Author's Note: While I love the song "It's Tough To Be A God" you will not find it in this story. This is because 1. I don't want to transcript the ENTIRE movie into this story, 2. It looses it's appeal when simply read, and 3. Again, attributing to reason 2, there's a lot of stuff that happens in the foreground and background that gets in the way of the song itself when being written, so I'm settling for a simple, quick gloss-over.
CHAPTER 3: (Miguel's POV) Not In Good Conscience
We thoroughly enjoy ourselves at the feast. Tulio's in a good mood, so it's safe to let him partake in the local beverages of Pulque and Xocoatl. There's no risk of him becoming an angry, violent drunk. The natives are all smiles, the food and drink are delicious, the music is catchy enough to dance to. Even Chel is out dancing. Oh dear... Altivo got intos the drink too. I never realized how humorous it was to watch a drunken horse stagger about. As the evening wanes on, Tulio becomes much more relaxed and confident. I think he's starting to feel more confident about this whole thing. That's good. Because as he pointed out himself, if they begin to suspect we're not who they think we are, we're as good as dead.
We loose track of time, and eventually fall asleep, drunk, full, and happy! "Good morning, my lords!" we're jerked awake by Tzekel-Kan's voice. We both jump as we open our eyes and see the high priest standing over us.
"He's back," I groan.
"Oh no," Tulio grumbles.
Getting up, we realize we're standing on a large cliff, just above a whirlpool. There's a crowd of natives standing below. What...? When did...?
HOW did we get up here? Chel is throwing flower petals about and looks nervous. "Chel, what's going on?" Tulio asks.
She shakes her head, "It's not gonna' be good," she whispered.
Tulio opens his mouth, pauses, letting her reply sink in, then gives her a confused, "Thank you."
"This city has been granted a great blessing," Tzekel-Kan says. Tulio and I both give a silent cringe as the priest's voice and the music aggitate our hangovers. "And what have we done to show our gratitude? A meager celebration. The gods deserve a proper tribute!" This draws our attention. "The beginning of a new era, the dawning of a new age... demands... sacrifice!" A bag opens, revealing a native male with his hands tied together. The man's staggering and teetering on the edge of the cliff as though he's drunk, or drugged. The priest is using a lot of smoke and mirrors on this. There's genuine concern on the faces of the people.
"I don't like this," Tulio whispers.
"Oh, Tulio, we've got to do something," I say, clapping a hand on his shoulder. Tzekel-Kan stands behind the native, pushing him closer to the edge, raising a blade.
"Stop!" Tulio and I both shout. Everyone turns to look at us in confusion as we approach the priest and his 'sacrifice'.
Tulio wags his finger in Tzekel-Kan's face as I catch the native from behind and pull him back to safety. "This is not a proper tribute!"
Tulio says, his voice full of great authority.
"You do not want the tribute?" Tzekel-Kan asks in stunned confusion.
"No. No, no," I break in, still dragging the poor man away from the cliff. I can see it in this man's eyes, he's definately been drugged. "Uh,
it's just that... Uh... T-Tulio, tell him."
Tulio throws me a look of, 'Gee thanks!' as he has to stop and think. Standing up straight and confident, he points to the sky. "Th-The stars are not in position for this tribute!"
I'm now dragging the 'sacrifice' past Tulio and the priest. "Like he says, stars..." I shake my head. "Can't do it." I look up pointedly at the priest, "Not today."
"Ah..." Tzekel-Kan falls silent, his eyes shifting back and forth for a moment. He places his hands together and takes a humble bow, stepping aside. "Perhaps it is possible I misread...the heavens."
Oh thank God that worked! "Don't worry about it," I say, patting the priest on the back, "To err is human, to forgive..."
"My lords, may the people of El Dorado offer you our tribute?" Cheif Tonnabok asks. We turn to find several beautiful native women standing in a line, holding large golden platters full of golden trinkets. Bowls, plates, statues, jewelery, and coins. Now THIS is what I'm talking about! "My lords, does this please you?"
"Yes, very nice. Certainly acceptable. Yes, lovely, it'll do," Tulio and I agree.
"The gods have chosen!" Chief Tonnabok announces. "To Xibabla?" he asks.
