SUMMARY: After eighty years, destiny still isn't finished with them yet.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of THE MUMMY/THE MUMMY RETURNS
RATING: T+
PAIRING: Imhotep/Anck-Su-Namun
REVERSAL OF FATE:
YESTERDAY:
THE PLANE:
Lyla sat on the pull-down steps of the private plane listening to Gavin mumble and grumble. It set her BS detector beeping. The man was stalling, and she couldn't figure out why. Her brother was standing under the right wing, fooling around with his phone and making a disgruntled face. Getting off the steps, she moved away from the hatch and hissed, "Ben!"
"What?" Ben looked up from his phone. He'd been e-mailing a few of his other contacts, trying to get information on Gavin's movements for the last ten months when he hadn't been working on the jobs Ben had planned.
"I think we have a problem," Lyla said quietly as she crossed her arms over her chest. Ever since getting on the plane she had had this feeling that Gavin was betraying them, but without proof, she kept her suspicions to herself.
"I know," Ben replied just as quietly. He motioned with his head for Lyla to follow him towards the tail section of the plane. In the time it took to walk the short distance, Ben's phone buzzed with an incoming e-mail. Pulling out the phone, he opened the message and found information he'd already suspected.
"What do you mean 'you know'?" Lyla asked, careful to keep her voice down. She looked around to make sure Gavin hadn't come out of the plane. So far, it seemed the man was keeping up his charade. He was pretending to run a few checks on the avionics. Lyla might not show it, but she was smarter than she looked, and she knew what trouble on a plane looked like. Gavin wasn't having problems. Not yet, at least.
"For the last few minutes I've been e-mailing various contacts to find out what Gavin had been up to. It would seem our honest smuggler has been seen in the company of several high-ranking Red Guard members. He's been seen with Sarah as well." Ben found the last part of the information hard to swallow. He knew Sarah hated Sun, but to go over to the enemy… That was something he thought not even she would consider.
"Sarah… that lunatic. We have to warn Sun," Lyla stated. She would wait until later to freak out over the fact that Sarah had officially gone off the deep end. Right now, they all were in danger.
Ben placed his hand on his sister's shoulder and said, "Hold off on that for now."
"Are you insane?" Lyla snapped. She knew her bother could be stupid, selfish, and even a bit stunted, but she'd never seen him as insane before.
"The more information we have, the better we can help Sun. Besides, she is probably busy with Mr. Hawass. Do you want to be the one to interrupt her walk down memory lane?" Ben asked.
"What exactly do you think we should do?" Lyla inquired in a huff. "I'm thinking we should remove limb after limb until Gavin tells us what he's doing with Sarah, and then leave him to die in the desert."
"Oh, baby sister," Ben chuckled and said, "if there is killing to be done, then I will do it. Must keep those hands of yours as clean as possible." Even though he taunted her, he was deeply serious about Lyla's soul remaining as pure as it could get. She didn't need the stain of murder blackening her heart. He'd already learned what it could do to a person.
"Think I'm afraid?" Lyla challenged. She was just as fierce as Ben and was capable of doing anything he could. Including pulling the trigger if need be.
"No," Ben said, reaching his hand up to cup her cheek. "The guilt would kill you," he answered honestly. Another reason why he and Sun had such a contentious relationship was because they had killed together. Once he freed her from the cell she'd been in, she had dispatched more than a few of the Chinese gangster's holding her hostage. She blamed herself for it and she blamed Ben.
Lyla had opened her mouth to reply when she looked over her brother's shoulder and saw Gavin walking down the three awkward steps. Her response was to step on the toe of her brother's boot.
*click*
"So, no warning then, I guess?" Ben asked when he heard the telltale click of a revolver hammer being pulled back. Gavin always liked his Old West six shooters. Being taken captive did provide them a chance at intelligence gathering, if his big mouth didn't get him in trouble first.
