Welcome to episode four.
I want to start by making an announcement: this story finally have a cover. If you want to see how Eve and Ratshet look like, you can check it out.
As always, I am open to constructive criticism. I have received many views in the story but only one visitor left a review until now. Thanks again Smal-myth. So I ask that if you like the story to leave you opinion. It helps to keep writing.
This chapter has less changes than the last one but I still added more scenes and inner conflict within Eve. She is accepting her friends protection more but still wants to help as much as possible.
Episode 4: A rocky situation.
Returning home after waking up at the Sphinx was a true nightmare. Her mother could be really scary if she misbehaved. It was almost three hours of:
"How can you just disappear like that? I know teenagers make decisions on impulse but I thought I taught you better than that!"
And
"The next time you decide to disappear for two days, think about me as your mother and my concern for you! I almost had a heart attack thinking that you had been kidnapped or murdered!"
Eve was just sitting on the couch of the living room silent as her mother was standing in front of her as she scolded her.
When you have lived sixteen years under the same roof as Amanda Jones, you learn its better to let her talk when she is angry at you. If you interrupt is probable that she will only get worse and keep talking for more half an hour. So Eve only opened her mouth when Amanda finally got quiet.
"Sorry, mom. I lost track of time." She stars apologizing. Her strategy was to just accept the punishment and don't antagonize her mother. Amanda was already on the edge so Eve didn't want to worsen her situation.
"Do you honestly think this is a good excuse?" Amanda counters, trying to make some sense of her daughter's actions.
"Of course not. It was a terrible decision from my part but it's what happened."
"How many times do I have to tell you to call if you are late?"
"Yes, I know. I'm sorry." Eve apologizes again.
Amanda shakes her head.
"I didn't expected that from you. I heard from other moms how rebel teenagers tend to disappear for days to meet with their friends but you were never like that."
Eve got frustrated. She wasn't a trouble maker as her mother just suggested. The girl always strived at school and kept herself out of trouble. It's just that keeping a normal life after being pushed into the drama of a 3500 year old conflict between mummies and a sorcerer is impossible.
"I am not like that, mom! I wasn't partying with some juvenile delinquents! I was just working on a project with my new friends, they are really nice. They would never put me in dangerous situations!" Eve argued raising her voice. She regretted it the moment her mother turned to stare at her.
With the mention of her new friends, Amanda started to ask more questions about them.
"Really? Then tell me more about those friends that you spent two days with." She starts.
Instead of trying to make up some imaginary friends from the back of mind, Eve ended up making fake people based of her guardians.
"Er... There was James... he is a really responsable guy." And overprotective, Eve adds in her mind. "The type of person that would blame himself if anything went wrong on the project. Sometimes he worries a little too much." Eve already had mentioned James but now she would have to create fake names for the others too. It was hard thinking how to answer under her mother stern stare. "... there is a girl too. Her name is... Nela. She is like the cool older sister I never had... in a good way. She is the only one that has a car so she usually drives the group around...Always respecting traffic rules." She lied as flashes of Nefetina's first drive came in her mind, the mummy almost ran over a kid that night. The next guy she created was based on Rath. "Rafael is the smartest guy among us. A little arrogant but still a good guy. I learned some interesting facts about Egypt from him. And then there is Ar...Thur. Not the best with words but he as a huge heart. It's nice to have him around."
She examinated her mother's reaction, she seemed to be believing her words.
"Where are those people from? You said James was an exchange student."
"All of them are. They had know each other for a long time before arriving here. They are like family." Eve quickly replied.
"And how did you meet?"
"We meet on the street when... a scarab tried to bite me... a huge ugly and annoying scarab." Eve felt the urge to punch herself for that answer. It sounded so stupid.
"Let me see if I got this right, you meet four exchange students from Egypt on the street and they got rid of a scarab for you then you became friends and started a project together?" Amanda summarises.
"...If only was that easy to get rid of him." She mumbled. Getting rid of Scarab sounded so good.
"What?"
"What what? I just said yes."
Amanda took some seconds to come to a decision.
"...alright."
"... so you are okay with them?" Eve asked hopeful.
"I still want to meet them in person but I have noticed that you were happier those last few weeks so they must be good to you." Amanda flashed a little smile but then she turned stern again. "But you will be are grounded for two weeks."
"Two weeks? I only disappeared for two days!"
"Yes, one week of punishment for each day without contacting home. You will have to come home right back from school, no visiting Walter or you new friends!"
Damn it! This would ruin her training schedule with the mummies. She was finally getting to some practice lessons.
"But...!" She starts but her mother was having none of it.
"Do you want me to make it three weeks?" She threatens her.
"No..." Eve mumbles in defeat.
Then, Amanda's phone started ringing. It was probably from the museum. She would have to answer.
"Go to your room. We will talk more about it later." Her mom told her.
Eve got up from her seat and walked upstairs to her room. That conversation was terrible, especially because technically it wasn't Eve's fault. If she was going to be punished it at least had to be for something she really had done wrong.
She opened her door to see that all of her guardian were there. They insisted on going home. with her to make sure she wouldn't suffer an unfair punishment. In reality, there was nothing they could do about it, but Eve let them accompany her anyway.
