Chapter 2 - Worlds of Curses and Keys

It was definitely a unique experience, having a burning, animated corpse on your heels while running through an abandoned temple with his partner unfairly AWOL and absolutely no idea where he was going. Daxter would have traded his fur to be just about anywhere else.

"Would you just lay down and die already!" he shouted over his shoulder. The mummy ignored the comment, keeping up its ungainly jog that was made even more ridiculous by the way it occasionally tried to pat out the flames that were persistently licking over its bandages. The fact that they hadn't singed off altogether was somewhat of a miracle, though given that it was a walking dead thing, Daxter supposed he could stretch his imagination that far. At least he could see where it was. Being chased by the thing in the dark would have been much more terrifying.

The problem was that while Daxter himself was tiring, the mummy wasn't, and it was becoming a waste of breath to even throw insults over his shoulder. He was sorely reminded that it was actually Jak who did the majority of the walking on their adventures, and he made a resolution to change that, if only to be a little more fit for these moments when he had to run like hell. First giant spiders, now this.

Light shone from up ahead, and for a horrible moment he thought he'd gotten turned around and taken them back to the mummy's tomb, but then he realized with a surge of hope that this was actually the great hall where he and Jak had entered. A window of sunlight shone from above, and within it the silver outline of the rope gleamed. With renewed energy, he bounded forward and with a flying leap he caught it. It swayed at the force of his slight weight, but Ottsels were nothing if not agile and he shot upwards with insane speed. Halfway to freedom he risked a glance down. The Mummy stood at the bottom, still aflame, and stared up at him with a look of consternation. Safely out of harms way, Daxter couldn't resist a jeer. "Ha! I bet a bag of bones like you could climb up here to save your life…not that you've got one."

The mummy's unnerving eye narrowed, and with a smug look at Daxter it simply grabbed onto the end of the rope. It began burning almost instantly, and like a quick burning fuse it began to race towards Daxter's position.

"Oh no!" he yelped, but as fast as he was, the fire was faster. The sudden heat under his fingers made him let go instinctively, and he fell. A small sand pile broke his fall, but he still hit with a painful wheeze, temporarily stunned. He looked up dizzily to see the mummy leaning over him, hands on hips as the fire on its body finally fizzled out of existence.

"Heh…nothing personal about the life comment, eh?" he tried between breaths, knowing he was done.

It knelt down next to him, head tilted in confusion. "Only if you tell me what you're doing here," it said in a husky, disused voice. "Are you Imhotep's new messenger?"

Daxter blinked. "Er…what?"

"Because I was only resting for a minute, I swear," it continued sincerely. "That sarcophagus just happened to be the most comfortable place I found, and Sphinx seemed to be doing just fine so I…" It waved its hand uncertainly, eye wide and earnest. "Don't tell him, okay?"

Daxter stared at it for a moment longer before letting his head flop forward tiredly into the sand. A moment later it shot back up, and he snapped, "Couldn't you have said something sooner?"

"I didn't know who you were," it protested. "I thought you might have been one of Set's spies, but I suppose he would have sent something a bit less…fuzzy."

"Hey!" Daxter protested. "I'll have you know this is hero material, right here." He stood up, brushing himself down haughtily.

The mummy's gaze was uncertain. "You don't act like one of Imhotep's sendings."

"I'm not," Daxter informed it, annoyed that this thing had even worried him in the first place. Up close it was far less scary. Yeah, okay, it was dead. It was also a bit on the hopeless side, and didn't seem to be terribly bright. "And I don't work for this 'Set' person either. I'm my own person, thank you very much, and if you'll excuse me, I have a partner to find."

Even with the bandages, its face was easy to read, and at Daxter's words, its expression hardened. "I can't let you do that. I've been ordered to protect this tomb, and you have defiled it. If you don't leave immediately you will suffer the Curse of Luxor, and die a horrifying death."

Sphinx wondered if maybe death had finally caught up with him, but the light finally eased enough for him to see the figure leaning over him. Its skin was the pale glow of the moon, and he could feel the power of its mere presence filling the room, touching everything with its gentle caress.

