Dawn had begun to greet the land, the first rays of sunlight just barely visible over the horizon. The sky had started to lighten to brighter shades of navy and indigo, a faint orange and red just at the crest of the desert sand dunes before them. The air was still cool, but warming quickly.

Eden came to a stop next to Rick, the others following suit and waiting. For what, they didn't know. But the siblings seemed to share some type of silent conversation, eyes locking onto one another's, faint nods and easy shrugs passed back and forth. It wasn't until they heard the sound of horses did they look away, being met with the sight of Beni with the Americans and their group. They came to a stop as well, looking just as confused as the others. They looked around before them, eyes scanning the horizon in search of the sacred city, but finding nothing.

"Good morning, my friend," Beni greeted, almost too cheery.

The O'Connell siblings rolled their eyes, choosing to ignore the little cretin.

One of the Americans huffed in irritation, a blond fellow that wore muted reds and neutral browns with a cowboy hat atop his golden hair. "The hell're we doing?" he asked before spitting into the sand, blue eyes looking toward Beni.

"Patience, my good sahib," he almost cooed to the man. He then looked back to Rick, smirking as he said, "Hey, O'Connell. Nice camel."

Rick grinned, patting the beast in an almost loving manner and ignoring his "friend".

Another man, wearing a dark suit with thin, balding hair smirked over to Rick. "Remember O'Connell! Five hundred cask bucks to the first one who reaches the city!" He then looked to Beni, encouragingly telling him, "A hundred of them is yours if ya help us win."

Eden huffed in irritation at the males, ignoring them. She chanced a glance to her brother, both taking note that the sun was just starting to crest over the horizon. She squared her shoulders, knowing what was to come when Rick told the others, "Get ready."

"For what?" Evy question, confusion clear in her fair features.

He nodded his head forward, indicating for her to keep her eyes on the horizon lest she miss it. "We're about to be shown the way."

And no sooner had those words left his mouth, than an image bagn to shimmer in the desert sun. Ruins seemed to appear from the ground out of thin air, monoliths framing a large temple with an outer wall surrounding the entirety of the structure.

Evy was certainly mesmerized, as was everyone else. The brunette's eyes were wide in awe and wander, a smile tugging at her lips as she leaned forward. Jonathan and the warden were both slack Jared and practically salivating at the thought of gold and treasure. Rick just looked constipated, and almost horrified at the thought for returning. And Eden was proved right when he muttered under his breath, "Here we go again."

As though his words were like a shot going off, everyone began to scramble all at once. The race was on to see who would reach the city first, however, Eden had decided not to partake. Instead, she chose to stay behind the groups, watching from afar as they cantered and galloped on forward. She let out a faint giggle as she watched her brother grab Beni, pushing him from his mount before continuing onward. The sound of Jonathan's loud, whooping calls as he cheered Evy on were clear as a bell. But nothing could brighten her disposition in this place.

She could feel a cold chill run down her spine, her body shuddering in discomfort and fear at the mere idea of stepping foot onto those cursed grounds. She may not know what truly lay beneath the sands of Hamunaptra, but her gut screamed that it was evil. And she always trusted her gut.

Heaving a heavy sigh, the young woman clicked her tongue and urged her camel onward, slowly but surely catching up with the others. Upon reaching the city, she caught sight of her brother, along with the rest of their group, standing next to the statue of Anubis. Eden dismounted, patting her camel gently, before making her way over.

"Where were you?" Rick questioned quickly, looking her over. "I noticed you kinda hung back."

Eden shrugged. "Didn't really feel like racing," she replied easily.

"That thing gives me the creeps," Jonathan muttered, shirking away from the gaze of Anubis.

Eden quickly whipped her head in his direction, scolding him. "The Egyptian people may no longer worship the old gods, but you should still show them some respect, Jon."

The older Carnahan sibling seemed to shrink under her gaze, nodding in understanding. Rick then piped in, explaining, "That thing saved my life."

Evy looked up from the ancient mirror that she had been fiddling with, looking at the statue as well. "That thing gets me excited," she said with a grin.

Eden chuckled under her breath, looking to see her brother doing the same. "The things that get her excited, huh?" she said, causing Rick to snort.

Evy rolled her eyes, pointing to the statue and explaining, "The legs of Anubis go deep underground. According to Bembridge Scholars, that's where we'll find the Book of Amun-Ra." She then turned back to the mirror that she had been fiddling with, moving it to be in the perfect position.

