When properly lit, the temple wasn't gloomy at all. Aamir and Rick had pulled in enough materials to make some torches in addition to the supports and other supplies. The pair and the diggers filled the empty torch brackets of the temple and shored up structurally insecure sections of the chamber's walls while Evy, Katrina, and Alex continued brushing off the Legionnaire skeletons. Jonathan was keeping himself busy by offering unwanted advice to whoever would listen.
"You should wrap those torches tighter – Make the fuel work for it!" Jonathan told the diggers as bound linen around the ends of shortened supports. Once finished, they'd be dipped in lamp-oil and used to fill empty brackets. One of the men turned to another, speaking in Arabic. The other man laughed and they continued their work. "Yes, well... that's the spirit! Whistle while you work and all that..."
"Now," Evelyn sighed, standing and brushing off her trousers. "We left the camera outside didn't we?"
"You said we didn't need it, Mum." Alex replied, slipping his brush back into the toolkit.
"We'll just have to wait until after the storm and hope the film wasn't affected." Sand had been brushed free from the bones, revealing that both Legionnaires died sitting down. "They're each missing a couple phalanges, see there?" Evelyn pointed out. "But I'm sure Alex can find those with the shaker later."
"Aw Mum…"
"I'll shake 'em, Alex." Katrina replied, smiling. "Don't want anyone stepping on our soldiers' toes, do we?"
Rick accepted one of the support beams from Aamir and worked on putting it in place. Work kept his mind off of the fact that Kit was probably trapped out there in this storm, weathering it with nothing but that camel… "I'm sure your sister will be alright." Aamir comforted from where he held the small stepladder for Rick, as though he knew the man's thoughts. "A camel is smarter than most men – There is a proverb that says such, but it slips my mind right now."
"You really have a thing for camels, don't you?" Rick commented, finishing fixing the support and climbing down the ladder.
"My grandfather was a camel herder. I spent many seasons with the beasts after my father passed." Aamir replied. "They are truly never given enough credit and worth their weight in jackasses."
Jonathan paced over to the altar, having been rebuffed when persisting with torch-making advice. Being the only real feature of the temple's chamber, the altar was disappointingly empty. "Wouldn't this belt thing be on the altar?" Jonathan asked, brushing off the sandstone top with his hand.
"Jonathan, don't touch anything." Evy called, gathering her tools together from the skeletons.
"Why didn't you make a beeline for this, anyway?" Jonathan continued. "Isn't the necklace what we came for?"
Evy joined her brother at the altar, pulling him away from the stone. "Yes, but I don't want anything neglected in our pursuit of it." Her hazel eyes turned on the empty stone slab and she sighed. "If they were keeping the belt protected, why would they place it on a rather obvious altar? It would be begging to be found then." Evy crouched down, pulling out one of her many brushes and sweeping it across the altar's sides to detail the carvings of owls from the dust. "We'll find it."
Rick's disposition suddenly brightening, he crossed to his wife. "Maybe it's not even here." He couldn't help but smile. "Maybe someone else secreted it away before we got here."
"Without cracking the seal on the door?" Evy asked doubtfully, eyebrow raised. "Unless there's a secret tunnel we're not seeing –"
"Or maybe it was a bluff." Katrina suggested, she and Alex approaching the altar. "What better way to throw someone off the trail than to say 'Here's exactly where this powerful artifact is. Fetch!' and have them expend resources while hiding it somewhere else?"
"Have you hidden treasure before?" Alex asked, cocking his head to the side.
Katrina laughed. "I had to hide any money I might have made when I was little from my brothers. I would loudly state it was in my coin bank before hiding it in my sock drawer."
"I'll have to remember that if I ever have any brothers or sisters." The boy muttered to himself.
"I certainly hope that isn't –" Evy began as her brush circled the oval eyes of one of the owl's carvings. There was an unexpected hiss and a plume of dust rose in the air, causing those present to flinch in surprise. A squared stone panel popped out of the side of the altar above the owl carving in question. Evy looked to her husband and Katrina before reaching up to pull the panel out.
"Honey, careful –"
"It's obviously not impregnated with salt acid, dear." Evy sighed. The panel was easily removed and inside the altar something glimmered.
Ardeth's expression froze at Kit's admission. "What is going on, Kit?" He demanded. Her eyes averted and the Medjai grabbed her by the shoulders, leveling his face to look into hers. "Tell me! You don't know what forces you're dealing with –"
"It's not me." The woman rasped. She worsened by the second. "And I can't tell you; I –" She convulsed in pain, her back arching away from the ground and head rolling against it.
