A Voice in Time (Blackpink) [on hold/to be rewritten]

4| an angel's downfall and the end of innocence

"Oh this is it!" Chaeyoung exclaimed happily as the group drew up to the foreboding totem pole looming over them in the semi-darkness.

It stood in an empty hall in the recess of the abandoned temple, enclosed by a rope barrier that formed a square, much like the rope barriers found in museum exhibitions. Chaeyoung was keen on viewing it from a closer angle, with the rest of her members reluctantly following in her wake.

Jennie and Lisa, being the scaredy-cats, half-expected some ghost or ghoul to jump out at them and thus hung close to Jisoo who stepped forward warily after a prancing Chaeyoung.

She looked so happy to see a mere pillar of rock...

"This totem is sacred to the handful of natives that still reside in the federal reserve on the island. They host a festival in its honour around the time of the summer solstice-the place here would be livelier and more decorated than right now. Otherwise, it's just the caretaker that visits now and then to make sure things are in order."

"Couldn't somebody take the totem?" Chaeyoung wondered out loud. "It's magnificent..."

"There have been many attempts," the guide nodded, "but I assure you, we have a good security system in place to prevent it."

He paused, showing off his pearly whites when his lips peeled back in a toothy smile. "Besides, it is said the totem has its ways of defending itself..."

The girls exchanged intrigued glances and raised eyebrows. They were alone in the hall with their tour guide since the rest of the staff had opted to wait for them at the entrance.

Chaeyoung craned her neck back to take in the imposing rock looming over them.

Exquisite detailed carvings were chiselled into the stone, smooth and gleaming by the light of the torch bouncing off the glassy black surface.

The totem was certainly alluring in all aspects-like a jackdaw drawn to shiny things, Chaeyoung found herself fighting the temptation to reach across the barrier and run her fingers along the sculpture. She regarded it with fascination, wondering about the skilled craftsman that had toiled to create such a piece of art.

"We have totems in Korea," she told the guide, "but I've never seen something like this before. It even seems different than the totems in movies."

The guide held up his torch to illuminate the formidable carved visage of the stone. "In contrast with the totems indigenous to the Northwest Coast tribes, this totem is neither a shame pole, neither is it part of a clan's crest of honour, nor is it a commemoration of some mythological story or legend. Rather, the natives believe it is, or was, a vessel for the fire deities that descended from the heavens to live here in Hawaii and take up residence in volcanoes."

He pointed at the carvings running alongside the entire length of the totem. "The original totem poles were made out of cedar wood. This one is made out of obsidian-an igneous rock known also as volcanic glass that is formed by a complicated process. When felsic lava-that is, runny lava, which has a higher viscosity- is extruded, it cools down upon meeting the earth's atmosphere with minimal crystal growth to form obsidian's celebrated smooth, glassy features."

"It is perhaps the only recorded obsidian totem in America," the guide continued, "which makes it all the more valuable. A column that tall made up of entirely obsidian, and furthermore decorated with skilled carvings, would probably be priceless."

"Have their been attempts to steal it or put it in a museum for protection?"

"Yes there have been like I said, security has always managed to fend off the barbarians...with a little help from the totem itself. Additionally, we don't feel like removing it from its sanctuary-this temple. If it's meant to weather away and erode, than that shall be its end, the gods will no longer have any use for it." Once again, the guide gave a knowing smile that Chaeyoung didn't really pay attention to.