A Misadventure in Archeology

**DISCLAIMER:

All characters in this story are over 18 and purely creations of fiction. Everything depicted is intended to be consensual acts involving adults. This is meant to be a fun story with only a loose connection to real life. It is not meant to be realistic. This is meant to be read for enjoyment, so hopefully you have some fun reading it. Thanks!**

**This story was written for the

Literotica April Fools Story Contest 2025

**

Vicky was having the time of her life when she was given an opportunity to go on an expedition into the unknown and forgotten places of the world, or at least places unknown and unremembered by her. She had a passion for exploration, and she thought she deeply enjoyed learning. In truth, the one thing she actually enjoyed about learning something was being given an opportunity to be proud that she knew more than someone else.

This had started off as just a mild character flaw when she was young, but as she grew up it turned into a major source of annoyance to nearly every one she interacted with. In almost every conversation Vicky would try to over explain a topic to prove just how much she knew about it, even when it was a topic the person talking to her already knew a lot about. During her college education she had exasperated all her peers as she immediately assumed they knew nothing compared to her vast wealth of knowledge. Her teachers and instructors also quickly grew frustrated with the young woman. When she had decided to go for a masters they had scrambled to find ways to get her away.

Vicky's chosen field of study was archeology, so luckily for her professors they were able to find a way to send her off and get her out of their hair. She thought being sent on a solo expedition as a first year graduate student was an example of just how brilliant she was, but it was just an excuse by her professors to have her as far away as they could get her. Vicky was sure she was going to make a big name for herself and discover something amazing.

Sending her on an expedition hadn't been the first choice of the teachers. Many wanted to kick her out, but that wasn't an option. Despite their dislike for her, Vicky's professors didn't want to offend her or do anything that might anger her. Her family was exorbitantly wealthy, and they were major donors to the school and needed to be kept happy. So the destination they chose had been carefully picked. They made sure the trip was made to a place that was safe, and also that she couldn't do any harm to any actual research.

Her expedition was to a site in Peru. It was a place that the university had gone to many times, and the faculty had many close ties to the people there. Everything of any major archeological worth had been well documented already, and the area was being carefully developed into a spot focused on showcasing the history of the land for tourists. The area was remote and not heavily populated, but it was hoped that it might become a hotspot in the future.

Vicky however didn't care that there weren't any grand discoveries waiting for her to unearth, or perhaps she didn't even understand the site she was going to. She was determined to uncover something amazing, and she didn't listen to anything or anyone that told her otherwise. This quickly became a large source of annoyance to the scholars residing at the site who had to deal with her.

Filled with motivation, Vicky tried to launch several expeditions into the nearby jungles and mountains despite the protests of those in charge. The scholars had been given strict instructions to not upset Vicky too much in order to avoid her family's displeasure, but this soon became hard to manage. Her ambition quickly became so tiring to deal with that the scholars came up with a plan to try and distract the young woman.

She was told that she was being given a chance to explore an unknown mountain trail that might have lost secrets. What they hadn't told Vicky was that she actually was going to walk an extremely well explored trail that was only a few decades old. In fact, the small group of locals she was given to help her 'explore' this trail had traveled it dozens of times, as it was popular for the scenic views it held as it climbed up through the mountains.

One of her reluctant guides who was ordered to babysit her on the trip was Pariapichiu. He was a local of the area and also one of the head researchers at the site. His passion for his culture's history was as true and strong as it could be. He had studied at several prestigious schools all over the world and was renowned for his expertise and skills in a multitude of fields, but he had come back to his home to dedicate his energies into making sure the knowledge of his ancestors was respected and persevered.

Pariapichiu had gone by several names and nicknames throughout his education across the world, since he knew his birth name was hard to pronounce for many people. But when Vicky first heard him introduce himself she hadn't even waited for him to offer some easier to call him by. She had given him the nickname Robby, and since she thought she had a talent for giving good names she had refused to call him by any other name.

She didn't care that it wasn't anything close to his actual name, she insisted on calling him Robby. Vicky even refused to call him by the Spanish Roberto, which she declared was too hard to say. The woman also gave nicknames to the other guides, some of which were far worse than Robby. So begrudgingly Pariapichiu accepted Robby as a temporary nickname.

"Robby, how far is it to the end of the trail? I'm starting to get bored just walking. I can't waste my life just trudging along this stupid path, I should be uncovering mythic relics of your ancient past." Vicky grumbled.

Hearing her complaint Robby rolled his eyes as he glanced at the friends of his who had come along on the trip. They had done it as a personal favor to the man, but halfway through the first day they were already beginning to regret having to follow this pretentious foreigner. Robby was trying to keep their spirits high, showing them that he knew just how annoying their charge was.

Vicky had already proven how tiresome she was to deal with. She had also proved how disrespectful of the work Robby and his team had done. She seemed to think that they needed her to do some real archeology, and to show them all the things they had missed. Vicky eagerly portrayed herself as the American savior sweeping in with enlightenment for all the ignorant and primitive savages. If she knew how offensive that idea was, Vicky never let it bother her.