This was dark magic at work. Ardeth had not seen much of it besides the doings of the Creature. Kit knew something; but from her swiftly advancing illness it was evident that she physically could not tell him anything more. Meanwhile, who knew what could be happening to the O'Connells and company back at the temple? The sandstorm continued to howl outside the hut, but Ardeth did not care anymore. "Kit, get up – Get up, we've got to go."
"Ardeth, the moment we get back to – ungh!" Kit's entire body went rigid with pain. Her fingers clutched the edge of the bedroll as her jaw clenched. She was able to utter through gritted teeth. "I don't know what will happen if we get back." The next she uttered with absolute shame. "And... I'm afraid."
Ardeth didn't know whether to feel sympathy or disgust for the woman. "Your fear is not going to dictate the fate of your family." The Medjai crossed to the door, unlatching it. The door whipped from its hinges, cartwheeling out of sight as the interior of the hut was filled with blowing sand. Ardeth covered half of his face with his robes and pulled a colorless shawl from Kit's pack, winding it around her face a couple times. Ignoring Kit's efforts to resist, the man pulled one of her arms across his shoulders and the pair stumbled into the sandstorm. The sun itself was blotted from existence, but Ardeth was able to find the camel hunkered down against the blowing sand. "Kit, get on!" Ardeth cried in the wind, but the woman either would not obey or could not muster her strength. The Medjai had to help Kit struggle atop the camel before climbing up behind her. He wrapped his arms around the woman to keep her astride the beast and took the reins, cajoling the camel to stand.
Even astride the camel, Ardeth had no idea how they would find their way back to the temple. Kit's balance was shaky, so the man had to ensure his arms guarded against her falling. Besides that, the blowing sand was blinding Ardeth and attempting to get under his robes to suffocate him. How could they find their way? The Medjai had an idea. "I'm returning her to the temple!" He yelled into the wind. "A little direction might be useful there if you want her so badly!" As if on cue, a tunnel cleared through the storm, heading south. Ardeth's spine shivered; despite this, he spurred the camel onward. Kit was silent as they jostled down the tunnel. What could whomever was behind this hope to gain by using Kit? Did they not know the O'Connells had defeated ancient evil twice? "Kit?" Ardeth asked, his lips pressed against the woman's ear so that only she would hear. "Is this about the belt?" The tunnel collapsed, throwing the camel and its riders into the sandstorm once more. The camel reared up, almost unseating both Ardeth and Kit. Ardeth screamed wordlessly into the wind and spurred the camel forward into the abyss.
"Remember last time?" Rick warned as Evy reached into the altar to pull out whatever was stored inside. "Bracelet of Anubis?"
"Right." Without batting an eye, Evy took off her boot and pulled off her stocking. She jammed the boot back on, hobbling over to one of the crests of sand near the door once her foot was covered. She funneled several fistfuls of grit into the stocking before turning back to the altar.
"Dad... has Mum lost it?" Alex asked quietly.
"You got me, champ." Rick replied.
"I can hear you." Evy reminded her husband and son as she tied the stocking at the top and returned to the altar, crouching. She smoothly switched out the stocking for the belt, but there was no pressure plate sigh or sign that there was a mechanism that could tell when the jewelry had been taken. "Shoddy security." Evelyn said with a sigh, smiling. "Lucky us."
"Pressure plates existed back then?" Katrina asked, awe in her voice. "Wow!"
"These are from the people who built the pyramids, my dear." Jonathan lectured, puffing out his chest. "A little pressure plate is nothing."
Evy slowly unfurled the item she pulled from the altar. The belt was made of linked ivory cushioned with gold between each piece. It was nothing sophisticated in design, but the richness of the materials spoke volumes of the importance of whoever wore it. After thousands of years, the golden links that connected each bead of ivory was still as strong and polished as the day they were forged.
"You know, Mum, it's kind of weird that the Bracelet of Anubis looked like mostly like a scorpion when he's usually represented as a jackal; the Scepter of Osiris didn't have almost anything symbolizing him, and Isis' belt has nothing to signify her either." Alex mused, looking at the jewelry as his mother turned it over in her hands. "The Ancient Egyptians could use a lesson in their own symbology."
"We don't know what the Romans might have done to it Alex – But I agree."
"Bracelet of Anubis? What did the gods have? A matching jewelry collection?" Aamir asked from the side of the chamber.
"The Scepter of Osiris?" Katrina echoed, looking to Jonathan. "Was that cock-and-bull you were trying to feed me true?"
"I tell the truth a lot, actually." Jonathan replied, indignant, "Yet people are always surprised."
