A/N: And so starts the next installment. Enjoying? I hope so. Let me know.
Monica: Foreshadowing? Perhaps. By the way, I don't hate any single pop-up the most. I hate them all.
Penny: Soon-ness enough-ness? No beating me over the head with any bizarre object to which you've attached the words "Of Doom", onegai.
Count-Hagane: Jim...? I don't see any Jim... *searches through fic and gets lost, returns with eyebrows raised* Hm. I guess you're referring to Kyle. But I came up with the eye thing on my own.
Ankhutenshi: Okay, okay, gomen nasai for nagging you. Take all the time you need on the next one. I love the analysis of your reviews. You show insight and thoughtfulness, which I appreciate. Deja vu, huh?
Wolf: *sweatdrop* Somewhat like the Big 5 and yet nothing like the Big 5? As Foxworthy says, "You can't argue with that!"
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Two long, hard hours of hacking away at the rock on all sides had brought them a crevice perhaps three centimeters deep on the underside, and not much more than that on the sides and top. Kyle was beginning to see it as wasted effort, and he was silently cursing at the rather sizeable blisters that were developing on his hands. Can't they at least get some damned comfort grips on these things?!
Nevertheless, the man in charge of that particular operation seemed pleased by what he saw, and referred to it as "excellent progress". At several points over the course of that time, Rieger came to inspect the so-called progress being made. On his last visit, he'd rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, "We should be able to get in there tonight!"
Kyle had raised an eyebrow at the man's enthusiasm. Perhaps he was a bit young and a bit naive to appreciate the thoughts of what treasures might lie ahead, but on the other hand, he didn't want to get hopeful just yet. For all I know, there's nothing but a shitload of petrified locust skins back there. Then I'll get paid minimum wage for slave labor, along with a little pat on the ass – "Better luck next time!" Yeah freaking right.
The sun was beginning to settle on the horizon, and things seemed to be moving more quickly. The men were putting their backs into the work twofold now, and even Kyle, in the middle of his own sulkiness, noticed the speed with which they were working. He chose not to comment on it, though. It makes one wonder, but I'm pretty sure I know already... Rieger isn't legit, and he just gets a kick out of snaring poor asses in the marketplace to do his dirty work for him. And I'll bet patrols come by regularly to make sure no one digs on their ground. I'll bet that's it. I'll bet that's it.
He hesitated for a moment at that thought. Wonder if I should say anything. The worst he could do if I did would be to kill me... not like I'm so damned keen on sticking around anyway. Joke would be on him if he did. On the other hand, if I end up royally screwing myself over by accusing him of something that turns out to be false, he'd probably end up tossing my ass out to the desert, regardless.
He rolled his eyes and continued to hack away at the blasted rock. Bleh, I'll cross that muddy river when I get to it. No evidence one way or the other. For all I know, they just want to get goodies before it gets dark out.
A mere five minute later found Kyle and one of his compatriots changing their weapons from picks to hammers. They were pounding eyebolt stakes into the rock, hopefully so that they could pull it out and peek into the interior of that closed space beyond.
Kyle groused as he drove his spike into the boulder. They don't even have a drill to do this with? Really, how low-tech can you get? No heavy equipment out here, and if this was a legit excavation, one would think there'd be some decent machinery. Doesn't bode well for my view of Rieger. If the man wants to dig, the least he could do is go through the proper channels.
Within half an hour, four stakes had been driven into the rock, and sturdy ropes had been looped through each. Three men each took a rope, and on Rieger's direction, they began to pull as hard as they possibly could.
At first, it seemed to have no effect at all. Kyle was growing more discontent by the second, but still he pulled away. I can't expect anything of what's back there. But if I'm gonna do this, I may as well go all the way on it.
It budged.
First to one side, then to the other.
The men began to whoop in joy, and spurred by their effort, they conjured up strength many of them weren't even aware they possessed. Kyle tried his best to do the same.
--
Malice. Greed. Falsity.
It wanted none of any of these, yet it seemed that all who sought it – or rather, whatever was within the space, and in this case, that included it – were possessed of at least one of these traits.
It could not bind itself to any of their fates and hope for its survival. And if it could not survive, nor would its brethren, outcast from them though it was.
There seemed to be only one choice... and one choice was no choice at all.
The creature would have to awaken once more. And it would have to collapse the cave once more.
It wasn't fair. Soon enough, they would come looking for it, spurred on by the efforts of a few robbers – the creature could only protect it for so long against them before it failed.
And then it would be taken.
Surely there was another way.