Eden watched as Rick approached Evy, having already tied the rope to a sturdy outcropping of rocks and stone. She cocked a brow, watching as he handed her a small, leather bound bundle. He then made an awkward hand motion, stumbling over his words before turning away. But not after glaring at the warden in a way that caused the fat man to raise his hands in surrender.

Rick whistled shrilly, catching the redhead's attention. When they locked gazes, he nodded his head, inclining for her to follow him. She nodded, making her way over to the rope. Due to the dress that she still wore, she had to shimmy down slowly, her brother catching her easily and helping her down the rest of the way. Evy followed right after, Rick helping her as well. But Eden could see his hands linger just a moment longer than necessary on her waist, and she grinned.

"Do you realize that we're standing in a room that no one had entered in over three thousand years?" Evy questioned, not truly expecting an answer.

It was then Jonathan slid quickly down the rope, stumbling and waving his hand over his face. "What is that god awful stench?" he asked no one in particular. However, as the warden struggled to come down after him, Jonathan seemed to come to a realization, muttering a quick, "Ah."

Eden took note of the mirror on the far wall before Evy. The redhead meandered over to the reflective disk, holding the sides gently while saying, "Let there be light." And the room lit up.

"Well done, Eden," Evy told the other woman, smiling brightly. As she took in the room around her, she quickly came to a conclusion, knowing immediately what it was. "My God! It's a sah-netjer!"

"Huh? A what?" Rick questioned, looking between the two women.

Eden rolled her eyes. Had he learned nothing from her after all these years? "A preparation room, dummy," the redhead scolded, walking next to Evy.

"Preparation for what?"

"For entering the afterlife," the two women spoke in unison, creeping the men out and causing Rick to draw his gun. They then giggled with one another, their brothers a bit worried that the two women seemed almost one in the same at this moment.

Jonathan shrugged it off quickly, grabbing an unlit torch and lighting with Rick's lit one. "Mummies, my good son," he told him. "This is where they made the mummies."

"Partially," Eden spoke, looking about the room. "Technically, the sah-netjer was a small tent that was usually kept close to the Nile so as to wash and clean the bodies. It was a sign of rebirth. This would be more akin to a wabet or a per-nefer."

"Oh, yes!" Evy agreed, eyes lighting up as she turned to look at the redhead. "The mummification process changed several times throughout Egypt's history! In the beginning, they simply buried them beneath the sands to keep them close enough to the village without taking up valuable farmland or being washed away by the floods of the Nile."

"Exactly," Eden replied, glad to have found a kindred spirit and someone who loved ancient history as much as herself. "The ancient Egyptians felt that it was unnatural for their dead to decay, and so, left them in the sands of the deserts for natural mummification. The bodies still resembled what they looked like in life."

Rick and Jonathan rolled their eyes to the heavens as the women continued on, babbling about this fact and that. Evelyn and Eden simply walked on, leading the group forward through a narrow passage, looking for the legs of Anubis.

The warden quickly pipes up, telling the group, "Look for bugs! I hate bugs!"

Rick once again rolled his eyes, pushing forward to walk ahead of the two whispering women and leading the way. However, halfway down the corridor, with spiderwebs lining the stone walls and burning away in the torchlight, they hear a strange sound. It's quiet at first, just a whisper. Before it steadily grows louder, akin to the sound of clawing, or skittering. They all crouch low, looking around and keeping their eyes open for anything amiss.

"What was that?" the warden asked as the sound disappeared in a hush.

Rick grinned at his sister while saying, "Sounds like bugs."

Evy turned back to look at the squat, rotund man, an evil glint in her eyes. "He said bugs!"

The warden looked around in fear, Eden ignoring his proclamation of his hatred for bugs in favor of giving Evy a thumbs up. The two women smiled at one another, continuing on down the corridor and through the labyrinth of Hamunaptra.

After a short walk, and reaching the bowels of the ruins, the group came upon the legs of Anubis. Evy was muttering about a secret compartment, however, a hushed sound, almost whispering, caused them all to stop short. Eden quickly pushed Evy behind her, placing her between Jonathan and herself with Rick at the lead and the warden bringing up the rear. The O'Connell siblings looked at one another, understanding clear in their silent conversation. They then quietly cocked their weapons, backs pressed against the statue's base.

The whispering sound came again, louder this time, before silence made Eden's ears ring. Until the warden decided now would be a good time to rip a giant fart, causing his company to glare at him. He shrugged, shaking his head as if to say, "Can't help it!" The siblings rolled their eyes, getting ready before moving from around the corner of the statue.

The Americans, along with Beni and the Egyptologist, greeted them with weapons drawn and wide eyes. The natives they had hired to dig for them were huddled together behind them, gazes darting between the two groups and the stone that surrounded them. They seemed just as nervous as Eden had felt, shaking and huddling closer together.