"Who are you?" he asked, unsure if the weakness in his voice was awe or exhaustion.

Blank eyes regarded him, not unkindly. "A friend."

Magic poured into him, and he gasped as it brushed the void that was his wound, filling it with a purity he barely understood. It hurt, but in a good way, and he could feel flesh knitting together, closing the deadly gap. It was wearing though, and having fought so hard and so long he could barely cling to consciousness long enough to speak. "Thank you. I have to…return home…"

"Home?"

He hummed his assent, not able to take in anything more than the comforting resonance of the word. "People are…waiting for me…"

The being looked solemn and thoughtful. "I'll help you. Later."

Sphinx nodded. That would be fine. Right now the pain was finally gone, and he could risk true sleep with the comforting knowledge that his friends wouldn't be kept waiting for him much longer.

Daxter was unimpressed. "Oh Puh-leeze. If you had any special undead powers you would have used them already. If all you can do is your little 'catch on fire' trick, I ain't worried."

The Mummy looked sulky. "That's not all I can do."

"Yeah sure." Daxter waved a hand, walking back towards the tunnel. "Go back to your tomb buddy, I've got work to do."

The Mummy scrambled after him, lanky limbs easily keeping pace with the Ottsel's much smaller steps. "You said you were looking for someone? If I help you find them will you leave? I'm not supposed to let anyone in here." He wrung his bandaged hands fretfully. "I hope Imhotep doesn't find out."

The tunnels seemed a great deal less frightening with the Mummy along – a fact that would have confused Daxter if he'd thought on it too hard. "Who is this guy anyway? Your boss?"

"No he's…" The Mummy looked thoughtful. "He saved me from death, so I owe him a debt of gratitude."

Daxter raised an eyebrow. "But you're still dead."

"Not completely." The Mummy sighed expressively. "It's a long story. But I'm supposed to be guarding his apprentice. We're hiding him on this world until he's strong enough to return-"

"Wait wait wait," Daxter halted suddenly, grabbing at the Mummy's leg blindly in the dark to make sure he did the same. "What do you mean 'this world?' You mean you're not from here?"

There was a short, uncertain pause. "Uh…"

"So not only are you a walking dead guy, but you're an alien walking dead guy?" Daxter shook his head, resuming his pace. "Man, my life is just so weird some times."

"I was having exactly the same thought," the Mummy said wryly after a moment, glad he didn't have to go into a lengthy explanation about the other worlds. It had been a difficult enough concept to swallow when Imhotep had explained it to him.

Daxter's eyes shone suddenly. "Hey, does this mean you have a space ship?" Ever since he'd seen the Precursor's ship he'd wanted to poke around in one. After all, he was a precursor too, wasn't he? A being of his stature deserved an equally impressive mode of transportation.

His companion just blinked. "What's a space ship? We just got here using the portals."

Now it was Daxter's turn to blink. "Portals?"

"The Portals between worlds," the Mummy explained patiently. "Most people stopped using them when Set was in power. Too many people were getting lost, going through them and never returning, but Sphinx has been using them for ages and he swears they're perfectly safe."

Too many new ideas all at once. Daxter rubbed his head. He still considered himself to be the brains of the dynamic duo (and seeing as Jak never disagreed it was likely to stay that way) but it felt like half the things the Mummy was telling him were in a completely different language. It was going to take some time to figure it all out, and he settled for taking it one step at a time. "So who's Sphinx?"

"Oh he's-" The Mummy stopped his stride belatedly. "He'd the person I'm supposed to be guarding. Oh boy…" He looked around. "How do we get back to the Sarcophagus from here?"

"Why are you asking me? I was following you!"

The Mummy scratched his head abashedly. "I thought you were leading. I haven't really explored much of the temple yet, so I don't know my way around."

"You mean we're lost?"

The Mummy nodded weakly, shoulders hunched.

Daxter smacked his forehead took a deep breath, and did the only logical thing he could think of for this situation. "JAAAAK!"

