Topaz

001

Speakers rocked the stone walls of the cave, stalagmites vibrating above hundreds of heads. The laughter of teens and young adults rung through the cavern, starburst flowers flinging themselves from vines as some wanted to show off for potential partners or for a date they were already going on. Near the center of the crowd, singles piled together in a mosh pit of limbs and bodies as they danced.

And in the direct middle of all the action, bright balls of light shot up and exploded in a firework fashion.

"ELI!" Eligo was only nineteen years old, but he was the most reliable in the village for a multitude of reasons. Though partying day and night, he'd built up a reputation different from only that. "THE BORDER!"

"PATROL IS ON IT TONIGHT!" Eligo twirled around men and women alike, hands lingering against bodies who lingered against him as well.

"NO, BIG PROBLEM!" He was grabbed suddenly, being dragged from the party. Once they were far enough from the noise, Eligo's eyes focused on the male in front of him.

"Izan?"

The male was short and stocky with dark brown curls, but he wasn't someone to look down upon. A small stream of water was curled around his arm, clearly for drinking when he was thirsty.

"Eli, patrol's spotted Obsidian monsters again, the ones who play with our brains." Izan spoke quieter now, nothing from the screaming boy from moments before "We heard yelling, so I came to get you while patrol's assessing the situation."

Eligo's eyes widened, could kids have snuck onto the Overworld already?

"C'mon then!" Turning on his heel, Eligo ran full tilt. Izan followed behind after momentary shock, still not used to how the other was so hands-on.

Five minutes later and Eligo slid from the cave, past the Patrol who was stood frozen and listening. Izan slowed to a halt beside the patrol, watching in slight terror. Darkness crawled around the cave entrace, and they didn't want to leave their safety.

Eligo heard a hiss from an ichor snake, eyes moving to the outside of his border.

"Little Bird, your ssssavior issss here..." Eligo repressed a shudder. Those things were disgusting. "Sssssay hello..."

"There is no need for you here, leave my line." Eligo composed himself, breathing deeply. He heard stones click at his side as he walked, and he felt suddenly more protected than he had in a long time. Near the edge of his line, Eligo stared at the snake. "Anything on my side has my protection."

"Weee knowww that..." But the snake still lunged at Eligo, stopping short before it could attempt to cross the line. "But let usss have the children..."

Eligo raised his hands, brushing the pads of his fingers together. Instantly, the clearing to his village was lit up by bright light emanating from the palms of his hands. The snake hissed again, this time in anger.

"You cannot have them!" It snarled, this time not stopping as it tried to lunge across the border. It slammed off of something invisible, but it kept trying nonetheless. "THEY ARE OURSSSSSS!"

"Izan!" Eligo called "Get Omar and Yunen!

"Eli, you can't be serious-"

"GO!" Eligo turned, and it was then he saw ten teens staring at him in horror "And the rest of you, take these guys to the village!"

"Yes sir!" Eligo's eyes moved back to the snake, who'd backed up again to charge.

He beat the ichor monster to the punch, diving over the border and grabbing it harshly, increasing heat in his hands. It let out a strangled scream and threw him off, causing the nineteen year old to hit a tree. Eligo's breath was thrust out of his chest, causing him a moment of pause when his enemy wasn't focused on him.

Standing, Eligo watched as the black snake slammed into the border again. He frowned, forming a ball of light the size of a softball in his palm.

"Oi fuckface!" He shouted, throwing it at the monster to gain it's attention "You forgot someone!"

The snake turned, hissing at the bright light. "We thought we killed you!" It snarled, surging forward. "Sssssstay dead!"

Eligo dodged the snake, watching it slam into a tree before vines burst from under it, wrapping around the snake in a deadly trap. As the snake withered from the plants, Eligo slid back into the border.

"Careful." a smooth voice from Eligo's side "Ya coulda gotten hurt."

"Thanks dad." The older retorted, grimacing at the pain his back felt.

"Hey, little help with the snake?" A second asked from Eligo's other side. "Like, thanks for leaving her for me to deal with."

"Sorry!" the first shouted, and Eligo watched as more vines burst up and entangled the snake. "Alright Boss, finish him!"

Eligo groaned, but formed a ball of light the size of a basketball in his hand. Winding up, he threw it as hard as he could.

There was screams, then silence.

"What the fuck..?" The first male questioned, panting. "What was that?"

"Caos, probably." The second guessed. "Boss, do you know?"

"I-" There was a sudden pain on his arm. Hissing, Eligo reached up and yanked something from under his sleeve. "Fuck."

The duo (twins, by their matching brown eyes and curly black hair) looked at Eligo's hand in slight shock and fear.

"Don't tell me-" The first started

"Yes Omar, he's corrupted a totem." Eligo opened his palm, a small jade figure resting in the center. It was a figure of Diosa Quetzal, her normally stark white eyes now an inky black. "C'mon, I gotta restore her."

"You're out of Elixir though..." The second mentioned as the three turned, slipping back in.

"Good point. Omar, Yunen, please go get more." Eligo grabbed a string around his neck with his unoccupied hand, pulling a half-empty glass vial up with the necklace. Handing it over, Eligo split off from the duo and headed toward a room that was built into the cave wall.

"Eli, those guys you had us bring in are threatening us if we don't let them see you..." Izan appeared from behind Eligo as he turned the knob, fiddling with his hands. "What..?"

"Totem's fuckin' cursed again, we're working on fixing it. Can you tell them that I'll be there once I'm done?" Eligo sighed, shaking his head "This happens way too often for it to be normal..."

"Well, the last one always said that the totems absorb the bad energy going toward the Dios or Diosa...?" Izan sighed "I don't know, but it happened a lot around this time too..."

Before Eligo could reply, Omar and Yunen came sprinting down the hall.

"Boss!" Yunen shouted happily, vial of glowing liquid in his hand "Take it!"

Eligo nodded in thanks, slipping into the room and closing the door without any goodbyes.

Unscrewing the cap of the vial, Eligo moved toward a table in the sparsely lit room. The only light that glowed was the light from the vial. Pouring some of the glowing liquid onto the table, Eligo held the totem over it.

this won't ever get easier.

Taking a deep breath, Eligo squeezed the totem and crushed it into jade colored dust. Pouring the powder onto the liquid, he felt his fingers close around a sizable stone. He sighed, at least it wasn't as big as the ones he'd pulled from Lumbre's totem.

He stared at the powder, which finally took shape into the original totem after a while. It's eyes glowed white as it should, now the brightest totem Eligo had on his body.

A knock sounded at the door, Eligo sighing. He tied the totem of Quetzal against his upper arm again, letting the sleeve fall as he called out that he would only be a moment.

Finally opening the door, Eligo was faced with a sirprise.

"Sol?"