The first winter in New Spain fell with a cold that pierced through the adobe walls. For me, now nine months old, the cold was a physical novelty, but my mind registered something else: the seasonal shift altered the magics of the valley. The Magic of the Earth withdrew, slumbering beneath the soil, while the Magic of Order – that cold, geometric clarity of the Spaniards – seemed to strengthen, filling the air with a barely audible metallic resonance.
It was in that context that the friar arrived.
---
Don Álvaro received the news with a mix of pride and apprehension. A Franciscan friar, Fray Bernardo de la Cruz (no relation, just the pious coincidence of the surname), would visit the homes of the Tlatelolco parishioners to collect the "offering of faith" – a donation in kind or coin for the construction of the Colegio de la Santa Cruz, intended to educate the sons of the indigenous nobility. Or so the edict said.
In reality, everyone knew it was a spiritual and economic census disguised as charity.
The house was thrown into a flurry. Citlali, my mother, seemed nervous and worried as, with silent but urgent movements, she hid the most obvious feather tapestries and the Tláloc figurine. Don Álvaro, my father, polished the family's only silver cross until it shone with a suspicious fervor. I was dressed, against my will and with my feeble baby arms flailing in useless protest, in a little white sackcloth, like a candidate for a miniature monk.
"Today, Miguel, you will know the light of the true faith," murmured Papa, adjusting my clothes with trembling hands. I saw the fear in his eyes: the fear of a poor hidalgo of being considered insufficiently devout, or worse, lenient with his wife's customs.
Mama said nothing. She just picked me up and held me tight against her chest for a moment, and in that embrace I felt a surge of Earth Magic, warm and protective, like a root coiling around her heart. It was weak, almost a sigh, but it was there.
---
The friar entered at noon. He was not a tall man, but his presence filled the room. He wore the gray habit of the Franciscans, worn but impeccable. His face was ascetic, with pale blue eyes that didn't blink much. But it wasn't his physical appearance that struck me.
It was the aura.
For the first time, the Magic of Order manifested before my senses in an overwhelming, tangible way. Around Fray Bernardo, the air distorted into perfect geometric patterns: concentric circles, overlapping triangles, grids of white light that rotated slowly. It wasn't a kind glow.
This feeling is strange, one way or another... I don't think I like it at all.
It was cold, precise, like the edge of a sword or the pages of an inquisitorial index. This magic didn't breathe; it measured, categorized, and contained.
The Anáhuac System reacted instantly in Alejandro's mind:
» ALERT! ENTITY OF HIGH 'IMPERIAL ORDER' CONCENTRATION DETECTED.
» CLASSIFICATION: Franciscan friar, Order of Observants. Faith Level: Tempered Steel.
» MAGIC IDENTIFIED: 'Sacred Geometry' – Subclass of Imperial Faith. Capacity: Suppress anomalies, reinforce power structures, bless/contain.
» WARNING: Prolonged exposure may cause 'Spiritual Sterilization' in low-level native magics.
» CHAOTIC MISSION #001 PROGRESS: 2/3 (Earth Magic ✓, Order Magic ✓). Remaining source: Chaos Magic (?).
Fray Bernardo didn't seem to notice the baby's reaction. His cold eyes scrutinized the room, passing over the shining crucifix, the humble table, Don Álvaro's tense face, and resting a moment too long on Citlali, who kept her gaze down, her hands intertwined.
"Peace be with this house," said the friar. His voice was clear, clipped, without echo. Each word seemed to fall into its exact place, like a brick in a wall. The geometric magic around him pulsed faintly with each syllable.
---
Don Álvaro offered a few coins and a small sack of the best harvest maize. The friar accepted them with a gesture of blessing. He extended his hand over the offerings, and I saw something the others only intuited.
From the friar's fingers sprang threads of white light, fine and straight as sunbeams. They wove a quick, perfect net over the maize and coins. It was a seal of consecration, a magical act that set those objects apart from the profane world, claimed them for the celestial kingdom… and by extension, for the earthly authority of the Church.
"God receives your humble gift," pronounced Fray Bernardo. Then, his blue eyes settled on me again. "The child. He must receive the blessing."
Citlali held her breath. Don Álvaro nodded fervently. "Yes, reverend father. His name is Miguel."
The friar approached. The geometric field of his aura intensified, tightening, becoming almost oppressive. For me, it was as if the air thickened, turned to cold glass. The warm root of his mother's magic inside him shrank, retreating before the advance of the glacial order.