Jak didn't need to see the wound to know the bleeding had stopped. The lines of pain in the boy's face had smoothed, though his brief moment of consciousness had disappeared along with them. It had been all too fleeting, but Jak was certain now that he'd done the right thing. The bestial instincts of his darker half were never wrong, and without the overpowering scent of sickness he could tell there was nothing dark about this stranger, but the smell was still strange. Samos might have a better idea of what Jak had actually agreed to when he'd promised to help the boy home, but that meant getting out of here and finding…

Daxter. Damn. Hopefully the Ottsel hadn't panicked yet. Or wandered off on his own.

He looked down considering for a moment before shouldering his gun and scooping the boy up in his arms, grunting at the unexpected weight. He might have been shorter than Jak, but every inch of him was compact muscle and sleek, feline lines. The people of Spargus were similar, their hardened lifestyle not allowing for anything else, and it suddenly occurred to Jak that maybe Sig would have an idea of who or what the boy was, if not what to do with him.

He felt a bit exposed without being able to reach easily for his gun; all the better to get out of here as quickly as possible. He approached the strange archway again, taking a moment to examine his curious burden from a different angle, and starting as he noticed a new, disturbing feature.

Tail?

Golden furred, and tipped with a tuft of brown hair, the appendage swung limply. Still boggling, he touched the mirror absently and this time was aware of the strange sense of vertigo as he became he reflection, and once again he was back in the room with the yellow torches, a suspiciously open crypt, and a distinctly absent Daxter.

"JAAAK!" The screech echoed distortedly in the corridors.

It went against every instinct Baron Praxis had drilled into him during his two year prison sentence, but some things were more important. "Dax?!"

There was a distant rumble that made his trigger finger twitch, but the only thing he had in his arms was a body and that didn't make a very good improvised weapon, especially if he had any concern for his passenger's health. Unfortunately between speed and care, the former seemed a bit more desirable at the moment, and Jak broke into a loose jog, trying not to jostle the boy too much.

He couldn't bring his light to bare, but his night vision had been painstakingly honed by too many months in a dark cell, and then later by pulling his fair share of evening watch shifts in Spargus. The Marauders often tried to breech the walls at night, stealing already limited food and machine parts where they could. The scavengers of the scavengers.

There was also a matter of having exhausted his stores of light eco, and that always brought the darkness closer to the surface. His darker half could see perfectly in pitch black. He almost hoped for a fight; better to exhaust that terrible energy now then carry it back to the city with him. What would it be? Metal heads? A few of the strongest still survived on the outskirts of civilization. Marauders perhaps, come to sack the temple for its riches. Or something from the temple itself. While he didn't think the boy was a threat, there was still something menacing about this place.

"Dax?" he tried calling again, but his voice echoed chaotically. There was no way to find each other purely by sound. He had to keep looking.

There was a clear trail of scuffed sand over the stone floors, which at least guided him in the right direction. The fact that there was too much disturbance for one skinny Ottsel only made him quicken his pace until he came to a clear division in the path. One set of footprints lead off towards where the entrance to the surface would be, the other headed down a gentle slope into further darkness.

He glanced between both indecisively before choosing the second corridor on nothing but hope. The slope leveled out quickly and suddenly the walls opened up into a long, wide room. The floor was different here. Uneven, crumbled in some places, and he could hear the familiar, empty echo that indicated there was a vast space below him. He didn't want to know how far he would fall if he misstepped.

There was something else too. A scuttling noise, like insects crawling along the floors. He could feel it in the vibrations on the ground. With uncanny certainty he knew he was getting close, but he was going to have to be cautious if he wanted to get across this room safely-

"JAK! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE NOW!"

Or maybe he would trust in the fact that heroes got lucky. He set off at a run again chasing the disembodied echo of Daxter's voice.

The Mummy winced visibly at the yell. "Do you have to be so loud?"

Daxter screwed his nose up in annoyance. "What? Is there anyone else in here I'm gonna wake up?"

"No, but," the Mummy glanced around furtively. "I thought I heard something."

