The Scepter of Sekhemkhet
It was over for me, but not for them—at least not yet, I thought as I ran as fast as I could away from the tall, dark figure pursuing me through the deserted corridors of the empty corridors of the museum James had led us to.
Please let it be not over for them, I pleaded, this is our only shot at this.
Three days prior
I think I should have known that was something was going to go wrong the moment James burst in the apartment I shared with Remus, waving what appeared to be a photocopied piece of a really old parchment.
It didn't take me long to realize that this was the same piece of parchment he had spent the last two months obsessing over. Ever since it had been brought back from one of the digs in Egypt, James had been set on deciphering it, certain it contained the map leading to a great treasure.
"I did it," James yelled, a wide smile on his face. He was out of breath – knowing his best friend, James had probably run here from his office – and from the way he was barely able to stay still, he was excited. "Sirius, Remus, I did it! You'll never believe what happened, or how-"
"Calm down, James, they're not going anywhere," came Lily's amused voice. She was a sight for sore eyes: red hair that glowed like fire, wearing an emerald green dress that seemed to make her eyes shine with an inner light, and of course, a fond smile as she looked at her excited husband.
"I know, Lils', but can you imagine what this will mean? Just the thought of finally finding it, the lost scepter of Sekhemkhet – you know, it's said to be able to cure plagues and control the weather. This could truly be the most important discovery of my career!"
"I know, love," she reassured him, before turning toward me and Remus. We had been sitting on the couch, watching re-runs of Dr. Who (Remus was a fan and to be completely honest, I didn't entirely dislike it), and I had muted the TV as soon as James had flung the door open. "I'm sorry about this boys, but he really wanted to share this with you."
"It's fine, Lily," Remus answered with an apologetic smile of his own, "we're used to it by now. I think there'd have to be something wrong with James for him not to come to us every time he finds something," he laughed.
James pouted. "Come on, aren't excited? This could be just like that time in Thebes – the three of us hunting for a mysterious artefact, Lily the muse that keeps me on track… What do you say?"
While I didn't miss the way James had stumbled over the word three – no doubt a reminder of the way there had once been four of them – I also couldn't help the slow spread of a smile on my face. I had been getting bored of my job lately.
It wasn't that art retrieval wasn't interesting, because it really could be, but there was something missing. To be completely honest, ever since James had taken up the position at the university, I had been missing the taste of adventures we had spent our twenties chasing.
Sharing a quick look with Remus, it became obvious that he felt the same.
From Lily's sigh as she moved to the kitchen, saying she'd make them some coffee, she had already guessed what they were going to say.
"Count us in," I replied, feeling the familiar thrill of a mystery blossom in my veins.
We smiled and moved to the kitchen table, clearing it quickly, and it felt like we were twenty again, young men just out of university and determined to take on the world.
I had truly missed this.
.x.
"So, what can you tell us about this scepter we're looking for?" I asked James as Remus helped him spread the map he had reconstituted across the table.
"Well, it's magical," James started, and I wasn't quick enough to hide my wince this time. "Come on, Sirius, magic is good," James added with a mischievous smirk.
"Yes, Sirius – magic is good," Remus teased.
"Say that again after you're held hostage by zombie and made to drink a weird love potion," I mumbled, shaking my head as I tried to clear the memories of that particular adventure out of my mind.
James and Remus both laughed, but I was saved by Lily's return from the kitchen. She set the tea on the table, far enough from the paper James had pulled out not to risk damaging them, but close enough that the cups were easy to reach for. The gesture look so practiced it could only have been done hundreds of times, and the same went for the quick chaste kiss the couple shared.
"Teasing Sirius again, are you? It's not his fault he's highly susceptible to womanly wiles, you know?" Lily smirked as she sat down in the chair next to the one her husband had claimed.
"Thank you," I breathed out, before I froze, registering what she had just said. "Hey! I'm not susceptible!"
Remus patted my shoulder. "Of course you're not, Padfoot. Of course you're not." Even he couldn't hide the laughter in his voice, and I scowled.
"Sure, mock me – see if I care when the same thing happens to you."
"You've gotta admit, mate, that these things always do seem to happen to you," James laughed. "Sorry, but it's true."
I scowled again, and huffed deeply. "Anyway, that's not the point – you were going to tell us about this scepter of yours."
"It's not mine," James corrected. "It belonged to Sekhemkhet, and I have reason to believe that this," and there he pointed at the map-like photocopy of a parchment he had brought, "can lead us right to it."
"How?" Remus asked, his tone suddenly focused and interested as he leaned toward the map.
