The Lost City
Disclaimer: The plot belongs to me… But the characters are not mine. Please don't sue because I am dirt poor… again. This is my first Rurouni Kenshin fic, so please go easy on me.
Summery: Archaeologist, Kamiya Kaoru, has discovered a secret tomb once belonging to a lost city in the desert. Now transported into this new world, she is being stalked by the cities King, the Battousai.
EDIT: 10/24/2012; I have decided to rewrite certain aspects of this fic so that I can get back into the swing of things and actually finish this fic! Yay for me! But that won't happen for a long while, so buckle-up kids, this is gonna be a loooooong ride!
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He turned from the balcony, the sun glinting off the orb in his hands. He grinned darkly, retreating deeper into his shadowy sanctuary and biding his time. His gold eyes flashed and he turned the orb in his hands over, running his callused fingers along its smooth surface.
He turned his head to look at himself in the mirror and smirked.
A flash of dark hair and laughing blue eyes… She would be the one that saved his people. She would be the one that freed him…
Soon…
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Chapter 1: The Tomb
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Glancing in the direction of Enishi's tent, Kaoru smiled and rolled her stiff shoulders. How long had it been since she had discovered the tomb? Two months? Three? She couldn't remember; but if it really had been three months, the time had passed by in a blur of translating ancient dialect and flashes of the sun beating down upon her weary form.
She was also three months closer to turning twenty-seven.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Kaoru moved away from the dining tent and the jovial voices of the locals speaking in their native tongue over dinner. She smiled widely when she heard her best friend's loud laughter, no doubt winning in a game of poker for once; and the stern, almost motherly tone of his fiancée. Sano and Megumi were to be married once the archaeological site had been preserved properly, and all the various entrances into the Plaza of the partially-excavated Lost City discovered.
She smiled then, remembering the little secret that Megumi had told her earlier in the week. Would Sano be happy? She didn't know, but knowing his upbringing… Everything would turn out alright for all three of them. She giggled. That had sounded so strange, even by her standards.
The full moon shone down on the sand around her and cast everything in a blue-silver glory. Wrapped around the mysterious desert that constantly shifted underneath her feet, Kaoru couldn't help but feel slightly in awe of her surroundings. The team camp was behind her, glowing in artificial yellow light, while the never-ending sand and stone ruins – the only testament to a once thriving, although, equally mysterious ancient civilisation – was bathed in ethereal silver that reminded her of a fairytale that her mother once read to her as a child.
She continued to walk, the moon creating enough illumination to guide her way to the entrance of the barely excavated city.
There it was in front of her, barely rising out of the sand and being guarded by a sleeping Kamatari, was a doorway into a tomb once belonging to the Lost City.
"Lost in Name, Lost in Time… Lost in the Desert." Sano had declared one night at the dig nearly three months previous. She had hit him over the head with her spoon. She couldn't agree with him more now, though. Especially the Lost Name part; she hadn't been able to find anything even remotely referencing it in her research. Not even recent excavations and digs in the Central Plaza several hundred metres away had discovered its secret and long-forgotten name.
It had so frustrated her to the point where she had told Enishi that he could take a flying leap off the nearest mountain yesterday, but with a little more colourful language thrown into the mix. Granted though, she had been wanting to tell him that for years… Now she avoided him at all costs.
Sighing angrily at herself, Kaoru snuck past the sleeping form of Kamatari and reached into the side pocket of her dark olive cargo shorts to pull out her small flashlight. Turning it on, she moved it to shine directly down the small and narrow stairwell that had been hastily cut thousands of years before-hand, and started to descend. One hand rested against the rough-cut wall of sharp sandstone, her fingertips sometimes catching in the deeper and larger cut hieroglyphics that adorned both sides of the stairway.
The air around her grew colder with each step she took and she couldn't help but shiver at its sudden frigidness. Although nights in the desert grew cold, especially during winter, it never compared to what it felt like going into a tomb… especially at night.