Daxter felt a shiver run up his spine at a shift in the air, like a blast of freezing wind. "Okay, now you're creeping me out."

"Sorry." The mummy didn't sound it. "This place is supposed to be empty, but there was a chance that someone…followed…" He trailed off staring dumbstruck over Daxter's shoulder. The Ottsel was going to brush it off as just another of his strange companion's idiosyncrasies until he heard a noise. A strange chittering sound.

He swallowed dryly. "Jak?" he questioned, turning, but instead of his partner he was met with two pinpricks of light in the darkness, and the noise suddenly tripled in intensity. "That's not Jak."

"Set's servants!" The Mummy wailed. "They found us."

There were more pinpricks. Eyes, Daxter realized. Half a dozen at least. It was impossible to see what kind of creatures they belonged to, but he didn't really want to find out.

He grabbed the Mummy by his brittle wrist and yanked sharply. "Run!"

Daxter wasn't really tall enough or strong enough to pull the Mummy along, but it seemed with the right kind of motivation it could do quite well on its own, and from the sounds behind them the unknown creatures were obviously giving chase. Daxter was half-tempted to rest his weary legs and hitch a ride, but the Mummy wasn't nearly as sturdy looking as Jak. He suspected the corpse would just collapse under his weight.

"This isn't the way to the Sarcophagus," the Mummy said suddenly, looking back wildly over his shoulder. The rattling sound was awfully close, and the pinpricks glowed hungrily.

"Sure, now you think you know your way around!" Daxter exclaimed in aggravation.

"Well it's not," the Mummy pouted.

"If you wanna try and go back be my guest," Daxter snapped. The room was opening up now, and rather than finding it comforting, he could hear the things spreading out on both sides, surrounding them. "Hey wait, it's not like they can kill you, right? Couldn't you draw them offa me?"

The Mummy shook his head violently. "Kill, no. Hurt, yes. And I don't even wanna think about the kinds of things Set would do to me to find out where Sphinx is."

"Sounds like a swell guy," Daxter muttered.

"But I know I've seen this place," the Mummy said, hope lightening his tone. "I think the portal might be down this way."

Daxter perked. "Portal? Please tell me that's a way out."

"I think-"

Something took a swipe at him in the dark. He didn't see it, but he felt the air brush past his fur. "Arrg! Don't think! Tell me there's a way out!"

But there was no chance for a reply as the room in front of them suddenly flared with a powerful light. Daxter scurried on blindly, but he heard the things chasing them squawk in surprise.

"Yes!" he crowed, almost tripping as he felt the floor suddenly morph into stairs. Upwards was good, he felt, whether it would get them out of this temple or to this portal thing he didn't care. The glare of the light was dimming as his eyes adjusted, and just as he crested the last step he could finally see that at they top they had found-

-a dead end.

He stared at it. "What?"

It was a wall, no wait; there was an arch of some sort carved into it. Torches of blue flames burned on either side of it. The scene looked vaguely familiar but Daxter didn't care. The point was there was no way out of here.

The Mummy was beside him, wringing his hands. "Imhotep set up wards to keep anyone from using the portals to come after us. We can't get through without Sphinx."

The chittering was still behind them He turned, finally able to see the creatures in the face of the light, and wished that he hadn't. They were grotesque. Oversized skulls balanced on top of a tall spine. They had prominent ribs, but no flesh to cover them, and instead of proper feet they had four spindly limbs, like the legs of a spider. Despite being creatures of bone, the gaping holes of their eye sockets shone with an unholy light, and their teeth were long and animalistic even if the shape of their heads were almost human.

"Where did these things come from?" He backed up against the wall as tightly as he could. The creatures didn't seem to like the light much, but they were slowly overcoming their hesitancy and creeping forward.

"Set sent them," the Mummy said quietly, as though trying not to attract attention even if it was far too late. "Anubis said he might be able to send some of his lesser servants without the aid of the Portal God, but I don't know how they could have found us. I can't be traced with magic because I'm dead, and Sphinx was hidden with the strongest spells they could find-"

"Wait, wait. Lesser servants? So…these things aren't so tough?"

