The Legend of Quetzalcoatl

The following story is based on one of the most important gods in the Mesoamerican culture, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered snake.

I took one legend about him to start, and then I continued with a fantasy story of my own.

For thousands of years he has existed in various Mesoamerican cultures under many names, either in the form of a god or a human. There are many legends and myths around him, but in all of them, he has always been represented as a feathered snake. 

This refers to the union of heaven and earth, reptiles that crawl on the ground, and birds that fly.

For some cultures, he was the god of agriculture, for others, he was the god of life and light. 

But in this legend, he was a king. 

Around the 9th century, close to the center of Mexico, there was a city named Tula. They were a prosperous and fast-growing civilization. Lots of people went by, but there was one person that caught everyone's attention. He was different, he had a beard, which no one had, pale skin, and reddish hair. 

He was wearing strange clothes and spoke an even stranger language, he was a lost Viking. How did he got there, no one knows. 

The people of Tula welcomed him with open arms, they were all curious about this man, where he came from, and who was he. 

He quickly learned the local language, traditions, and way of living, and at the same time, he taught about his country, the government they have, dealing with commerce and agriculture.

His ideas were well received up to the point that the rulers of Tula started to implement them and gave him a job on the high commands. 

Thanks to his counsel and battle skills, the economy of the city grew, their enemies fled and peace ruled the days. Eventually, the people of Tula decided to name him king and baptized him under the name of the god Quetzalcoatl. 

Unfortunately not long after he was coronated, because of his fame, not only about ruling but about the warrior he was, the sworn enemy of all life and light returned, his name was Tezcatlipoca.

Feared by everyone, Quetzalcoatl being proud as he was, decided to face him alone, but he underestimated his enemy, he had never faced this kind of threat and deceit. 

After a fierce fight, Quetzalcoatl was defeated on the battlefield.

Embarrassed by his loss, and all his strengths gone, he told to his people that he would come back and claim his throne again, and rule with peace as he achieved before. Then Quetzalcoatl took a boat heading the sud east and disappeared into the sea. 

Long were the days sailing in the Gulf of Mexico, seemed that he was lost, again, until one day land appeared on the horizon, it was the Yucatan peninsula, where the Mayan culture lived.

Quetzalcoatl touched land and was immediately received by warriors, he had forgotten, that he was a strange man to these people. He introduced himself, with the little Mayan that he spoke but enough to avoid being killed. 

The warriors took him to the great city of Chichen Itza, which Quetzalcoatl had heard of, but what he was about to see never crossed his mind. 

The Mayans being experts in mathematics, physics, and astronomy had deceit gravity, making it possible to fly and make floating pyramids, temples, and means of transportation. So Chichen Itza wasn´t just a common city, it was the floating city of the Sud East.

Around that time they had also developed flying boats that could go into space, yes that is right, boats that transform into spaceships.

Turns out that after studying the stars and planets, instead of using their positions to navigate on land, they decided to use them to create universe maps and start an expedition as soon as possible. 

Quetzalcoatl was astonished, he had seen a lot of things but never like this. Going to space was crazy, but apparently, it was possible, and it seemed that the Mayans had a boat ready to go and start this adventure.

Quetzalcoatl had a nice surprise when he saw that the decoration and name of the boat was the god Kukulcán, which in other cultures was named Quetzalcoatl. It was meant to be, he needed to be on that expedition.

 

Quetzalcoatl volunteered. The Mayans refused immediately, they wanted their best captain and crew to go and lead this expedition, but after thinking it through, it was a very risky mission, maybe the boat would explode, and it was the first time that this was going to be tested, so maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to risk the life of their best leader.

 

Quetzalcoatl told them about him, his story, what he knew, and why he would be best to lead the expedition. They had a common enemy, and Quetzalcoatl promised that he would gather wisdom in the universe and allies to defeat him. 

After a long discussion and thought on the matter, they said yes to Quetzalcoatl. 

And this is where the story begins. What will he encounter? Will the boat spaceship work? Will new civilizations be discovered?

Find out soon.