You couldn't help but wonder what you were doing with your life... You're on school's super senior year, a 13th grade meant to prepare you for college, with the class credits pretty much guaranteeing that you can get a good chunk of bonus credits into anything you decide to major in, should you have reasonably decent grades. 

You thought that this last summer was going to be it and while you had quite the incredible summer and enjoyed many close moments with your friends, Jen & Lillian in particular, you still didn't achieve anything decisive yet. Your love life couldn't be any more complicated if you were trying because the other girls all had made it clear that they were still interested though luckily or unluckily enough, they all respected your wishes to let you sort out your feelings to make an honest choice.

And while technically it was nice, it didn't help that over the last summer Jordana actually tried to make amends and also let you know that she actually cared for you and was interested in something... more. To you that came out of the blue entirely, you thought she either disliked you or just saw you as an annoying little sibling but it turns out that she just plays rough like that with anyone she cares about, then again with her sheer size and strength that actually makes quite a lot of sense but still, even you knew that things with Lillian could get really complicated if you decided to go for her big sister, plus she's definitely far too much woman for you to handle, Lillian is about your personal limit and even then you're not so sure you can actually handle all that.

It was one more weekend with no concrete plans. You could still try to bring about the change you wanted yourself but you still lacked the confidence, you kept being afraid of messing up, of failing at a critical moment and losing everything. Your crush on Jen was more solid than ever but your lifelong bond with Lillian was also incredibly precious to you, plus, you still weren't even sure Lillian felt anything else for you beyond that amazing friendship. You didn't have many people to talk to about these things but strangely enough both Ariadne and Zuemy suggested that Lillian was most likely the more compatible girl, the one who knows you best besides your own mother.

The only person on your side was Sadie, Jen's friend who kept giving you advice and trying to help you earn more of a "score" with her and as she encouraged to follow your heart, you were largely sure that it was Jen who you wanted for real, however, you still weren't able to tell yourself that without feeling that ominous void in your heart, that powerful self-doubt that shackled you, enslaving you into indecisiveness.

'Maybe I should give this a rest, I'm never gonna reach anything good if I'm so stressed' You thought, recalling one of Lulu's teachings as she often made sure that all students were feeling calm and relaxed before taking on tests, wanting you all to be in your best mental shape and to be fair, it showed, many people got high grades with her and those were earned for sure.

Looking at the wall, your gaze eventually fixated on a singular object, one that stood out quite a bit in your room once noticed: It was a machete, and old but well-kept one, seemingly handmade instead of being bought in some random store. A family heirloom of your grandpa's on your mom's side. It looked a bit more like a sword than the typical machete, as it even had hand guards. The handle was made of sturdy-looking black wood, possibly ebony and it was beautifully carved with Aztec motifs with some gold-engraved highlights. It depicted the mighty feathered serpent Quetzalcóatl battling the god of darkness, Tezcatlipoca, who was in the form of a ferocious jaguar while the sun seemed to be falling from the sky.

The sun was indeed an Aztec Sun and it seemed to be made of carved jade, the green color looking odd to depict something like the sun though it made sense in context as your grandparents told you that according to Aztec legend, there were 4 suns before the one we currently live under and the 2nd one was the Sun of Wind, with Quetzalcóatl being said sun. So the battle shown in the machete's handle was supposed to be their final apocalyptic duel as the era of the Second Sun was coming to an end, with Tezcatlipoca attacking Quetzalcóatl out of spite and jealousy.

As to why you had such a machete in your room... well, that was your grandpa's gift for your 18th birthday, the day that you were supposed to have starting to become a grown up man, although everyone in your family agreed that the process would only finish at around 25. He entrusted you with it as the next male descendant in line from your mom's side of the family.

"I pray to the Great Quetzalcóatl that you may never have to use it other than as a simple tool" He said as he gave it to you "But if something ever arises, you'll know... and you shall use this to defend that which you care about the most, or your own life if it comes to that"

In times past, your grandpa told you plenty of stories from his youth, from the times when he grew up in a village deep within the jungles of Central Mexico. At first he didn't even know Spanish but he knew how to hunt and fish, how to cultivate the land and where to harvest useful natural resources, all while speaking Náhuatl, the Aztecs' original tongue. It was only when he met your grandma that she taught him how to read and speak Spanish and also about the greater world outside of what little he knew.