The Mummy hunched down further. "I'm not sure. I've never fought them, but they don't look weak to me."

Or to Daxter either, but then, didn't he know that appearances could be deceiving? After all, weren't the Precursors furry rodents like himself? Ha! He could take them.

He puffed his fur up impressively, taking a threatening step forward. "Alright you…things, don't take another step unless you wanna taste the full fury of Orange Lightning!"

Funny…they hadn't looked quite so big from a distance. Up close Daxter found he had to look up nearly a foot and a half just to meet their eyes, and none of them looked even slightly intimidated.

Ah, who was he kidding. They were screwed. Time for Plan B.

"JAK! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE NOW!"

Behind him the Mummy whimpered and the largest of the things rose to the top of the stairs, taking halting steps in the brightness but coming nonetheless It bared its fangs in a fearsome snarl, though only a quiet hiss escaped its throat. It reared like a snake, ready to strike-

-And was promptly squashed by Jak as the young hero vaulted over the heads of the others, landing on its back with a sickening crunch.

Daxter gaped for a moment before yelling, "Where the hell were you?!" He caught sight of the unconscious form in Jak's arms. "And who the heck is that?"

"Sphinx!" The Mummy gasped. "You can't take him out of the chamber, he-"

"He'll be fine," Jak said shortly, and Daxter was slightly annoyed that his partner didn't even blink at addressing the Mummy. The man was a stone.

The creatures had scattered at Jak's appearance, but their bravery was quickly returning. They seemed incited by something, and from the way they glared unblinking at Jak's new friend, Daxter had a suspicion of what it was. He leapt up to his usual perch of Jak's shoulder, feeling much more secure about the whole situation.

"Well what are you waiting for? Get with the shooting already."

Jak looked towards the monsters, then down at the person in his arms, and finally back towards the Mummy, weighing his options. Familiar tendrils of lightning were already starting to flicker over his clothes, and the fight would surely send him over the edge. As useful as his transformation would be, it was always a risk with other people around, especially new people. Dark Jak didn't always differentiate between friend and foe.

From the slump in his shoulders, Jak obviously decided against it, and headed towards the arch.

"Wha-What are you doing? That's a wall doofus!"

"We can get through here."

"No wait!" the Mummy objected. "You have to be a sorcerer to get through the wards-"

Jak snatched the Mummy's arm, amazingly not dropping his burden as he did so. "Trust me!"

His other palm smacked into the surface of the arch, and with a dizzying whump They were suddenly thrown backwards with equal force to what they'd hit the wall with. Daxter fell of Jak's shoulder, the Mummy collapsed in a heap, and Jak staggered before recapturing his balance. The lights flickered, and suddenly they burned red.

Obviously this was not Daxter's day. He spat out another mouthful of sand. "Did anyone get the number of that Zoomer?" he asked dazedly, but the chittering of the skull-creatures had stopped. He looked back at the wall they'd seemingly passed through and could make out the shadowy silhouettes of the monsters on the other side. One of them crashed its skull on the barrier, creating a dull ringing sound, but it was obviously they couldn't pass through it like Jak had. The Ottsel leapt to his feet. "Ah-HA! Serves 'em right."

The Mummy was regarding Jak with something between fear and awe. "How did you do that? Are you a wizard?"

Daxter snorted in exaggerated amusement. "Him? Not likely."

"But the wards…" Whatever train of thought the Mummy wanted to pursue was interrupted by quiet shifting of the person in Jak's arms. His eye widened. "What about Sphinx? His wounds-?"

"I took care of them," Jak said, taking a moment to remove the bandages from the boy's midsection, revealing newly healed skin. "See?"

"Gave him a shot of white eco huh?" Daxter questioned, nose wrinkling. Even if there wasn't a wound, the smell of blood was overpowering to his sensitive nose.

"Then you are a wizard," the Mummy said, nodding assertively. It didn't seem as though anything would dissuade him of the notion, and Jak wasn't in any kind of mood to try.

"Alright, next question." Daxter jumped back onto Jak's shoulder, hoping not to be dislodged so quickly this time. "How do we get out of here?"