Rath was reading some book of hers, standing next to her shelf. Armon was eating chips in a corner. Nefertina was sitting on her bed giving Kahti a belly rub. And Ja-Kal was just standing leaning on the wall with crossed arms. They all stopped what they were doing to look at her.
Ja-kal was the first to talk.
"How did it go?" He asked.
Eve closed the door behind her before answering.
"I made up a cover story that you are all exchange students from Egypt. She believed it."
"...so that means she won't burry you?" Armon asked.
Ja-kal and Rath had told the other about the call and they all came to the same conclusion to what "grounded" means. Eve had to clear things for them but they still didn't got it completely.
"I already told you guys, that's not what being grounded means!" Eve exclaimed for what felt the 50th time, trying to not raise her voice too much in fear her mother could hear. "I will just have to come home early from school."
"Oh." They all said. Hopefully this time the answer wolud got into their thick minds.
"What about your classes with us?" Rath inquired. Off all of them, he was the one that most look forward to teaching her.
"We will have to put them on hold." Eve sighed. She wasn't happy with the arrangement either but it was the best she could get from her mom.
Eve thought those two weeks would have sucked. She was wrong.
At first it was just school and home, where Eve would walk around in boredom. Then in her fourth afternoon alone at home, she got a visit from Nefertina. The mummy had snuck out of the lair to see how she was doing. She kept company for the girl until her mother returned. It made her day much better.
The next day her visitor was Armon, he suggested they tried out some new food so Eve got some spicy snacks for them. Let's just say it was too spicy for them.
"Eve had drunk her third glass of water but it still felt like her tongue was burning.
"Why did this chips even got produced? They are too spicy for people to eat! I can't even eat more then five of them!" Eve exclaimed, already pouring water for a fourth glass.
"I know but they taste so good!" Armon kept eating even though his eyes were already watering at that point."
At the end he had to drink a lot of water.
Eve was surprised to see Rath in day seven. He said that he discovered the other's escape to see her. His excuse for his visit was that they could advance part of her studies but it was obvious that he missed her. He had brought some of his scrolls for them to read.
But no visit surprised her more than Ja-kal's. It was awkward at first. They just stood in silence for most of the time. Then Eve got courage to ask about his family. He was happy to remember the good times with his wife and son. But to Eve's learned, that there was more to his stories.
"A BROTHER?" Eve exclaimed in surprise. She was sitting in her bed while Ja-kal sat on a chair.
"Yes. His name was Arakh." He told her.
Curious, she stared making questions about him.
"Older or younger?"
"Older."
"What kind of person was he?"
"He was determined... and ambitious. A talented warrior."
Eve was expecting that answer to contain something more personal. It seemed like Ja-kal didn't knew much about his own brother.
"Were you close?"
"Once." He admits.
Eve decided to drop the subject after that. He clearly didn't had a good relationship with this brother. It was better not to talk about it.
With her friends visits time seemed to pass faster. Soon the two weeks ended and Eve was free to visit them at the Sphinx again.
There was a foggy night when her mother said she would sleep at her office in the museum. Eve took advantage of the situation and decided spend the night in the Sphinx trying to make up for lost training time.
Eve meet Ja-kal for her training with him. Since hunting skills weren't that useful in a big city, he decided to teach her how to use a weapon. Eve was ecstatic by the news. Ever since she saw her guardians using their weapons in battle, she wondered what it would be to have one for herself. But what would they give her? A bow and arrow like Ja-kal? Whip like Nefertina? Or a sword like Rath?
The weapon Ja-kal showed her in the training room wasn't any of those.
"Is that... a boomerang?" Eve asks, holding the small weapon with her hands. She recalled seeing something like that during the dream incident.
"No, hold it more like this." Ja-kal corrects her, showing the right way to hold the object.
"It is a boomerang! This is a kid's toy!" Eve exclaimed.
"It was Ratshet's weapon of choice. She said once that she liked it because it's light and easy to carry." He pointed out but still didn't convince her.
"Can't I have something else? Like a dagger? It's portable too and more deadly." Eve looks at the boomerang again. "What will I do with it? Throw it at Scarab's face?"
"Just try it." Ja-kal offers, maybe seeing the weapon in action would change her mind.
Eve didn't understood why he was insisting on something that stupid thing but did what he asked anyway. She brought her hand back and threw the object in the air, but in her frustration she threw it with too much force.
The flying object kept bouncing on the walls many times. Eve tried to follow the object with her gaze but it moved too fast.
Then Nefertina arrived in the room to see how the training was doing. It was thanks to her quick reflexes that she managed to jump out of the way of the boomerang when it flew her direction twice.
"Do you mind?" Nefertina asks.
Amon didn't had the same quick reflexes. He arrived soon after the cat armored mummy.
"Hey, everybody!" Armon greets, not noticing the boomerang flying at full speed in his direction.
Eve flinched when the object hitted him square on the face. He fell on his back making a loud bam.
The boomerang still hits the table where Eve kept her school supplies, breaking the table in two.
"Ops!" Eve had to admit, the weapon made more damage that she gave it credit for.