"I'm not that sporting," Gavin responded. He knew he wouldn't be able to stall the siblings for long, not after Sun set off with her man an hour ago. The money he'd been paid only covered keeping Lyla and Ben distracted. He hadn't been compensated to do the same to Sun.
"No, you're not," Ben agreed. He held his sister's gaze while he slowly lowered his hands. If he could get to the gun at his hip, then this would be a more even stand-off.
"Don't do it, Ben, not if you want Lyla to keep breathing," Gavin warned. "I know you don't care about your life, but hers…. You prize that above everything else."
Lyla didn't look the least bit afraid. She'd been threatened before and would be again before too much longer. Her hands were hidden, and it was her hand that slowly moved to the gun her brother always carried. She had wrapped her fingers around the grip when Ben made a little sound in his throat. It was signal to her to stop what she was doing. So, to Gavin she said defiantly, "You don't frighten me."
"I may not, but I'm sure the Red Guard would love to give it a go," Gavin replied. Ben's back stiffened, and Lyla's eyes filled with fear. It gave him a little thrill of pleasure, but it was short lived.
"You leave now, Gavin." Mustafa Khalid stepped into view, having spent the last hour skulking about the abandoned fort waiting for just this precise moment to reveal himself. He was one of three heads of the Red Guard. The other two were of no consequence given that they were dead because they refused to move against Sun O'Connell.
"And the serpent finally reveals himself," Ben said as he turned around. "Mustafa… I thought you died in the Sudan. Too bad…I'll be sure to send you to the underworld personally." He would do anything in his power to send the vile Khalid to his grave.
"And to think, we were once friends. Dear Benjamin, you could have had more than a scoundrel's lifestyle," Mustafa taunted.
"At least I'm an honest crook. You're just a back stabbing, low down, dirty piece of horse shit." Ben stared down Mustafa, was so focused on giving the man the full weight of his hateful stare that he wasn't paying attention when a dart imbedded itself in his arm. He swayed and then dropped to his knees. His vision had gone fuzzy, then the blackness was creeping in. Distantly, he heard his sister sling a litany of colorful insults at their captors before he finally fell to the ground.
THE NEXT DAY:
Lyla always knew when it was best to fight and when it was best to surrender. When it had just been her and Ben against Gavin, she'd been prepared to fight. Khalid changed the equation; he had his lacky's with him as back up. Once Ben was out for the count, she was by herself, and she wasn't as brave as Sun would've been in that situation. So, she had to travel with her unconscious brother and gloating Red Guard across the desert. It had taken them all night, but when the first light of dawn started to creep over the horizon, she saw their destination. It was a temple built into a mountainous outcropping of sandstone. The sun rose higher and higher the closer they came to the temple. Lyla saw the first rays of light glinted off of something high up on the cliff. At least she thought she saw something.
The Red Guard had already set up shop and it looked as if they'd been in this one location for weeks. Lyla saw them breaking down tents, moving equipment out of sight. The temple looked as if it had been newly erected, the adornments completed, and ready for worshipers. "Oh, my gods…" she whispered. It wasn't the temple that made her react, it was the sight of Sarah talking with Khalid. Sarah had betrayed them completely and Sun had no idea. Her beloved cousin was out in the desert, distracted by the past, and without a vital piece of information that could keep her and Tom alive.
Lyla stretched out her leg, nudging her brother, trying to wake him up. He'd been unconscious since yesterday and now she was starting to worry. "Ben…" she hissed and kicked him again. Still he did not wake. If there was ever a time for one of her brother's sarcastic remarks to make her feel better, now would be the time. More than that, she wanted her brother to be awake. At least she would have one ally with her to face off against Sarah and her Red Guard buddies.
High up on the ridge, Richard O'Connell was on his belly spying the activity down below. Next to him, Ja'Kal made notes in Arabic to pass along the small contingent of Medjai soldiers they had rallied in response to the Red Guard presence. He was about to pull back when he saw a group on camel back come into view. Tied up on two camels in the center of the caravan was Lyla and Ben. And then he noticed Sarah come out of one of the tents. His worst fears were realized. Sarah, his eldest, had finally taken that final step in forcing a confrontation with her sister.
