[ Wherever there are secret ruins and hidden oddities left to be discovered in the world’s most remote locations, one is likely to eventually find the woman known as Amelia Escapade. Having coined that name, the archaeologist and explorer happily added that cutesy moniker to the already consistently flirty and playful air she held about herself. She had become known far and wide as a free-spirit of sorts, a cheerful and deeply knowledgeable thrill-seeker whose appearance didn’t seem to tell of her accomplishments. The woman either had amazing luck, incredible skill, or a bit of both, considering the borderline-foolish acts of derring-do that’d get most explorers killed. ]
Chapter one: A New Discovery…
The bubbly pink-haired woman ran her fingers along the stone wall of the cave, humming a melody to herself as she examined the relief sculptures. The bags around her hips and shoulders clinked with her steps. They held her tools, scrolls, and other things safe from the moist tropical air, although that air was quite different now that she’d wedged herself into this cool forlorn cave. Most of the art and sculptures within the opening chambers of the ruin she’d found herself in depicted female figures and serpents intertwined; perhaps fighting, or struggling in some way. She kept up her humming, picking up the pace as she spotted an interesting feature on a distant wall. Her eyes widened as she reached out and ran her fingers over a certain groove in the wall. She slowly tilted her flashlight to trace over a huge silhouette, one in a spiral pattern, depicting a great feathered serpent. She stepped back with a smile and some giddy hops, barely able to contain her excitement. She took a beat-up leather journal out of her totebag and lodged the flashlight under her arm.
“Yeeees! There’s no way this is really the place! 1500 years of Fairy Tales and Legends about the tomb of Queen Haulicoatl and here I am~ Eeee!”
She did a bit of a dance, stopping suddenly to curb her excitement and take a breath. Shaking a bit in anticipation, she carefully tried copying the text around the relief, struggling to see.
“Yeah no, like, calm down Amelia, we need some more light…”
She took another breath, mind racing a hundred miles an hour as she lit here lantern and sat it on the ground in front of the relief, letting its soft ambient fire light supplement her flashlight’s more focused beam. She didn’t notice however as the stone holding her lantern depressed by a few millimeters. After a few more moments, she’d gotten the text around the mural down in her journal, stuffing everything back in her pack. She was a bit sweaty, pumping the bottom of her shirt to get some cool air over her chest.
“Holy Moly, when it get so hot.. I swear it was chillier in here before…”
She took the journal back out, taking off her jacket and wrapping it around her waist. The sweat was soaking through her shirt, but she could feel a cool breeze from a nearby break in the wall. For a moment she kept shining her flashlight around, noticing the large atrium was covered wall-to-wall in murals. Her face was overtaken with a huge smile as she saw a free-standing sculpture on the far side of the room, taking one step towards it before a feeling of danger overcame her.
She didn’t even need to turn around, quickly darting into the cool space in the wall, narrowly avoiding a massive wave of teal flames that shot over where she was standing and overcame the room. She froze for a moment, looking at the seemingly supernatural fire, inching away to avoid the licking flames. She couldn’t help but smile as she pushed through the small opening away from the flames.
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