The last to arrive on the scene was Rath, he had a scroll on his hand. It wasn't unusual for him to carry those, he read them a lot. The snake armored mummy noticed Armon laying on the ground and jumped to the wrong conclusion of how he ended down there.
"Oh! Really, Armon? If you must rest do it in your sarcophagus." Rath complains rolling his eyes.
Rath then clear his throat and opened the scroll.
"Now, young princess. I have been studying what I can about the spirit of the Pharaoh that wells inside you."
"Spirit of the paraoh? I thought you said I had the spirit of the princess." Eve titled her head to the side in confusion.
"Well, since Pharaoh Amenhotep died and you were the next on the line of succession of the throne, you are considered the current Pharaoh." Rath clears out but it still kept one detail that Eve didn't understood.
"But then why do you call me princess?" She inquired.
"Firstly you never officially took the throne." He told the first part in a matter of fact tone, then added in a more awkward way. "And secondly... well, we just couldn't get used call you other way."
"I understand. So what did you learn with those..." Eve suddenly stops as she feels some weird sensation. "Did you guys feel that? A chill?"
"Actually I did too." Rath said in a serious tone. "This isn't a good sign..."
Eve was about to ask what he meant when...
BAM!
...a violent tremor hit the sphinx, making everything around them shake. It was so intense that some parts of the ceiling started to fall at them.
"Earthquake!" Eve yells covering her head with her arms.
Ja-kal quickly reacted and he held Eve in his arms trying to cover her with his body so that if any fragment of the ceiling fell on them it would hit him first.
The earthquake ended some seconds after. The training room was ruined, the walls had countless cracks and some of the furniture was destroyed.
"What was that?" Nefertina asks.
"Someone must have awoken Geb the spirit of earth from his sleep." Rath said, sure of his conclusion.
Unlike him, Eve was still skeptical.
"How do you know that? It could be just a earthquake." She asks.
Rath turned to her and started explaining what he was certain had just happened.
"That was Geb coming out from the Western Gate, the earth trembles when he arrives... he is the earth spirit after all. The chill you felt was your spirit sensing when he arrived in this world."
"Or, it could be just an earthquake and the chill was because it's cold tonight. San Frascisco has earthquakes all the time because the city is close to the edge of tectonic plates." Eve tried to explain but her use of the term 'tectonic plates' only confused her friends. They didn't knew what those were so Eve had to explain more. "The planet superfície is made of huge plates, that are called tectonic plates, they slide against each other causing earthquakes. The closest the city is to the edge of those plates, the more intense the earthquake is." She made a gesture with her hands showing how the plates slide against each other.
The reaction that her explanation got from Nefertina, Amon and Rath was of laughter.
"Oh please! 'Sliding plates'!" Rath mocked. Thinking the ideia of sliding plates sounded absurd.
"Sounds like Armon eating dinner!" Nefertina joked.
Armon laughed more before realizing what Nefertina suggested.
"Hey!"
Still trying to prove her point, Eve walked to the broken table where her books were.
"No. Really, there has a diagram of them right here on my geography..." She found the book and grabbed it, but then she noticed that somehow the book was cut in two when the table broke. One of the halfs fell from her hands into the ground, causing the pages to spread out on the floor. How did that stupid boomerang split a thick book in two?!
That resulted in more laughter from Armon and soon Nefertina and Rath followed.
Eve felt her face warm up in embarrassment as she crouched to to collect the pages scattered on the ground. She was only trying to explain the concept of tectonic plates to them and they react by laughing in her face as she was some kind of joke?
Saying that she was offended was an understatement.
"Fine! Laugh it up!" She finally snaps. "I am going home to see if we have a gas leak." And so she leaves the room in a hurry, not wanting them to see the blush of embarrassment on her face.
Just then the others stopped laughing. Nefertina was the first to realize that they somehow offended the young princess.
"Is that something we said?" She asks. In her mind, joking about 'the tectonic plates' wasn't a big deal.
"Her feelings were hurt. She tried to explain something to you and you made fun of her for it." Ja-kal shook his head at them. He was dissappointed at his companions behavior.
"Come on, Ja-kal. You don't really think those plates are real, do you?" Nefertina asks.
"No, but I won't laugh at her for it." He turned to leave the room but added something before walking away. "She doesn't do that when we explain something from our world to her."
His words got the others to realize that Eve in fact didn't do that. Granted, she giggles when they get confused with any expressions or concepts from the modern world. But she never let's out a full bust of laughter in their faces. That realization made them feel bad for being so immature with their protected.
The tense mood that installed in the room was interrupted when Armon burped.
"We should check you for a gas leak." Rath said.
The next day, Eve's school showed the students a documentary about earthquakes and how to react to them. They did It every time there was a prevision of a earthquake or after the fact, which was a lot. The students were already tired to see the same video over and over again, so nobody really was watching this time. Most of them were chatting silently to each other or playing with their cell phones keeping the object hidden away for the teacher not to see.
But professor Huxley was distracted solving another matter. Eve had to show him the destroyed geography book from the night before.
"Now, Eve. Is this how you handle your responsibilities?" He starts, looking at the book.
"Professor Huxley, I can explain." Eve said, still trying to think of an excuse.