The procurement of the belt was much more effortless than Rick had suspected. The wind still howled outside, but all of his worries and anxieties over the belt were slowly melting away. When Ardeth returned, he'd be happily disappointed. And as long as Kit was unscathed by the sandstorm, Rick would be the first to admit he had been overreacting, which was a pleasant surprise these days.
"Are you going to try it on, Evy?" Katrina asked, grinning. She missed the sharp looks Alex, Jonathan, and Rick gave to her.
"No." Evy replied gently, "It's um… bad luck, wouldn't you say?"
"Oh." Katrina looked a little discouraged at the answer. "Well, that's a downer. I guess we'll just have to admire it from afar – Or maybe a model at the museum."
"That's positive thinking." Evy encouraged, smiling.
From outside, muffled by the wind, Ardeth's voice suddenly rang out. "O'Connell! Evelyn!"
"My word, who is that?" Evy asked, looking to the door with everyone else following suit.
"Ardeth!" Rick answered, leaving the altar. Aamir followed in step behind him.
"How did he get here in the storm?" Katrina mused. "Wow."
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Alex murmured. Evy placed the necklace atop the altar and followed after Rick with her son, her brother, and the lounge singer on her heels. The adventurer and chief digger moved one of the stone slabs long enough to let Ardeth and a great gust of sand inside. Carried in the Medjai's arms was Kit, half of her face covered and the other half visibly ashen. Both man and women were plastered from head to toe in sand which added years onto Ardeth, graying his hair and beard.
"Oh my God." Evelyn breathed. "What happened?"
"Kit? Kit!" Rick crossed to Ardeth, taking his sister from him and lowering her to the ground. He pulled the shawl from her mouth and she coughed, sending up small puffs of sand from her clothing. Her lips moved to speak, but no sound came out.
"Have you found the belt?" Ardeth demanded, his eyes glancing over his friends and instead looking to the altar. "Did you find it?"
"It doesn't matter at the moment!" Evy replied, falling beside her husband and sister-in-law. "What happened?"
"There's a force at work here, my friends, and Kit must not get her hands on the belt." Ardeth rebutted, heading for the altar. "It's done something to her, punishing her for... I don't know what."
Katrina's dark eyebrows arched. "'A force at work?'" She echoed. "You make it sound like the revenge of Tut's tomb!"
"Water… Alex, Alex, can you bring me water?" Rick asked. His son nodded and brushed by Ardeth, heading for the water skins. "What the hell happened out there Ardeth? Why are you so spooked, and why is Kit – Why is she like this?"
Ardeth stopped for a moment to look back to his friend. "Something tried to stop me from returning to the Medjai encampment. When Kit intervened, we were caught in the sandstorm. When we found refuge, your sister fell ill – And she admitted to being involved in whatever this is. I demanded more information from her, and she convulsed in pain. Some thing will not let her speak the truth, not let her confess what is happening!" Ardeth turned back, bounding to the altar. He grabbed the belt, brandishing the jewelry at his friends. "You have to get this out of here, you have to get it far away from Kit and make sure she can never find it!"
"Isn't that a overreacting a bit?" Katrina asked. "The story about the Belt of Isis giving power to its wearer is just like a fairy tale. There's gotta be some explanation for all of this other than ghost stories." Katrina looked like she was the only one to believe so. Even Aamir looked doubtful. "Right?" No one would meet her eyes. Katrina turned on Jonathan, bristling. "What haven't you told me?"
"Well –"
Jonathan did not get the chance to finish as Rick shifted his sister in his arms. His fingertips brushed sand from her cheeks. "Kit," He had to swallow once to make sure his voice came out smoothly. Alex returned with the water skin, and Rick poured some in his sister's mouth and over her lips to moisten them. "Kit, what is Ardeth talking about?" Her blue eyes stared into Rick's own, betraying no emotion but sheer terror. "Answer me!"
One of the stone slabs blew in abruptly, shattering upon the sandstone floor and sending pieces flying. Some of the glasses of the lanterns broke, sending parts of the temple into darkness. The torches guttered, and an inhuman howling filled the chamber, resonating within every person's chest. The diggers spooked and ran, yelling Arabic as they plummeted through the open doorway. They disappeared into the sandstorm and the interior of the temple chamber was plunged into intermittent darkness from the guttering torches and broken lanterns. Something roughly bumped into Ardeth before buffeting Rick and knocking Katrina to the ground. "There's something in here!" Aamir cried. When a torch flared back to life for a second or two, sometimes a shadow could be seen spidering across the chamber or ghosting back towards the entrance.
"Alex, get to your mother! Someone, please take Kit, take –" All the relief Rick had felt vanished as he abandoned cradling his sister, drawing both of his pistols as he stood. Ardeth's sword rang as it was drawn. Something roughly knocked into him and the Medjai swiped blindly into thin air.
