Self Esteem
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the motion picture The Mummy. That's all you, Universal Studios. And I'm not going to profit off this story, so calm down. There's no reason to sue, and you all make too much money anyway. Vultures.
AN: Thanks to The-Lady-Isis, Nelle07, IllinoisRose, IKeepGoldFishInMyBra, idkaname, nightingaleraven, Anon, Ravenclaw Samurai, zentry, Jac Danvers, kaytieorndorff, Typhoid-Candy, Read4Ever, Misplaced Angel, Padme4000, and The Purple Wox for the reviews!
Chapter 28: The Sacrifice
The world was very blurry. Madeline squinted, her head aching, trying to force her eyes to focus. After blinking for what felt like eternity, she managed to clear her vision enough to see the stone ceiling hovering high above her head.
High stone ceiling? Oh, dear. Madeline tried to lift her head up. She failed. Her head was heavy and thumping with pain, and the slightest movement had caused her vision to blur all over again. Rather exasperated by this point, Madeline forced herself to lie still and blink a few times. Eventually, her vision returned. Trying her best to keep her head still, she took a look around her.
Tall painted pillars stretched from the stone floor to the matching ceiling. Colorful murals adorned the stone walls. Torches were lit near each pillar, and there were candles all around her, resting on the table she was laying on.
She was on a table? Madeline's stomach nearly leapt out of her throat. She supposed she couldn't blame her stomach for attempting to bail. This could mean one thing and one thing only: she was on the sacrificial altar in the center of Nitocris's secret cavern.
Fantastic.
Madeline slowly lifted her head, wincing all the way. Before her was a pair of tall, painted, hieroglyph-covered doors. That settled it. She was about to be sacrificed.
The chamber air was cool on her arms and feet. Madeline realized at once that both her jacket and her shoes were gone. Her hair and her dress were still damp. Fortunately, a glance down at her chest proved that, at the very least, her dress was no longer transparent.
She tried again to sit up. Her head pounded furiously, and Madeline gagged, sure she was going to be sick. Finally, after a whole lot of effort, Madeline managed to pull herself into a sitting position. Her head still hurt enough to affect her vision. She was incredibly nauseous. And she was so dizzy, that Madeline began to wonder if she'd still be conscious by the time the sacrificial ritual started.
Madeline moved her legs, trying to get comfortable on the hard stone altar. She was shocked when one leg resisted her. Frowning, Madeline jerked her leg again – only to find she was chained to the altar by her ankle.
A small, barely audible whimper escaped her lips. Really? Seriously? Was this a joke?
Clutching her aching head with one hand, Madeline surveyed the chamber a second time. Berkley's masked henchmen were huddled around the chamber walls in a circle. Luke and Lavernia were standing near the painted doors, having what looked like a very serious discussion. They hadn't noticed she was awake yet.
The more she looked around the chamber, the more nauseous she began to feel. Where the hell was Ardeth?
The last thing she remembered was him crying out her name – presumably in warning, as immediately after that some big burly henchmen had punched her so hard in the head that she'd passed out. She'd like to get her hands on that particular henchman – she was currently nursing a headache nearly as bad as the ones that accompanied her visions, and she was pretty sure she had a serious concussion. It was all she could do to keep sitting, squinting against the dim light, and glancing around in search of the Med-jai chieftain.
Had they killed him? Madeline's stomach twisted viciously, its contents threatening to come back up. She didn't see him, after all, and anything could have happened after she'd been knocked unconscious – especially if Ardeth had kept fighting. And he would have kept fighting.
Madeline detected movement out of the corner of her eye. Twisting her head in the direction of the motion, she saw one of the dark figures step forward, off the wall. Her stomach tried to escape through her mouth. The two men on either side of him yanked him back, but not before she saw his face. Ardeth was fine. For now.
"Yes, I see you've caught a glimpse of our guest of honor," Luke Berkley's voice echoed throughout the cavern.
Madeline swung her head around to look at the anthropologist. Berkley was swiftly approaching her altar, his sister two steps behind him.
"I considered killing the chieftain straight off," Berkley went on, moving his hands about flamboyantly. "After all, when I stumbled into the compartment you two had been sharing, I was rather put out to find both you and Mr. Bay long gone, and my younger brother dead on the floor. I mean, really. Can you blame me for wanting revenge?"