"It's nearly a week's walk, Victoria. This is a sacred road, one that tests the pilgrims who walk it. Only the worthy can reach the end, that's why we need you to get us there." Robby told her.

Robby's every word was dripping with heavy sarcasm, but he had already learned that Vicky didn't seem to pick up on it. Regardless of how much mockery he put in his voice Vicky never seemed to realize it. She always thought she was the best thing on earth, so she just thought people were being honest when they joked about how great she was. Most mockery just passed right over her head.

It wasn't even his accent that masked his tone. Robby had both a perfect American accent and an English accent, both having been built up while studying abroad. Robby only used his less posh American accent around Vicky though, as he had quickly learned that the English accent had made her feel unsophisticated in comparison and that had angered the girl.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't let myself get too annoyed at the distance then. I do have the responsibility of leading you all to the secrets your ancestors hid away. I might be your only chance to recover so much that has been lost." Vicky declared.

Her stride, which had been somewhat slowing as they moved higher into the mountains, then quickly picked up. She walked with more confidence and purpose, eager to find her glory at the end of the trail. Robby smiled at the success of his little trick. It had been easy to goad Vicky into being more eager to continue the walk, and he knew that she was only starting to get lazy and not truly tired. The young woman had a young athlete's strong but slender body, and she shouldn't have been too tired from the trek quite yet. Robby himself was hardly bothered at all by the journey so far, and though he was fairly fit he still was nearing twice the young lady's age.

The rest of the morning and the early afternoon went by without too much trouble. Vicky spent much of the time regaling her guides with all the information she knew about their people's history. She didn't ask a single time if they already knew, and she wouldn't have cared if they had told her. Robby had instructed his friends to humor the woman, and so they didn't let her know that much of what she thought she knew was common knowledge among them, and the rest was so incorrect it offended some of them.

The mood among his friends was getting fairly sour and discontented, and Robby was more worried about keeping Vicky's attention on the journey. As it approached the early evening the girl was starting to get restless once more, unhappy from not immediately finding spectacular success and glory. Thankfully Robby had planned for this.

He had sent two people ahead of the main group, and their task was to plant a few items for Vicky to 'discover' along the way. None of the items were real relics, though most of them looked at least somewhat authentic. Robby was hoping they would be enough to fool the ambitious girl, so he was delighted by her reaction to her first find.

His friends had left the first fake artifact hanging from a tree overhanging the trail. It was a small effigy made out of twigs and string with a few charms attached. The item was something like the things sold at roadside tourist traps hoping to trick gullible foreigners, and it worked even better on Vicky. The girl let out a cry of triumph as she plucked it from the tree, not caring that she nearly broke it in her eagerness to get it down. She danced for a moment as she giggled and grinned, and then showed it proudly to her guides.

As Vicky confidently and incorrectly told her guides just how important and special the item was that she had just found, Robby thought about just how unqualified the young woman was. If it were a real relic then she would have almost certainly destroyed it with her carelessness. From the way she didn't even really inspect it before jumping to conclusions about what it was, he was sure that she didn't care about proper identification and cataloging. Robby suddenly felt less guilty about tricking the young woman, though he hadn't felt particularly guilty in the first place. Her disrespect went beyond offending just people, her lack of care also disrespected the science of archeology itself.

Vicky's joy at finding her first piece of ancient history made her hurry all the rest of the day. As she nearly rushed along the trail she continued to lecture her guides on just how lucky they were to have her explain such relics of their history to them. This only increased as she found two more 'relics', and she was quite ecstatic at the progress she was making as they set up camp for the night. With each artifact found Vicky proved how gullible she was, as she didn't doubt the authenticity of them at all.

While Robby and his friends set up the tents, built a fire, and prepared supper, Vicky spent the entire time trying to explain why the relics she had found would revolutionize the understanding of history as it was known. Robby was frustrated enough by her lack of assistance in any of the work, that he almost told her that what she had found was worthless junk and plastic baubles. But he kept his mouth shut, even as she tried to reinvent his own ancestor's mythology.

After supper Vicky quickly retired to her private tent and was soon snoring. Robby remained awake for a while with his friends. He spent the time trying to soothe their annoyance, promising them that it would get better. The attempts at calming them down were in part to convince his friends not to do anything that would go too far.

They all had habits of playing pranks, especially on those that deserved some comeuppance, and he could feel their desire to play a nasty trick on Vicky. The planting of fake artifacts had made them already start to scheme about what else they could do to fool the young woman. She had proven quite well that she would be an easy mark for a good prank. Robby also felt the urge to have a little fun at her expense, but he wasn't quite ready to do anything too drastic. He was determined to maintain a level of patience with the arrogant girl.

In the morning Vicky quickly put his patience to the test. She awoke shortly before dawn, and immediately demanded that they break camp and start down the trail again. Her sleep appeared to have been restful and restorative, which it should have been considering how many luxuries they had hauled along the trail and then set up for her. Vicky had slept on a soft cushion in a spacious tent, whereas her guides had only two thin mats. The men among them shared one, and the women the other, while they all shared tents that would have been cramped with half their number.

