her head in an elegant nod. "I'd be delighted."

Not long afterward, a fiesta the likes of which Puesta Del Sol has never seen rages. Abuelita finishes our brew with a dusting of her magic and serves tasty hot cacao drinks to all who desire them. Many cries of 'salud' lift everyone's spirits to abandon.

Candles and flowers shed beauty upon the tombstones. In the half-light of the between, it's almost impossible to distinguish between flesh and spirit.

Don Videl brings his accordion, and he plays with Huesos and Agallas until his ravens announce the sunrise with wild caws.

Mictecacihuatl remains as our guest of honor. She lounges upon a flower-laden altar we've constructed just for her. As a final gift of goodwill, she releases every grave in the village. The dead are allowed to celebrate with us for this one night. Even Luisa Flores rises and dances beneath the clouded moon, her bones silhouetted against the gauzy folds of her shroud.

Bonito the chupacabra and Moco's millipede chase each other around the sepulchers. The buitres weave and holler through the crowd. They pass a bottle of mezcal and gather bets on who can swallow the worm first. By the time it's gone, they've forgotten who won.

Laughing until I'm breathless, I leave Luisa and Abuelita for a moment. I spot Rodrigo near the cemetery gates. He watches the festivities with his cap pulled low over his sockets.

I saunter toward him. "Hola, payaso."

"Hi, Melosa."

"Is everything okay?"

His smile is slow, a little sad. "Couldn't be finer. You set things right and reminded us what's important. Death is satisfied. For now, at least. And watching you dance is the loveliest thing I've seen in a hundred years." He turns away. "I just wish...damn. Forget it."

I step closer, twirling a lock of my hair. "What's your wish?"

He sighs. "I wish I'd known you when I was alive. Things would be different if I could, well, touch you for real."

I reach for his hand. The faint substance he does possess is like a soft mist against my skin. A chilly awakening, the quickened spark of a loving soul. "Feels real enough to me," I tell him. "Come and dance with me."

"You want me to...to dance with you? Truly?"

I giggle. "You heard me."

Perhaps it's a good thing he's dead. He steps on my feet, fumbles the moves, and might otherwise knock me flat on my butt. But magic flows without bonds, without judgment or fear. I drift with both the dead and the living, and my inner demons sleep, finally at peace.