The light from her flashlight was weaker than the larger and heavy-duty lamps that the rest of her team used. It was therefore unable to entirely penetrate the black, inky darkness that yawned before her. Unconsciously, she pushed herself closer to the wall and found herself looking behind her, her teenage fear of zombies and ghosts floating to the forefront of her mind. She shook her head suddenly, muttering curses (that she had picked up from Sano) under her breath and pushed herself away from the wall, swallowing the small ball of fear that had lodged itself in her throat.
"There are no such things as vampires. There are no such things as ghosts. There are no such things as zombies. There are no such things as aliens." She repeated this mantra as she went deeper underground and closer toward the newly discovered tomb of the Lost City.
For what felt like hours, she continued down the staircase, but in reality couldn't have been more than ten minutes.
It was then that she saw it.
A faint glow of large, high-powered lamps used to light up various excavation sites around the area, started out as a small pin-prick of light at the bottom of the stairs, then became a welcome relief (to which she attributed to the monotony of the darkness around her in the stairwell). Stopping on the last few steps of the long stairwell, Kaoru heard the welcoming sound of the hum of the generators that powered the large lamps. Hurriedly, she skipped down the last few steps and nearly stumbled into the room, breathing heavily and squashing the little seed of claustrophobia (she always played out her teenage fear as claustrophobia) under her imaginary heel.
Looking up, Kaoru couldn't help but grin. The room that had been only recently excavated revealed one wall covered in glyphs and another wall to her left that depicted a scene of some sort (Enishi believed it to be some kind of ancient sacrifice mural, but she thought otherwise). The mural was far too damaged to make out anything properly, but still she tried. Although, the wall opposite of where she stood, in the doorway of the tomb, was blank.
A complete and empty slate.
In all its strangeness, Kaoru couldn't understand it. Where one wall was covered in glyphs (albeit ones she was having a hard time translating with her apprentice, Yahiko. There was no way in hell that she was going to ask the pompous ass Enishi for help.), the other wall held a scene of some sort… while even the wall that surrounded the doorway had once held what must have been beautiful designs. The wall opposite was just plain and starkly empty.
She frowned, pushing back a lock of dark hair that tickled her nose. Although, there had been that incident the week before when she thought she saw a shimmer in the wall, and… "I'm going crazy." She muttered aloud and moved to step underneath the small circular hole in the ceiling that was a complete anomaly to her and her whole team of archaeologists.
No bigger than six inches across, the hole cut straight up through the limestone, sandstone and, well, sand before it reached the surface. Or that was the theory anyway. They were too far underground for any of the equipment that they had currently to penetrate the depth of the hole and a strange interference always came up on the ground-penetrating radar to see where the hole could be located so that they could dig down to it.
Around the perfectly cut hole were different glyphs, Yahiko earlier in the week had pointed out that they seemed different to the ones used in the room around them; they were similar to Celtic runes but were also had traits that reminded them both of the kanji used in early Japanese history. It was this observation and the fact that the floor was carved out in different sized circles and more kanji-like runes, that led to the conclusion that the room had been of great religious importance.
The blank wall was still a mystery to her (as well as the rest of the team).
Shrugging her shoulders, she turned again to stare at the dark hole above her. The mystery behind its use had remained just that, a mystery… not only because she had yet to translate the first set of glyphs on the wall opposite the faded mural, (and some of the ones in the Plaza excavation site Kihei was guarding at that very moment).
Kaoru turned, squeezing the button to turn the flashlight off and slid it back into her side pocket. She moved over to the wall with the faded mural and started to try and decipher what exactly it was depicting.
It was almost like some kind of elaborate (and very expensive) game of connect-the-dots.
She never noticed the small trickle of sand that started to fall from the hole in the ceiling, until several hours later when things were far too late to change.
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Snapping a photograph of a snoring Kamatari, Misao giggled and whipped out her flashlight to light up the stairs before her. Behind her were Megumi and Sano, conversing, for once, in hushed tones that had her highly suspicious of what was going on. Behind them followed an extremely pissed-off Enishi who was currently pulling off his always-present glasses to 'clean' them.
She highly doubted that, he was more likely taking them off so that he wouldn't trip and fall down the stairs like he did on the first day the tomb was opened. She giggled loudly and received a reprimanding look from him.
