Chapter Text
1926 Yucatan, Mexico
“What is that?”
Shuri glanced up at her brother who was looking down at her sketchbook. Mayan pyramids took up most of the page but in the middle there was a design of a string beaded bracelet. The drawing was uncolored, but Shuri knew the bracelet would be made with white and gold beads, with squares of jade.
“Jewelry, I think.” She tapped her pencil to paper before shutting the book, looking out the open window without really seeing anything. The bracelet had been a centerpiece of her dreams lately. A gift between lovers. She couldn’t very well tell her brother that bit of information but she did tell him most of it.
After their parents had passed, they were left with a large legacy to protect that also came with a hefty inheritance. T’Challa had a family of his own so he saved it for them, but Shuri used it to quite literally chase after her dreams.
Her dreams were filled with visions of an underwater Kingdom, of people whose skin changed from brown to blue when they came to the surface, of a sun under the sea.
And more embarrassingly, a man whose face was kept hidden from her with a beautiful jewel encrusted helm decorated with a crown of feathers, who turned towards her in front of the ocean's sun. A man, who she wasn’t quite sure was a man, that made her feel breathless.
Her dreams had led them to this coastal town in Yucatan, Mexico. All her life she had these strange dreams, but one day she found something in the vast libraries of Wakanda, about a myth of an underwater kingdom called Talokan. All of the details about the place felt eerily similar, there was even a sketch that had matched one of her drawings.
A feathered serpent.
They had been there for a week, asking the locals if there was any information to be given about the myth, but as soon as they asked, the people immediately clamped up or acted like they could no longer understand what they were talking about.
Shuri didn’t push, knowing full well that it would only aggravate things.
So she did the only thing she could do when she hit a wall. She went to the library. “I’ll be back.” She declared suddenly, pulling on her brown coat and matching hat with a plum scarf wrapped at the base. Her brother sighed and laid back on the shared room's bed near the open window, knowing full well where she was going.
“I think you’ve already scoured every book in that library sister. I think it’s time to call it quits.” He covered his face with his hat, his words coming out slightly muffled as he settled further into the bed.
Shuri paused at the door, gripping the round brass handle hard. He was right, there were absolutely no leads, all the books, although rich with history, were sadly useless in her search.
Maybe he was right.
But something clawed inside of her, pleading her to stay. She couldn’t explain it. And even if she did, she wasn’t even sure it would be something he could understand.
“Just a few more days brother.” She glanced back at him and smiled, seeing that he was already half asleep. “You don’t have to stay with me, you know. You could go home?”
This got a reaction out of him, as he moved his hat just enough to side eye her. “And leave you unattended in a foreign land? Please, Baba and Mama would come back from the ancestral plains just to beat me senseless.”
Shuri laughed and walked out the door, calling out, “True!”
They had purposefully chosen a hotel near to a local library, so the walk was not a long one. When she walked in the attendant there simply gave her a friendly knowing smile. She had been there so often that she could easily name everyone who worked there.
The library itself was not very big, and the organization system left something to be desired, but something about seeing the books stacked and shoved into the shelves gave it a more lived in quality to it. As if she was visiting a friend who simply loved to read. At Least they were organized enough to have their own sections. There of course were absolutely no books with any mention of Talokan, so Shuri looked through a selection of local folk tales she had already read through, which were very few to select from, and chose one that had left the biggest impression on her.
She found a desk in the far corner and flipped through the pages again, reading the lore of a few of the gods and goddesses, but she always ended up reading about the god K’uk’ulkan. At the end of his story there was a curious drawing that had no real description. It was just there, as if someone had accidentally attached it to the wrong book.
It was a drawing of a man with pointed ears and wings on his ankles, entangled with what looked like a black panther. Or maybe a Jaguar? Were they dancing? Fighting? Shuri had asked everyone who had worked at the library about it, but they simply shrugged.
However their eyes glinted with information that they were unwilling to part with.
Shuri sighed heavily at the thought that this entire journey would be a fruitless one. She pulled out her sketchbook and quickly made a copy of the strange man and panther, then decided to just walk back to the hotel.
When she left the library, her feet led her past the hotel and straight to the beach, which was about a ten minute walk. The weather was warm, but the cool sea breeze that blew through the town was enough for a light jacket. The beach itself was mostly deserted, so Shuri sat down and looked out to the sea, finding a small comfort in the sound of the crashing waves. She left her notebook next to her.
“ Ba'ax ka wa'alik?” A small voice sounded out.