"I should hope so considering how the school board entrusted you with this book but look. Look at it now." He gestured to the pieces in his desk. "Ruined."
"I am looking. I am not blind." Eve mumbled, still too irritated with her friends laughing at her yesterday to deal with this crap.
The documentary playing suddenly stopped and the TV went static before the last person Eve wanted to see that day appeared on the screen.
"Hear me, Ratshet. If you do not surrender before down tomorrow I shall shake its city until all that's left is a pile of rubble. I remind you at sunset of my power." When he was finished the documentary returned.
Scarab didn't confronted her like that before, showing his ugly face on TV was a new move.
The other teens thought it was some kind of prank or a part of a fantasy movie that somehow appeared on the TV. They only laughed at it. This time, hearing laughter didn't affect Eve, she was too occupied worrying about Scarab's new plan.
That didn't go unnoticed by her best friend that studied in the same class as her. Walter was confused to see that she wasn't laughing like the others. She wasn't taking that ridiculous video seriously, was she?
Back in the lair, the mummies had seen the same recording play on their TV. Scarab had used a simple spell that affected every TV screen on the city, including theirs. The four guardians had reunited in the planning room.
To plan what to do, Armon had placed a map of the city on the wall.
"But how are we going to find, Geb? He is everywhere." Armon asks from his place next to the map.
"We strike north, west, east and south." Ja-kal was using his bow to shoot arrows in the map indicating their area of search. He was precise in his aim so he hadn't hurt Armon, who stood close to the map.
"Whatever you say." Armon agreed.
Eve walked inside the room after looking for them on the other floors. She knew they had to hear about Scarab's new trickery to catch her, but from the looks of it they already knew.
"I suppose you saw the recording." Eve commented. "So what's the plan? What do we do?"
"You won't do anything except stay at home. We will deal with Gab." Ja-kal announced.
"But we are a team! I want to help too!" Eve was surprised that they were leaving her behind.
"No, you can't." Ja-kal puts a hand on her shoulder. "Scarab believes that the spirit of the Pharaoh will give him eternal life."
"He just believes?" Eve wonders.
"It never happened before so we are not sure." Rath confessed shaking his head in deny. "But we won't risk it. If it works the consequences will be catastrophic."
"He will have the hole world under his thumb by supper." Armon begins serious but then starts to think about food."Hum.. supper..."
"The only thing standing between Scarab and world domination it's you." Rath pointed at her.
"Jeeze, no pressure..." Eve mumbled.
She didn't felt wanted in the lair so she returned home for dinner. Eve was eating with her mother when the evening journal started covering Scarab's video.
"The officers were investigating the origin of the video but they hitted a dead end. With no more leads and no urgent necessity of finding the perpetrator behind the prank, they decided to drop the case. We got an exclusive interview with the chief of police working in the case." A reporter said.
The image changed and showed an officer talking into a microphone.
"It is just some old man trying to get a moment of fame. We are going to focus on more important cases."
They had no ideia how important that case really was. Eve had, and it was eating her from inside. She was the one he was after but at the same time she was powerless to stop him. Her team, if she can call it that, casted her aside so she had no opportunity to help them.
...at least for some moments she wanted to just forget about her problem.
"Mom, do we have to watch this?" Eve asks.
"You are right. No TV at dinner." The girl felt relieved when her mother turned off the TV. "We should talk. Now, what's bothering you? You look like you have the weigh of the world in your shoulders."
Just when she thought she could take the problem out of her mind, her mother asks that.
"It feels like that..." Eve mumbles under her breath.
"Beg your pardon?" Amanda asked, not understanding what Eve said so quietly.
Eve decided to vent with her mother while keeping things as vague as possible.
"Mom, did you ever felt useless? ...like, you wanted to help in something but people wouldn't let you because according to them you aren't good enough? And when you suggest something they doubt you?"
Amanda took some seconds to digest the sudden change of behavior in her daughter.
"Is that about your project?" Amanda then asked.
"You could say so..."
"Sweetie, I am sure that if they are really your friends they wouldn't want you to feel like that. When people have a goal in mind, they tend to focus too much on planing and too little in giving others the chance to try. Once, I was working on a exhibition some years ago. I was only a beginner but wanted to show what I could do. My more experienced coworker didn't let me. He said my ideas had some flaws that would ruin the schedule. As I worked with him I realized that he had a point, I was making some mistakes in my ideas."
"... so you just followed his instructions?" Eve asked.
"No. I learned from my experience working with him and I improved my technique. After, I introduced my ideas better and he started hearing me more. In the end, the exhibition was a success because of our combined efforts." Amanda looked her daughter in her eyes as she said the rest. "Your friends probably had their own way of work before you joined, now that you are part of the group there will be a fase of adaptation. But you can't lower your head and let them do all the work." She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You are a compassionate and intelligent young woman, I know you can show them your value."
Her true dilema wasn't the same thing as working on a project but her mother did make a good point. Her guardians worked a different way before she arrived. She didn't knew much of Ratshet's behavior but it seemed like she stood in the sidelines a lot, she was a princess after all. Eve wasn't that way. Regardless of how she looked life Ratshet, she wasn't her. Eve wouldn't stay behind and let her friends get hurt because of her. But instead of running like around a maniac trying to prove she know something, she had to be smart and wait for the best opportunity to prove herself.