--
Centimeter by centimeter, inch by inch, the boulder crept forward. They never truly gained momentum over it, but this was something Kyle found himself preferring to the Indiana Jones scene that kept wanting to replay through his mind.
A gap in the right side was developing, almost large enough to fit someone inside. Kyle could almost hear the rubbing sound of Rieger's hands against each other as he anticipated what goodies lay inside.
He rolled his eyes. Probably thinking, "To the black market with you!" And here I am, acting like I don't give a shit. I guess I ought to... but I can't figure out why. Guess I've got no reason to.
The boulder caught on something.
Almost in unison, everyone gave an extra jolt to their pull, as if somehow, that would get it to continue on its path towards them and away from whatever treasure lay beyond. But in this case, it wasn't as simple as giving a little harder tug; the boulder was truly stuck, and stuck it would stay, it seemed, for the rest of the evening.
The men groaned collectively, and a couple of them seemed about ready to throw down the ropes and demand their payment from Rieger right then and there. Rieger, for the most part, still seemed calm and collected about the business, and he urged them all to calm themselves. He approached the rock and inspected it for several moments, then looked back at them. "If we can pull out the right side just a bit further, we might be able to get someone in there."
"Gimme a break, Rieger," one man groused. "There's no way we can pull the damned thing out any further."
"Have faith, my friend," Rieger said calmly. "All I'm asking is another two or three inches. We can get someone in there sideways if we can manage another two or three inches."
The men grumbled, but only for a moment or two. Then they took up the two ropes staked into the right side of the boulder and began to pull again.
It was a bit easier pulling on one side than on the entire thing, as they soon found out. With perhaps three minutes' effort, they had all but reached Rieger's maximum goal of three inches.
Rieger smirked triumphantly upon close inspection of the crack, and he turned to look at the men again. "Would one of you care to do the honors?"
None of them seemed particularly thrilled with the prospect. Silence reigned in the cavern for a few moments. Rieger ended up having to fish for a volunteer. "Kyle? Perhaps you might help us out? You actually seem to be among the thinnest of us, I think you'd be able to get through the space more easily."
Kyle snorted. "Fine, long as you come with me."
"Fair enough."
"Hn." Kyle approached the crack. Rieger offered him a flashlight, which he gladly took. Last thing I need is to go so damned blind back there I can't see this guy or what he's up to. At the very least, I'll get to see his true colors if we actually do find anything.
Rieger gestured toward the crack. "Go on ahead."
Kyle shook his head. "No way. You first."
Rieger shrugged. "If you insist." And with that, he wedged his way through the crevice.
Kyle frowned as he watched; the feeling that he was on some sort of crossroads coursed through him. I could just leave and let someone else do it. No one'd give a damn one way or the other, I'll bet. After all, I don't much want to go back there.
...eh. I can't wuss out all my life. If nothing else, I'll do it for that.
And with that, he made his way through the crack.
--
They were almost on top of it now. If it was truly possessed of emotions, it might have panicked, but as it in itself did not truly have a "mind", it did no such thing. If an inanimate object could be distressed, then so be it; it was slightly distressed. But it was not panicked. Such severe emotion was beyond its grasp.
There were two of them.
One had nothing but greed and contempt in his heart. No, he would not do at all, not at all. If he found it, he would take it from this place only to sell for profit. This, it could not allow.
But the other...
The other bore disillusionment. He was cynical. Pained. He projected malice out of a need for pretense and a desire for distance, not out of actual hatred.
But there was no greed in his heart. Only a desire to be who he chose to be.
A desire to find his own destiny.
And shield it.
Yes... yes, he very well might be the one who would hold its fate in his hands.
He might be the one to protect it.
Not that it had much choice in the matter... the creature was even now sensing the spite of the others, awakening because of it.
It was time to make a choice.
And it chose this troubled young soul.
--
When Kyle finally made it into the cavern, it was pitch black. He hurriedly hit the switch on his flashlight and looked around. There was Rieger, standing against the boulder, supposedly to avoid stepping on anything valuable. Kyle frowned. "No flashlight?"
"I'm used to darkness," Rieger answered.
Kyle shook his head. "Too damned dark for me."
"Considering your clothing, I would have thought you enjoyed–"
"Oh, shit..."
Rieger blinked at Kyle's outburst, and noted that the boy's eyes were trained on the ground. When Rieger looked at where Kyle was staring, all he did was blink in mild surprise.
Half-buried under rocks and sand was a decomposed skeleton. The right side of the skull's forehead had been crushed, presumably in the collapse of the cave around whoever this person had been.