"Ya scared the bajeezus outta us, O'Connell," one of the Americans admonished, lowering his weapon.

Rick and the others followed suit. "Likewise," he replied, still clearly shaken.

The American man with glasses seemed to finally catch sight of Evy, taking note of the small tool kit she carried in her hands. He pointed to it, moving forward while saying, "That's mine!" However, upon having several guns drawn on him, he raised his hands in surrender and stepped back. "Perhaps I was mistaken."

Whilst the two groups seemed to be in a standoff, waiting to see who would back down first, Evy broke the tension by saying, "Well, have a nice day gentlemen, we have a lot of work to do. So, if you'll excuse us."

Chamberlain peeked through the Americans shoulders, glaring at the young woman. "Push off," he said petulantly. "This is our dig site."

Evy narrowed her eyes. "We got here first."

And thus, weapons were drawn once again, cocked and loaded, ready to fire at a moment's notice. The Americans, though there were more of them, seemed unnerved by the twin glares from the O'Connell siblings.

The dark haired man Eden had learned was Daniels, was the first to speak. "This here is our statue, friend."

Rick gave a wry, albeit dark grin. "I don't see your name written on it, pal," he spit out.

"Yes, well," Beni started, almost gloating. "There are fifteen of me, and only five of you." He looked between them, patronizing. "Your odds don't look so good, O'Connell," he spoke with bravado.

Rick almost snarled, moving his right hand over his left, aiming directly at Beni's head. Eden gave a dark smirk, moving one of her guns to the same position, feeling dark satisfaction as the weasel seemed to shrink. "We've had worse," she spoke for her brother, the man nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, me too!" Jon added, garnering the attention of the O'Connell siblings. Both looked at him as if to say, "Seriously?" The older Carnahan nodded, before looking back to the group in front of them.

That was when Evy came in again, seeming fed up by the situation entirely and bemoaning, "Oh, for goodness sake, children." She then began to step between the two groups, weapons lowering but everyone still on guard as they watched her. She made her way to Rick, standing between himself and Eden. "If we're going to play together, we must learn to share." She then brought her hand up, resting it on Rick's arm and speaking deliberately while looking him in the eye. "There are other places to dig."

A beat passed as the two looked at one another, Rick seeming to find whatever it was he was looking for. So, with a tight grin, he holstered his weapons. The group then followed behind as he led the way back to where they had started.

Confused, Eden asked Evy, "What made you change your mind?"

The brunette grinned, explaining, "We may not get to dig at the statue, but we can dig under it."

Eden returned her grin, telling the brunette, "I like the way you think."


It didn't take long for the group to find their way. In another antechamber, beneath the statue, Evy quickly pointed out that they were right beneath where they had been. Evy had found some sort of parchment that Eden was trying to read over her shoulder, but the brunette wouldn't stand still. Rick and Jon had taken some pickaxes to the ceiling, standing on what appeared to be some type of old stools.

"These hieroglyphics say that we're under the statue," Evy spoke, finally coming to stand next to Eden. "We'll come up right between his legs."

Eden stifled a giggle behind her hand, waggling her brows as the, now flustered, brunette realized what she had said. "The things that get you excited," Eden laughed out.

Evy gave her a stern look, but there was no heat behind it as she began to grin as well. "Hush, you," the woman giggled out.

"And when those damn yanks go to sleep," Jon started, ignoring the two women. "No offense," he said, looking between Rick and Eden.

"None taken," the siblings replied easily in unison.

"We'll dig our way up and steal that book right out from under them," he finished, helping Rick to open the ceiling.

"Are you sure we can find this secret compartment thing?" Rick asked, removing the scarf from around his neck as it filled with sand.

Evy waved a hand, moving to stand just behind him. "Definitely," she replied. "So long as those beastly Americans haven't beaten us to it. No offense."

"None taken," the siblings replied once more.

It was then Jonathan and Eden both took a moment to look around. Upon realizing that they were a man short, they looked at the other two, Jon asking, "Where'd our smelly little friend go?"

Eden simply shrugged. "Who cares?" she asked with a wave of her hand. "I vote that if he gets lost here, we leave him behind. All in favor?" When she was met with three nods, she nodded her own head. "Good," she said, clapping her hands together and grinning. "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Deciding to take a break, Rick, Eden, and Evy sat down whilst Jonathan played a game of 'golf' with a hammer and some pebbles. Evy was easily fascinating Rick with her tales of the ancient Egyptians, Eden piping in here and there to throw in her two cents as well. When the girls began to tell him of the mummification process and the canopic jars, Rick looked confused.