This new room was empty, save for a strange, towering statue emerging from the back wall. It had the same, unusual theme as the painting on the wall, but instead of an animal head on a human body, this one had a human face and the body of some kind of cat-like creature. It was wearing a strange headdress, kind of like the boy Jak carried, but carved in stone instead of gold. In front of the statue was a short, circular pedestal.

"This is the portal," the Mummy explained. "Sphinx should have the key to take us back to Heliopolis. If we go back then Set's creatures should leave you alone."

"Sounds good to me," Daxter said, but Jak frowned. Still, he reached obliging to the boy's belt, tearing loose a jagged, gold artifact.

"Is this it?"

"Yes," the Mummy took it cheerfully, then looked towards the statue. "Mind you, I've never done this before, but…"

He stepped up into the pedestal, holding out the key like an offering. "Hear me, Portal God, return me and my friend to Heliopolis."

Seeing a giant statue come to life wasn't quite the strangest thing Daxter had seen in his lifetime, but it came close. The stone being stretched and roared unnaturally with new life, its eyes glowing like miniature suns, and it spoke in a deep voice that reminded Daxter of the rumbling quiet of the rest of the temple.

"The Portal God is unable to answer your request."

The Mummy started, almost dropping the key. "What? Why?"

"The passage to Heliopolis has been destroyed by a great force. Travel to that location is no longer possible."

"But…" The Mummy sat down suddenly. This was obviously unexpected. "Has Heliopolis fallen already? Was it Set?"

It wasn't clear if he was actually addressing the statue, but it chose to answer anyway. "My powers do not extend beyond the portals. I cannot say."

"Well that sucks," Daxter muttered. "Now we're all stranded here." Jak gave him a sharp look, and he scowled. "What?"

"Is there another way for them to get back?" Jak asked, taking Daxter by surprise. He was choosing to get involved?

"There are other paths to that world, but without the correct offering I cannot allow passage." Its voice was inflectionless, cold as the stone it was made of, but it seemed to take an interest in Jak staring at him with its strange eyes.

"We'd need another portal key, but Imhotep only gave us the one," the Mummy mourned. "He must not have been expecting this."

"Let me see that," Jak ordered suddenly, reaching for the relic. The Mummy offered no resistance, and Jak studied it briefly. "I've seen others like this. In Spargus. The Wastelanders find them in the desert."

The Mummy leapt to its feet. "Really? Can you take us there? It's really important that we get back."

"Why?" Jak asked, eyes narrowed.

The Mummy flailed for a moment, seeming to consider its answer before replying. "Sphinx's homeland, Heliopolis, is being attacked by a dark force. We suspect it might have something to do with a powerful enemy we faced in the past; a god by the name of Set."

Daxter wanted to ask if he was small, fuzzy and orange, but Jak was listening intently and he thought it was better not to interrupt. "Dark force huh?"

"Yes. The land has already been weakened by a long war, and terrible monsters have been trying to overrun the few of us who are left, but we need Sphinx. He's defeated Set before, and he's a child of prophecy. His teacher, Imhotep, believes he will be the turning point in the battle when he returns."

"Why? Doesn't look like he did so well the first time around," Daxter said.

The Mummy wavered. "There was…a betrayal…" He shook his head sadly. "I do not think Sphinx has fully realized it yet, but that wound was caused by one he thought of as a friend, not an enemy."

Jak nodded grimly. "Very well. If we can figure out how to get out of here you can both come back to Spargus. We should be able to find one of these amulets to get you home."

"Are you serious? I thought we were just gonna check this place out for Sig," Daxter whined. "You know, this is starting to sound suspiciously like another adventure. I'm not sure I like it."

Jak gave his partner an arch look. "You can stay home if you want Dax."

"And let you have all the glory? Forget it!"

The Portal God had been eyeing the conversation thoughtfully. Normally it did not deign to be involved in the affairs of the worlds, only the pathways between them, but many of is brothers and sisters had ties to Heliopolis which was now beyond its reach, and here on this distant world was a strange, unprecedented occurrence. Two of the chosen in the same time and place. That was enough to earn its continued interest…perhaps even its aid?