Shuri blinked out of her daze and looked up to see a young girl with large expressive eyes staring at her. “Oh hello.”
The girl flicked her eyes down at her notebook that had been blown open without Shuri noticing, the page had landed on a sketch of the bracelet. Shuri was about to ask the girl a question when the quiet stretched a tad too long but the girl beat her to it. “Namor, Pájaro Sol.”
“Eh?”
“Fen!” A woman’s voice called out. The girl, presumably Fen, turned towards it immediately and ran off in the direction of the voice, without a single glance back.
“W-wait!” Shuri cried out confused, but the girl was long gone. So she quickly picked up her book and scribbled down the cryptic sentence, unsure what it could possibly mean. A surge of hope filled Shuri then, and she dusted herself off and ran back to the hotel.
—
“T’Challa!” She squealed as she barreled through the room. “I think I have something!”
T’Challa was where she left him earlier, but now sleeping peacefully on the bed, his hat tilted off to the side on his face. Unfortunately he slept like the dead, so Shuri's loud entrance did nothing to phase him. She quickly leapt onto the bed next to him, bouncing on the mattress and jolting him awake. “Brother! Wake up!” She slapped him on the chest for good measure, even though she could see his eyes were already open.
“W-what?!” He looked at her in angry alarm.
“Namor Pájaro sol!”
His anger softened to pure confusion. “...What?”
“I don’t know, but it’s something.” She grinned, recounting her time at the beach with the little girl. About how when the child saw her drawings she suddenly told her that strange phrase. Shuri could translate some of it, but the word Namor had her a little stumped.
Her brother sat up, putting his hat back on, a look of realization on his face. “You know…I don’t know about Namor…but Pájaro Sol sounds familiar.”
“Yeah it means sunbird.” Shuri nodded eagerly.
“No, no bookworm.” He teased, pinching her cheek and she slapped his hand away. “I mean…I think that’s a place.” T’Challa took a second longer to think on it, pinching her cheek again before snapping his fingers. “A bar! I saw a bar called Pájaro Sol.”
—
T’Challa led them a few streets away from their hotel, leading her to the less touristy area of town, but the faces were still friendly when they saw her brother. Even going as far as to say hello to him while he called them by name. Shuri snorted at this, her brother had a way about him that could even make his enemies friendly towards him. It was somewhat annoying but eternally useful.
The bar T’Challa spoke of was indeed called Pájaro Sol, and even had a sunbird painting on the side of the building. Inside, the bar was a comfortable size for the locals to visit, a bar set up right when you walked in, tables along the walls and 2 tables directly in the middle. There was a lot of natural light from the open windows installed near the ceiling, tiled floors, and dark wood fixtures. The place looked moderately busy that day. Shuri let her brother do the talking, who seemed to know the bartender and asked him if he knew anything about a ‘Namor’. They were instantly directed, with a slight nod, to a table in the middle of the bar.
There was a lone man sitting there, laying his head down on the table with a half empty bottle of liquor in one hand and a small single glass in the other. His hair was a mess of dark curls.
“Maybe Namor is a name?” Shuri ventured, and her brother shrugged in response as he stared at the seemingly unconscious man. A less than promising start, but it’s a start
They walked up to the table, T’Challa boldly sitting down while Shuri stood, arms crossed. “Namor?” He asked.
“What do you want foreigner?” Namor grumbled, pushing himself up to glare at the two of them. He looked exhausted and his beard was slightly long and scruffy. “Who are you?” He continued, then glanced at Shuri. “And who is the princess?”
“Princess?” She bristled. This was their lead to Talokan? Less than promising indeed.
T’Challa intervened before Shuri could say anything more, already sensing an argument brewing, and opted for his tried and true friendly method. “My name is T’Challa and this is my sister Shuri.”
“We are looking for Talokan.” Shuri slid heavily into the last empty chair. Getting straight to the point and looking Namor directly in the eye. Unfortunately she had said it a little too loudly since the entire bar went dead silent. The attention suddenly and entirely on the three of them.
The air thickened with a tension the siblings did not anticipate.
Namor looked over at the barkeep, waving his hand nonchalantly, which seemed to appease the patrons who went back to their conversations. Both brother and sister look at eachother with raised eyebrows. It seemed like this drunk had a little more importance than they realized.
The man chuckled lowly at them, shaking his head as he poured himself another glass. “Talokan is not a place for tourists.”
“So it exists.” Shuri whispered excitedly, sliding in closer.
“It does not matter if it does or not, go home.” Namor responded, sliding in closer to her as well. The two of them simply glare at one another, their faces a handbreadth apart. T’Challa decided to break the tension by taking his sister’s book from her bag, flipping it open and sliding it in between the pair.