"Kamatari sleeps like the dead, eh, Sano?" she started instead, the depressing quiet that had settled around them lifted like some kind of death shroud as they continued down deeper towards the underground tomb.
"I told you guys! Busu wanted to be left alone so she could translate the rune and glyphs by herself… without any interruptions!"
Misao grinned. The young nineteen year old man, Yahiko was at times immature, but loved his work and had received his scholarship to become Kamiya Kaoru's apprentice not two years ago. He had a strong will and was extremely loyal to Kaoru, although he would rather die than admit that.
"Yahiko, you've been given a scholarship by the Museum and the University – don't make me revoke it by your insolence," Enishi growled and threw a dark glare over his shoulder at Yahiko, who ducked his head, looking instead down at his feet and ignoring his boss' boss.
Misao shrugged and turned ahead, her left hand braced against the wall with the glyphs while the other held the large bright flashlight. Her camera swung around her neck, reminding her that Enishi was also her boss as well. She groaned, knowing that there would be a screaming match between her best friend and boss that would leave no one unscathed. Shivering at the thought, she continued onwards, leading the way into the silence around her. Such quiet annoyed her, and brought her mild claustrophobia to come scratching at her mind. Not even Sano or Megumi were talking, which made her even more jittery.
A loud thump from the tomb before them caused Misao to jump and her hand to cut painfully deep against a glyph on the wall. Her sharp intake of breath from the sudden pain was mistaken by the small group as fright – she could feel the blood start to pool slowly in her palm and trickle down her wrist.
Enishi pushed past herself and the others and bounded down the stairs, Yahiko following closely behind him.
Misao shook her head, hissing silently when she closed her hand into a fist, and followed while Sano whispered something to Megumi.
One day, Kaoru, Misao thought, you're going to give me a heart-attack.
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She turned suddenly at the loud noise behind her, the empty wall seeming to shimmer in the corner of her eyes. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and sunk into a defensive position, looking around the chamber for any sign of an intruder. The only thing she noticed that was of any difference, sat prettily in the middle of the room on a small pile of sand.
From her stance, her dark, stormy eyes took in the small round orb that glowed an eerie amber gold. Mesmerised, she moved forwards until she knelt down on the sandy floor and reached forwards, gingerly picking up the orb, surprised at its light weight and smooth texture. Running her fingers gently over the side, she gasped when a flicker of violet flashed briefly inside, amongst the storm of amber and gold.
"Beautiful," She whispered, watching as the amber and gold suddenly coalesced into one mass of colour and parted right down the middle, receding to the sides of the sphere. A picture of a dark, starry sky filled the inside, followed by silver moon-glowing sand that surrounded a white stone wall. A small electric thrill ran through her when she noticed the large, towering walls of an ancient castle, reminiscent of the temples and palaces commonly found in Arab and Egyptian cultures. A large tower caught her attention and she squinted her eyes, gasping lightly when the orb seemed to zoom-in on the tower's only window – or, rather balcony.
Her heart started to thump painfully in her chest as she stared at a man with flaming red hair and eyes the colour of a desert storm, 'Almost like the amber and gold of this very orb…' she thought to herself, 'only they are paler, like he is contemplating something.' She gasped loudly, when the man straightened up from his leaning position against the railings and she watched, in awe, as his eyes darked to gold. A cross shaped scar marred his left cheek, making his appearance look more of a hardened warrior, rather than the royalty that she guessed him to be.
He turned his head and looked directly at her.
Kaoru's breath froze in her lungs as the man smirked; a cold, calculating and dangerous smirk that had her heart beating to a completely different tune. His teeth glinted white in the light of the moon, and she noticed that his canine teeth were shaper and pointer than she had ever seen on a human; they were even more feral looking than on a cat. She found that it suited him.
He suddenly turned away from her and conversed with a figure in the shadows briefly; she felt the orb in her hands thrum pleasantly against her fingertips. He turned back to her then, his eyes flashing in the moonlight, his grin now dark and mysterious. "Aanelie…" he whispered and her breath escaped in a rush, her heart coming to a shuddering stop and –
"Kamiya!"