"While I cannot transport you to your desired location, there is another portal entrance on this world. I can take you there if you wish."

Jak glanced back at their only other exit. Now it was swarmed by the skull-creatures. If they tried to leave from there they would reappear right in their midst. "Guess we don't have much of a choice."

"Then step forward."

Jak did so warily, the Mummy less so; he knew what to expect. The Portal God reared in its physical cage, drawing back its head and opening its mouth as if in a silent scream. The four beings on the pedestal faded into a swirl of desert sands that was then sucked into the vacuum of space in the throat of the statue. When the noise and wind finally faded, the room was empty, and the statue was lifeless once more.

It spat them back out – and that was the only word for it as far as Daxter was concerned – on an identical platform in front of an identical statue but this one rested in the mouth of a cave. The blistering wind of the desert was present once more, and the Ottsel irritably brushed it from his fur as he circumspectly checked to make sure all his pieces arrived intact. "That's one hell of a way to travel."

The Mummy stumbled, promptly falling into a sitting position. "I'd be happier with more conventional means. Urk."

"Do you even have a stomach to get sick with?" Daxter questioned, surprisingly comfortable with addressing a living corpse by now.

Jak looked back at the statue. Its eyes still smoldered faintly, and in another flash of light an object shimmered into existence between its great paws. "Use this amulet when you wish to return to the temple. Until then, farewell."

The life of the statue faded until it was nothing more than a stone carving once again, leaving only the key-like relic in its place. It was a slightly different shape to the first one, with a point that was triangular like the temple itself, and as Jak's arms were otherwise occupied, Daxter reached out and took it. It was a bit too big for his own pockets, so he put it in Jak's backpack instead.

"So now we're out of the dark, monster infested temple, and stuck in the middle of the desert. Great improvement there," Daxter observed sarcastically.

"It is," Jak said, pointing out of the cave. "Look."

The city of Spargus loomed in the distance, its visage wavering lazily in the heat. It wasn't quite an easy walking distance, but certainly within reach. A new thought occurred, causing Jak to halt in mid-step, an expression of consternation on his face.

"What's the matter?" Daxter asked, worried at anything that gave his partner such obvious distress.

"The car," Jak said, as desolate as Daxter had ever heard him. "We had to leave it behind."

Daxter thought about that for a second before hitting his partner upside the head. "You moron. I thought it was going to be something important."

Jak's look clearly said, it is, but Daxter huffed in disgust. "We'll send someone back to pick it up later, now stop being a baby."

Jak seemed vaguely offended, but accepted the logic. He turned back to the Mummy. "Hey, you have a name?"

The corpse drew itself up. "I am Prince Tutenkhamen of Luxor."

"Bit of a mouthful, isn't it?" Daxter said.

"It is a title fitting of one of the royal line," the Mummy replied stiffly.

"So then…Tut?" Jak couldn't quiet remember the whole thing and didn't care to. "Are you up for a hike across the desert?"

"Of course." Though he didn't seem too thrilled by the prospect. "It's not like the heat can kill me. I'm already dead."

Jak almost wanted to ask, but it wasn't necessary. Eventually Daxter would do it for him. "Just stick close. There's a lot of unfriendly people out here."

And he wasn't exactly going to try and hide his presence either; the quickest way to get home would be to steal a ride. The Marauders traveled in small groups only, and now that he had enough space to maneuver he could use his dark powers to their fullest advantage. A quick fight to burn off all that excess energy and acquiring a car to get them home sounded like a wonderful idea. "Dax?"

"You got it partner." Daxter cocked the morph gun, ready to use it himself while Jak carried Sphinx. "Let's go."

Jak smirked, pulling his goggles down and his scarf up before heading out confidently into the unforgiving mesa.

End Note: Now if I ask nicely, would you leave a review? All comments and constructive criticisms are welcome, and both inspire me to keep writing, particularly knowing that people like what I'm doing.