Little Boy Belmont (Richter x Olrox)

Chapter Sixteen: Aztec Mythology

To Richter's annoyance, he doesn't see Leon in his dreams for the first time in two days. In fact, he doesn't really dream at all. He wakes up feeling hungry and a little frustrated. The soft patter of rain falling outside is barely audible down in the Hold.

Belmont sits up, noticing Olrox and Edouard are still asleep. It must be daytime, then. His mood has gotten better now that he's back on a normal sleep schedule. He stands up and begins scanning the shelves for anything related to the Aztecs while eating dried strips of jerky as a quick breakfast.

Row after row of books face him, all from different points in history. He scans the books while humming softly, more curious than anything. He's surprised he doesn't feel more stressed.
"Ah, this looks like a good start," he smiles a little, removing a book bound with red leather.
He traces the words branded on the cover and spine in gold letters.
"Aztec Mythology and the Five Suns," he reads the title.

Happy with what he found, he walks back to one of the tables close to where Olrox and Edouard are and sits down. The obsidian mirror is still on the table, almost seeming to soak in the light in the Hold. Even though Olrox explained what Tēzcatlipōca is, Belmont is still a little wary of looking in the mirror again.

Glancing at the mirror, he opens the thick book and gently blows dust off the pages.
"The Five Suns mythology," he reads quietly, scanning the faded text with curious eyes.
"The Five Suns refers to the belief that the world has gone through five cycles of creation and destruction, with the current cycle being the fifth one," he murmurs the words out loud.

"The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican tribes believed that each iteration had been destroyed by the Gods due to how the inhabitants behaved," he shivers a little at the implication, realizing just how powerful the Gods were to recreate and destroy the world over and over.

He flips the page, going to the legend itself.
"Ometeotl was the first God, who created itself in the void of the universe. The first God was both male and female, having given birth to four children, known as the four Tēzcatlipōcas, who rule over the four cardinal directions."
Belmont looks at the fading illustration on the next page, seeing the four arrows pointing North, South, East, and West similar to a compass.

He's surprised to see each arrow is depicted with a different color.
North is black.
South is blue.
East is red.
West is white.

Richter keeps reading out loud quietly.
"To the West resides Quetzalcoatl, the White Tēzcatlipōca, the God of mercy, wind, and light. His name means Feathered Serpent in Nahuatl.
To the South is Huitzilopochtli, the Blue Tēzcatlipōca, the God of war. His name means Left-Handed Hummingbird.
To the East is Xipe Totec, the Red Tēzcatlipōca, God of springtime, gold, and farming. His name means Our Lord the Flayed One.
To the North resides the Black Tēzcatlipōca, sometimes simply called just Tēzcatlipōca, God of the night sky, obsidian, conflict, and hurricanes. His name means Smoking Mirror in Nahuatl."

He looks over at each illustration of the Gods, their figures imposing even with being so faded. The image of Tēzcatlipōca somehow looks the most intimidating. His entire body is black, three black stripes adorn his face like war paint. One of his legs is missing, replaced with what looks like an obsidian mirror. Another mirror looks to be behind his head, omitting smoke. His eyes are white, even the pupils, save for the red coloration at the corners of his eyes.

"Tēzcatlipōca is the eldest brother of the four sons, with Quetzalcoatl being born next, then Xipe Totec, and lastly Huitzilopochtli. Being the eldest, he is the most powerful and Aztecs deemed the most envious of the brothers. The legend of the Five Suns states that the four Gods created all of the other Gods, but before they could create, they had to destroy."