Her mother's words really made her feel better.
"Thanks mom. I will do just that." She smiled. She had just finished her food se she stood up. There was still another worry in her mind. "Mom, is the museum safe? I mean if a really big one hit like say around noon tomorrow would you be alright?" She asks as she walks to the kitchen and starts cleaning her plate.
"Oh! Don't worry about that, Eve. The museum was designed to be one of the most earthquake safe buildings on the city." Her mother answers from the table.
"Good." Eve finished cleaning and returned to the table.
"The only thing happening at noon tomorrow is that eclipse and an eclipse never hurt anyone." She then placed her hand over her daughters.
Eve felt nervous because she remembered her friends warning about the eclipse.
In Ja-kal's words: "Terrible things happen when Rah hides his face. Scarab may strike as a scorpion in the darkness."
And seeing how the sorcerer was trying to get her to go to him, he already had some dark plan in mind.
After her mother went to sleep, Eve sneaked out of the house and got back to the Sphinx.
She decided to give a last try to convince the mummies to let her help.
"Look, I'm tired of running away from that Scarab creep. I want to kick some tut too." Eve starts.
"Scarab is using Gab to draw you out. It's a trap." Ja-kal shakes his head.
"Of course it's a trap but I escaped his traps before." Eve points out.
Rath was checking his magical table-top sized Pyramid. The object turned it's layers before stopping in one combination.
"I don't understand the pyramids directions. I asked to figure it out where Geb was."
"Epic-?" Nefelina reads one part.
"-Enter?" Armon reads the second part. "What does that mean?"
That was a perfect opportunity for Eve to show her knowledge.
"Not epic and enter but epicenter." Eve explained as she approached them. "Ground zero for an earthquake."
Unlike last time when they only laughed at her, Armon took her seriously. He remembered hearing the same word before when he was watching TV.
"Oh! Wait! The little man in the magic box said that the epicenter of the earthquake was in the bay." He said.
"How did he know?" Rath asked.
Armon just shrugged as he had no idea.
"So we will go to the bay and look around for Gab?" Nefertina asks.
"It's our only clue. And it does make sense." Ja-kal said before turning to Eve. "We'll escort you home than go face Gab."
Here they were, pushing her aside again. And this time after they got her help!
"What? But I was the one that found out where Gab was!"
"It takes a wise hunter to retreat from a lion's lair and live to hunt again." He simply quoted.
Remembering her mother's words, Eve decided not to insist more. If she kept doing that she would sound too immature for them to take her seriously in the future.
"... fine. But I will go home on my own." Eve decided.
She got to the table to get her backpack but noticed the boomerang sitting next to it. It was the closest thing to a real weapon that she had. It was better to keep it close so she placed the object inside her bag before leaving.
Eve had been staring at the ceiling of her room since she layed on the bed. Her mind was too full on thoughts too be able to sleep. More than anything, she wished to be able to go help her friends. Knowing while she was just lying there, they were probably fighting an earth spirit made her worry for their safety.
Also, ever since she returned she had a bad feeling that something would end wrong that night. Maybe it was just her worry or her frustration for not being able to help messing with her and everything would end right for the guardians. Still she couldn't sleep.
Kahti had come home with her, the cat was next to her on the bed. Eve was caressing the cat in an effort to feel better.
At one point, Eve felt her eyes closing. Finally, she was going to get some sleep. But as soon as she closed them a voice seemed to echo around her making her blood freeze.
"Hear me out, guardians of Ratshet. Gab may no longer pose a threat but I do. Young Pharaoh surrenders before noon at the southern tower of the of Oakland bridge or you can kiss Ja-kal goodbye."
Eve jumped from her bed, startling Kahti in the process. She looked around, afraid that Scarab would jump from the shadows and attack her.
He wasn't there.
Was her mind playing tricks on her? Or maybe it was just a nightmare?
Eve shook her head. She had to avoid having negative thoughts. She was worrying too much and it was starting to affect her mental state. Her friends were okay.
They had to be.
Her friends weren't ok.
As soon as the sun rose, Eve and Kahti went to the Sphinx to check on them. As soon as her eyes found them, Eve noticed two things: they were exhausted and Ja-kal wasn't there.
The rest of the guardians told her all that happened. They searched the bay as planned and found Gab. Scarab had told him that it was Ratshet who summoned him and the stupid spirit believed him. They battled and the mummies managed to get Gab through the portal back to where he came from, but their powers gave out and Ja-kal ended up being captured by Scarab.
Eve recalled what she heard last night. It sounded like it was exactly what Scarab told the remaining guardians after he got Ja-kal. But how she heard it?
Pushing that thought aside, she turned to her friends who were sitting down on the small set of stairs of the room with looks of defeat in their faces. They seemed lost without their leader.
"There must be a way to save Ja-kal!"
"Yes,but surrendering yourself to Scarab isn't one of them." Rath said.
"Ja-kal would agree. We exist to protect you. Even if it means to sacrifice ourselves." Nefertina lowers her head.