Startled, Kaoru snapped out of her daze and dropped the now-dark orb into her lap. She blinked back white spots on her vision and took a deep breath; turning her head slowly to face her boss, Enishi, and her apprentice, Yahiko, without getting dizzy. She stared at them silently, waiting for either of them to continue and held back a giggle at their huffing forms.
It was then that she remembered what she had told Yahiko several hours beforehand. Something to do about privacy and not letting anyone come down here… well, that had just flown out the window. Standing up, she scowled at the two, cradling the orb in the palms of her hands. "Yahiko… Urgh! Never-mind. Come here and look at this!" she ordered, glaring at Enishi and turning to the dark haired teenager. "It just fell from the ceiling. What are your thoughts and observations?" she asked, handing the orb to him and noticing that instead of the amber and gold swirling in the middle, it was an amethyst colour that looked clear enough to see through. She stared open-mouthed at the sudden change. The colour didn't even swirl like the amber and gold but, seemed to be still and just to be just like a crystal, it even had wisps of white inside it.
"… moon stone." Yahiko finished talking, his voice penetrating her thoughts and bringing her back to reality.
"I'm sorry Yahiko," she said, shaking her head to clear it of cobwebs, "but could you say that again?"
Yahiko sighed and glared darkly at Kaoru. "Stupid busu." He muttered, only to get hit upside the head by her hand. "Ow! Alright already!" he yelled, shoving the orb back to her roughly. "It's a stupid moonstone. Only it's strange because its purple and not white!" he huffed angrily and moved away from her, muttering under his breath.
Kaoru blinked, and then smiled at Yahiko, only to have it fade away when he glowered at her. She huffed indignantly and turned away from him, facing the doorway just as Misao, Sano and Megumi stumbled into the tomb, blinking at the sudden brightness. She smiled to Misao who grunted, blinking rapidly and looking slightly pale. It was around this time that she heard Enishi's 'hurumph'. She turned towards him, frowning darkly, her eyes catching what she thought was a flash of amber in the orb.
"You were prohibited from entering this tomb until you finished translating the glyphs in the Plaza, Kamiya." Enishi growled out, staring her down while he fiddled with his stylish sunglasses. "I don't suppose you have finished, have you?"
Kaoru shook her head. "Er, not exactly. They're a bit challenging, but I sent Team G to help translate the glyphs along with some of my team-members; you know, a new set of eyes to help with the translations." She said this calmly, fighting the urge to be sheepish in front of her boss. She had a feeling that he wanted her to apologise, but she wouldn't be doing that, not any time soon. Maybe on her deathbed, but that wouldn't happen until a while from now. Hopefully.
"You still disobeyed me." He continued, pushing her to apologise for not-so-gracefully telling him to leave her alone the day before.
Maybe if she played it off as the heat? She didn't know if that would work… she growled mentally to herself, berating her brain for coming up with pathetic excuses to kiss-up to Enishi. Not happening. Not now… not ever.
Using her anger at herself that was boiling just under the surface, she turned defiantly to him, holding out the orb. "It was a good thing that I was here though. What would have happened if a tomb robber had come down here while Kamatari was sleeping? We wouldn't have known what would have been in the hole. We'd be left in the dark." She grinned triumphantly, when she noticed the small glint in Enishi's eyes, her voice grew louder and more confident. "We wouldn't have known what this orb could have been used for. What the purpose of this orb was, what this tomb actually-"
"Oh Misao! What did you do?!"
Kaoru turned to Megumi and Misao who still stood near the doorway. Sano had drifted over to the hole in the ceiling next to Enishi and Kaoru while they were having their argument, and was staring straight up at it avidly. "What happened? What's wrong?" she asked, thrusting the orb to Sano who caught it and shrugged, turning back to look up at the hole and frowned.
Kaoru bustled over to the two women, Yahiko coming over soon after and looking over Megumi's shoulder, nearly blanching at the sight of the deep cut on Misao's palm.
"Man, that looks like it's gotta hurt." Yahiko muttered, turning away from them (also glaring darkly at Kaoru who retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him) and walking over to Enishi who stood staring at the orb in Sano's hands.
