I still own nothing. Just in case you thought anything might have
changed in the time fanfiction.net was down.
Closure.
Amanda approached the slab the
body rested upon hesitantly. She had no real way of knowing that this was
Imhotep, since she had not seen him before (or after). But something told her that this body was
what they had been looking for. She
stepped forward, raising her torch to get a better look, whirling around when
she heard a noise in the doorway behind her.
"You scared me." She said, relief making her sag against the
wall.
"Sorry, luv. When you went missing I thought I'd better
come looking for you." Jonathan
said, his gaze riveted on the table. "You've found him."
"Is it he? I wasn't
sure…"
"It's him." Jonathan said with a shudder of
disgust. "Come here. I don't want you anywhere near that
thing."
His words trailed off at the
sound of footsteps coming from the corridor behind him. He turned, relieved to see Rick followed by
Ardeth. He stepped into the room,
taking Amanda's hand in his and pulling her away from the table as Rick and
Ardeth stared down at the body.
"Remember how Daniels said
we could chop him up and sell him for firewood?" Rick asked, looking of at Jonathan.
"At the time the comment
annoyed the hell out of me." Jonathan replied, remembering the taunting words of the American
explorer. "It sounds like a fine
idea to me now."
"Help me carry him
out." Rick said.
Ardeth, Rick and Jonathan each
took some of the weight, Jonathan wincing at the feel of rotting flesh beneath
his fingers. Amanda followed the men
out, surprised when they took a passageway she had not seen on her way through
the first time, one that led them out into a large chamber. The one that Imhotep had tried to sacrifice
Evy in.
"Put him on the
altar." Evy said, feeling it was
somehow fitting that the end of Imhotep come on the altar he had tried to
sacrifice her on.
Alex's gaze widened at the sight
of the body. He'd seen it before, but
it had been mobile. His fingers wrapped
around the page he'd copied the spell upon, hoping he wouldn't have need of
it. He was certain the spell would
work, but he thought it could only be used after the creature had been
awakened. He did not know if it would
have an effect on the shell that housed its soul.
Rebecca saw Alex pull the paper
out of his pocket, and open it up to read what was upon it. She laid her hand on his shoulder, meeting
his gaze when he looked at her.
"Try it." She suggested. "If it doesn't work, we have nothing to lose. But if it does…"
Alex straightened as he held the
paper up, preparing to read. The
ancient words rolled off his tongue smoothly, as if he had been raised to speak
it. He was halfway through the
incantation when a shout rang out, startling him into silence.
"You cannot do
this." Beni said, a triumphant
expression on his face as he trained his rifle on the young O'Connell. "I will resurrect him."
"Finish reading,
Jonathan." Rebecca said quietly,
stepping in front of the boy with her own weapon raised.
"Well, Beni." Rick said, his voice filled with fury. "I can see you have not changed."
"Oh, but I have. When Anubis spared my life he granted me the
power to complete the task he set before me. You will not interfere this time, O'Connell."
Alex began to read again,
raising his voice to be heard over the bellow of rage that came from Beni. Amanda raised the handheld crossbow she'd
had strapped to her belt, aiming it at Beni with a smoothness that surprised
Jonathan. Ardeth had drawn his sword,
and Rick had his pistols aimed at the man as well.
Beni's finger tightened on the
trigger, and Amanda fired. At the same
time Rick fired both his pistols, and Ardeth let his sword fly from his
hand. All struck Beni as his weapon
fired, sending the bullet on a skewed path that endangered no one. His body fell heavily, his head rolling
across the floor as a result of Ardeth sword slicing through his neck.
Alex finished reading the
passage. A sighing wind blew through
the room, swirling around the body that lay upon the altar. The body began to disintegrate into dust,
creating a whirlwind of dust that hovered over the altar, until it disappeared
into nothing.
"I'll never ground that boy
again." Rick said with relief,
turning to look at his son with pride.
"That's what you said after
he resurrected me." Evy said with
a grin, going to her husband for a hug. "That didn't last."
Alex cried out when Rebecca
fainted at his feet. Ardeth was at her
side quickly, as were Amanda and Jonathan. Amanda reached out for Rebecca's wrist as Ardeth gathered her in his
arms, feeling for a pulse. As she did
so the leather band she always wore around her wrist shifted, showing a tattoo
that caught Ardeth's eye. He filed it
away in his memory for later, for now he would tend to his wife.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Back in Cairo.
"She carries your
child."
Ardeth looked at his grandmother
with surprise written on his handsome features. He'd not expected this. Once they'd returned to Cairo he'd confined his wife to her bed, much to
her irritation, and sent for his grandmother. She was skilled in the healing arts, and he'd wanted to know what was
wrong with his wife. He turned and saw
Rebecca standing in the doorway and he frowned, hurrying to her side and taking
her hands in his.
"You should be in
bed." He scolded, the pleased look
in his eye belying the tone of his words.
"I'm not dying,
Ardeth." Rebecca teased, a laugh
escaping when he suddenly hauled her into his arms. Her laugh was smothered when his lips came down on hers, and she
wrapped her arms about his neck as she returned his kiss.
"I can see I am no longer
needed." His grandmother said
softly, smiling as she left the room.
Ardeth raised his head, looking
down at his wife as a slow smile crossed his face.
"You look pleased with
yourself." Rebecca murmured,
framing his face in her hands.
"I am taking you
home." He told her. "I will not risk either of your lives
on these wild adventures."
"You are not using this as
an excuse to coop me up." Rebecca
informed him, grinning when he gave her a frown he did not mean.
"I will just have to keep
you in bed." He teased, lowering
his lips to hers again. "That is
the only place you do not object to being kept."
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Amanda was chafing at the
bit. Hamunaptra had not yielded all
that she had hoped. She'd found
friends, though, and that was more than she'd expected to find. Then there was Jonathan…
She stepped out into the
courtyard of Ardeth's home, sitting on a bench beneath a lovely tree. She'd gone to Hamunaptra looking for
adventure, and had found it, had found more than she'd believed she would see. She'd also gone looking for gold. That she had not found, for when they'd left
the confines of the city there had been a rumble, and the city had sank beneath
the sand. The next morning there had
been nothing to show that anything had ever been there, even the landmark that
had led explorers to the area had been leveled.
She looked up to see Ardeth
standing before her. She gasped,
bringing her hand to her heart.
"You startled
me." She said nervously, waving
her hand at him.
He grabbed her hand, untying the
band that covered the tattoo on her wrist. Amanda jerked her wrist back in reflex but he caught it, turning the
tattoo up to catch the fading sunlight. The tattoo was the same one that adorned Rick's wrist, the mark of the
Medjai.
"You still have not told us
who you really are." Ardeth said
softly. "Where did you come by
this mark?"
Amanda swallowed, knowing the
time had come to finally tell the whole truth…