Eve's eyes widened at her depressed tone, she never fully considered the possibility of her friends dying because of her. It terrified her.
"I know..." Eve clenched her fists. "...but I don't want you to."
"Your responsibility lies with your studies. We will rescue Ja-kal." Rath said.
Eve didn't say another word and just left the room. She heard their steps as her friends turned to go rest in their sarcophagus.
As soon as she was out of sight of them, Eve turned to Kahti. The reincarnated princess spoke with determination.
"I know it's a risky decision and I know that no one would approve it. But I will go rescue my friend."
The cat stares at her, but somehow Eve knew she understood her words.
"...and I know that I can't do it alone."
Kahti titled her head to the side, Eve understood it as her a way to say: "How?"
Eve gets her boomerang from out of her backpack and smirks.
"I have a plan."
Ja-kal was having a bad day.
Waking up to realize that he had been captured by his enemy was terrible. But it got even worse to discover that after invoking his armor and not recharging afterwards he did not have the strength to fight his captors. But he still tried and failed.
He supposed Scarab was going to execute him in the first opportunity, but the sorcerer just handcuffed him and then brought him back to the bridge. That's when he realized the Scarab's plan. He was using him as a bait to attract the others.
They were standing in the top of the bridge, there were three Clay soldiers around himself. Scarab was keeping them here just in case he tried to escape again.
"It's nearing noon. Time for the eclipse." He heard Scarab say.
The falcon guardian gazed at the sky for some seconds, indeed the eclipse would starts in a few minutes. Anything Scarab is trying to do in the shadow of the eclipse can't be good, Ja-kal had to stop him someway.
"You'll never posses the spirit of the Paraoh! You might as well finish with me now." Ja-kal exclaimed at him.
The sorcerer turned to look at him, his ugly face twisting in a macabre smile. Having the leader of the guardians, the scum that always stood in this way, as a captive was an opportunity to get back for every time he made the sorcerer lose in the past.
"Oh? But you are the key for this entire operation." Scarab mocked.
That was a low blow, making him feel responsable for luring his teammates into a trap. Scarab didn't even stop with just that, he wanted to make sure the leader of the guardians knew exactly what was waiting for his charge.
The old man hold up a piece of a scroll, a spell was written in the old paper.
"The incantation that will grant me eternal life must be spoken during an eclipse. It also must be spoken by a Pharaoh."
"As it turns out young Ratshet is the only Pharaoh alive." Heka spoke from her position next to Ammut, he was the same beast that hunted Eve in the florest. The guardians had forgot to get rid of him.
"Ratshet will never help you!" Ja-kal exclaimed, being careful to never call Eve by her true name. He felt the hands of two soldiers resting in this arms, ready to hold him back in case he rebelled.
"And yet she will. In order to save you." Scarab said with a smirk. He was sure the compassion of the princess would be too much for her to ignore and she would walk right into his trap.
"No Pharaoh would ever sacrifice himself for someone like me." Ja-kal declared, trying to convince both Scarab And himself. He wasn't sure of how Eve would take his kidnapping. In the month he knew her, he realized how much she cared for the others. And the pressure she palaces on herself.
He was begging to the gods that she wouldn't come to rescue him.
Unknown to them, the girl they were talking about was climbing the tower to get there. There was an old ladder that stood in the side of the structure.
And unknown to her, the other mummies were planing their own rescue attempt. They stood on their boat, getting ready to attack when Nefertina noticed Eve climbing the estruture.
"Look, Eve is up there!" Nefertina points at Eve, alerting her two companions of the girl's presence.
The two boys checked and saw her too. They paled as it was obvious they wouldn't get up there before her.
"Ja-kal hasn't reachaged. He is powerless to protect her!" Rath exclaim. With Ja-kal too weak to fight, Eve would be left alone with Scarab!
Back in the tower, Eve had just got to the top. She climbed to the plataform and the group standing there noticed her.
"Apparently, this Pharaoh would." Scarab said, referring to Ja-kal's last statement.
"No!" Ja-kal yells in panic. She shouldn't have come for him! It was not worth it!
Above them, the eclipse was about to begin. Parts of the moon were already covering the sun.
"Now, all you have to do is repeat a few simple words and your friend here goes free." Scarab instructs.
"No! Don't! It doesn't matter what happens to me!" Ja-kal tries to get to her, but is held back by the soldiers.
"It matters to me." Eve simply states.
That was exactly what Ja-kal was afraid of.
When the eclipse starts, the sky turns dark and the Western Gate appears bellow them.
"It's the western gate! In the middle of the day?" Nefertina stands up on the boat.
"The eclipse must have caused it. Now we are in for real trouble!" Rath concludes.
"You mean we weren't before?!" Armon exclaims.
"With the strength of Ra!" The trio transforms.
Back on the top, the situation was tense. With the start of the eclipse, Scarab plan was nearing success. A bright aura was forming around Eve, her spirit was reacting to the start of the eclipse.
"Now you say it." He holds paper with the enchantetion for Eve to read it.
"Alright. But first I want to ask a question." She calmly said.