"Richard are you certain you want to continue watching?" Ja'Kal asked, his tone conveying his concern. The man was fierce in defense of his family and it was odd to him that he would choose this time to sit on the sidelines to watch his children clash.
"Sadly, I don't have a choice. This is between Sarah and Sun," Richard replied sadly. He wanted nothing more than to charge in and be the White Knight, but he couldn't this time.
"Then what should we do?" Ja'Kal inquired. Richard O'Connell was the only O'Connell to be made a Medjai at the request of his late father, Alex. Ja'Kal had known the deceased O'Connell since he was a small boy and had been delighted of fantastical tales of mummies rising from the grave. He knew a few of those stories from his own grandfather Adeth-Bay.
"Watch and wait for Sun to break the curse." Richard sighed, and belly crawled away from the ledge where they had been concealed. When they were far enough away, he stood up to pick his way down the small path towards the back of the sandstone mountain. On the ground, to keep his mind busy, he set to work helping his brethren in clearing the mouth of the tunnel that had been carved three thousand years go.
"You may not want to hear this, my friend, but what if your youngest child perpetuates the curse and restores the dark powers Imhotep had to her young man?" Ja'Kal had always been the one to ask Richard the hard questions. It was one of the things that made their friendship strong; their ability to balance each other.
"That's not the Sun I raised," Richard stated proudly. The child he raised had a remarkable capacity for forgiveness. Sun forgave Sarah for trying to kill her when they had been teenagers. From everything Richard hard read about Anck-Su-Namun – what information survived the test of time – she was a woman to nurture a grudge.
"The moment she came in contact with Imhotep's reincarnation, nothing about her character became certain. Given the chance, she might just resurrect her long dead lover and reign darkness down on us all," Ja'Kal pointed out.
"Sun will break the curse," Richard responded. Then to end the conversation, he went back to work. They had to get the mouth of this tunnel open for when Sun made her move and beat Sarah once and for all.
Ja'Kal scoffed, "This is a dangerous game you're playing, my friend." He wasn't ready to let this conversation end.
Richard tossed a large sandstone rock. "Yeah, well, I didn't start it."
"But you're certain Sun will end it?" Ja'Kal stood shoulder to shoulder with Richard and started moving rocks out of the way.
"I know she will," Richard answered again, placing his hand over his heart. It was killing him, but a parent had to step aside to let their child realize their destiny. Sun's was to finally end the curse and be with the man she loved. He was going to keep the faith in his daughter and know she won't get pulled back into old drama.
AFTERNOON:
Consciousness rushed through Sun. She sat up, sucking down as much air as she could but something was covering her mouth. Frantically, she felt what it was and soon realized it was a mask. Pushing it up, she breathed a little easier and tried to clear her vision. The last thing she remembered was making love with Tom, falling into a deep sleep to dream of the past. A lot of missing pieces fell into place while she slept. Their nine months of happiness. The birth of Amun-Hotep. Their plan to run away. She even dreamed of Anck-Su-Namun forming her own plan should Imhotep's be derailed. And it had been. In dreams, she relived the murder of Seti and her suicide.
After a few minutes, Sun felt calmer, and better able to assess her situation. Looking down, the first thing she noticed was that her clothes were different and that she recognized them. They were from the fight between Anck-Su-Namun and Nefertiri. Next, she realized she was in half of a sarcophagus. The sick feeling came over her and she vaulted over the edge. Sun did a full body shake to dispel the heebie-jeebies she had. It was then she finally realized where she was. Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep's tomb. "Oh, my gods…"
The sarcophagus she'd been in wasn't the only one. The second altar wasn't empty. "No, no, no…" She rushed around the altar, looking inside the half of casket to find Tom. His chest was rising and falling, telling her he was still alive. He was dressed differently to match how Imhotep had appeared during that fateful fight. But the mask was not from that day. It was black and made to fit his face securely. She had just reached out her hands to take it from him, when he sat up, breathing in so harshly that he made a strange noise. Her heart leapt into her throat, but she didn't scream.