"Be careful!" Jonathan's voice shrilly warned.
"Alex, come here –" Evy cried into the darkness.
"Mum – Mum!" The boy gasped. Gunshots from Rick's pistol ricocheted through the temple.
"Rick, don't be an idiot!" Evy scolded.
"What is going on?" Aamir demanded, unanswered by all. "I'm not getting paid enough for this!"
Once more, the Medjai was shoved, this time falling to the ground with such force both his sword and the belt were knocked from his hands. The sword sent up a spark or two, but the jewelry vanished. The Medjai's panicked voice called, "The belt, I've lost it!"
"Someone find that damn thing!" Rick demanded, but no one could see anything for long, much less located a piece of jewelry.
The wind died down and the torches finally burned fully, casting much needed illumination on the interior of the temple. The phantom shadow had disappeared for the moment, but the disarray it had left was unmistakable. Ardeth lay on his stomach pawing at the ground in an attempt to find the belt. Rick still had both pistols drawn, bearing down on almost any movement. Alex had found his moth, and her arms wrapped protectively around the boy as they sought refuge next to the yawning entrance. Aamir was nearby, looking nothing but perplexed. Jonathan had flattened himself against the wall, his hand clutching Katrina's arm as her green eyes prowled the temple floor. "Where's the belt?" The singer asked, but all eyes were immediately drawn to Kit. The ivory shook in her hands as she fumbled with the clasp, rolling over to wrap the belt around her waist.
"Kit, no, don't –!" Ardeth cried.
"I'm sorry. I have to." A look of pure remorse was on the pallid woman's face.
"You don't have to do this, fight it – Kit, no!"
The clasp fastened and immediately the ivory and gold glowed with ethereal light. A vacuum of wind caused everyone to close their eyes as the light grew and even behind the protection of their eyelids, most had to raise an arm to block the illumination. The wind halted and Rick opened his eyes. The storm outside had stopped. Kit was no longer on the floor before the door. "Kit!" Rick yelled.
"Oh my God." Evy looked behind him and Rick turned. His sister had ascended into the air, borne by heavenly forces towards the altar. Her Bedouin gown melted away to be replaced by one of white linen. Square ivory earrings with dollops of gold in the center hung from her ears. Golden cuffs embraced her wrists, and the belt dangled from her waist as she was gently set upon her feet before the altar. Kit no longer looked like a sallow invalid, but in the peak of life and health. Despite this, she looked timid and unsure, her right hand straying to play with one of the belt's ivory links.
"Kit, what are you –" Rick demanded, but his words failed him as a figure in red materialized before Kit out of thin air. It took another moment to realize that this person, this man was not unknown to the O'Connells.
"Finally." The man commented, circling around Kit. "Took you long enough. Look at you!"
"You – You died –" Jonathan breathed, his hands clutching at the wall as he pressed against it. The last time he saw Shafek was when the pair fled from pygmies back at Ahm Shere. Shafek had been speared through the heart; he couldn't be alive!
Shafek, one of the silent members of Hafez's cultists, looked at Jonathan, a smile creeping onto his lips. Quick as a whip, Shafek suddenly vanished from the altar before materializing in front of Jonathan. The man in red pulled back a fist and slugged the casino owner across the face. Jonathan doubled over, gasping in pain as he clutched his cheek. "Sacred stones, hmm?" Shafek zapped back to the altar, turning to Kit. "Seal the entry. Make sure no one leaves this place unless I say so."
"Why?" Kit demanded.
"I said seal it." With a flick of her hand, the sandstone slab's pieces reformed before slamming back into place at the entrance, almost grazing Aamir as it did.
"I am definitely not getting paid enough for this!" The chief digger muttered.
"Excellent." Shafek grinned, his teeth glimmering.
"The hell with this –" Rick grumbled, aiming at the man. Shafek smiled as Rick pulled the trigger, and the man disappeared, Rick's bullets hitting nothing but air. The man rematerialized at Rick's side and deftly boxed Rick in the ears, discombobulating him long enough to yank both pistols from his hands.
"Such barbaric weapons, don't you agree?" Shafek returned to Kit's side. "Disassemble them." Regret showing clearly on her face, Kit fluttered her fingers and the guns flew to pieces, the bullets bouncing on the sandstone as they fell.
