Jogging along the beach, college footballer Jason Mendoza paused his workout when he saw something metallic glinting from the morning sun, half buried in the sand. The muscular young man took out his earbuds, taking a second to wipe off the accumulated sweat on his brow.
“What the . . . ” He whispered, reaching down and brushing some of the sand off.
Jason felt cool metal beneath his palm. Buried in the sand was a goblet covered in mysterious runes – it looked like it belonged in a museum. Carefully, he pulled the goblet out of the sand, holding it up to get a better look at it.
He’d never seen anything like it. ‘What is it made of?’ He wondered, the metal shining in the sunlight. It clearly wasn’t gold, nor was it silver or copper. Instead, it had an almost greenish tint to it.
After a few seconds of admiring the goblet, he mentally shrugged and placed the cup inside his sports bag. “Might be worth a few bucks.” Jason replaced his earbuds and resumed his morning jog.
Finishing up at the beach, Jason started the trek back to the frat house he was crashing at – Alpha Kappa Kappa. The weight of the goblet in his bag drew his thoughts. How lucky was he to find something like that? If it was worth something he’d make a quick buck. If it wasn’t he’d give it to Dante and his bros as a gift. Hurrying home, Jason saw the familiar sight of half-naked guys strewn across the lawn passed out and freshmen pledges cleaning up after the party last night.
Passing a couple of pledges, Jason said hello and made his way inside, ducking around a girl running outside, her clothes ruffled and her hair in disarray. Shaking his head at the sight, Jason quickly made his way to his shared room, pausing to make sure Dante was still asleep. The huge African American frat boy was passed out. ‘Thank god.’ Jason thought. A hungover Dante was an annoying Dante, and he didn’t want to be here when the man woke up.
He threw his bag on his bed and quickly stripped, heading towards the shower. The water felt cool against his skin; Jason took a short shower and then got out and dried off, before wrapping his towel around his waist and heading back into the room.
Jason sat on his bed and retrieved the goblet from his bag, looking it over more closely.