Capone was a bit taller than Valarie and he stood beside her with his hand on her shoulder as they walked across the grass back to the Castle. He wasn't lying when he said that it had grown colder outside. She shivered, drops of icy water falling from her hair, and pulled the coat closer in an attempt to stay warm. Still, with her wet clothes underneath, it did little other than keep out the wind.
"Let's go, sweetheart," Capone said when they approached the entrance, sending one of his men in ahead of her before ushering Valarie inside. She reluctantly complied and slipped through the door, unsure of what to expect. Following close behind, Capone walked up behind her and started guiding her down the hall, past his own exhibit and her gift shop to the room where all this had started.
Within the last hour or so, however, Kahmunrah had turned the sterile hall into a cluttered mess. An old armchair had been taken from one of the exhibits and set on top of a pile of red fabric ladened with gold tributes and other trinkets. There were extravagant candelabras burning on either side and men of all sorts from every era surrounding the makeshift throne while the old pharaoh sorted through his new collection. Valarie absentmindedly slowed her pace but Capone shoved her ahead of him.
"Hey, boss," he called out to Kahmunrah as she stumbled forward, "We found the deb you were lookin' for."
Valarie glared back at him, completely spent on being pushed and pulled around the museum. After a moment, she turned to the pharaoh, who was still standing across the room. He looked down at her with a puzzled stare and looked back at Capone, "What happened to her?"
"She took a little swim," he chuckled, stirring up snickers from the rest of his men. She turned and leered back at the mobster again, surprised by his sudden callous.
"Hm," she heard someone say. She turned back to see Kahmunrah standing right in front of her and felt her heart skip a beat in surprise. She went to step away from him, but he caught her by the arm and smiled, apparently amused. "No, don't bother trying to run now."
Kahmunrah looked her over then turned back to Capone. "She doesn't have the tablet," he noted.
"She said she lost her friends, so it's probably with the others," the gangster nodded his head, "Don't worry though. My men are still out lookin' for him."
Valarie, who had been standing under the pharaoh's gaze from some time now, slumped her shoulders and lowered her eyes, which darted about anxiously. She could feel his gaze on her and it made her uncomfortable. After standing silently for some time, Kahmunrah spoke.
"I'm sure I can find some use for her," he said, tossing her to a group of knights behind him and pointing to a modest chair at the base of his throne where one of the mobsters was sitting, "Tie her up in the chair."
"Ugh," she groaned when she hit them. They immediately grabbed her arms and moved her hands behind her back, wrapping a rope around her wrists. When her hands were secured, they moved her over to the chair and tied her ankles. The mobster who had originally been sitting there was now standing at attention beside her with another gangster.
Valarie looked up in time to see Kahmunrah walk past her, returning to the pile of gold. She tugged at the ropes but one of the mobsters shot her a look, so she let out a sigh in defeat and looked down at her lap. Though she still had on Capone's coat, her pants were wet and her legs were exposed. She couldn't move the tail of the jacket over them to keep them warm with her hands tied, so she shivered again and lowered her gaze, focusing on a brown vase sitting on the other side of the crimson carpet and trying to forget the cold.
After a few minutes, Valarie looked around curiously at the group of people in the room and furrowed her brow. It was so quiet, it was unnerving. She looked up at a man standing across from her in a silver robe, separating several strands of bead necklaces while Capone paced on the other side of the table. Most of the other men stood at their post, waiting for the next order. Her eyes fell back on Capone and he stopped when he noticed that someone was watching him. Seeing it was Valarie, he offered her a smile. However, she was still bitter about him laughing at her earlier so she simply looked away.
"Hey, since when did you become a bearcat?" Capone whispered in the quiet of the room as he approached her.
"You laughed at me," she noted, not bothering to turn.
"Well, sure, sweetheart," he chuckled again, "It was funny. You weren't hurt, now, were you?"
"No," she muttered as she glanced up at him.
"Then why not laugh about it?" Capone beamed, "You've gotta laugh at yourself every once in a while."