Tom clawed at his face, trying to get whatever it was that covered his skin off of him. Hands touched his and through the eye holes he saw Sun. The sight of her calmed him a fraction, enough to ask, "What happened?" She didn't look like herself. Gold paint covered her lips, black outlined her eyes, and she wore clothes that he'd only dreamt of. Ripping the mask off, he looked around, and felt that he was going to be sick. He was sitting in a coffin. He was up and out of there so fast he knocked Sun back more than a few paces.
"I don't know," Sun answered, recovering her balance. She understood his panic, as she had been through it only moment before. "I went to bed with you last night and woke up here. Do you know what happened?" she asked. Sun hoped that he at least knew how they got here. She had an inkling as to why they were wearing strange clothes, but until she knew for certain she was going to keep it to herself.
Tom's hand went to the back of his neck. "I think we were drugged this morning, if it's even still the same day. Kind of hard to know without my phone." He looked at himself and felt awkward. It was weird to be dressed like a man who had been dead for three thousand years. Stranger still, to see her like that as well. His heart skipped a beat looking at her like that. "Where are we…?" he asked even as the answer formed in his mind. "The tomb."
Sun went to him, her hands immediately going to his face. "Are you okay?" she asked trying to keep the stress from her voice. He had already had so much happen to him just by meeting her, he didn't need to react to her being anxious as well.
"I'm confused as to why we're in a tomb… this tomb," Tom hissed even as he placed his hands on her hips. He had to be touching her, to draw on her strength to help him calm down. His eyes drifted over to the far side and his mind conjured a bed, shadowy figures of Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun, and echoes of her screaming. A light as a whisper he said, "This is where he was born."
Sun knew the 'he' Tom was referring to. Amun-Hotep. Their son. She looked in the same direction and saw what Tom had to be seeing. It was hard to see fractions of the past and not be affected by it. And it was hard not to feel as if her whole life had been leading to this exact moment, for her to learn who she was, to learn who they were together. "They never got to see him grow up," she said sadly, tears filling her eyes. Deep in her heart, she felt the loss of a child she never carried, never gave birth to, and never sent into hiding. That choice was one in the sequence of events that led to them turning to a dark path.
Leaving her side, Tom crossed the room, moving away from the stone altars and towards the shadows of the past. He felt that if he reached out towards them, he could almost touch them. The slice of history he was witnessing was a moment so pure, so perfect, and filled with so much happiness that he couldn't help but feel the same. Tom could just make out the face of Imhotep's baby boy. If he breathed wrong, would he scatter the particles that had reformed to show them this moment? Tom didn't want to risk it, so he held his breath. He wanted to watch them for as long as he could, to remember the overwhelming happiness that filled Imhotep the moment he saw his son for the first time.
Sun stayed where she was, watching the scene play out before them; the happy family. And that's what Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun had been. Happy. If only for a short span of time. Her eyes tracked to the opening of the tomb. There was something there tugging at her memory, but she couldn't make it solid enough to recall what it was she was trying to remember. She took a step closer to it but froze almost immediately. Her warrior's sense was telling her there was danger just beyond that open door. The side of her that liked danger, that thrived on conflict, dared her to force a confrontation. She fought against that voice for Tom's sake. If she had been alone, it would have been a different story.
The seconds of memory that played out before Tom's eyes finally vanished. He was left feeling cold and hollowed out. Imhotep hadn't been only motivated by love, but for the sake of his new family. In the face of protecting that was his, Imhotep had put murder on the table, but only as a last resort. And it had been that last resort that cursed him. Tom stood up and fiddled with the bracers on his arms. He didn't want to be wearing these clothes. He wanted to shut the door on the past and let old ghosts rest in peace. To do that, he knew he needed to stand side by side with Sun. When he looked at her, he saw past and present merging. He saw her as Anck-Su-Namun and as Sun. "Is this your sister setting the stage?" Tom asked.