"So, lemme get this straight," he started, looking at them almost disgusted. "They ripped out your guts and stuffed them into jars?"

Eden nodded. "Yup," she replied easily. "Each jar and each internal organ represented something."

"And do you know how they took out your brains?" Evy asked, excited.

"If they took them out," Eden added, grinning darkly at her brother and finding amusement as he seemed to squirm in his seat.

"Evy, dear," Jon started, lining up for another shot. "I don't think we need to know this."

The brunette ignored her brother, going on to explain, "They'd take a sharp, red hot poker, stick it up your nose," she said, mimicking the movement with her hand. "Scramble things about a bit, and then rip it all out through your nostrils!"

"Or drill a hole in the back of your head," Eden supplied.

Rick winced, reaching up and touching his nose delicately. "That's gotta hurt," he almost whined.

Eden rolled her eyes as Evy explained. "It's called mummification. You'll be dead when they do this," she said, almost codilingly.

"For the record," Rick said, pointing at Jon and directing his next words toward the man. "If I don't make it outta here, don't put me down for mummification!"

Eden rolled her eyes. "Big baby," she whispered to him, grinning when he glared at her.

Jon easily agreed with her brother. "Likewise," he said, swinging again.

Not even a moment later, the ceiling groaned before shattering and dropping a giant chest before them. Sand rained down, as well as stones and splinters, causing them all to wave away the ancient debris that had filled the air. Jon turned around slowly, a look of guilt on his face as he took in what had fallen from the stone above them.

Evy looked confused for a moment, Eden grabbing her arm and pulling her back to allow Rick to inspect the chest first. When he brother gave the all clear, Eden dragged Evy around, looking in wonder at the treasure that had almost literally fallen into their laps.

"My God," Evy spoke first, looking at the chest and realizing what it was. "It's a sarcophagus."

"Buried at the base of Anubis?" Eden questioned as they all looked above them. "Must have been someone important," she said, looking at Evy.

The brunette nodded in agreement. "Or they did something very naughty," she supplied.

The four of them moved closer, Jonathan holding the torch for light as Eden, Evy, and Rick brushed away the sand. "Who is it?" he asked, almost pacing to get a better look.

Eden looked terrified, eyes wide and body practically vibrating in fear. It was almost as if she could feel the evil rolling off of the sarcophagus and seeping into her bones. Something screamed at her to leave it, put it back where it belonged and pretend it didn't exist. However, her gremlin brain chimed in and reminded her that her curiosity would never be satisfied or quenched if they didn't find out who this was.

Evy took a closer look at the hieroglyphics, proving her theory. "He who shall not be named," she said softly.

Rick took a closer look, Eden taking note of the divet in the sand as well. He leaned forward, blowing away the sand and revealing an indentation in a strange, star shaped pattern with a scarab beetle in the middle. It looked almost like-

"This looks like some sort of lock," Rick pointed out, confirming his sister's suspicions.

Jonathan looked at the lock as well, noting, "Well, whoever is in here, sure wasn't getting out."

"No kidding," Eden replied easily.

"It would take us a month to crack into this thing without a key," Rick pointed out.

"A key," Evy said, mostly to herself. It was then that it clicked for both women, the two looking at one another as understanding dawned on them. "A key!"

"That's right!" Eden replied, pointing at Evy. She then watched as the woman leaned down, rummaging through one of the bags and looking for what they needed. "That's what the man in black was talking about!"

Rick looked at the two women, confused, before directing his question at Jonathan as if he knew the answer. "Who was talking about what?"

Jon shrugged as Eden replied, "The man on the barge. The one with the hook."

"Yes," Evy said, grabbing the puzzle box and opening it, ignoring Jonathan's complaints of "That's mine," and placing it in the lock. She then wore a proud grin on her face, telling Eden, "Glad to know I'm not the only one who figured it out."

Their moment was short lived, however, as the sound of the warden's screams echoed about the corridor. Rick and Eden both drew their weapons, Jonathan grabbing the key as he and Evy followed behind. The sight that they were met with was as strange as it was terrifying, the warden tearing through the corridor, shrieking in pain and terror whilst grabbing his head. The other four watched, the sight like a train wreck, as the fat man ran, head first, directly into a stone wall. Eden could hear the sound of shattering and cracking bone, his skull caving in from the force, before he dropped to the sands dead and unmoving, eyes still wide in horror and fright.

"It wasn't me," Eden spoke defensively, holding her hands up in surrender.

Rick just rolled his eyes at his sister's antics, shaking his head.