Valarie contemplated agruing the point. She knew for a fact that Scarface would never have put up with teasing, good-natured or otherwise. He could hardly put up with a nickname.
"Why, these aren't real rubies at all."
At the pharaoh's voice, Capone stepped back and looked up while Valarie bit her lip to hold in a giggle. Kahmunrah was sitting in the large armchair with a magnifying glass in one hand and Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz in the other.
"Ruby slippers, indeed," he said, chucking them to the left and brushing the arm of his chair, "But, whoever you were, Archie Bunker, you had one comfortable throne."
"Hey, boss."
Kahmunrah, who had leaned back in the armchair, rolled his eyes and looked up as everyone turned to the entrance. One of Capone's men walked up and passed by Valarie with a bird cage at his side. She blinked in surprise when she saw that there was what appeared to be a little man inside and watched intently as the mobster stopped in front of the pharaoh.
"Caught this one tryin' to escape through a rust hole in the crate," he continued as he held up the cage, "One of his little friends got away."
"Oh, please, what damage could they possibly do?" the pharaoh scoffed, not bothering to stand, "Why, they're no bigger than a little grain of couscous, aren't you?"
"You know, there're two words come to mind when you talk," the small blonde spoke calmly and Valarie realized this was the same voice she had heard earlier that night in the trailer, "'Delusional' and 'weirdo'. And if I had to say a third, 'goofy'. Just goofy. Now let old Jedidiah out of here or he's gonna get angry."
A smile tugged the corner of her lips. Jedidiah had made him out to be a silly villain rather than the dark pharaoh seeking to unleash a timeless army, but she didn't dare to laugh. Instead, she bit her bottom lip and waited for his reaction.
"I just can't take you seriously," Kahmunrah laughed, "You're just adorable, even when your threatening me. It's hilarious. Is it just me or are these guys unbelievably cute?"
"Now, hold it a second now," Jedidiah stopped him, "Now, you have every right to keep me as your captive, torture me even, but don't call me cute! I ain't cute!"
At that point, Valarie couldn't hold it in any longer. She let out a giggle and the men looked back at her and she felt her face flush with color. Before anyone could say anything, however, there was a shouting at the entrance and everyone turned once more.
"Gigantor," Jedidiah whispered and Valarie felt her heart sink when she saw that Mr. Daley had been captured by a group of soldiers. Kahmunrah got to his feet and everyone, with the exception of the two men watching over her and the mobster with the bird cage, walked over to meet Mr. Daley. With all of that movement, Mr. Daley almost didn't see Valarie sitting there. When he noticed her though, he stopped dead in his tracks and did a double take, his eyes widening in surprise. She could only assume that he thought she had left when they got separated from the way he was looking at her.
"Hello, Mr. Daley," Kahmunrah smirked as he walked up to him, "Nice to see you again. Now, if you don't mind, I shall take that from you."
The pharaoh snatched the tablet from him with mock thanks, regaining his attention, and both she and Mr. Daley lowered their shoulders in defeat. They watched as he crossed the room, wasting no time as he began, setting the tablet into place on the jet black sarcophagus.
"Finally," he said while pressing the dials on the tablet, "Finally! After three thousand years, my evil army of the damned, my beautiful, beautiful army, shall be unleashed!"
He shouted the last part and turned, rushing forward in his usual dramatic fashion, and everyone looked around expectantly. After a moment, when nothing happened, Kahmunrah turned back to the sarcophagus and sighed in exasperation.
"I'm afraid that, uh, Mother and Father may have slightly changed the combination on me," he muttered, tapping his fingers together anxiously.
"Wow, I guess this whole unleashing the underworld thing isn't working for you, huh?" Mr. Daley noted at the turn of events, "Just, it must be really frustrating, cause you've waited thousands of years to come back from the dead and everything and now you can't get it open."
"Fear not," Kahmunrah said, refusing to be defeated, "I shall wait a thousand more if I must."