"Well, it's rather simple. You see…"
What followed were two hours of James explain just how he had deciphered the map – a complete accident, brought on by him spilling some coffee over his earlier copy of the document and realizing that some of the lines were too stylized to be actual characters – how he had discovered what it lead to – that symbol on the top right corner was actually the modified glyph Sekhemkhet's scribes had used - and finally, where they should go.
It turned out, even though the map had been found in Egypt, the scepter might actually be there, right in the midst of London.
"How is that possible?" Lily asked, fascinated.
The tea had long grown cold by then, but none of us cared. Even Lily, usually more down to earth about her dealings with our passion for ancient artefacts, had been drinking James' every word.
"I think the scepter might have been brought back through another expedition – of course, they would have no idea of what they were bringing back, but that just means there's a chance the scepter might still be there!"
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" I asked, pushing back my chair to get up, my two hands hitting the table. "Let's go get it!"
Just then, the clock rang midnight.
"Maybe we should wait until the morning," James replied sheepishly, hiding a yawn in a too wide smile.
I was surprised to find that I was suddenly tired. Excitement still cursed through my veins, but it seemed muted somehow.
We agreed to reconvene tomorrow morning at James' and Lily's place, and Remus and I escorted them to the door.
"Can you believe it?" Remus asked me as soon as we closed the door. "The three of us, getting back in the hunting treasure business?"
"The four of us, you mean," I corrected. Lily was a better fit than Peter had ever been, and there was no way she would ever betray them like that dirty rat had. "But yeah, I know what you mean. It does seem kind of surreal, doesn't it?"
"It really does," Remus whispered as we moved to our respective bedrooms. "It really does."
I wasn't sure I would be able to sleep because of how excited I was to hear about James' newest find, but I was out the moment my head hit the pillow.
Two days prior
Remus and I both saw that something had gone wrong the moment we pulled over to the Potter's house, only to find the door wide open, its hinges broken. Inside was no better. There was broken glass everywhere, the sunflowers Lily loved so spilled all over the floor in a mess of trampled petals and water, and the coffee table Remus had bought the happy couple two years ago was snapped in two, looking like someone had fallen on top of it.
I felt a pit open in my stomach, and my blood run cold.
"We should call the police," Remus whispered, beside me, but neither of us made any move to reach for our phone.
"James? Lily?" I called, slowly reaching to grab a piece of wood that had broken off of one of the table's legs. "Anyone here?"
We heard a shuffling noise upstairs. I gripped my poorly-made weapon and gestured at Remus to follow me as I moved toward the stairs.
I called for James and Lily again, but there was still no answer. We climbed up the stairs as quietly and quickly as we could. The sounds came from James and Lily's bedroom. My heart beat like a hammer in my chest as I slowly pushed the door open, and what I saw nearly had me let go of my weapon in relief.
"James! You're alright! I mean, are you alright?" I asked, rushing over to his side.
James was half-lying, half-sitting against his bed, and he looked pretty bad. There was a heavy bruise forming on his forehead and what looked like dried blood on his knuckles and in his hair – the later obviously his own, but I wasn't sure about the former.
"Hi guys," he greeted us weakly, reaching behind him for the bed to help himself get up. "Welcome to the party," he added with a fake smile.
"What happened here, James?" Remus asked urgently.
James sighed, and I got the sick feeling that I wasn't about to like what he was going to say.
I was right.
"They were waiting for us when we got back from your place – I have no idea how they knew where we'd be or when we'd get there, they must have been hiding here for hours. I tried to, I tried to fight them, but they took her. God, Siri, they took her, they took Lily," James explained, a tortured look in his eyes. "I tried, but I couldn't, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't-"
"Hey, breathe, James. Breathe. We'll get her back, we'll call the police and they'll get her back," I told him quietly, patting him on the shoulder.
He reached out to grab my shirt so suddenly I nearly feel backward. "No police! We can't! They said if I called the police they'd kill her!" He moaned in pain, his hands reaching for his head. He betted away Remus' hands when he tried to help. "I'm fine," he bit out.
"No you're not," Remus bit back just as tightly, "you've been hit pretty hard on the head, I need to check it out."
For all that we mocked him for choosing to train as a nurse; we shamelessly took advantage of that training. I can't even count the number of times Remus saved our asses by taking care of the wounds we got while on our treasure hunts, and even before that.
I shot James a glare, told him that the faster he got through this, the faster we could get to searching for Lily, and he eventually relented, letting Remus check him over.
"You're fine," Remus finally said, sounding put-upon. Knowing him, he had been hoping to find a reason for James to be confined to a hospital or his house while they called the proper authority to look for Lily.