"It is," Sun replied with a small sigh. "Sarah has always had a bit of a dramatic streak." She said that for two reasons. One: because it was true. Two: she wanted her voice to carry and draw her sister out. Sarah had to be lurking somewhere close, waiting for them to wake up. Sun was still unsure as to how they arrived at the temple and the only thing she could think of was that her older sister had hired mercenaries to do the heavy lifting. After a few minutes, no one appeared leaving Sun to hiss, "Damn, I thought that would work." When they had been kids, it had been much easier to provoke her into a rage. Guess growing up had taught her restraint, just as it taught patience to Sun.
Tom couldn't help but chuckle. "You wanted to make her mad," he said knowingly, even though he didn't have any siblings. He'd seen the tactic up close with his cousins. Going to her, he took her hand, and laced their fingers together. It was as much for her as it was for him. When he was holding her hand, he felt better, more grounded in the present. She was his anchor.
"We might've woken up too early," Sun mused. "Sedatives are tricky with anyone. There's body weight and metabolism to take into account…And I'm rambling."
"I like it," Tom replied softly. There was nothing about Sun that he didn't like.
"It's hard being here," Sun said, drastically changing their conversation. "I look at you and see him and I can't help but love you more than I did a minute ago." There, she said it. Gazing at him now, the world fell away. It didn't matter that they were in a tomb. It didn't matter that he was dressed to resemble Imhotep on the fateful day that Nefertiri had seen them share a lingering gaze after Seti made the announcement he intended to marry Anck-Su-Namun.
Tom's heart stopped at her words. "I see her when I look at you too," he confessed softly, barely able to speak through the emotions rising up inside him. "When I stare into your eyes, I love you more than I did a minute ago."
Knowing his preference, Sun lifted her hand and caressed the air above his face. "I can't imagine not being in love with you in this or any life," she whispered. Despite the craziness she'd brought into his life, she knew it wouldn't drive him away.
As Tom completed their gesture of love he whispered, "Last night, our souls became one and I knew that we were meant to be." During their love making, he felt part of his soul enter her, part of her merge with him, metaphysically linking them, and he knew that Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun had had the same thing happen to them.
"I'll do whatever I have to do to get us out of this," Sun promised.
MAIN TEMPLE:
Sarah O'Connell checked her pocket watch. Her detestable little sister and her vile lover were still in the grips of sleep induced by the sedative. This gave her time to study the painted carvings that were perfectly preserved against the harsh hand of time. From the murals she was able to discern the story of Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep. It made her hate for Sun burn even hotter. Sarah had the urge to destroy this place, to wipe away every trace of the lovers. If she did that, the side of her that wanted to preserve history balked at her hateful impulse. So, she was of two minds as she stood in this place.
Sarah spied the numerous Red Guard scholars that flited about. Some of them studied the writings, others made notes, and others took numerous video and pictures to keep a record of the history. To them, this would be a chance to raise Imhotep from the grave, to conquer the world with his dark powers. She was here to kill her sister. Once the cursed soul of Imhotep was resurrected, he would bring his love back from the grave.
Moving through the temple, Sarah came to the altar where two books waited. The book of the dead. The book of the living. It had taken some doing on her part, but she managed to retrace her Grandpa Alex's steps when he had been taken prisoner by the Red Guard as a child. Two years of painstaking excavation and the great pyramid of Ahm Shere was once more revealed minus the fabled diamond on top. The moment she had been inside the pyramid, she felt nothing. No flood of memories. Nothing. That only fueled her rage at her sister.
Even when they were little, Sun got all the attention Sarah had longed for. Grandpa Alex told Sun all of his stories, but never to her. It was always the little Egyptian orphan that got everything. She pulled out her pocket watch again, checking the time. By now, Sun should be awake. Sarah picked up the book of the dead and carried it with her down the hall towards the tomb. As she drew closer to the entrance, she could hear them speaking. It set her teeth grinding.
