My fellow writer YamiYugiCandy (Alane) decided to quit writing. In her words, "writing was always more of a hobby to me, and I've just lost my drive for it. It doesn't excite me like it used to." It's always sad to see a good writer go, but I respect her decision. However, because so many people liked this story, she has given it to me to re-write and complete. She gave me her plot ideas and layouts for the story, and I will write it as she (hopefully) intended it to be.

So, therefore, we will (hesitantly?) call this a collaboration, though we are not in contact anymore. Even so, I do hope you all enjoy it. Make sure to check out Alane's other stories that she's left up on her account.

The walls were chipped and sandy, damp to the touch from the bit of humidity that was hanging inside the cavernous space. Hieroglyphs covered the surface sporadically; some bearing warnings, some revealing tips about the tomb. Others were merely old, religious writings of Gods and Great Men. The only light was from the two circular of the flashlights two adventurers carried as they carefully made their way down the jagged, narrow hall. The shorter of the two shined his light on the wall, causing the thin layer of humidity to glisten in a mysteriously beautiful way. Almost like gems were embedded into the surface.

He read the ancient carvings carefully, deciphering them: "'Stop whilst you can'," He said out loud for his friend. Unlike him, the taller was not a renown linguist, "'or you shall come to face a danger beyond your wildest fears. If your plans are of impure deeds, all that awaits for you, thief, is a new home within the shadows. There is no escape from the judge's eye…'" He trailed off, surprised. "That's all it says. The rest has been chipped away. Either erosion or vandalism."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't sound too friendly…" The other said, trying to hide his fear without much success. "Y'know, maybe we should just go? We made it this far already. That's an accomplishment, Yuugi."

Yuugi swung around to face his friend's face, making the taller squint from the sudden brightness.
"But, Jou…" He was almost whining. "We've got past all the traps so far. We can do this."

"Okay, but the warnings for the others didn't sound so…serious." Jou said nervously. He'd never been too comfortable with the occult. In fact, right now he was probably wondering why he'd even come on this adventure. So was Yuugi, for that matter.

"I'm not scared." Yuugi teased bitterly.

"There's a point where bravery becomes insanity."

"Ha, ha." Yuugi rolled his eyes, but the fire inside him couldn't be put out.

"You are so anal about this…"

"It's a challenge." Yuugi said, determined. He turned back to the darkness in front of them. "And I don't back down from challenges."

"Which brings us back to the whole bravery-becoming-insanity thing I mentioned earlier." Jou muttered, shuddering. "Do you want me to beg? Fine. I will beg. Can we please go? Pleeease? Please. I'll literally pay you to turn around now. This place gives me a major case of the heebie-jeebies." He looked around, eyes looking almost black in the scarce light.

Yuugi graced the ceiling with an eye roll.
"If you want to leave, then leave. No one is forcing you to stay."

"I was afraid you'd say that… Fine. But if I see any mummies, you're on your own, Mr. Mutou!"

"Understood, Mr. Jonouchi."

They both walked toward the large opening, finding themselves in a wide room. Yuugi knew they must have been a few stories underground by now. He looked around and, after seeing no danger, grinned at Jou, gesturing for him to go first. Jou shook his head very quickly and made the universal sign for "after you!" Yuugi's grin turned into a wicked smirk at his friend's fear before he moved forward, pointing the light at the ground. It would be very counterproductive if, as he was walking, the floor suddenly disappeared. That had happened not long ago in the third room—

"Yuugi! Watch out!" Jou yelled, and he grabbed his friend roughly by the back of his shirt. When Yuugi looked up, he saw a wall of metal spikes inches away from his face. He swallowed hard and turned to Jou.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Jou replied, letting him go. He then examined the spikes, grimacing as he touched the point of one. Blood sprouted from a small prick in his finger. "Wow. Still sharp." He commented. "I thought they didn't have metal in Egypt that long ago…?"

"They did, actually." Yugi corrected. "But it was for armor and spears - and gold for the wealthy, mostly. It was hard for Egypt to get supplies unless they made it or found it themselves because Egypt was blocked from everyone else by four natural barriers."

"Um…what?"

"In the north, there was the Mediterranean Sea, then cataracts in the south, the Libyan dessert in the west, and in the east there was the Red Sea." Yugi paused, thinking. "But, even so, they didn't have the technology to be able to mount spikes onto the wall…not exactly like this, anyway. Also, judging by how sharp and clean they are, I'd say they weren't put here thousands of years ago. There's not one bit of rust on them."

"Meaning?" Jou asked.

"Meaning that they're pretty new. Maybe only - at most - a couple decades old." Yuugi looked up at him. "This room is rigged with traps from three-thousand years ago and newer ones."

Jou eyed the spikes.
"M-maybe we should just go then…?"

"No."

"No?" Jou's voice became very high pitched. He cleared his throat, trying to pass it off as a cough.

"Yes."

"Yes!"

"Wai—no!"

"But you said yes!"

"I meant yes to your no!"

"Yeah, so we're leaving?"

Yuugi rubbed his temples and breathed in a deep, even breath.
"No. And I mean no, I'm not leaving. Stop trying to trip me up in your word play."

"Don't give me more bullshit about it being a challenge."

"Jou, think about it! All these traps are here for a reason. Old and new traps? Who would spend their time adding new traps to an old, presumably empty tomb? There must be something very important here. And I want to know what it is."

"I thought you weren't interested in treasure?"

"I'm not." Yuugi assured him quickly; that was the very last thing on his mind. "It's a mystery…I have to solve it. My curiosity is about to burn me alive! I may not get a chance like this again."

"Maybe you like challenges a little too much." Jou rubbed his forehead. "Okay, let's go. The sooner we get to the end, the sooner we can leave, right? Just make sure you watch everything - not just the ground."

Yuugi nodded and started walking forward again, keeping his eyes open. Before they knew it, they were halfway across the room - halfway to the giant, gold encrusted doors they could now see on the other end. However, something wasn't quite right… Yuugi frowned, eyes sweeping the room carefully yet again. Where are all the traps? The ancient writing had indicated more danger than this. Every room before this had been full of them. Walking in this far without encountering anything was… highly suspicious.

"Those statues are creeping me out." Jou said suddenly, voice wavering once more. "They're all just standing there. I feel like they're actually watching us." Yuugi sighed and hung his head, wondering again why Jou had come along when it was so obvious the man was terrified. Then, he snapped his head back up and spun around to stare at Jou.

"What statues?" He demanded.

"Those ones!" Jou pointed to the wall. Yuugi turned and saw what he was talking about. All of the statues were the body of a man, but with the head of a great falcon. Their right foot was forward; a symbol of their devotion to the king of Egypt - The Pharaoh, a living God among men.

"Jou, don't freak out…" He started slowly, in the tone of a person who knew exactly that the other was going to freak out anyway. "But those weren't there a moment ago."

Jou let out a shivering whine, face turning white.

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