Last Time: Everyone arrived in Cairo…except Li who was still in Hong Kong visiting family (he'll be important later, don't worry). They met Evelyn Neferteri O'Connell, a British archeologist who needs help with a mysterious pyramid that's recently been discovered. But that's ok. There's no harm in that…is there?


Curse of the Pyramid: Part 2


Sakura and the rest of the party all managed to keep up with the vigorous Evelyn. She was very excited about getting to this pyramid and everyone wondered about the mysterious contents of the inside. A mystery Evelyn was about to clear up.

"This pyramid was buried for many years," Evelyn began. "Thousands of years. But this year, an eyewitness saw the pyramid literally rise out of the ground. Word got to the museum a day later and we were on our way. Once I arrived, I went inside the pyramid and found ruins and remains of what appeared to be a shrine. But I can't tell completely, because like I said, I'm not adept at reading ancient hieroglyphics.

"But as far as I can tell…it's a shrine…to one of the ancient Pharaohs of Egypt."

Sakura felt nervous. "B-B-But that pyramid isn't…cursed…is it?"

"Y-Yeah," Madison added. "I heard those pyramids have curses, bugs, snakes, and…mummies."

Eriol scoffed. "Oh, please. Now that's just silly. There are no such things as mummies."

Evelyn stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Excuse me? No such things as mummies? You have no idea, do you?"

"I've seen a lot in these last 18 years," Eriol answered. "But I know that there are no mummies."

"That's what you think," Evelyn shot back. "Mummies DO exist. And I should know. My great-grandparents and my grandfather fought against one of them…and defeated him. He was the mummy, Imhotep."

"Imhotep?" Aiden repeated. "I've heard of him. I thought he was just a myth."

"He's hardly a myth," Evelyn continued. "You know, it's funny. I heard my great-grandfather used to think he was a myth, too. But he had to fight off Imhotep; not once, but twice. Along with my great-grandmother Evelyn and my grandfather Alex, my great-grandfather Rick defeated Imhotep and his minions, sending him to the underworld from whence he came."

Eriol scoffed again. "Sounds like something out of a movie."

Sakura wasn't reassured. "B-But Imhotep was the only mummy, right? There are no mummies in that pyramid we're going to, right?"

"Oh don't worry, Sakura," Evelyn laughed. "Imhotep had a tomb in another pyramid, one far away from here. Trust me. The odds of us finding a mummy as cursed as Imhotep in this pyramid are astronomical. And even if we do, those mummies are still dead. Imhotep was cursed to an eternity as the living dead and he was only brought back to life by accident. There are no other ancient Egyptians who shared that fate. So there's no need to worry."

Sakura still wasn't reassured. The prospect of entering the pyramid was starting to scare her now. She could only hope that she was only overreacting.

Evelyn stopped walking. "There it is."


~--------------------~


Sakura looked up at the towering pyramid. There was no sign of any entrance with the exception of an open door in the front.

"This door opened all on its own," Evelyn explained. "Before it opened, we've tried opening it with explosives but to no avail. We were starting to believe this pyramid was never meant to be found. But now that it's open…let's go in."

The whole party walked inside the pyramid and everyone immediately noticed how dark it was. Evelyn solved that problem by lighting a torch. Sakura looked around her to see dust and cobwebs around practically every corner. She could hear only complete silence.

Evelyn kneeled down near a tablet. "This is what I've been trying to read. But the hieroglyphics are like none I've seen. I was hoping you would help me."

Aiden turned to the rest of the party. "I shouldn't be too long. You can all look around, but don't wander off too far…especially you, Sakura."

Sakura sweatdropped. She didn't think she was that much of a troublemaker.

Everyone went their separate ways and Sakura just decided to follow Madison and Eriol. As soon as they wandered into another part of the pyramid, Madison coaxed Sakura towards one of the golden statues. Sakura took the hint and stood beside it.

"It almost looks like you, Sakura," Eriol noted.

Sakura examined that golden statue and saw what Eriol meant. The hair…the eyes…the look of innocence on her face. It really did look like Sakura Avalon, except she was decked out in the garb of an ancient Egyptian.

"Weird," Sakura said softly. She touched the statue and was immediately taken in by its likeness.

"So much alike," Madison said while she pointed her camera. "It's like you're twins."

"It's just a coincidence," Sakura said, trying to dismiss the thought.

Eriol looked around. "But I wonder why that statue's here? I thought this was a shrine to a Pharaoh."

That seemed to be the mystery. But Sakura knew her limits. She may have been a powerful sorceress, but she wasn't an archeologist. That was her dad's job.


~--------------------~


"I've got Egyptology in my blood," Evelyn said, examining the hieroglyphics. "It's been a part of my family for generations. But you'd think I'd be able to read SOMETHING like this!"

Aiden Avalon noticed that Evelyn was getting stressed out. Maybe this was the other reason that he was asked to come along. It looked like he would be the only cool head in this whole thing. Now was the time for him to try his hand at it.

Among the hieroglyphics were people, tears, caskets, and other pictographic symbols. But there were quite a few unusual symbols as well. Some that were unfamiliar. Then Aiden felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Leila Mackenzie.

"Any luck?" she asked with a smile.

"I think…so," Aiden replied. "I think it says: Herein…lie…the remains…of…one…of Egypt's…great leaders…uh…who…um…met…a…tragic…end."

"That's as far as I've gotten," Evelyn said. "It's the rest of it that I can't read."

Aiden looked at that last line. "It looks like…murder…but I recall murder looking a little different. This is something else. It looks like…suicide."

"Suicide?" Ms. Mackenzie repeated. "Why would a great Pharaoh commit suicide?"