Madeline glowered at Berkley as he came to a stop directly in front of her. "But I decided the ultimate revenge against our visiting Med-jai chieftain," Berkley continued, grinning nastily. "Would be to watch Mistress Maddie die a long, slow, painful death… and then witness the end of the world – an end he'd been trying so hard to stop."
He rested his hand on her calf. She tried to yank her leg away from him, but the chain around her ankle prevented her from doing so. He smirked at her, patting her leg mockingly. "Now, now, Maddie my dear," he purred. "You don't seem excited. Why aren't you excited, darling? Stage-fright, perhaps?"
"Go to Hell, you psychotic freak," Madeline replied in a dry, rasping voice.
"Oh, my." Berkley's hand fluttered and rested on his chest, his face contorted with mock-horror. "Well, that hurts my feelings."
Lavernia was standing just behind her brother, glaring at Madeline. She shifted uncomfortably under the female Berkley's glower. At the moment, Lavernia was much scarier than Luke. "What are you looking at?" Madeline snapped, still rasping.
Before the other woman could reply, Berkley intervened. "Oh, now, Lavernia, stop skulking around like a half-starved dog. I realize you are half-starved, but that doesn't mean you have to be surly. It's hardly attractive."
Madeline decided that if Berkley could see the look his sister had given him behind his back, he wouldn't have been quite so cocky. Never before had Lavernia Berkley looked so ugly or so deadly. If she hadn't already been promised to the ancient queen, Madeline would have been worrying Lavernia was going to murder her.
"Now," Berkley announced, turning to face the entire congregation. "The time has come, my friends! Prepare to witness the most beautiful, most cunning, most deadly woman in the entire world… for the first time in thousands of years."
Madeline stared at the tall, painted doors with huge eyes. Luke bowed his head and stretched out his arms. Then, in a low guttural voice, he began chanting an ancient language that Madeline didn't understand.
Lavernia bowed her head as well, adding her alto-soprano tones to Berkley's voice. Slowly, the rest of the congregation joined in. The low, ethereal chanting bounced off the walls and filled the cavern, transforming the cave into some twisted version of a cathedral. Panicked, Madeline glanced over her shoulder at Ardeth, who was still standing in the shadows. She wouldn't know him, except that out of countless bowed heads, his was the only one held high and proud.
It wouldn't work. She wasn't afraid for the world – according to Evie, the world was saved. But once Nitocris had been returned to her grave, the Berkleys would be far from happy. If the ceremony didn't kill Madeline, Berkley would, this she was sure of. But worse than that, far worse than that… Ardeth would be killed, horribly, violently… and there would be nothing she could do to stop it.
The chanting continued. As Madeline sat on the stone platform, breathing heavily and watching the wall opposite her, light began to glimmer all around the outside of the painted doors. Suddenly, the doors swung wide open.
Smoke filled the brightly lit room, and that smoke began to filter into the cavern. A dark, shadowy form appeared in the center of the light and smoke, and then stepped forward, over the threshold, and into the cavern.
Madeline shrunk back from the approaching form, her eyes wide and horrified. The chain around her ankle kept her from moving more than a few inches. The form – or, as Madeline knew it, the gray, rotten, charred and twisted mummy of the long dead Pharaoh Nitocris – continued its slow but purposeful march towards her.
The chanting faded away. Instead, a low, awed murmuring rippled throughout the congregation. Lavernia uttered a quiet cry, clasping her hands over her mouth. Berkley grinned.
Madeline's eyes grew wider with every step the mummy took. Finally, Nitocris reached the altar and stopped, her empty eyes boring into Madeline's, as though the pharaoh could actually see her. Madeline's lower lip trembled. The mummy's mouth parted very slightly, and she hissed something in ancient Egyptian.
Then Nitocris grasped Madeline's arms, her bony brittle fingers digging deep into Madeline's skin. Nitocris yanked Madeline towards her, and then sunk her surprisingly sharp teeth deep into Madeline's exposed neck.
Madeline cried out in pain. She felt the mummy's cold dead mouth against her skin, the teeth digging into her flesh. Nitocris was sucking on her neck, and Madeline could feel her blood being slowly suctioned from her veins.
