Ep.27: The Kingdom of Coatlicue, Part 1

Apo is Tiesa’s second largest continent, and is mostly covered by a single sprawling jungle. Known for its healing properties, Apo protects every living thing that dwells within its borders. The Kingdom of Coatlicue is located in the crater caused by one of Eros’ shards, surrounded by the Deep Jungle. The shard dominates the landscape, towering high above even the tall castle seated next to it. Integrated with the jungle, the people of Coatlicue live in harmony with nature, and thus, they thrive. The kingdom itself is beaming with personality, from its tree-top skyscrapers to its cloud-like rivers; it’s truly a wonder. The kingdom thrives on nature tech: the culmination of science and the natural world. Known for making day-to-day life simple. This is the place we call home.

“I…” I look up at the sun. “Swear…” I wipe the sweat off my forehead. “To…” I look back over my shoulder at Ramsey, “God…” his left eye twitching for some reason. “Why is it so hot?!”

“Quit your damn complaining!” Ramsey swears as he kicks me in the back. “We’re almost home!”

“I’m so hungry!” Maka complains.

“Okay, the first thing is food! Second thing: save the Deep Jungle!” I respond, smiling.

Looking up while wiping the sweat off his forehead, Ramsey agrees with me. “I guess you have a point.” Then, lowering his eyes to look at me, Ramsey continues. “How’s that saying go… hmmm… you can’t fight on an empty stomach?”

“Ummm… can we stop talking about food?” Maka begs as he begins to rub his stomach, hunger evident on his pallid face. “I think I’m dying from starvation.”

Swiftly turning to him, I grab Maka by his shoulders and shake him frantically as I shout, “You can’t die! You can’t die, Maka! There’s a lot of Adventures we haven’t gone on yet!”

“Shut up! Ain’t nobody dying!” Ramsey groans in annoyance while hitting me upside the head.

“Why do you say that?” I glare at Ramsey. “Have you been holding out on us?” I start to rifle through Ramsey’s pockets without his permission.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Get the hell off of me!” Ramsey shouts as he thrusts me off of him. “That’s not what I meant!” Ramsey explains, looking ahead and smiling. “Look! We’re almost at the top of the hill!”

I look ahead with an enormous grin plastered on my face. “Oh, right!” I start to run towards the top of the hill. “Last one to the top of the hill has to pay for lunch!” I say as I continue my mad dash towards the top of the hill.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Maka starts to run.

“I’m not playing your childish game.” Ramsey remarks as continues to walk up the hill.

“Sounds like a sore loser to me.” I yell back at him with a smirk on my face.

Ramsey looks down towards the ground while unconsciously clenching his fists from the irritation. “Sore loser, am I?” Ramsey starts to sprint up the hill. “I’ll show you! Jackass!”

I begin to slow down so they can catch up. “It took you long enough!” I say smiling.

“Shut up!” Ramsey says, looking irritated.

“Are we almost there?!” Maka asks, looking like he’s about to collapse.

“We-ee,” I jump in the air with excitement, “made it!” I declare, landing down on the top of the hill.

Ramsey and Maka simultaneously fall to the ground, succumbing to their shared exhaustion.

“How is it possible that he has this much energy?!” Maka rolls over onto his back, gasping for air.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not human.” Ramsey says while trying to stand.

“Hey, guys! Don’t faint on me just yet!” I point towards the valley below. “Look!” Ramsey and Maka look up as I say. “We’re home!”

As we stare down into the valley below at the landmark Eros Shard, the rest of the kingdom of Coatlicue nestled in its cradle, it is a breathtaking sight to behold. The kingdom stretches from one side of Eros’s Cradle to the other. Coatlicue is known as the kingdom of healing, a title that stems from its borders being made entirely of the Deep Jungle. Coatlicue also harbors the Shard of Eros, and when the sunlight hits the Shard of Eros just right, a slight glimmer of yellowish-green will dance across the kingdom, causing Coatlicue to feel angelic.

I inhale, then exhale. “Ok, guys, let’s go…” Ggrglh my stomach chimes in. “Nah, scratch that, let’s get some food!” I declare as we begin our descent down towards Coatlicue.