The Omphali Temples

On the fifth month of protests, the city's streets were a blazing procession of angry people, and smoke poured into the air from burning barricades, incinerated shops, torched motorbikes and cars. In the absence of Kaph, the group of protesters had grown radical and demanded his liberation.

It was the Spring of 2014; the country was bleeding. The government was becoming increasingly irrational and brutal against its people. First, it had started arresting people who were protesting peacefully in the streets, imprisoning and torturing them for a couple of days. Then, setting laws that institutionalizing their savageness. But the more the government brutalized its people, the stronger the people were becoming. It was as though a force was waking them up from a long slumber and reclaiming their rights. Such was the case that some international community members had started to investigate Kaph and the insurgency movement.

Mariana had enjoyed growing up in the privileges that came with a regime-connected family. When the government offered her a well-paid job, she had refused, unlike her siblings, because she despised the boiling pot of anger and violence her country had become. She knew people who had disappeared, and even her best friend Tulsi, who got arrested in a rally, was put in jail and raped.

Four nights ago, Kaph had escaped prison. The social unrest had set off that "the mustachios" had captured him before making it to the Strait of Nud. Some voices said he had drowned while crossing the big river on a motorboat brimming with revolutionaries and had been devoured by the region's crocs. Whatever had happened to Kaph was acquiring the hue of a legend.

The mob was ready for anything; their revolutionary sentiments ubiquitously ignited. That night, Ben and Japu swore they would complete Kaph's mission, and as they climbed atop a derelict factory hauling bottles at the police, the roof had crumbled, killing Ben. Japu had not wanted to turn back, running as fast as his trembling limbs could, hiding in the dark streets till he reached the motorboat on time and jumped on board. He sat next to Mariana, still breathing heavily and wiping a mix of sweat and tears as the boat took off.

"Are you okay ?" she asked with concern.

"My best friend is dead, and I could do nothing to prevent it" he covered his eyes with his hands as he sobbed.

"He fought bravely, " he said with renewed strength, then took a little black booklet from inside his bag and held it tight to his chest.

He looked up and said, "I am with you, brother."

They could have conversed about other friends or the insurgency movement. But Mariana nodded silently and stared across the vastness of the river. The night sky was clear. Orion, the celestial warrior, seemed to shine brighter than ever in its constellation.

At dawn, they had arrived at the Straight of Nud. The passage was narrow, and the waters were calm. As the motorboat immersed further into the channel, raised rocks on either side springing from the depth seemed to clamp above them. People of that region named them "Lucifer's hands". Suddenly, the waters started panting rapidly, threatening to crush the boat against the rocks with each exhalation. The shore was barely a mile away, yet the strong currents made it impossible for the motorboat to move forward, and in a final blow of misfortune, the boat was smashed against "Lucifer's hands.".

Mariana elbowed her way into the mangrove beneath the gilded sun and the wheeling of a large vulture. It was an excruciating insolence, for she would be too weak to battle the scavenger. So she hid in the thicket while darned creatures danced and quailed in her threadbare mind. Mariana's breathing was cumbersome, as though the sun was setting on her chest. She shut her eyes to remember what had happened. There was the boat, Orion, that guy she sat next to and "Lucifer's hands". Then, she fell asleep.

She regained some strength, hobbled towards the water and washed her injuries. She had survived the shipwreck as they crossed the Strait of Nud, the first trial to join the insurgency. She plodded a few steps ahead through the mud and the tangled roots of the mangroves and saw a body floating on the waters. It was Japu; he was lying facing upwards. He was still alive. She rushed him towards the shore and started resuscitating him. Japu's dark eyes opened as he slowly regained his breath. He was too frail and injured but could still recognize her.

"Come back, don't leave now ", she pleaded.

" Please, take the booklet to Kaph ", he uttered agonizingly.

"What booklet?"

"It's in the rucksack. Follow the coordinates in the map " Mariana suddenly remembered the black booklet he had sunk to his chest as they sailed off.

"No. You are coming with me."

"I am sorry… the black booklet", he whispered as he shut his eyes and let out his last breath.

Mariana took the rucksack and said a prayer in tears, then staggered towards the jungle. She hadn't walked far when she spotted a rocky outcrop where she could rest and inspect the backpack's content; bird calls and other indiscernible hauls emanated from the wilderness. She took out a map protected in a zip bag, along with the black booklet. Before dying, Japu had handed her means of survival and a way to orient herself in the jungle.

Mariana studied the map carefully and then took a quick look at the notes on the booklet.

"I am Kaph, son of the Great Makuto. In the zeal of our union, we shall rejoice a new era. We sons and daughters of the revolution will no longer be subdued. For our souls have reunited with the sapphire omphalos, and with its power, we shall awaken like the phoenix."

Mariana thought the booklet might contain Kaph's revelations or political views. Still, she resolved not to continue reading it, for the mosquitoes were assailing her exposed limbs and face. Mariana guessed she was in a radius of a few miles around the shores, and the location of the insurgency camp was pinned down on a larger circumference to the north of the river. She found a compass in the survival kit and followed the blade.