She struggled against the mummy's tight grip, trying to break free of her supernaturally strong arms or her vise-like jaws, succeeding in neither venture. Already dizzy from before, Madeline felt her head growing even lighter as she lost blood.
The room began to fade away. Madeline blinked rapidly, her struggles growing weaker and weaker, as Nitocris continued to drain her fluids.
A sudden muffled, gargling cry escaped the mummy's throat. Nitocris instantly released Madeline, roughly shoving her away. Madeline crumpled in a pile on the altar as the ancient queen stumbled back and froze. Her head twisted mechanically towards the Berkley siblings. A rush of angry Egyptian flowed forth from her mouth.
The grin faded from Berkley's face. Lavernia's hands rose to cover her wide open mouth, her eyes huge and horrified. Suddenly, the angry queen stopped mid sentence. She choked. Her charred and twisted arms clutched her bandaged abdomen.
"No!" Berkley shouted.
Madeline raised herself up on one elbow, trying desperately to clear her head. As she squinted at the choking mummy, Nitocris fell to her knees, coughing furiously. Madeline felt sick as she watched her own blood burble up out of Nitocris' mouth.
"No!" Berkley shouted again. "No! It is impossible!"
Nitocris crumpled to the ground, still choking on Madeline's blood. Then, suddenly, with a loud, horrible shriek, the mummy burst into tall, wild flames.
Berkley cried out, sounding pained. He grabbed a nearby pillar for support.
The cavern fell silent, save for the crackling of the flames. The fire burned strong for several minutes, and then slowly began to die.
Madeline felt the clasp on the necklace give way against the bare skin on the back of her neck. The cold metal slid off her neck and down the front of her chest. Finally, the heavy golden necklace landed with a loud clink! on the hard stone altar.
There was a long, awful silence.
"No!" Berkley thundered yet again, letting go of the pillar. He rounded on Madeline and marched towards the altar. "You! You… you… lying…"
The whole cavern began to groan and shake. Madeline looked up at the ceiling through hazy eyes, feeling vague horror as she watched tiny rocks shake loose from their foundations, sliding down the cavern walls. All around her, Berkley's henchmen were crying out in various languages, their running footsteps echoing throughout the cave.
"You lying… whore!"
Madeline looked up just in time for her cheek to meet Berkley's knuckles as he backhanded her across her face. She cried out, falling on her side. Tossing her hair out of her face, Madeline looked up to see Berkley standing over her, a knife held in one hand, disgust twisting his mouth into an ugly sneer and a crazy, dangerous gleam to his cold gray eyes.
"You lied to me!" he thundered. "You lied, and look what has come of it! You… you… whore!"
He raised his hand high in the air, his lips pulled back and his eyes wide. His expression was murderous. "Who was it? The Med-jai? Are you the Med-jai's whore? You… you've killed our queen! Our mother!"
"She wasn't your mother," Madeline replied quietly, against her better judgement.
The knife plunged towards her chest. Madeline quickly backed away – only to be jerked back by the chain around her ankle.
Suddenly, a dark and tattooed hand caught Berkley's thin, neatly cuffed wrist. Ardeth yanked the anthropologist's hand back towards him. In his free hand, one of the long, curved scimitars glinted in the torchlight.
The chamber was still shaking and Berkley's men were rushing for the exits. Ardeth gave Berkley a vicious shove, sending the Englishman stumbling backwards. Berkley glowered up at the Med-jai chieftain, fingering his knife impatiently. Ardeth leveled his sword at his opponent and beckoned him mockingly with the other hand.
Berkley roared and rushed the warrior. Ardeth blocked the anthropologist's knife with his scimitar and advanced on the other man, forcing him to retreat. Berkley tried again with his knife, but Ardeth's sword knocked the smaller weapon out of his hand. The anthropologist was not subdued. He ran at the Med-jai chieftain, tackling him hard in the stomach. Ardeth stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.
The walls shook harder. Larger and larger rocks fell from the ceiling as Ardeth and Berkley rolled about on the floor, struggling against one another, fighting for control over the scimitar. A particularly large rock tumbled down from above and nearly landed on top of Berkley's head. The anthropologist rolled out of the way just in time, freeing Ardeth from his grip. Ardeth leapt to his feet and rushed towards Berkley, sword at the ready, hollering a Med-jai death cry.