From inside the tomb, Sun could hear the telltale click of shoes on stone coming closer to them. Taking Tom's hand, she pulled him back towards the stone altars, and stood slightly in front of him. She couldn't be sure if it was Sarah coming towards them or one of her mercenaries. Either way, she was going to use every skill she had – even the more lethal ones – to make sure they both got out of this tomb alive. Though, if she had to fight, it was going to be hard to do without a weapon.
Sarah stood in the opening of the burial chamber absolutely disgusted by the sight of Sun standing in front of the reincarnation of Imhotep. "The sight of the two of you make me sick." She stepped into the light. Sun's face betrayed nothing of what she was feeling and neither did her eyes.
"Your fight is with me, Sarah, not Tom," Sun pleaded. "He's an innocent man." She had to try appealing to her sister first, before she resorted to trickery and mind games. For that, she would have to keep Tom in the dark as to her true motives. Sun only had one shot of getting the situation to turn to her advantage.
"He's Imhotep reincarnated. It was only a matter of time before you two crossed paths and perpetuated the curse of your evil love." Sarah clutched the book of the dead, making sure Sun saw it. Still, no reaction.
"The only evil in this room is you," Tom snapped. Sun's hand tightening on his kept him from raging further. He hoped she had a plan because things were looking bleak for them at the moment.
"Wishing you had your powers right about now, huh?" Sarah asked, looking at the current face of Imhotep. She knew the man's modern name; Tom Hawass. But it made little difference to her.
"Sarah, look at me," Sun said, moving until she made eye contact with her sister. "You can still stop this. It's not too late." This time, she let her sister see a slight crack in her strong veneer, let her see the first misting of tears in her eyes.
"You want to spare him any undue stress?" Sarah asked, making direct eye contact with Sun.
"He doesn't deserve this. I'm the one you hate. Punish me, if you must, but let him go…" Sun spoke through the rising of more tears that made her voice break.
"Then resurrect Imhotep and he's free to go," Sarah said, holding out the book. The key was already in place.
This was the tricky part. Sun had to be convincing enough to lull her sister into a false sense of victory while getting Sarah to do exactly as she wanted. Leaving Tom, she crossed the distance between her and Sarah and took the book. She let her sister see the beginnings of defeat in her eyes. "Have you considered that this might not work?" she asked. There was a strange energy pouring off the cold onyx book.
"It'll work. Your Egyptian was always better than mine and the book won't open for me," Sarah said blithely.
Sun backed away, turning to face Tom. She knew Sarah wouldn't stab her in the back; she wasn't that far gone. Thankfully. Tom looked afraid, but he was trying to hide it. This was where a bit of theater came into play and a bit of role reversal. Sun said in their first language, "It's our destiny." She was close enough to him that he could grab the book from her.
A sudden burst of defiance raced through Tom. He ripped the book from her hands, turning, slamming it down on the corner of the altar where his half of coffin rested. "No!" Facing her again, he pulled her close and whispered in the same mother tongue, "I will not lose you again."
Sun burst into tears, throwing her arms around Tom's neck. She was putting on a grand show for the benefit of her sister. But she was also doing this for them. If she had read from the book, if she had brought back Imhotep, then she was only going to be proving Sarah right. This curse started because they had been willing to kill. Not this time. The cycle stopped with her and with Tom. Keeping her arms around Tom's neck, she looked at her sister and said, "You'll have to seal us in here because I won't do it. I won't be the monster you think I am!"
Tom held her close. He tried to conceal the trembling in his body, but he was afraid this situation had taken a turn outside of Sun's control. It didn't stop him from trusting her, from following her lead. She had a plan, he had to believe that, even though at the moment it was getting hard to keep faith in her. They had a choice before them. They could walk familiar roads, or they could take a path that led them to a new future. It could be one where they were together. "I will die before being used in some vile scheme you have cooked up," he added his refusal to Sun's.
Sun looked at him, holding his gaze as she said, "I'm so sorry baby. I thought I could get us out of this, but…" She let her tears fall again, harder this time. Her performance had to be impeccable.
