THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[77.1] AZTEC

•|•|•

"The Aztecs were an ancient and powerful civilization that would have been located somewhere in modern-day Mexico-"

•|•|•

"I MEAN WOW," DAVID COMMENTED, his eyes still entranced by the pendant, raising it into the light more seriously.

I didn't know what kind of reaction I was expecting but it wasn't this one. I looked at him questionably not understanding what gave him that look on his face, which he abruptly snapped out of handing the trinket back to me with a slight shake of the head as he placed it in my hand.

I took it, my fingers feeling its smooth edges, and yet I couldn't drop my arm down as I looked at his uncomfortable and yet seemingly intrigued face.

'What's wrong?" I signed as slowly as I could, not even knowing if he could understand what I was saying.

His eyes didn't move with my movements, still studying the trinket in my hand with the uttermost curiosity before replying,

"It's just, uh- my mom was an archeologist," he began to explain folding his arms, a look of mystery in his eyes, "you know- before she passed away," he added, gulping after the statement,

"Dad had these uh- he kept a few boxes of her belongings down in the basement," he explained with a soft sigh, "I used to sneak down there all the time and just go through her stuff. One time I opened one of her boxes, a pretty medium-sized box, nothing special, but in this particular box were a few books on the Aztecs," he replied eyes trailing up to my face as if I was supposed to piece things together automatically.

I looked at him quizzically still not getting where this was headed, plus, I don't think I even knew what an Aztec was although I believe I had heard the name somewhere before, maybe in a movie or something.

"You never heard of the Aztecs have you?" he asked reading my face with a solemn look.

I gave him one in return and he huffed before proceeding to explain it to me,

"The Aztecs were an ancient and powerful civilization that would have been located somewhere in modern-day Mexico-" he stopped himself shaking his head, "Not relevant- anyway, that trinket looked quite familiar to me. I think I've seen some of the symbols in one of my mother's notebooks," he began trailing off.

My eyes narrowed on him, glancing down at the trinket that lay flat at the palm of my hand, then back to him. He was staring down at it, his hands on his waist.

"The symbol on that-" he began raising an eyebrow at the pendant, "was like a protection charm. It was uh- supposed to protect one from an enemy," he replied slowly with a soft grin that left as quickly as it came,

"However," he added sharply, "though this could technically protect anyone from almost anything what's interesting about it, is the form of the symbol it chose to take-" he looked up at me and our eyes met, "there are many protection symbols of the Aztecs but the sun," he added with a noticeable swallow,

"Well it represented the Aztec god of warmth and war,-his overall deal was to protect the people, but he needed something to survive, energy as nourishment through sacrifices.." he trailed off his tone becoming softer, "Most of them resulting in death."

My hand shook looking down at the pendant before,

"But that's not all," David continued moving closer, he pointed down at the sun's rays that were carved around, "You see all those little dots?" he asked.