"I'm fine. It's just a little cut. I'm fine, really." Misao was explaining, wincing when Megumi moved her hand to turn into a fist. "Uh, you can let go now."
"This is deep, Misao. Why didn't you say anything earlier? Any deeper and you'd need stiches." Megumi was saying lightly, missing the shorter woman's paling form. "Hmm, maybe you do need stiches. The bleeding seems to have slowed down a little."
Just as she said the word 'bleeding', a small dollop of blood dropped from Misao's bare elbow and fell onto the outer-most groove in the floor, splattering onto the dusty floor and seeping into some of the runes in the groove. Kaoru thought it was a kind of pretty effect, but then shook her head and told herself to stop watching Yahiko's and Sano's morbid movies.
"How'd you do that?" Kaoru asked, frowning at her injured friend.
"It's stupid really." Misao tried, but shrunk back lightly when Kaoru gave her the famous Kamiya Glare. "Alright! When that orb thingy hit the ground and made that loud noise, which gave me the shits by the way, I cut my hand on one of the hieroglyphs on the wall. Like I said, no big deal."
Megumi looked stern. "Oh yes, big deal! We don't know what's been living down here. The germs and the bacteria that might never have seen the light of day if it weren't for us, have been breeding down here for thousands of years! Who knows exactly what might have been transferred on to your open wound?!"
"Megumi, don't you think you're stretching things a bit too far?" Misao tried to plead but caught Kaoru and Megumi's glares.
"Megumi's right, Misao. It would be best if you go back to camp now and get that treated properly. Maybe stick it in some Holy Water?" Kaoru giggled at the last part and caught the end of Megumi's stern stare at her. "Er, maybe you should go now?"
Misao pouted. "The only reason I didn't go back to camp when I first got my hand cut was to keep you and Enishi from going at each others throats. Hey! I still did!" she smiled. "But, if I leave now, you're both going to scream at each other anyway, so why bother going back?"
"So you don't die!" Megumi and Kaoru yelled at the same time, and Misao knew then that she had lost the argument.
"Hey, guys. You can see the moon right through this thing." Sano said…
… And all the lights promptly went out. The hum of the generators died, and noise in the forms of panicked yells filled the tomb.
From what Kaoru could make out, Yahiko had backed away from Enishi (maybe he thought the guy was a zombie like she did?) and had tripped over Sano in the same time, causing both of them to topple to the ground with a loud 'oof!'.
A loud clunk, like that of heavy glass falling to the ground, stopped all the panic and Kaoru gasped. "The orb!" she yelled, scrambling for her flashlight and turning it on. But it didn't work. Neither did any of the other lights her friends and colleagues tried.
The sound of glass rolling across a stone floor became the only sound once more. Kaoru guessed the orb had fallen from Sano's grasp when Yahiko had tripped into him, and was now rolling away from him. But wait, it had stopped somewhere nearby them both.
A sudden silver light seemed to erupt from the hole in the ceiling and beam directly on to what Kaoru saw was the violet orb sitting in a groove directly beneath the hole. A small, faint hum started in the air, and she could have sworn that her blood was thrumming with a primal, beat deep within her. Mesmerised, she gasped and jumped back when the orb flashed lilac once more and the circles etched into the floor started to glow the same colour, spreading like a ripple outwards from the orb. Soon the whole tomb was aglow in a rich, purple splendour, just now reaching the outer circles and runes.
When the ripple reached the final circle and the set of kanji-runes, especially the area upon which Misao's blood had dropped, the room was plunged into darkness once more. This only lasted for a few seconds however, as the colour came flooding back with a vengence… this time a burning, glaring gold.
"This is amazing." Enishi said over the hum of whatever forces were in the room.
Kaoru found it to be amazing for an entirely different reason.
The back wall, the wall that had previously been devoid of anything, was now alive with pulsing runes and swirling symbols of the same gold as the orb, which was now hovering in the centre of the tomb. She hurried over to the other side, as if driven by some unseen force, and pressed her palm to the wall…
… Only to fall through the wall and into a never-ending darkness that choked her of her life, throwing her mind into a void she doubted she'd ever get out of again.