Rick gives an image of a man with blue and gold gems embedded on the wall a wide berth. "Are those what I think they are?" he asks the Medjai, pulling one of the scarab skeletons he had taken from Evy only a few days ago from his pocket.
Ardeth grimaces. "Yes, scarabs still in their shells. Removing them would not be in our best interest," he informs the men, giving a more pointed look to Jonathan. "Do not event think to disturb them, unless you want to die a painful death."
The British man raises his hands defensively. "I've got it, I've got it!" he complains. "I won't touch them, I promise, chap!"
Her eyes are swimming in tears when he finally sees her sitting on the floor next to the low table in her sitting area. He's only just found out what happened the night of Seti's death, and the night last week when she went missing along with most of the Medjai in the city. She wears no makeup, and a simple outfit of white linens, lacking her usual golden adornments.
"Rania?" he asks tentatively, standing in the doorway to her chambers.
Her teary gaze flickers to him for a moment, staring at him blankly. "I should have known, Ammon," she whispers brokenly, the tears spilling down her cheeks. "He was my father, and I should have seen it. I could have stopped him."
Sighing, he enters the room and makes his way over to her, sitting next to her with his legs crossed. "None of us knew, or could have known, Rania. None of this was your fault."
"Then why do the people demand my death as well?!" she sobs, drawing her knees up and burying her face in them. "Why do the Medjai hate me now?!"
His heart breaks for his best friend, someone he could easily pass off as being his sister on looks alone. "They don't hate you, Rania. Bes especially could never hate you." She shakes her head and dissolves into tears. He wraps his arm over her hunched back, pulling her close to attempt offering some form of comfort. "I could never hate you. Anubis would not blame you, I am sure of it. Your father's actions were his own, and I know that as much as his actions say otherwise for the most part, you were always on his mind."
"If he- he felt that way, he wouldn't have continued being with… her!" she gasps in return, leaning into the Priest's hold. "The people won't let me live if I set foot out of here because of him!"
He frowns in thought. He had heard what the people were saying about Rania on his way to the palace from his temple, thankfully unrecognized and unacknowledged for his duties, and had to admit that she had a point. The palace was her only safe haven, and that's unless another assassin came after her soon, knowing she would be isolated in her rooms and barely protected. Unless…
"What if you were to go to Ahm Shere? Anubis could provide protection to you there, and Matthias would love for you to come back, I'm sure," he offers softly, spying her sketch book open to the chasm of the hidden oasis. "I could escort you there, since Anubis would only allow his Favored to lead one another there. You could go under disguise and nobody would look twice at you."
She shakes her head. "It would never work, Ammon. They would follow us, and attack the second you look away from me. I wouldn't survive the journey and you know it," she points out, calming slightly and wiping away her tears as best she can.
"But you would last longer on your way there than you would here," he whispers, and he feels the intense guilt stabbing his heart at the admission. "It's only a matter of time if you remain here, and I think you know that already."
They remain silent for a long time, him sitting next to her on the floor with her leaning on him for support and comfort as she thinks over what he has said. Neither noticed that Bes had been there all along, watching over her since before she had awoken that morning to protect her. His own heart breaking at the prospect of losing her to Ahm Shere, or to the bloodthirsty masses. He knows, deep down, that he would rather her to try getting to the oasis than to suffer what he can only imagine to be a slow, painful death. He knows she's already chosen her path as well, she just hasn't found the will to say it aloud.
Ardeth shakes off the memory of the last time Bes saw Rania alive, following Rick through the chasm in the wall to a room with a single ray of light shining down on a mirror incorrectly angled, unable to light the room as it should. Before he can stop Rick, the other man raises his gun and shoots the upper edge of the mirror, causing it to tilt backwards just enough to catch the light, but also reveal their presence to the Creature and his companions. He glares at the back of the other man's head, until they realize the brightness of the room is no longer due to just the sunlight, but due to the light reflecting off of the golden riches thought to only be a myth to go along with Hamunaptra.
"C-can you see…?" Jonathan asks, stuttering in his excitement.
"Yeah," Rick breathes, staring wide-eyed around the room as they descend the stairs.
"Can you believe…?" he asks again, before rambling again, "Can we just…?" he starts to ask.
"No," Ardeth informs the other man sternly, pulling the British man along through the treasure room, finding a dark tunnel he knows to lead to the statue of Horus. "We must hurry. The Creature would have heard that gunshot and awakened his priests to find us."
A shrieking laugh echoes through the chamber they just left, groans and the crumbing of the stone floor following. "I think he's already sent them," Rick mutters quietly, berating himself for shooting at that mirror.
The children cling to one another, surrounded by a penetrating, oppressive darkness. They can only see one another, and nothing else, not even a flicker of light they desperately search for.
