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Paradise Once traces the aftermath of the massacre by Spanish forces of the fictional Maima village in Cuba in 1513. Some believe the destruction of Maima is the result of angering the cemies - Taino spiritual entities - when foreign practices, contrary to the sacred laws of the Taino, began to infiltrate the village. Four young people who survive the massacre are unwittingly chosen by the cemies to save a Sacred Bundle and return it to a cave in the Cauta mountain, the mythological place the Taino are believed to have come from: Sekou, an enslaved African born in Spain who has aligned himself with the Taino resistance; Night Orchid, a young girl and the reluctant bearer of the Sacred Bundle; the young Taino noble Heart of Palm; and finally Flint, whose mother is part of the ''Old Ones,'' a remnant group of people on the islands displaced by the Taieno. The four survivors start off on separate paths and only learn of their roles in the sacred mission when they unite at the holy site and encounter the Maima shaman Candlewood. Under the direction of the cemies, Candlewood guides them into the cave, where the ''dark'' shaman Shark Tooth - who has sold his soul to the underworld powers-awaits. As they progress on their journey, Candlewood informs them of the leadership roles they are destined to play in the preservation of the Taino culture. In time, they will together defend the heartland as resistance fighters who will become known in history as Cimarrones or Maroons. But first they must defeat Shark Tooth in a life-or-death battle for the possession of the Bundle in the sacred ball court at Cauta, the fate of the entire Taino people in their hands.