"You did everything you could. I got to love you in this life, and I'll love you in the next," Tom said softly. He pulled her back in against his chest to hold her next to his heart.
"I thought that might be your answer," Sarah said, sighing dramatically. "If that is your wish, then I will grant it. Finally, this place will be used as it was intended." Over her shoulder, she called out, "Seal them in." Sarah backed out into the corridor seconds before a thick stone slab covered the burial chamber. The last thing she heard was Sun calling out to her.
"Was that really the wisest move you could have made?" Mustafa asked after the dust settled.
"Sun hates dark confined spaces. Avery locked her in a tool shed once, leaving her there all weekend while our parents were away. Give it an hour and she'll be begging to do what we want." The stone slab was thick enough to muffle the sound of normal voices. Screaming, however, would be heard.
"She's your sister," Mustafa commented.
"Unfortunately," Sarah replied with a roll of her eyes.
Back inside, once the stone slammed into place, Sun pulled back from Tom and wiped away her tears. "That took longer than I thought it would." Before Tom could bombard her with questions, she covered his mouth, silently telling him that whatever he had to ask, he had to do so quietly.
"I'm confused…" Tom said the moment Sun took her hand away from his mouth. He made sure to follow her non verbal instructions. They were trapped in a burial chamber with torches that were going to eat up most of the oxygen in the room. The only way out was through an entrance that was no covered by a stone slab. His brain snagged on that last assessment though. Were they truly trapped through? Tom looked around the chamber again. What was it he wasn't seeing?
"I had to make it look good," Sun said. "I took some drama classes at University," she added. Neural linguistic programming was a trick Sun had picked up from a grifter. It was all about using key phrases or words to get a mark to do a specific thing. In this case, Sun wanted Sarah to lock them inside the tomb. It was the only way they could escape.
"Why did you want her to seal us in?" Tom asked, momentarily abandoning his visual search of the chamber to make eye contact with her. When she shrugged, he went back to what he was going. This place held more secrets than his mind was willing to reveal. So, he had to push his memory to cooperate.
"Once when I was eight, Avery locked me in a tool shed for a whole weekend. He thought it was funny, but after that, I was less fond of small, dark places. Sarah has made the mistake in thinking that this will break me. Years ago, I conquered my fear, and it doesn't control me anymore," Sun explained softly. She had never let Sarah or Avery's cruelty define her as a person. She made herself rise above it and be a better person than they ever were.
Tom stopped looking around the tomb and gave his attention to her. "My gods, Sun…" He took her in his arms and held her close. They were so wrapped up in their ancient past that he stopped asking about her modern past. She had siblings that hated her, yet, somehow, she managed to be a kind person. "When we get out of this, you're going to have to tell me everything about your modern life," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
Sun took a moment, hugging him tightly. She nodded, her cheek rubbing against his bare chest and then said softly, "I will tell you everything after we get out of here." They held each other for a few more seconds and then pulled apart. "I need you to get us out of here," she said letting him here the urgency in her tone. "I need you."
Tom nodded and then returned to studying the tomb. His eyes hit on a section of the back wall. There was something there. Leaving Sun, he went to the spot of the back wall, but in the low light of the torches, he didn't see anything. He backed away with a sigh, but then something towards the floor caught his attention. It was an indentation that matched the puzzle box. "Sun, do you still have the box?"
Sun grabbed the box her sister called a 'key' and brought it over to him. Without a word, he took it, and fit it into place. At the same time, they chuckled in surprise. "It is a key," she whispered, crouching down next to him. It wasn't over, though. He turned it until the winged scarab was upside down, pointing towards the Underworld. Mechanism's groaned and stone scraped against stone. The section of wall they had unlocked slid back to reveal a tunnel. "You did it. You saved us," Sun said and kissed his cheek. The burst of air doused the torches, plunging them into darkness. Seconds later, eerie blue light filled the chamber.
TO BE CONTINUED…