With Vicky already on his nerves, Robby was tempted to give permission to his friends to set up a less than friendly prank for her, but he held back. He begrudgingly gave the order to break camp, though he insisted on letting his friends make a quick breakfast. Vicky was aghast at the delay, and complained the whole time until they were walking again. Though she was eager to get going, Vicky's haste didn't encourage her to help at all in stowing their supplies, nor did she offer to carry anything extra.

Along the path Vicky found a few more of the planted relics, though to Robby's amusement the girl wasn't observant enough to find some of them. He watched her walk past a few fake artifacts that were left in very conspicuous spots. He once more wondered what, if anything, this girl had actually learned during her undergraduate studies. She seemed so focused on herself and her own glory that she barely even had time to find things purposefully left out to stroke her ego.

With each 'discovery' Vicky continued to lecture on what new theories of hers that they proved. It didn't matter that each idea was clearly only thought up seconds before she announced them to her guides, Vicky preached the theories as if they were gospel and she was reading straight from sacred texts. She was never less than completely confident in any idea that she had.

Her privileged attitude wasn't new, Robby had seen it before and wasn't bothered by too much. Her lazy and self-centered work ethic was something the man had dealt with in the past. But it was her disrespect for the culture and history that he had spent his life trying to piece together and preserve that finally broke Robby. He couldn't just stand by and do nothing as she dismissed all the work he and his peers had tirelessly done, and he couldn't keep on listening to her stomp all over actual archaeological history. The girl needed to be taught a lesson, and if she didn't learn from it then he and his guides should at least enjoy it.

As she gave one more speech on how little they must know about the history she was discovering, Robby turned to his best friend among the guides, Luis. Luis was the person most eager to pull a prank on Vicky, and he had a history of putting together some surprisingly creative pranks. Robby gave his permission for Luis to plan whatever he wanted. Luis gave Robby a bright smile and quickly turned to his girlfriend, who was one of several women with them, and began to plan. Robby knew that they would quickly be in contact with the people he had sent ahead. It wouldn't be long till Vicky's string of successful discoveries would take a turn.

The prank came together quickly and was soon set into motion. Despite how short a time they had to plan Luis had put some masterful work into the idea. It began with a new type of relic for Vicky to find. Instead of the usual cheap trinket, the men ahead had planted a small scroll for her to find. On it was a guide translating a variety of symbols into English. Vicky didn't appear confused or suspicious at all that the scroll had modern English on it written with what was clearly a modern pen, which convinced Robby that she was one of the most foolish, ignorant, and gullible people he had ever met.

Vicky was declaring the scroll an even greater achievement in translation than the Rosette's Stone when she stumbled across the next part of the puzzle. It was a series of the symbols from her scroll hastily carved into a fallen tree branch that blocked the path. Even with how obvious it was Vicky nearly stepped over it before Luis subtly called out that there might be something special about the branch.

After a brief inspection, and quick reminder from another guide about the scroll, Vicky soon translated the carving. It was a message indicating that there was something very sacred and powerful just a little further along the path. After reading the message Vicky's enthusiasm and excitement skyrocketed. She didn't care that the carving was as fresh as it could be, she was certain that she had just found evidence both ancient and secret. She dashed in a nearly full run along the trail in her eagerness to discover whatever it might be.

It was early evening by the time the final bit of the puzzle was found by Vicky. The sun was starting to set, though the moon was already out and very bright. There was still plenty of light as Vicky stumbled across the site where the prank would come together.

The location was a smallish flat spot along the trail. The road by this point had gotten somewhat high into the mountains, and the spot was situated near a cliff that fell sharply into the valley below. The area had several unlit torches in a circle around a well used and locally made blanket and a big stone. The stone had a large flat top with a small wooden statue on it. The top of the stone also had symbols from the scroll chiseled into it. Even knowing how relatively soft that type of stone was, Robby was impressed by how fast it had been done.

Seeing the spot Vicky let out a squeal of excitement and bounced up and down for a moment. Stepping forward she started to study the stone, pulling out her scroll. Without glancing back towards her guides she demanded someone light the torches.

"No... No... We cannot, miss. Please do not be angry. But... that is a sacred circle, and such lowly people as us are not worthy to be in it." Luis stammered out, putting his best acting into making himself sound both fearful and reverent.

Turning back to look at them Vicky saw Luis and the other guides acting spooked and scared, not daring to approach the spot. Even Robby was joining in, though he had not been prepped by his friend on what to expect. Seeing their hesitation Vicky's eyes grew wide, and it was clear that she thought whatever she had found was something truly special. There was no sense of fear that she was disturbing something sacred. It was obvious that Vicky thought herself worthy enough to be in any holy spot. She took out her own lighter to light the torches, and then hastily began to translate the writing on the stone.

"I... I think this is a sacred spot dedicated to the moon priestess." Vicky said, her excitement growing with each word. "It says... It says something about an important ritual. That if someone worthy performs the ritual here, then they will be awarded with great and mighty power! They will be given secrets that have been hidden for thousands of years!"