But by far, one of the stories that stood out to you the most was when he told you of the days shortly after he married your grandma. He went into what they call "el monte", the jungle wilderness and to a certain hill to procure honey from native bees and hunt for food along the way, you could clearly recall his words just like the day he told you:

"I was just arriving to the top of the hill, to the great Ahuehuete tree [Montezuma cypress] to reach the bees, carrying a boar that I had just hunted when I sensed that the wind shifted and got colder. I then looked up and saw that the sky darkened, the sun had just eclipsed! And there she stood, the abomination. Such a monstrous, terrifying entity, many would call it a devil but I knew what it truly was: A Tzitzimimeh! An envoy of the evil goddess Itzpapálotl, the Obsidian Butterfly, the one that wanted to destroy the world should the strength of Huitzilopochtli [Aztec god of war and also the 5th sun] and Quetzalcóatl fade"

"She was just exactly like the old books showed, a skeleton woman with ferocious claws and other... terrifying features best not described. She had no eyes, yet I could feel her looking at me with unfiltered malevolence, those empty eye sockets gave off more malice than even the most evil murderer, a raw hatred for mankind that no human heart is capable of harboring... And she lunged at me, eager to devour my flesh and extinguish my soul!"

"At that time, all I could think was: I have to go back home! I can't leave Xóchitl wondering about my fate! I cannot die here like a dog and leave my wife forever mourning my demise! I... I have to win! Somehow, I must fight! Even if this monstrosity rips my body to shreds, my soul will crawl back home... But I won't let it get there... I then tightly gripped my trusty machete, the same one my father entrusted me with, remembering that Xóchitl even blessed it that morning, praying to the gods for my safe return. The moment I touched the machete I could feel an odd, comforting warmth that reassured me I was not defenseless here"

"I dropped the boar I hunted and narrowly parried the Tzitzimimeh's fierce claws with the machete, retaliating with a swing that slashed across her face. And here's the thing: even though they are made of bone, if they get cut they will bleed! And bleeding is even deadlier to divine beings, for they cannot make their own blood but this also means her thirst for blood will grow too! I had to keep fighting, there was no way I'd let my life end here at the hands of a monster. My machete and her claws clashed many times, making sparks that brought some light in the darkness that surrounded us but it was not my machete what was getting dented, it was pieces of bone from her arms and claws that were sent flying!"

"I realized that when my blade touched that thing it burned, making the bone glow red and it softened it too, making it easier to cut. But the Tzitzimimeh was relentless, she tried to bite my head off many times, biting the machete's blade a few times but she rapidly spat it. In the end, just before the eclipse ended and the sun's light returned I was able to get a clean cut in, slicing across her neck. I watched how she fell limp just like any felled beast. Her body rapidly burned up into ashes that scattered to the wind and it was so fast that by the time the sun's light returned, she was gone, no trace had been left..."

Such had been the story he told you and at various times you had noticed that he had scars from claws on one of his arms and chest, those looked too big even for a bear.

"Those are from the claws of the Tzitzimimeh. Look, I know that now with all these fancy things people have nowadays, the radio, television and the Internet you'll think this is just some crazy old tale but I promise to you that what happened that day, when I was only barely 19, was real. I swear it upon the grave of all of our ancestors"

Grandma Xóchitl would confirm the truth of that story and also the part about her blessing the blade, demonstrating it for you. It was quite an elaborate rite with burning incense, offering some fruit, honey, pulque and chocolate to the ancient gods as well as prayers in Náhuatl.

You knew that your grandpa was definitely telling the truth with the way that he looked into his eyes, or at the very least he was convinced that it was and that was more than good enough for you. Even you had some reservations because Science still couldn't explain everything, and in those places, specially back in those days things that not many could explain could indeed happen. Besides, it was still an incredible story! Maybe one you'd share with your own children someday, or even grandchildren. Maybe you could even write about it...

Your phone's ringtone snapped you out of your thoughts and you quickly grabbed it, not even checking who was the caller but when you picked it up you were warmly greeted by your grandma Xóchitl, who told you that your grandpa Clemente was doing some gardening while she was away on some errands but his machete broke, asking to borrow yours.

"Of course! I mean, I can help him do whatever he's doing, he shouldn't even be out in the sun working in this heat!"

"Well honey, you know how stubborn the old man is but being fair, this isn't even as hot as it could get back in the jungle" She chuckled "Thank you so much, sweetie! I'll be sure to make you some amazing chocolate milk from the cacao pods we harvested last week!" She said as she hung up and you headed out to her house...

_{[Lore note: In real life indigenous native Mexicans are heavily Catholic but for the purposes of this story, both Clemente, Xóchitl and to a lesser extent Miriam revere the ancient Aztec gods instead, minus the thing about human sacrifices, mind you. Quetzalcóatl actually prohibited those during his reign according to myth. Also, if you really must know, the other "terrifying feature" of the Tzitzimimeh is a rattlesnake penis]}