(1)
"You don't have to cry," I spoke reaching up and gently stroking his cheek. "We will meet again."
I let my hand drop as I shifted into the darkness. The last thing I felt was his tender kiss on my lips.
"How are you holding up?" Rick asked lightly hitting Ardeth on the shoulder.
I emerged from the nearby wall fumbling to the ground.
My ears were extra sensitive to the noise everyone was making.
"No, don't shoot!" Ardeth shouted.
I pushed myself off the ground feeling my muscles tingle as they came back to life. I took my first breath wincing in pain as my lungs stretched to hold the air. I hung my head low as the feel of starvation caused me to hold my stomach.
"Sabrina?" Ardeth asked as he knelt down beside me.
"In the flesh," my voice cracked as I looked up through my long dark hair.
I collapsed then rolling on my side. Ardeth propped me up letting my head lay in his lap. I looked up at him as my fuzzy vision started to focus.
"I need to eat something," I said as my voice came in and out.
"Of course," Ardeth breathed.
"But she died…" Evie trailed off looming over me.
Ardeth quickly took out a few pieces of dried up food and started chewing on them. He bent over me and passed them from his mouth to mine.
"That's gross," Jonathan spoke in disgust.
"Her jaw is still too weak to chew any hard foods," Ardeth said repeating his actions.
"How is it that she lives when she died in your arms?" Evie asked.
"It's an old secret only a few of the Medjai know," I spoke sitting up.
"Theses robes are so heavy when you come back," I said as my arms had a hard time moving with the thick material covering them.
I slowly rose to my feet using the wall behind me as leverage. My legs were still asleep as the tingling sensation had yet to occur.
"Many years ago, there was a powerful sorcerer that came back from the underworld," Ardeth said watching me carefully.
"He was one of Imhoteps devoted servants," I added. "He made a bargain with the ruler of the underworld."
"He erupted from the sand for a few short moments and laid a curse on two particular Medjai," Ardeth said looking back down at his feet.
"He gave them the gift, or curse, of a lonely eternity," I spoke as some of my strength returned to me. "The two Medjai, fated to be lovers-"
"Were cursed to live for all eternity," Ardeth interrupted. "Only fulfilling their duties in life to protect the ancient temples of Egypt."
"Only allowed to show affection for one another in their last moments," I finished. "Just like his master, Imhotep, and his lover, Anck-Su-Namun."
Evie glanced back from me to Ardeth drawing the perfect picture.
"Let me guess," Rick said. "You two are the lucky ones?"
Ardeth and I remained silent and still.
"And… and there is no way to break this curse?" Evie asked.
"Not that we know of," I answered. "And we've been doing this for a while."
"And none of the other Medjai know about this?" Rick asked.
"They know of the legend," Ardeth answered. "But none of them have ever thought about it."
"And what happens when you try to show affection?" Evie asked curiously.
Ardeth looked down at his feet swallowing hard.
"It's better to show you, than to tell you," I answered standing upright.
I turned to face Ardeth barely four feet away from him. He positioned himself the same and gazed into my eyes with such sadness. I held a weak smile on my face trying to comfort him.
"It only hurts a little," I said taking one step forward.
Ardeth did the same, "Physically it hurts only a little."
We slowly raised our hands reaching out to one another. Both of our finger tips were only inches away. We leaned forward causing the curse to set in.
Our fingers began to turn to ash. Our skin peeled right off our bones, the muscle shriveled off, and the bone itself disintegrated barely making it to our feet before vanishing.
Ardeth and I inched forward as our hands crumbled off before us. Our robes never frayed as our arms were the next body part to deteriorate. Our hands would have been touching the other's shoulder had they still been there.
Ardeth and I were standing before one another. My robe began to fall against me as my breasts underneath began to vanish. The same started to happen to Ardeth's exposed chest as we still crept forward.
Ardeth lowered his head leaning in as I stood on my toes reaching up. Now our faces started to dismember. Our noses went first, followed by our foreheads and cheeks. Then our lips evaporated making our sign of affection worthless.
"Stop it!" Evie cried out pushing us away.
Ardeth took three giant steps back ad I nearly feel again the wall I came out of. Our bodies returned to normal instantly. Everything was intact and perfectly normal as Ardeth and I separated.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," I said moving my hair to one side. "But we just don't know how to describe what you saw in words."
Evie's eyes were glossy with tears. Rick's face was plastered in pain. Jonathan had his head turned the other direction.
"So you're like… star crossed lovers?" Rick asked.
"Not exactly..." I answered trailing off.
"The Gods and the stars want us together," Ardeth explained. "It's just this curse that keeps us from each other."
"How do you know the Gods want you two together?" Rick asked pointing to Ardeth and I.
I looked over my shoulder, "It's written in stone somewhere in Egypt."
"The Gods created two perfect beings. Perfect not only in appearance but also in heart. They were created, not born, to defend and serve their Gods and people," Ardeth began.
Now it was my turn to look down in embarrassment. Our story was so personal; so intimate.
"They were promised to one another from the very beginning. The Gods smiled upon them as they remained pure and innocent until the proper time came. The man was the mentor and taught the woman everything he knew about the life around them and swore to protect her from the dangers it had to offer," Ardeth continued.
"And when the time came was when the curse came," I stated ending the fairytale story Ardeth was telling.