“My sister has been having dreams about this place. That’s why we are here.”
“T’Challa.” Shuri hissed, reaching to take her book back, but Namor snatched it from her before she could reach it. He looked stricken at the sketch of the bracelet, making Shuri’s stomach twist with anticipation.
Namor slowly lifted his eyes to Shuri. “You...”
Two officers, one mustached and the other short, cut their conversation short as they barged through the door, looking wildly around until their eyes landed on Namor. “Namor Almehen, you are to come with us, finally caught you you little bastard” The short officer who spoke held out a wanted poster with a crude drawing of Namor along with a hefty reward price near the bottom.
Instead of being alarmed, Namor just looked mildly annoyed.
One of the officers, the mustached one, walked forward and roughly hefted Namor out of his chair by one arm. Without thinking Shuri immediately launched herself at his other arm, gripping him tight and pulling him towards her. Both the officer and Namor looked at her like she was crazy.
“You can't!” She yelled, frantic. This was her only lead, the only person who had even acknowledged Talokan’s existence. She would be damned to lose him now. Even if he was a giant drunk jerk.
T’Challa jumped up, holding his hands up as he stood between everyone. “Hey hey hey, let’s just calm down and figure this out. What could our friend have possibly done wrong?”
The short officer who stood alone sputtered out a laugh, holding his hand up to count out a finger for each crime. “Arson, Theft, Murder of a Spanish soldier.”
“Ah..Yes well.”
“T’Challa!” Shuri called out frustrated as she struggled with holding onto Namor, glaring daggers at the much taller soldier.
“Right. Um, how much is the reward?” He asked, taking the wanted poster from the officer. “How about we pay you a quarter of this price, right now. If you let our friend go.”
The short officer paused, staring at Namor unsure. “Well…”
“My sister and him are in love! They were planning their wedding before you two came in” T’Challa suddenly blurted, shrugging helplessly at the said couple when they shot him an incredulous look.
“Well that’s sweet and all senor....” The officer was beginning to look uncomfortable, looking at his partner who merely shrugged back. “I’m sorry-”
“And she’s pregnant!”
“T’Challa!” Shuri screeched, her face feeling hot with embarrassment.
“Look at me Princess.” Namor suddenly spoke, keeping his voice low for only her to hear. She did and he leaned forward quickly, yanking the arm that she held onto to pull her towards him. He used the momentum to plant a searing kiss on her lips.
There was a beat of silence before-
The entire bar erupted in cheers, making cat calls and whistling out their enjoyment at the unfolding scene. Both of the officers looked equally embarrassed by the sudden turn of events. When the couple pulled back, the two of them looked surprised at one another, not expecting the sudden shock that had gone through them when they kissed. It felt almost familiar.
“Look we really don’t want to break up a family but-”
“A third! A third of the reward and you and your friend can split it, and no one will ever know, and you give a young couple a fighting chance of being together.” T’Challa looked imploringly at the officer who was beginning to soften. Shuri was shocked to see that her brother’s crazy plan was actually working, when both of the officers showed a crack of interest.
The officer finally let out a loud groan. “Alright fine, but if we see that man again we can’t guarantee it will be the same outcome. C’mon.”
T’Challa quickly paid the money and Namor ripped his arm free of the larger man who had grabbed him, leaning closer to Shuri who simply held his arm tighter. The bar cheered and laughed, somewhat jeering at the officers as they left, but quieted down when the owner barked his annoyance at them.
Namor and Shuri quickly look at eachother, before pulling apart. Grabbing the still full shot glass of liquor, Namor downed it and slammed the glass down. “Fine, I will help you. Let us go before they come back.”
“Wait.” T’Challa reached out to take hold of Shuri’s hand, bringing her to stand slightly behind him. “They said you murdered someone, I saved you for my sister’s sake, but we need to know if we can be safe with you.”
Taking a deep breath in and out, Namor leveled them with a dark look. Shuri wondered if he was even really drunk earlier with how clear his eyes were. “That soldier they spoke of had taken… ‘advantage’ of a local girl. Then boasted about it like it was something to be proud of. Understand?”
Shuri knew her answer and looked to her brother to see him nodding his head.
“Good. We need to leave. You two caused too much commotion.”
“We caused a commotion? We weren’t nearly arrested.” Both Shuri and Namor continued to bicker on their way out, not noticing the group of men sitting in the corner of the bar, who had been watching them intently the entire time.