The ground was covered in luscious vegetation; vines and ferns grew wild, seeking the scarce rays of sunshine available from underneath the dense canopy. In the evening, she set a small camp up, clearing the ground and making a fire. She took the black booklet and started reading it:

" Our ancestors told us of the underground temples, and we have found them. We sent three men down who never returned. Then, another team went in, and they found the omphalos—that which our ancestors deemed a source of energy more powerful than the sun. Our shamans know the omphalos' power can either awaken and heal the people or consume them to their death, for a human mind is but a fragile thing".

Mariana wondered what the omphalos' power was; she couldn't tell. All she vaguely remembered was that the Greeks referred to the omphalos as " the navel of the world" and that they thought it enabled direct communication with the Gods. But she thanked Japu in her heart, for without that map, she would not make it long. She moved through the frondage with careful steps. Unknowingly, a dark silhouette had been following her closely. Mariana felt a jaguar's intense gaze on her. In that instant, she screamed for all that was worth living. Then a voice repeated, "It's okay. I am not going to hurt you".

Mariana saw the boots covered in mud first, then a woman emerging from behind the frondage.

"Who are you?" Mariana asked with relief.

"I am a member. My name is Ju Yen. I've walked for five days since losing my bag.

"I have a map to the campsite," assured Mariana.

Ju Yen's small eyes opened wide and emitted a glare. The two women walked for hours before reaching the waterfall landmark. Ju Yen talked effusively about Kaph and the revolution's ideals; she seemed a most faithful zealot.

"The blood of our revolution is like the blood of Christ. It cleanses people's spirit".

"How much blood can we afford to lose, Ju Yen?"

"As much as the battle requires. Once the war is over, the regime will no longer exist. That will be a new beginning for us. Warfare is the way to ending their oppression."

In a long stride, Mariana overcame the undergrowth beneath a large tree. Failing to see the hidden roots, Ju Yen tripped over and provoked a snake, which flung its fangs forward in an instant strike, deepening them in her forearm. Mariana rushed to help.

"It's a terciopelo viper. It's over," screamed Ju Yen.

Mariana held her up and started walking towards the campsite. They reached there an hour later, and they rushed Ju Yenn to a medical tent. An elderly doctor injected her with an anti-venom and morphine. She fell asleep, but her arm was swollen and was beginning to necrotize. Mariana was sitting next to Ju Yen when a tall man entered dressed in military clothes. It was Kaph.

Mariana told him everything about the motorboat accident, Japu and the booklet.

Then she produced the booklet, which Kaph slipped into his pocket and said, "This is not for everyone."

" Watch after her", He ordered.

Mariana tended to Ju Yen, bringing her water and calling on the doctor whenever her pain returned. After midnight, unexpectedly, Ju Yenn started speaking.

"I was wrong, Mariana," she said slowly

" What?"

"I was wrong to think all insurgents are beasts."

"I don't understand."

"I am a cover agent. Our government and the international community have commissioned the search of Kaph. They paid me 20,000 $ for leaking his location, which I will give to you to retrieve that black booklet. " Her face torn in pain.

"I can't do that" Mariana responded.

" Why not? You are hardly an insurgent at heart Mariana," said Ju Yen mockingly.

" You've kept quiet about your true intentions, I am not like you" Mariana stated thoughtfully, leaving the tent.

The elderly doctor who had overheard their conversation approached Ju Yen.

"There are temples scattered underneath the jungle, storing a powerful source of energy," he said

" The omphaloi temples" Ju Yen's said in a mix of disbelief and ecstasy.

"Yes. Everything we know is recorded in the black booklet."

"Bring it, and the money will be yours," Ju Yen said.

That night, the doctor injected Kaph with a drug and took the booklet.

"Read a passage", Ju Yen ordered.

"the o- omphalos will bestow its powers onto those who from slumber a- awaken but awaken its spirit and you shall d- die", he stuttered

" Nonsense. Take me to the cave's entrance, doctor," she said, unsatisfied.

Ju Yen and the doctor descended the galleries into the magnificence of the ancient temple. The sapphire omphalos shone on the altar.

"Take it", she yelled.

"You can't do that", the doctor muttered hesitantly.

" I thought doctors don't buy into ancient prophecies. The reward for this will be five times bigger," she said as a veil of triumph crossed her eyes.

The doctor nodded, quickly held onto the omphalos as they started lifting it—both their faces illuminated by a jadish glow. The intensity grew as they lifted it higher.

"I can't hold any longer", yelled the doctor.

Ju Yen saw a jadish shadow emerge from underneath the omphalos.

"Let go. We must go." She urged

The temple's temperature descended as the spirit buried under the omphalos woke up.

"Spare our life ", pleaded the doctor.

"The omphalos will bestow its powers onto those who from slumber awaken but awaken its spirit, and you shall die", recited Ju Yen

Then, a loud screech echoed through the caves.

Soon, the booklet had returned to Kaph's hands. The insurgency movment kept its mission to protect their ancestral knowledge. While the people in the cities would continue the fight for freedom.