"That's one of the mysteries," Evelyn answered. She took out her notebook and opened it up. "This is a sketch of the other hieroglyphics I found here. I…can't tell what it says, but I have a feeling that the mystery is in these symbols."

Aiden looked at the notebook and examined it. Just then, more of the party came in. Tori, Julian, and Nakuru all walked in from another part of the pyramid.

"Tori, where's your sister?" Aiden asked.

"How should I know?" Tori responded. "She's probably lost…or triggering an ancient curse. But either way, she's not with us."

"It's getting dark," Evelyn said. "It's almost time to call it a day. Where could they be?"


~--------------------~


Sakura couldn't shake off Madison's camera. Her best friend seemed to have a sixth sense for knowing exactly where Sakura would be standing and she used it to her advantage.

Sakura sweatdropped again. "Eriol…"

Eriol shook his head. "Madison, do you even have a shot of me in there?"

"Uh…I'm not sure yet," Madison said sheepishly.

Eriol just shook his head again and looked at Sakura. "Sorry. I've learned to just ride it out whenever she gets like this. Aren't you used to this by now?"

"I should be," Sakura said dryly. Then she looked at her watch. "Hey, it's getting late. We'd better go meet my dad."

Everyone agreed with that. Madison finally turned off her camera and everyone was on their way out. But suddenly, Sakura gasped and stopped right in her tracks.

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Madison asked curiously.

Sakura felt around her pocket and felt…emptiness. "Where's Kero?!"

"Wasn't he with you?" Eriol asked.

"No! I've got to find him!"

Sakura ran off, nearly leaving everyone behind. The pyramid was still pretty dark and Sakura was careful not to trip over any cracks. She ran through the cobwebs, desperately tracing her steps back. Then she found the little guardian beast.

Kero was perched up on that golden statue that looked like Sakura. He seemed to be looking very closely at it. Sakura was feeling ticked by the time her friends caught up to her.

"KERO!"

Kero calmly looked back. "You know, Sakura? This statue looks a lot like you."

Eriol snickered. "Where have YOU been this whole time?"

Kero sweatdropped. "Um…I may have slept through a lot of this. I'm not really one for hokey Egyptian things."

"Kero!" Sakura snapped. "Can't you tell me when you're going to wander off? What if we left without you? And…what if you trigger something? We don't know what's in this pyramid."

"Oh, Sakura," Kero sighed. "I'm just fine. I know exactly what I'm doing."

As soon as he said that, Kero set down on the statue's shoulder…and something fell out. It was a bracelet designed in the shape of a flower. Madison bent down and picked it up.

"What do you think this is?" Madison asked.

Madison tried putting the bracelet on, but it wouldn't fit. She then tried to put it on Eriol, but it wouldn't fit him either. Then she walked over and put it on Sakura's arm. It was a perfect fit.

"Hey, I like it!" Madison squealed. "You look cute!"

Sakura smiled. It really did look nice on her. It looked nice on her the way it looked nice…on that statue. But at that moment…the ground began to rumble. It felt like an earthquake. But it felt too weird. It seemed to happen literally moments after Sakura put the bracelet on.

"WHAT'D YOU DO?!?!" Eriol shouted.

"Never mind that!" Sakura shouted back. "Let's get out of here!!"

It was the only thing they could do. Everyone started to run, but as soon as Sakura took her first step…the golden statue fell right on top of her. Sakura was stuck.

"Madison! Eriol! Help me!"

It was probably the worst thing in the world: irony. Sakura was being held down by a near perfect mirror image of herself. Madison and Eriol struggled to lift the statue off as the ground continued to rumble. Finally, Madison and Eriol pulled the statue off and Sakura was free. They all instinctively started to run towards the exit…which was quite a distance away considering the circumstances.


~--------------------~


Aiden Avalon immediately felt the rumbling. It felt like an earthquake, but Evelyn thought it was something else.

"The pyramid! We've got to get out!"

Aiden realized something. "My daughter!"

Evelyn pulled Aiden towards the exit. "We've got to get out of here or we'll be doomed!"

As much as everyone wanted to wait for Sakura and her friends, there was no time to waste. Aiden, Evelyn, and Ms. Mackenzie made it out of the shaking pyramid in time. Tori, Julian, and Nakuru soon followed. But there was no sign of Madison, Eriol, or Sakura.

"SAKURA!!"

Nothing. There was no sign of her and then Aiden saw it. The pyramid doors were closing. Then he saw them. Madison, Eriol, and his daughter Sakura were all rushing towards the pyramid's exit. But they didn't make it in time. The pyramid's doors shut and the three of them were stuck. Aiden was horrified when he saw the fear on his dear daughter's face.

"NO!!"

That would have been enough. It was too much to have to see the pyramid shut away his daughter. But it wasn't over. The rumbling continued. Then the horror increased tenfold. The pyramid was sinking into the ground.

Aiden and Tori couldn't take it. "NO!!"

They rushed in a futile attempt to keep the pyramid from sinking. But it was no use. The pyramid was going deeper and deeper into the sand. Finally…the ancient pyramid was gone. It was literally beneath their feet. They then tried hopeless digging through the sand in a vain attempt to recover the pyramid...and their beloved family member.

Aiden felt tears coming to his eyes. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

It was Evelyn. "I'm afraid your daughter is lost."

Aiden shook his head. "No! NO! She can't be gone! I have to get her back!"

He kept on digging through the sand, but he found out that he was the only one. Tori had been overcome by frustration and finally gave up. But Aiden wouldn't quit. His DAUGHTER was down there.

She couldn't be lost…could she?


Next Time: The ancient pyramid is buried with Sakura, Madison, and Eriol stuck inside. Can they get out? And what'll they do while they're stuck in there? Come back tomorrow to find out!


Any comments? Go ahead and mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't you forget to review below because I love your feedback!