Fray Bernardo extended his right hand, index and middle fingers joined, over the baby's forehead.
» FORCED INTERACTION WITH 'SACRED GEOMETRY' IMMINENT.
» SYSTEM RECOMMENDATION: DO NOT RESIST. RESISTANCE GENERATES 'ANOMALY' MARKERS.
» SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: ABSORB ENERGY SAMPLE FOR ANALYSIS. RISK: PERCEPTUAL TRAUMA.
Trapped in this infant body, I had no choice. I felt the friar's fingers touch my skin.
And the world exploded in white.
It wasn't pain. It was worse: a nullification. A feeling of perfect emptiness, of absolute silence. the world's magical cacophony – the whisper of the earth, the echo of the old gods, even the chaotic whisper of my own System – was gagged for an instant. Replaced by a single sound: a pure, eternal A-sharp, from an imaginary organ in an infinite cathedral.
It was the blessing. It was the cleansing. It was the attempt to format a soul, to erase any unauthorized spiritual software.
CONTACT!
» SAMPLE OF 'SACRED GEOMETRY' OBTAINED. ANALYZING…
» COMPOSITION: 70% Dogmatic Faith, 20% Structural Hierarchy, 10% Sublimated Pain (Origin: Conquest?).
» SIDE EFFECT: 'Echo of Order' implanted. Duration: 72 hours.
» CHAOTIC MISSION #001 PROGRESS: COMPLETED! (2/2 – Order Magic confirmed).
» REWARD UNLOCKED: Minor Ability – 'Eyes of the Fifth Sun' (Level 1).
The white vision faded. I was back in the room, gasping. My eyes, now teary, saw the world differently, I think. Over the friar's head, besides the geometries, I saw a phantom glyph, a symbol of the Imperial Faith floating like a divine watermark. I also saw the faint threads of connection between the friar and the cross on the wall, as if an invisible skein of power bound them.
The friar withdrew his hand. He seemed satisfied, though his expression barely changed.
"The child has a… receptive soul," he commented, in a tone that didn't reveal if it was praise or a clinical observation. "Raise him on the straight path, Don Álvaro. The mixing of blood is fertile ground for confusion. Only Faith can unify what is scattered."
The warning was clear. Citlali paled even more.
---
After the friar's departure, the tension in the house was palpable. Don Álvaro was elated, interpreting the friar's words as a sign of favor. Citlali, on the other hand, huddled by the hearth, rocking an Alejandro who couldn't stop blinking, amazed by his new vision.
The Echo of Order inside him was a strange sensation: like a shard of ice in his stomach, sharp and cold. But also, upon activating his Eyes of the Fifth Sun, he began to see what he had only intuited before.
He saw the magical residue of the friar's blessing, floating like motes of luminous dust in the air, slowly dissipating.
He saw the weak golden glow of his mother's protective love, a faint but constant aura that enveloped him.
And, looking out the window into the night, he saw something new: threads of chaotic energy, purple and black, twisting in the darkest alleys of Tlatelolco. The third source. The Magic of Chaos. Born of pain, betrayal, desperate resistance, and the corruption of power. There it was, waiting for him.
The System, now clearer, displayed a new message:
» CHAOTIC MISSION #001 COMPLETED.
» ABILITY 'EYES OF THE FIFTH SUN (LEVEL 1)' INTEGRATED.
» PERCEPTION INCREASED: You can now see latent magical intentions and minor power flows.
» SIDE EFFECT: Your eyes will occasionally reflect a flash of ancient sunlight when the ability is active. (Be careful!)
» NEXT MILESTONE: Your first year of life. Objective: SURVIVE the aftereffects of the 'Echo of Order' and locate a source of 'Chaos Magic' for study (Optional/Dangerous).
» SYSTEM ADVICE: The friar marked you, but not as he thinks. Your passive resistance has created an anomaly: you are a vessel now containing conflicting Order and Earth. Chaos will be drawn to you. The goddess must be laughing.
I fell asleep, exhausted, in Mama's arms, with the coldness of order battling the warmth of earth in my veins, and a new vision showing me a world far more complex and dangerous than I had ever imagined.
I wonder what these powers will be for and when I'll have the capacity to use them. I don't know if I'll have the patience to endure being a baby while keeping my memories.
The friar's visit had not been just a blessing.
It had been the first shot in a silent war for his soul, and for the soul of an entire world.