"Good," Mr. Daley continued, "Cause in a few hours you'll be standing here in the frustrated position, frozen, and I'll walk out of her with my buddies and that'll be that. So, I got all night."
He glanced over at Valarie and she sat up straight. She smiled, realizing it only made sense that the exhibits would become inanimate at sunrise. Kahmunrah narrowed his eyes until a thought struck him and he smiled once more. "Really? All night?" he repeated, pointing to his right, "Well, he doesn't."
Mr. Daley turned away from her and followed his gesture to the bird cage with the small miniature inside. His eyes widened once more but he tilted his head, trying to keep his composure.
"Open that cage," Kahmunrah commanded the gangster, who went to open the wire cage as he started towards them.
"What are you," Mr. Daley began, pausing briefly as the men around him lowered their weapons threateningly, "What are you doing?"
"Woah, no touching," Jedidiah shouted when he realized what the pharaoh was doing, "No touching! Don't you manhandle me!"
"Oh, look, he's having a little tantrum," he hesitated briefly for a quick laugh.
"Jed?" Mr. Daley called, recognizing the voice.
"No, don't you squirm," Kahmunrah cooed as he reached inside and picked up the little man, "Don't squirm. It'll only be worse for you."
Valarie closed her eyes. She was afraid to protest in her vulnerable position, but Mr. Daley spoke up, regardless. "Put him down!"
"Don't be afraid. I shan't hurt you," he continued, ignoring the demand while he picked up a large hourglass. The pharaoh held Jedidiah over the opening at the top and dropped him inside, adding, "Woops, I lied."
"No," Valarie whispered, realizing what he was doing. He closed the opening and turned the hourglass over.
"Uh oh. I don't think he has all night at all, Mr. Daley. From the looks of things, I'd say he has, oh, a little over an hour," Kahmunrah concluded while Jedidiah shouted and banged on the glass. He walked back over to the sarcophagus and pulled the tablet out again, "You were the guardian. You know all about this tablet. You're obviously much more clever than the rest of us. You may or may not know the combination, but I am going to give you exactly one hour to figure it out. If you do not, I shall kill your friends, starting with that one."
He handed the tablet over to Mr. Daley and pointed back at Valarie which made her stomach drop. She met eyes with Mr. Daley and they both went to speak when Kahmunrah added, "And please don't think of escaping, for I shall be watching you."
"Look, I don't even know how to even begin to decipher this thing, all right?" he called after Kahmunrah as he walked up to Valarie, adding softly, "Really."
"What a pity," Kahmunrah lamented almost genuinely as he roughly caught her cheek and turned her to face him. He smiled at her anxious expression, "Such a waste. And your little cowboy friend seemed like such a charming little fellow too."
Releasing her, the pharaoh sauntered back to him and smirked, "Ah, well, tick-tock, Mr. Daley. Your hour has begun."
"Hey! You got this, partner. I know you do!" Jedidiah shouted supportively from the hourglass, trying to pry his eyes away from Valarie, "You got this!"
She realized that her demeanor had shaken his confidence, so she tried to be supportive and forced a smile. She nodded at him in agreement, which Kahmunrah noticed, and as Mr. Daley turned with new motivation, the pharaoh stalked back to her and snatched her by the hair.
"Ah," she gasped, trying not to shout in fear that it would draw Mr. Daley back.
"You're so quiet," he noted while leaning in close, "I hadn't even considered what you might know."
"I don't know anything," Valarie cried out in pain, "I work here. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"The victim of circumstance," Kahmunrah smiled with amusement as he let her go. She gasped as he walked over to Capone, where Jedidiah started shouting profanities at the pharaoh.
"Leave the girl alone, you four-flushing, flannel-mouth rip! You touch her and I swear, by hook or crook..." he trailed off as he beat against the glass.
"Please," Kahmunrah shook his head and turned back to Capone, "I hear you and your men have a way with getting information, Mr. Capone. Perhaps you could find out if there's anything more that she knows?"