Human bones littered the ground all over this small area. Kyle could see at least two more skulls, as well as segments of a shattered ribcage. He shuddered. "God... we stepped into a goddamned tomb..."
"I thought we might find something of the sort here," Rieger said. "After all, this cave did collapse. For all we knew, it collapsed on people. And now we know that it did." His eyes flitted around, looking for the faintest glint of Egyptian treasures.
Kyle stared at Rieger in disbelief. "How can you be so goddamned calm about this?"
"They're dead, Kyle. They can't harm you."
"I know they're dead! And walking around in someone's grave is like..." Kyle shuddered again. "Like some kind of freaking sacrilege."
"If you're disturbed by it, you're free to leave at any time," Rieger noted. "But until then, I would thank you to help me in this search. That's why you came, isn't it?"
Kyle blinked rapidly, rubbed at his eyes, and tried to calm himself. His heartbeat had skyrocketed, and sweat was pouring out of him. He wanted to pretend he was okay with this. But I'm not. I'm almost scared shitless...
Rieger sighed at the frozen teen. "Look, Kyle, if you're not going to do anything with that flashlight, how about you hand it over here, hm? There might be something I'm missing. I need to take a look at these rocks over here..."
Kyle wordlessly handed over the light to Rieger and stood there in the darkness, completely unsure of what to do.
And then he felt something.
What he felt, he couldn't explain, but whatever it was, it made him frown.
It was like... intuition. Some sort of awareness, on another level, maybe. Perhaps unconscious knowledge rising to the surface.
Maybe it was a premonition. Maybe it was an omen. He had no idea. But whatever it was, his eyes, seemingly of their own volition, flicked down to the first skeleton he'd seen.
Something was glinting underneath those rocks.
His frown grew deeper. Surely he or Rieger would have seen it before. He'd played the light very clearly across that spot, and there was virtually no light falling on it now.
Yet something was glimmering down there.
His body overpowered his brain as he got to his knees and began to dig for whatever the item was.
Rieger heard the scrabbling and glanced back at Kyle. He frowned. "What're you doing?"
"I saw something," Kyle muttered, clawing through the debris. His fingers brushed across crushed and rotting bones, and he tried – but failed – to suppress a shudder. Yet he didn't stop, but instead brushed the bones aside.
Rieger shone the flashlight in Kyle's direction, to see more clearly what it was the boy thought he was digging up.
And when it was revealed moments later, both of them forgot to breathe for several moments.
Kyle had just dug up a shield composed of solid gold.
Rieger blinked, and then a wide grin appeared on his face. "Excellent work, Kyle, truly marvelous. Go on and pick it up, and we'll take it out of here."
A slight frown creased Kyle's brow. Rieger blinked again. "What is it?"
"I just... I feel like... we should leave it here."
Rieger shook his head. "No way, Kyle. You're not thinking straight. What was the point of coming out here if you're not going to make any money off the venture?"
"I... I don't..."
"Kyle, c'mon. Pick it up."
Kyle shook his head. "No... I can't..."
"Kyle."
"I can't, Rieger, I just can't."
Click.
Kyle's frown deepened, and he looked up at Rieger.
Then his eyes filled with horror.
"Oh, shit," he muttered.
Behind the gun, Rieger smiled grimly. "That's the second time you've said that, Kyle. One would think you enjoyed cursing your mouth off. But trust me, if you don't pick that piece of gold up and hand it to me, then you'll be adding to this collection of skeletons."
Kyle tried to say something, but nothing would come out. And worse, he was frozen in place by the sight of the barrel poised directly above his eyes.
"All that's left in this cave are dead bodies and lost memories," Rieger said quietly. "If you feel like adding to them, I'm more than happy to help in that matter. But either you're going to get that billion-dollar trinket off the ground, or you're going to die. Either way, it's going to happen very, very quickly."
Kyle's hands shuddered uncontrollably, but they shot down to the shield and pried it out from the caked dirt and debris.
--
He was being threatened.
Its one and only chance for protection, for survival, was sitting on his knees, holding it in his hands.
His life was in danger.
That much, it understood. The means of danger did not matter. That he was in danger was enough.
For ages, it had lain dormant here, in this cavern, with nothing but the Shadow creature to watch over it. Now it was awake, and the only one who might be able to protect it was about to die.
It could not allow this.
It would not allow this.
And so, to this threat, the Millennium Shield offered its answer.
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Don't hurt me. I had to make it a cliffie. This is why I'm a suspense writer. Take a few moments – even a few days, if you need – to gather your thoughts and send in your comments and opinions, which are greatly desired, highly valued, and most welcome.