"So now that this is over with, what can you tell us about what happened?" I asked him.
James sighed, and reluctantly showed us a card he had kept crumpled in his left hand. The symbol on it froze the blood in my veins, the black widow standing on a red spider wed unmistakable.
"What did they want?" I breathed out, reaching for the bed and weakly sitting down beside James. I could see Remus doing the same on the other side of James, but my focus was on what my friend was saying.
"Somehow," he explained, "they found out about the scepter and they want it for themselves."
"We can't let that happen!" Remus protested, before cutting himself short, his eyes widening as he remembered just what had happened. "That's why they took Lily, didn't they?" He said, defeated. "They want you to get it for them. James, you can't – you know what they'll do if they get their hands on that scepter!"
"I know what they'll do to my wife if I don't give it to them!' James spat back, sounding tortured. "I have to, they gave me two days, I have to get them the scepter then, and they'll give me back Lily."
"Then that's what we'll do – we'll get the scepter, and in two days, we'll get Lily back. But we'll do it our way – we can't let the Widow win, James, you know we can't," I said with a confidence I didn't quite feel.
"You think we can?" James asked.
"I know we can," Remus answered, catching up on what I was trying to do. "You should get cleaned up, we'll wait for you downstairs."
James nodded, and we left him so he could change.
"We have to tell the police," Remus whispered to me harshly once we were downstairs.
"We can't," I whispered back in the same tone. "You heard what they'd do to Lily if we do. If anything were to happen to Lily it'd destroy him, I won't – I can't do that to him."
"This isn't just about Lily anymore! Don't you remember what that scepter can do? The entire world could be at risk from this, who knows what the Widow could do with this scepter if they got their hands on it! Come on Sirius, you know I'm right!"
I winced, but I knew Remus was right. This truly was bigger than all of us, and trying to deal with it on our own could only lead to disaster. But as I had just told Remus, there was nothing else I was willing to do.
"We'll find a way," I finally whispered, sending him a look that I hoped conveyed how I thought this conversation was over.
"I hope you're right," Remus answered, and then we both turned to greet James as he came down the stairs.
Dressed in clean clothes and hair still damp from the shower, James looked a hundred times better already.
"Let's get started," he said, and we followed him outside.
.x.
James first led us to his office, explaining that the Widow agents had also grabbed all the research James had kept at hand.
"Thankfully," I still keep copies of everything in my desk," he explained.
At first I thought that this place had been ransacked too, but soon I realized that this was just how James kept it. Pieces of papers and yellowed photocopies of old documents were spread out on every surfaces, and there were a couple of boards pulled up in the middle of the room, red strings connecting dots, places and documents.
We didn't really have the time to admire James' work. He grabbed a handful of pieces of papers, a couple of pens and a notebook, which he all stuffed into the bag he had been carrying the whole time, and then we stormed back out of the way we had come from.
Our first stop was at a Mr. Thompkin's, who James had learned had taken part in an expedition that had led to the discovery of artefacts from the Third Dynasty.
Thankfully, Thompson was there, and happily told them that everything they had brought back was being kept in the Museum, except for a few pieces that had been claimed by the Egyptian government.
"I think I still have a list somewhere," the aging man had confessed, excusing himself from the room to go look for it in his office.
James' hands were trembling so much that I was forced to hold them to keep them still – he kept bouncing his knees( in stress or excitement, I couldn't tell) and it was obvious to me that he was biting back on cutting remarks for the man to hurry up.
Finally, the man came back and I let go of James' hands to let him grab the list.
"Here it is," Thompson said with a grandfatherly smile. "Why did you say you needed it already?"
"We didn't," I answered honestly, seeing as James was too focused on the list to do anything but mutter the items' names, Remus just as intent by his side. "But friend here is doing a class on the Third Dynasty next semester, and thought it'd be a good idea to drag us along on his search for information," I joked, swallowing past my dry throat.
The man nodded, and we left shortly after that with a copy of the list in our hands, aware that this day would soon end, bringing us ever so closer to the ultimatum the Widow had given James.
We tried going to the Museum next, but found that it was already close by the time we got there. James managed to book an appointment for the next day with the curator, and we brought James back to our place to focus on the list.
The copy of the map from last night was still there, as were the four empty cups of tea. They stood there like ghosts of a happier time, and I was suddenly overcome by a powerful urge to destroy them. The only thing that stopped me was James' urgent walk to the map, and the way he pulled out the list Thompson had given us.
"I think this is what we're looking for," he said, pointing at an item on the list. "The sarcophagus they brought back from Egypt. The names match. See," he explained, pointing at a string of symbols on the map, "this here means 'resting place of the gods'. I think it means they hid the scepter in the sarcophagus."
