Emma rushed to the top of the rock, peering over carefully, only to be met with a smiling and laughing Neal. Her worry was quickly replaced with anger and she punched him in the arm as hard as she could manage, how dare he make her worry like that.
He laughed even harder, "Ow!" He'd managed to choke it out between bouts of laughter, his hand rubbing his arm where her fist had made contact. It was still light and playful, he pulled Emma into a hug, "Did I scare you?"
He asked her, while smothering her, his arms wrapped around her tiny figure tightly, only angering her further, an indignant "No," was all she managed to say. It was nice, this feeling, this easiness between them, it was comforting, something she desperately needed, especially after the previous night. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
Neal let go of her, turning her to look to her right. "There it is."
She hadn't even realized they'd moved or gone anywhere, but they really hadn't, she just hadn't had a chance to look around in her panic over Neal's fall. Her jaw dropped in amazement as she took in the view. Buildings sprawled out, inside the valley, stacked on top of each other, holes in stone. But it was amazing, the feeling of awe that overtook her, some of these buildings as tall as today's skyscrapers. Pieces of ladders remained, dried out by the sunlight that managed to work its way into the cavern. She could see how this would be missed; it was such a long drop down the rock to where they were now, the entryway was small, very small.
Shadows cast long tendrils, reaching out, filling in everything they could, leaving an eerie abandoned feel to the entire place, Emma couldn't help but step forward, feeling drawn to the entire scene laid out in front of her.
She slid out of Neal's grip and glided forward, watching her every step, not wanting to accidentally break anything that may have been left behind, forgotten in the sands of time. She carefully made her way towards the nearest building, ready to investigate it, her fingers lightly tracing the rock wall that made up the house. The doorway was small, she had to duck down to enter inside, and remained hunched over.
There was such ingenuity in building the place, a fire pit in the middle, she looked up, seeing black smoke had discolored the rock above, rings formed around a hole in the roof, allowing the smoke to travel upwards. It was illuminated through all the homes above it, a hole carved upward, allowing a bit of light to shine in.
The walls all were covered in various designs, shapes, drawings, all telling a story, one that she would never be able to decipher, even with all the time in the world. Emma reached out, the urge to trace each of them overwhelming her.
A hand reached out and grabbed hers, gently squeezing, holding it, pulling it back down, she turned and saw Neal standing at her side. "Don't wanna ruin them, they've managed to survive centuries so far." His voice was calm, not condescending, "Come on," He nudged his head towards the side, urging her to follow him.
Emma found herself going along willingly, curious to see what he could manage to show her here, this place was already so amazing. He led her out of the building they were currently standing in and back across the plaza, at least that was how he'd identified it to her. There
There was a big building, standing alone at the end, stairs carved out of the surrounding stone, leading up to the doorway, it was larger than all of the others and more ornate. Birds were carved into the top, with lizards at the bottom, long tongues sticking out of their mouths, a few dog like animals were also around these, as if guarding the doors.
"This, if my readings are correct, would have been the church, many of their gods are depicted surrounding the building. It was their way of honoring them. Now, what you may notice, is these gods, the way they are depicted, isn't common towards the Native American beliefs." Neal had taken on a scholarly tone as he went about describing each of the animal like gods shown, giving her the information of what they represented, their names, and other information he had come across in his studies.
"This civilization is actually most likely part of the Aztecs who were known to have established themselves a bit further south. The problem with that theory is this was probably established before their rise to power, and while many of these gods shown are similar to theirs, it was not an exact showing a change in their beliefs over time. It is possible that these changes were caused with their migration south. But scholars are still out on what actually happened and who had settled this area, though being a missing city is probably not helping."
After learning this, Emma couldn't help but feel even more amazement at the information he had presented, and she was definitely impressed. "How'd you learn so much?"
"Books, I spent a lot of time out here, a lot of time researching it once I found this place."
This was the first time she'd felt that he was maybe not being as honest as he had been at other times, something was wrong here, he knew more than she thought would be available in books. She would hazard a guess that he'd found this place more than the few years ago she'd been told.
She knew there was definitely more to Neal than would meet the eye, especially with the reason she was having to get to know him, Death had tasked her with this for a reason. He'd led her inside while she was lost in thought for a moment and was now describing the meaning behind the murals on the wall.
The scenes were intense, laid out before her eyes, so much detail had been put into it, battles, transformations, sacrifices. All of it covered the walls around her. And Neal continued on.
"As the story goes, there was once a benevolent God, he created the heavens and the earth, and wandered the world, alone for a time. He sat in the mountains, and his tears rained down, they created life, as animals sprang out of the river that had formed. Covering the world, spreading out, filling all the lands, they all left him, one by one. And so he was left alone again, and he created life once more, people he called them, they were made from mud this time, so as not to leave him. They lived in the desert, and he took care of them. One day, they learned of his past, and so they set out, determined to conquer every animal, out of their love for him.
But the animals, they spoke to them, told them of another way of life, and some of the people thought it would be better, wanted to leave their creator behind and find their own way, while others stayed loyal servants.
Two factions broke out, and a war started between the two, each determined that their way was better, and the animals who taught them, became gods themselves, they were viewed as saviors to the humans. This war, it lasted for many, many years, until finally a single man, this man here, arose, he took power, and he put an end to it, neither side was better than the other, but they could live together in peace.
He let those who wanted to leave, go their own way, and those who wanted to stay, were able to stay and serve their god. But he, in seeing the evils brought about, had disappeared, unable to stand the thought of bloodshed, especially in his name. And so the people had decided they would honor him, and each of the animals he created, waiting, praying for his return.
It was prophesied, that one day he would come back to this place, and they built him this shrine, showing that they had come to exist together in peace. But the story goes, he will not return until peace has truly returned to the land. To this day, peace has not found this world long enough for him to return, but the people have since disappeared, their belief in him forgotten."
They had crossed the entire temple in the time it took him to recite the story. Emma couldn't help but feel an immense sadness staying in this place. It was a tale of love, of hope, of sorrow, and it showed just how cruel people could be, how they created war needlessly. So much loss of life had occurred in the name of a religion she had never heard of.
"It sounds so familiar though," was all she could say.
"It does, many religions have bits and pieces of the other. Each one takes on a new tale, but somewhere, the truth is probably buried, very deep down, long forgotten as it changes with each retelling."
He was somber, lost, deep in thought, staring at the wall, at the images cast upon it. Emma couldn't help but watch him as he continued to drink in every detail as though looking at a long lost photograph from his youth. He had reached out and gently placed a hand on one of the figures painted upon the wall and Emma turned to leave, wanting to give him some time to himself. Maybe one day she'd learn the truth of it, but this seemed too private of a moment to interrupt. She pretended not to notice a single tear streak down his cheek.