"Be quick about it!" Scarab spat, he was impatient but if asking would make her read the spell so be it.
All present there were surprised when Eve gave Scarab a cheeky smile.
"Do you still find cats annoying?" She asks making him confused.
Then a figure jumps from behind the villains and lands on Scarab's back, pinning him on the ground.
It was Kahti, already transformed in her larger form. She growled at the sorcerer under her.
"Where did that cat came from?!" Heka exclaims in surprise.
"I thought I could need some backup!" Eve took her boomerang from her backpack and launched it in Ja-kal's direction. The boomerang cutted the chains holding his arms together, freeing him. As soon as he was free he fought the soldiers next to him.
As soon as Ja-kal was freed, Kahti retreated to stand next to Eve to protect her. Eve glared at Scarab without a glint of fear. He glared back at her in anger.
"This is no game, girl!" Scarab exclaimed as soon as he got up.
"You're right! The game was over the moment you decided to take my friend!" Eve roared back, Kahti was still growling from her place next to her.
Scarab decided that he would have to deal with the stupid cat first and than the girl.
"Ammut, attack!" Scarab orders the dog like spirit.
Ammut runs in the girls direaction but as he got closer, he misses his target and ended up falling from the bridge.
The three others were only looking where he fell, dumbfounded by his stupidity.
Eve especially felt really dumb. That was the beast she was running from in the forest? Looking back, maybe she could have dealt with him.
"Dumb mutt..." Scarab mumbles. "It doesn't matter, I will deal with you two myself!"
He was taken back when the rest of the mummies appeared next to Eve, they had climbed up there to help. The three armored mummies stood already in fighting stance.
"Coming alone for the rescue?" Nefertina looks at Eve from the corner of her eye. Her tone disapproving.
"I wasn't alone." Eve gestured to Kahti.
"We will talk about that later." They advanced against the enemies.
Armon went to rescue Ja-kal from a soldier that was almost throwing him over the bridge. He punched the soldier destroying it. Then got Ja-kal on his feet.
"Guess I am handy to have around." Armon joked.
Rath cutted two of the soldiers into pieces with his sword.
"Cretins..."
Nefertina cutted one's legs and kicked him off the bridge.
"Ok. Now let's deal with Scarab!"
While the guardians were distracted, Scarab advanced against Eve. Kahti tried to defend her but in his armor Scarab was stronger. He pushed the cat aside and got to Eve. The girl was about to get her boomerang but he grasped her leg and held her outside the bridge.
"One move and I let her go!" Scarab threatened the guardians.
Eve could see the water far bellow, it was a long fall. She couldn't repress a scream that escaped her lips.
Then she looked at the western gate for the first time, it was marked by two huge statues on the sides. A huge figure came from inside of it, a gigant monster made of earth and rocks. That probably was Geb.
"Finish that incantation! Now!" Scarab ordered in her face.
Eve made a quick plan in her mind. If it worked they would get rid of Scarab and Geb.
"Alright! You won. I know when to admit failure. After all, you really outdone yourself this time. Summoning the Earth spirit must have been hard." She fakes a expression of defeat, certain that it would make him brag about his victory.
"It wasn't hard to me! Only I have the wisdom to summon such spirit."
Hearing his confession, Gab got to them. His rage now directed to Scarab instead of Eve.
"...Geb?" Scarab took some steps back in fear.
With Scarab distracted, Ja-kal throws wrappings at Eve making it curl around the girl's wrist then he pulls her to them.
"I saw him getting out of the gate. Thought he deserved some sincerity from your part." Eve said with a smirk.
"So you woke me... of course. I must have rocks in my head."
In a attempt to escape his eminent punishment, Scarab stretched his wings and tried to fly away. Gab just catches him in his gigant hand as if he was just an insect.
"You are mine!" Geb roared. He wouldn't let the mage go free after summoning and deceiving him.
Scarab noticed that Geb was going back into the western gate.
"Not in there! No!" Scarab screamed, he would be trapped for at least the rest of the day in there.
Ignoring his cries, Geb continued. They disappeared into the gate in a purple flash.
Amnot swims after them, Heka in his back.
"No, Amnot! Bad dog! Bad dog!" Heka exclaimed. She was just ignored by him, soon they disappeared into the gate as well.
When the light of the sun returns with the end of the eclipse, the western gate vanished.
The glow emanating from Eve's body vanished too.
With the threat gone, the guardians deteansform.
Ja-kal turned to look at Eve, she was still holding the boomerang in her hands.
"I thought you said I was a kid's toy." He said in a tone that showed slightly amusement from his part.
"I still think so... but it's a destructible toy." She declares with a smile, spinning the weapon in her hands.
"Now, let's not get so cozy here." Rath interrupts their moment. "You do realize Scarab will find some way to escape from Gab."
"Perhaps." Ja-kal said while Eve just rolled her eyes at Rath pessimism.
"And the western gate will open again at sundown and Sc will return to this world." Rath continued.
"Great way to ruin the mood,Rath." Eve shakes her head. Couldn't he just let them have a good moment?
"Oh! Cheer up,Rath! As long as we are all together it will all work out!" Armon said as he playfully hitted Rath on the back. He used too much force and Rath flew out of the bridge.