"Wouldn't have someone found it then?" I asked, seeing Remus nod in agreement with my question.
James deflated for an instant, before his drive came back. "No," he shouted out excitedly, a new fire in his eyes, "not if it was hidden. Hidden in something like a, a," his eyes roamed over the document, finally stopping over another strong of symbols, "a secret compartment underneath the sarcophagus! They could have easily smuggled it in, and no one would even have known how to open it!"
"And you do?" Remus asked in a disbelieving tone.
"Yes," James exclaimed happily. "I think I might! See, I thought this symbol there," he said, pointing at something that wasn't any hieroglyph I has ever seen before, "was just a mistake on the author's part, but what if it isn't? What if it's the key to unlock the compartment holding the scepter?"
"That's a pretty big if," I couldn't help but note.
"I know," James said softly, "but it's all I've got."
Remus sighed, but took out his phone. "Well, we'll need a damn good plan for tomorrow if we want to get that scepter out of the sarcophagus, because I don't think the curator will just let us play around with a thousand-year-old artefact. I'll order in," he added, dialing what I knew had to be the pizza place two blocks away.
"We can do this," I said, but I wasn't sure who I was trying to reassure most: James, or myself.
One day prior
As Remus had predicted, we were only able to see the sarcophagus, but not touch it. Still, that was more than enough to realize that James' theory had been correct, and that it indeed held the scepter.
I knew it as soon as I saw the symbol etched into the side: it was the same not quite hieroglyph that had been on the old parchment James called a map. That had to be the thing that would unlock the secret compartment.
The curator was very apologetic when we told him that we wanted to try something on the sarcophagus – he too was very interested in the possible discovery of a new artefact hidden inside this sarcophagus – but he also refused to move from his position.
I hated it, but I understood, and I knew my friends did too.
Which is why we bid the man goodbye, and planned to sneak in after dark. It wouldn't be a break-in or a theft, I tried to convince myself, if they didn't know they had what was being taken from them. It didn't quite work, but it did make me realize that we would make a terrible team of criminals.
We sprung by James' house to get him some new clothes. He also grabbed the card the Widow had left them, and after taking a deep breath, he texted them, telling them to meet him at the Museum at midnight, where he'd have what they wanted.
They didn't text back, but a small icon indicating that the message had been read appeared.
"Now what?" James asked.
"Now we get ready for a night visit to the Museum," I replied with fake cheer in my voice.
.x.
We sneaked in through a visit, and hid in one of the exhibits. It was easier than I thought it'd be, but the hardest part still remained: getting out of there alive after meeting the Widow, getting Lily back and somehow not handing out the scepter over.
Night fell, the Museum emptied, and we exited our hiding places, carefully heading toward the sarcophagus.
We got the scepter out faster than I thought we would. It was magnificent. The metal was woven in intricate shapes and it still looked like it had just been forged. It shone with an inner blueish light which cast odd shadows on James face as he held it. For a moment, I felt awed, and then the feeling passed.
It was when we were heading for the set meeting place that something went awfully wrong. You see, I know that there were guards, but for some reason I hadn't thought they could catch us, not when the Widow was such a more obvious danger.
"Run!" I yelled at James and Remus, and we split up. The guard followed me, but I saw him say something in the talkie he had unhooked from his belt.
Now
The guard caught up to me two rooms away from the Museum's entrance. I could hear the sirens outside, and I felt a desperate kind of hope. Please, I thought, let our plan have worked.
The guard cuffed me and brought me in front of the policemen. Just as I had hoped, the guard told them I hadn't been alone and that my accomplices had fled another way. The policemen headed in – I told them to head for the Ancient Egypt exhibit – and a few minutes later I heard gunshots resonate through the empty building.
They came back out soon after, and I nearly collapsed in relief.
Lily was walking by James' side, shaken but alright, and both Remus and James looked unhurt. The two policemen escorting them seemed unhurt as well, but the same couldn't be said for the two people who could only be member of the Widow.
The scepter was nowhere to be seen, and I tried to intercept James' or Remus' eyes so they could tell me what had happened to it.
James simply winked at me, while Remus shot me a reassuring smile. I took it to mean that it was safe, and once again a powerful wave of relief came over me.
"We'll take it from here, sir," another policeman said, and just like that we were all stuffed into the two police cars waiting outside, and headed for the station.
I couldn't believe we had all gotten out of it safely.
Looking outside the car's window, I somehow managed to catch a glimpse of a shooting star through the polluted night sky.
I wish, I thought, for this to end well.
And for a moment, I could have sworn that this star winked back at me.