Rick reeled for a moment before regaining his composure and shooting Kit a look filled with nothing but venom. "What are you doing?" He demanded. "Kit, why would you – Are you even my sister?" Rage filled his entire body. He felt blind and stupid, duped into bringing Kit here, finding the necklace, and now she was letting a man who should be dead control her! Why would she do that if she was family? Why would she hurt them if she cared for them? Because though no bodily harm had come to the party yet, Rick hurt. Rick ached, Rick felt like the pain was going to kill him. How could she do this to him?
"I am your sister!" Kit cried. "But –"
"For this life, at least." Shafek smiled and joined Kit at the altar. "Freeze him and the Medjai into place."
"You said –"
"What I'm saying now is to freeze them to the ground." The man snapped.
The woman looked like she might cry. "I have to. I'm sorry." Kit made the excuse before waving her hand. Both Ardeth and Rick felt their feet adhere to the sandstone, and no matter how they pulled, their feet could not be persuaded to move.
"What is going on?" Katrina demanded, her voice warbling with insecurity.
Shafek looked to the singer. "I don't recognize you… Perhaps you'll come out of this alive, pretty thing."
"You never said anything about killing anyone." Kit objected, her complexion once more paling. "You said –"
"I am entitled to changing my price." Shafek replied, laughing, "And you know what will happen if you disobey!" Dramatically, Shafek pointed at the woman, raising his voice. "For my price, I want you to bring the great lord Imhotep back from the bowels of hell!"
"Auntie Kit, no!" Alex objected. Shafek made a hurling motion at the child and suddenly he was choked by sand, coughing out great big puffs of the stuff. His airways were quickly cleared of the grit; even so he stood panting.
Kit trembled, tears fighting their way down her cheeks as she looked to the boy. "I never agreed –"
"Yes you did! 'Anything to find my family,' I believe those were the words you used, Amunet."
"Amunet?" Evy echoed. Alex had recovered from the sand attack and his mother left his side, slowly approaching the altar. "Did you – Did you call her Amunet?" The dream from that morning and all the previous ones came flooding back and Evelyn felt her guts twist in distress. Is that my father? Amunet had asked, looking at Imhotep. If he was involved in this, if his reincarnated daughter was Kit, then everyone in this room was in much more danger than they had thought. But Kit was Rick's sister too – How could she choose one over the other? Immediately, Evelyn knew the answer. How could Meela Nais devote herself to finding Imhotep and bringing him back to be her lover before she had any memory of him? The answer was simple: power.
Shafek looked at Evy with pleasant astonishment. "Someone's been having dreams again." He crooned in a sing-song. Kit's expression was solemn as he looked back to her. "Even she knows. She is just confirming what you know; why are you fighting this? Don't you want to see your father back in power?"
"Kit, even if you were once Amunet, that doesn't mean you have to follow his orders, that you have to bring –" Evy supplicated.
Shafek hissed at Evy, shushing her. "Who are you to tell her such things? I found Amunet in a Sudan alley dying of malaria." Shafek began, turning away from the woman he spoke of. "Death would have claimed her in days if I did not intervene. Her papers boasted that she was sister of the great Rick O'Connell. And where was he? Where were you?" Shafek sneered at the man. "Profiting from the destruction of her father like the fiends you are! Out of all the people here, I believe I am the one she owes allegiance to!
"She has not been graced with glimpses of who she once was, who she truly is, as you have, Nefertiri." All faces turned to look at Evy. "But I showed her. I revealed to her that Nefertiri and her brother Ramses killed her once upon a time. And her crime?" Shafek fixed his stare on Ardeth. "Nothing more than being the child of Imhotep."
"That can't be." Evy objected. "Kit, in the dreams I've had, Amunet and Nefertiri were friends –" Evy was trying to bring back all the details of her dreams, but it was like trying to hold water in her hands.
"Do not taint her mind with untruths!" Shafek interrupted. "You, Princess Nefertiri, had her killed when she finally gave up Lord Imhotep's location after days of body-racking, mind-numbing torture!"
"And?" Alex coughed out one last puff of sand. "What does that matter now?" The boy dodged his mother's grabbing hands, refusing to quail as he marched toward the man in red. "This is my mum we're talking about, not some pharaoh's daughter from a thousand years ago!" Alex besought the woman, "Auntie Kit –"
"Enough!" Shafek snapped. "Your words will not sway her! A pact forged in blood is not something easily forsaken." The man in red lunged at Alex, spinning the boy into his arms and whipping a small knife's blade against Alex's throat. The blade gently pierced his skin just enough to draw blood. Alex wriggled, bravely refusing to let out a moan of anguish. "I believe you said 'Fair's fair.' I demand fairness and allegiance, Amunet. I am the reason why you are still alive, why you are here now. I demand my price, and either you bring Imhotep back to us – Or I will make you watch as I bleed this little one dry."