I have no clue what that means, but sure, what the heck. "To Xibablba!" Tulio and I both say triumphantly. We watch in disbelief as the gold goes sailing over our heads. Wh...What? "Oh, great..." I murmmer. To think these people have enough of this stuff that they can just throw it off a cliff, into a whirlpool without a second thought! Where does that thing even lead to, I wonder.
"Chel, what are they doing?" I ask.
"They're sending it to Xibabla!" Chel scolds us, "the spirit world."
"The...spirit world..." Tulio slumps next to me.
"I'll take care of it," Chel sighs, turning and heading toward the chief.
"Stop!" the chief shouts. A golden platter clanks to the ground and rolls toward us. Tulio somehow manages to catch it with his foot before it rolls off the cliff. "They wish to bask!" the chief announces, "Take the tribute to the gods' temple!"
Chel gives a little giggle as she takes her place in line next to me. She's looking quite proud of herself. Tulio leans past me. "Nicely done,"
he says. I wish we hadn't agreed the girl was off-limits. Right now I think we could both kiss her. Judging by Tulio's voice, however, he's interested in more than just kissing, though.
"Tons of gold for you, hah"
"And tons of gold for me, hoo"
"Tons of gold for we, ah!" Tulio and I are singing as the natives carry us and the gold back to the temple. Tulio's in a really good mood;
I honestly can't recall the last time I saw him this happy.
"Not bad for a day's work, eh?" I ask.
"Not bad at all," Tulio says, laying back to relax, "Amigo, we just became richer than the king of Spain."
"Speaking of kings. The chief and high priest seem a bit... uh... tense," I note.
"Buenos Dias!" Tulio says, "Listen, all we have to do... is keep playing one against the other. You know, do a little god dance, chant some mystic mumbo jumo, dazzle 'em with some smoke and mirrors and then get the hell back to Spain."
"Um, Tulio, how are we gonna' get all this back to Spain?" I ask.
"Uh..." He hesitates. "Give... Give me a moment. I'll, I'll think of something," he promises.
I smile and lean back, propping my head on my arms. "You always do," I chuckle. "By the way, 'The stars are not in position for this tribute?'
I don't know where that came from, but it was damned brilliant."
Tulio chuckles and waves a hand in the air. "Thank you, thank you," he said, trying to be modest, "I'm honestly surpised it worked."
"As am I," I said."But I'm glad it did. I couldn't have lived with myself if..."
Tulio held up a hand. "Hey, hey! I know, old friend, I know," he said, "But don't dwell on it. Nothing happened. Let's not ruin the moment with thoughts of 'what if', ok?"
"I suppose you're right," I nod. If we were caught pulling a stunt like this in Spain, we'd be lead to the gallows for hericy and blasphemy.
I can live with them thinking we're gods-if it means not being sacrificed to their gods, and I find it hard to feel guilty about taking so much gold from people who clearly have plenty to spare. But, I can not in good concience, allow someone to be killed on my behalf. Tulio's right, we won't ruin the moment with 'What if's, but we need to make certain Tzekel-Kan doesn't try to sacrifice someone in OUR names again.
"Speaking of brilliant ideas, I'm starting to feel better about letting Chel in on this. If not for her, we probably wouldn't have been THIS successful," Tulio adds.
I smirk, seeing the look in my partner's eyes as he praises our accomplice. "She's off-limits, remember," I teasingly remind him, "We shook on it."
"Of course we did, of course she is!" Tulio says, sounding a liittle defensive, but otherwise trying to blow me off.
We arrive at the temple and the gold is being un loaded into the room. Chel approaches us with a large smile on her face, and a pitchure of Xocatal in one hand, and three golden goblets in the other. "My lords, shall we hold a toast in honor of your bountiful tribute?" she giggles.
"That sounds like a marvelous idea," I say, reaching for one of the golden goblets.
"No, no," Tulio declines, rubbing his temple, "None for me, thanks."
"Oh, c'mon, Tulio," I say, realizing that now that the rush of things is over, his hangover headache must be setting back in, "Just a little hair of the dog that bit you, hmm? Just a celebratory sip. I'll make sure you don't go overboard with it."
Tulio looks at me for a moment, shakes his head, then sighs and smiles, "Alright, just a small sip." He wraps an arm around my shoulders, "Then you and I are going to speak with Chief Tonnabak."
"We are?" I ask.
"Why?" Chel asks as she pours our drinks.
"Because there's only one way, we're getting all this back to Spain," he says in a whispered reply.