"My Favored Twins," a voice, filled with power and affection, fills the air around them, sending both to their knees on instinct alone. Between one breath and the next, their black surroundings lighten to a golden palace, one they know so well from another life. Standing before them is their patron, a jackal-headed being adorned with golden cuffs and collar to match his gold and white traditional garb. "Rise, and look at me, children," he orders gently.
They obey, strangely graceful for the six-year-olds they are. Identical pairs of glowing emerald eyes meet his slowly, but only Bahira is able to smile. "Lord Anubis," she greets him quietly, tightly holding the boy's hand. "Why do you want to talk to us?"
"I have watched over you since the night of your rebirth, Rania, Ammon, and it is time I tell you the truth of your origins, and what you will find in your futures." Soft cushions appear on the floor for each of the three beings present, which they sink onto quickly. "In your previous lives, many speculated that Rania and Ammon were long lost twins, separated at birth for unknown reasons. Few could deny this due to the stunning similarity of the two, even the fact that they shared a birthday couldn't be ignored as proof. Those rumors were true, but were unable to be proven, as Imhotep was unaware of your existence until only Rania was delivered to him, given only the information that Rania was his child. There was no mention of a twin, who was delivered to the priests of Anubis, who raised Ammon to be the next High Priest."
Harry blinks slowly, staring at his hand in Bahira's. "So we used to be siblings?" he asks for clarification, receiving a nod from his patron. "Then… are we still siblings?"
"Yes, you are." Anubis focuses his attention on the little girl. "Bahira, your true name is Ivy Potter, the younger twin born to Lily and James Potter, both powerful in their preferred fields of magic. You were abducted at barely two weeks old, and found a month later in the desert by the one you know as Ardeth Bey, reincarnation of Bes, at the age of thirteen. He was familiar with your parents, and wanted to return you to the friends he had met in his first year at school, but was unable to contact them." He pauses at the sight of tears swimming in her eyes. "The Medjai knew of the danger you would be in should the 'Dark Forces' learn of your location, so they named you Bahira to protect you, and brought you into life as a Medjai the best they could. Do not blame them for lying to you all your life, for it was to keep you safe. Your adoptive father left you the few items Ardeth found with you, as well as a letter to explain everything to you."
The twins share a glance, before Harry grins at her. "I'm the older one," he murmurs. "I get to protect you now! It's my job!"
The little girl simply rests her head on his shoulder and focuses on their patron. "What's going to happen to us now? Harry's a British citizen, but I'm Egyptian."
Anubis chuckles at the worry in her eyes, waving it off. "The Medjai already ensured you were still a British citizen, Bahira, so you have a home in both countries. Harry… he should become an Egyptian though, so he may keep part of his heritage." He then looks each of them carefully. "I have something I want the two of you to do for me when you awaken, children."
At the serious tone, both of them straighten. "What is it, Lord Anubis?" Harry asks without hesitation.
"I want you to guard the Twin Books. Harry, you will take charge of the Book of the Dead. Bahira, you will carry the Book of Amun Ra." While Harry tilts his head in confusion, Bahira's eyes widen in amazement, before she nods vigorously. "The Book of the dead may bestow life upon the dead, whereas it's twin may take life, and immortality, from the living or undead. They will be of use to you in the future, and they are my gifts, and duties, to you as my Favored Twins."
"What if the others lose them before we get them?" Bahira asks, nibbling her lip in nervousness.
If he could, Anubis would smile at her. "The Books are never lost to the two of you. They are bound to you, and will appear to you should you wish to summon them. You shall also receive a key each when you are safe with the Books, so you may each open them should the need ever arise." He suddenly gazes skyward, before sighing. "For now, I must allow you to awaken. I will come to you again in time, my Favored," he whispers as the world fades around them.
Harry opens his eyes to find the man he knows to be Ardeth kneeling next to him, a line of blood coming from an injury on his scalp trickling down his cheek. He then realizes the man had shaken him, and was in the process of shaking his younger sister to bring her back to the conscious world.
"Bahira, come on, you need to wake up," he whispers as the little boy moves to stare at his sister, who seems unable to wake up.
"Why won't she wake up?" he asks, voice shaking slightly.
Ardeth growls lowly before giving up on the task, and lifts the child in his arms. "Harry, come on! We have to go!" he orders, holding out a hand to the little boy as he turns his gaze behind him, where he finds Jonathan being strangled by the enraged Creature.
Harry, not seeing the trouble behind the Medjai, takes the offered hand and a sudden squeezing sensation takes his breath away, and he can hardly think beyond his sudden discomfort for all of a second, before he crumples to the hot sand of the outside world, just behind an ancient wall of the ruins of what he can only assume to be Hamunaptra. He gapes as he's pulled to his feet, unable to believe what had just happened. Almost like… magic.
Credit for the idea of the twins becoming owners of the Books of Amun Ra/Dead goes to SleepyMangaHead. Thanks a million!