Berkley dodged the other man's charge at the exact right moment. Ardeth staggered to a stop and rounded on Berkley, swinging his sword at his gut. Berkley danced away, making a mad leap for his fallen knife. Ardeth stuck out his foot and tripped the man, sending the anthropologist sprawling to the ground. Berkley stumbled back to his feet just as Ardeth stepped forward and, mere inches from the other man's torso, drove his sword deep into Berkley's stomach.
Berkley coughed, staggering forwards. Ardeth withdrew his sword. The other man fell to his knees, and then slumped to his side. He twitched twice, and then lay still.
Ardeth turned from the fallen man and brought his sword down hard on the chain that bound Madeline's ankle to the stone altar, cleaving apart the two center chain links. She was free.
Huge rocks were tumbling down around them on all sides now. Madeline felt a bubbling in her stomach as their ever-worsening situation began to incite panic. Ardeth grasped her wrist firmly, pulling her off the altar and into his chest. Madeline stumbled, unable to stand. Between the blow to the head and the blood loss, she considered herself lucky to still be conscious.
Ardeth dragged her towards the exit. Madeline leaned heavily on his arm, tripping over her feet. She wasn't going to make it out of there still standing, this much was obvious. As they ran, the rocks falling in the passageway grew larger and fell at a more rapid pace. Before they could reach the main passage, the entrance collapsed, obstructing their only exit.
Ardeth spat something in Arabic that Madeline would have bet any money had been a cuss word. He glanced back in the direction they had come from. The painted doors were still standing wide open. Ardeth looked at her. Breathing heavily, her full weight leaning against him, Madeline stared back into his eyes.
He grabbed her around the waist and swung his arm under her knees, lifting her off the ground and then rushing towards the double doors.
The room on the other side of the painted doors was smoky, and now it was dusty too, thanks to the crumbling cavern. The intense light came from large holes at the top of the tall chamber that allowed the bright sun to shine inside. Madeline's tense limbs went lax with relief when she spotted a long passageway at the far end of the room.
Ardeth raced towards the passageway, narrowly missing a falling rock as he ducked inside. He ran down the long winding stone canal, dodging the plummeting rocks, and then rounded a corner, revealing a bright light at the end of the tunnel.
Madeline felt rather stupid being carried down the passageway towards the bright light, but she supposed there wasn't much she could do about it. She stared hopefully at the exit as Ardeth rushed towards it. The rocks were falling faster now, and Madeline feared that this exit would be obstructed much like the first.
They burst out into the open air and sunlight. Madeline looked around her in disbelief. They were standing on a high ledge, overlooking the Valley of the Kings. There was a long pathway that winded its way down into the valley. Behind them, the passageway was filling up with loose rocks.
Ardeth let her down, and she stumbled, grabbing hold of his shoulder. He hunched over, panting heavily, holding himself up by grabbing his knee with one hand. His other arm remained wrapped around her waist. Madeline stared up at Ardeth, her eyes wide with shock. He looked back at her, still catching his breath, his expression equally surprised. But before either of them could speak, the ledge began to shake as hard as the cavern had.
Immediately, Ardeth swung her back up into his arms and hurried towards the path. They had barely started down it when the ledge and the path leading into the valley began to crumble away. Ardeth picked up his speed, but the rocks fell faster than he could run, and suddenly the pathway was falling down to the earth below, taking the two of them with it.
Madeline dropped from his arms, and the two of them toppled down the collapsing incline. Rocks fell all around them, some missing them, and others hitting their arms and legs and torsos as they rolled their way down to the valley. After a long, painful tumble, both Madeline and Ardeth landed in a heap on the valley floor.
For a few moments, they lay still in the dust. The rest of the ledge finished crumbling down around them. Then, after a moment, Madeline forced herself to roll over on her back, groaning the entire way.
"Ardeth?" she asked, her voice strained.
"I'm fine." His reply was muffled. "And you?"
"No worse than I was."