Rath was left hanging from one of his wrappings.
"Armon! Pull me up! Pull me up this instant!" Rath complained.
Amon immediately started pushing him back up. Nefertina and Eve giggled at the comic scene. Ja-kal was silent but he did find the situation a little funny too.
"Does that recharge thing always lasts so long?" Eve asked Rath.
They were standing next to the four sarcophagi, inside one of them was Ja-kal resting. He was in that state for a few hours now. After he entered, Eve had sat on the stairs that led to the sarcophagus and has been there ever since. She used the time to do her homework and read some scrolls she received from Rath, but with that done, she had nothing more to do.
The others were doing their stuff but eventually Rath walked into the room and noticed her standing there. It was when she asked her question.
"No, but Ja-kal has passed too much time without resting. Now he has to recharge for longer." He explained, trying to ease her noticeable worry.
"Alright." She said.
A awkward silence installed in there for some minutes before Rath spoke again.
"You don't have to wait for him. You can just go home and we'll tell you when he awakes." He offered.
She just shook her head in deny then smiled gently at him.
"It's okay. I will just wait for him here, he waited for me when I was unconscious, so I will do the same."
"He is your guardian. It's his duty to take care of you. You don't have the same duty with him." He pointed out.
Eve let out a dry laugh. They seemed to never get that she didn't care about duty.
"I don't care. I never did." She admits. Eve hesitates to continue but does so anyway. Her tone got sadder and her eyes distant as she recalled painful things. "You guys...you guys are one of the best things that ever happened in my life, even with the danger. My mom is always at work and Walter has his own family to spend time with. I felt so alone... but then you showed up and I wasn't alone anymore. I just... don't want to lose any of you."
Rath was taken back by her confession. While she was grounded and they visited, he got a glimpse at her loneliness. It seemed like their princess didn't had many close friends or family outside her mother. But he didn't expected it to affect her that much.
It made him feel even worse for the way he behaved the day prior, their friendship was precious to her for them to make fun of her like that.
"I'm sorry for the way we treated you the last day." He starts apologizing, it wasn't his forte but he still tried to be convincing. "Even if some of your ideas sound..." He was going to say stupid but changed it on the last second. "... strange to us, it doesn't mean we shouldn't respect your beliefs."
Truth to be told, Eve had totally forgot about that situation. After Ja-kal's capture it didn't seemed so important.
"It's okay. It wasn't such a big deal as I made it out to be..." She recalled her behavior last class at school and giggled. "I even almost snapped at my teacher when he scolded me about the destroyed book."
Finally done resting, Ja-kal's sarcophagus open and he steps out looking much better. He noticed Rath standing there and then Eve, he was only surprised to see the second.
"You are still here?" He asks. He expected her to have gone back home at this point.
Eve just rolled her eyes at him. Ja-kal was always expecting her not to care much when he cared a bit too much.
"Nice to see you too." She said in sarcasm. Then added. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. It seems like you are so I am going back home before mom returns from work."
She stood and turned to leave but Ja-kal walked to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We need to talk."
His tone was already familiar to Rath. He spoke like that when correcting someone that didn't follow the plan. He snuck out of the room to let them talk alone.
"We need to talk about what happened in the bridge."
Eve tried to guess where that was going. Only one thing came to her mind, a thanks.
"It's alright. You don't have to thank me."
"Never do it again."
Eve shivered at his dark tone.
"What?"
"I am grateful for your rescue but it was too risky. If the situation repeats itself you must not go after me or any of the others."
Eve had to take a few seconds before responding.
"I... I can't just stay behind and do nothing. Friend take care of each other... it works both ways!"
"Evelyn, this is more complicated than a normal friendship. The fate of this world rests in your shoulders. If Scarab gets your soul we all lose."
Eve wasn't stupid, she saw the logic behind his words. If Scarab got her soul it was game over for everybody. With immortality and his magic tricks it was only a matter of time before he got control of the world. It would ruin the lives everyone she cared about: mom, Walter and even her guardians themselves.
Still... could she be selfish enough to let someone sacrifice himself for her? Never. Eve valued her friends and family too much to do that.
"I know that but..." She starts, but compassion wasn't a reasonable argument in that situation.
"If something happens you must priorize your safety above any of ours." He instructs.
Eve had no options but to comply. Even if it felt wrong, it was for the greater good. She hoped from the bottom of her heart she would never have to do it.
"...I promise." She finally agreed.
Ja-kal let a sigh of relief, he feared she would insist on risking her life for others. He could respect that part of her deeply. It even reminded him of himself. Yet their positions where highly different, he was a guardian and she the guarded.
Unfortunately, they didn't have the privilege of being able to make decisions without serious consequences.
"I am going home then."
As she was walking away from the room there was one question in her mind.
Would there ever come the day when her promise would become a lie?
I am still deciding how to handle the next chapter: Desert chic. As you already know, it's an episode that focus on Nefertina. Until this point I am mostly showing Eve's perspective of things since she is the main character but I can have a more deeper description on Nefertina's point of view in the next one. If you want to see all of Nefertina's scenes from 'Desert chic' next chapter please let me know in the review.