Slowly, Madeline pushed herself off the ground, trying to force herself into a sitting position. Her head spun and her stomach turned. She nearly fell over on her side, but Ardeth, who obviously had managed to sit up before she had, caught her, supporting her against his chest. He took hold of her chin, tilting her face towards his. Squinting against the painfully bright sun, Madeline stared up at him, their eyes meeting. Ardeth held her gaze. A slight frown creased his brow. He released her chin, his fingers brushing against her temple. She winced as he hit a sore spot. Ardeth's frown deepened. "That bruise is terrible," he murmured.
Madeline continued to stare at him. "I didn't know there was a bruise."
He brushed her hair back from her face. Madeline rested one hand on his shoulder, and then let it slowly creep up his neck. Ardeth seized the back of her skull and pulled her against him, his lips crashing down on top of hers. Madeline wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him for support, and at the same time pressing her own lips back against his. Their lips meshed against one another as they kissed furiously, Ardeth's tongue forcing its way through her lips and exploring the inside of her mouth.
Finally, they pulled away from one another. Breathless, Madeline clung to his shoulders, staring at him in anticipation, unsure of what happened next.
But nothing happened next – at least, not between the two of them. Suddenly, a gun cocked in Madeline's left ear, interrupting their moment. Both Madeline and Ardeth whirled around, looking for the source of the noise… and found Lavernia Berkley standing over them, two Colt pistols pointed at their heads. Her hands shook slightly as she aimed the weapons at her two enemies, but that didn't reassure Madeline in the least. Flanking the young blonde were six or seven armed henchmen, and their hands didn't suffer from the slightest tremor.
"You murdered my brothers," Lavernia whispered furiously, her eyes slanted in a cold glare. "Both of my brothers, you killed both of my brothers!"
Her voice rose with each word, taking on a hysterical pitch. "And you," she spat, aiming one of her pistols directly at Madeline's face. "You caused this. The collapse of the temple, the death of the pharaoh… you have ruined everything! I think I'll shoot you first."
Madeline's eyes widened as they took in the end of Lavernia's pistol. Ardeth suddenly shoved her behind him, shielding her from the irate and armed young woman. Lavernia laughed at the protective gesture. "What, Med-jai? If I want her, I'll have to go through you first? You killed my brothers in cold blood! The thought of killing you literally makes me salivate! So I kill you first, and her second! I don't bloody care about the order!! Both of you will be dead by the time I've finished!"
Her lip was trembling along with her hands now, and tears were welling up in her steely gray eyes. Madeline thought of several retorts that would have been apt responses to the other young woman's accusations. Reminding her that Luke and Charles Berkley were only dead because they'd tried to kill her and Ardeth, for example. Or even informing her that the resurrection of Nitocris would have ended the world, and that thousands of people would have died in cold blood, exactly like her brothers. But none of those retorts made it to her lips. Instead, Madeline stared silently down the barrel of the pistol pointed at her head, waiting for the bullet. Lavernia Berkley was the very picture of her angry, vengeful ancestor, and although she looked nothing like Nitocris, Madeline didn't have a hard time believing, in that moment, that Lavernia and Nitocris came from the same bloodline.
But before Lavernia could avenge the death of her brothers as Nitocris had avenged Merenre, the sound of numerous guns being cocked echoed throughout the valley. Madeline, Ardeth, Lavernia, and Lavernia's henchmen all looked up, startled, trying to find the owners of the guns.
All around the tops of the cliffs were several men in long black robes, sitting on horseback and aiming their guns down into the valley. Lavernia's men began to lower their weapons, murmuring nervously. They shuffled back a few steps, looking as though any moment they planned to make a break for it.
But Lavernia didn't look nearly as nervous. She tore her eyes from the newly arrived Med-jai and returned her gaze to Madeline and Ardeth. Her mouth curled upward in an ugly, determined sneer, and resolve conquered the tears brimming in her eyes. "So I die," she spat at them. "At least I know I took you two with me."
Another pistol cocked, right within their vicinity. Lavernia froze, her fingers having already tugged her triggers halfway back. Madeline looked up to find even more Med-jai congregating at the base of the cliffs, training their machine guns on Lavernia's congregation. Directly beside the young woman herself stood a slender young man with close cropped, curly brown hair, decked out in white linen.
"I beg your pardon, madam," Jonathan Carnahan announced, leveling his own pistol at Lavernia's head. "But I have to insist you step away from my best friend."
