A/N: "The Mummy" was on earlier this week and I almost exploded with fangirl happiness. Unfortunately, it also reminded me how disappointing the 2008 threequel was; nothing could ever beat the Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz duo :/

Disclaimer: As always! ^_^

Chapter 15: The Not-So-Great Escape

"No!" Matt yelled. "Tut!"

A dark pool of blood was rapidly forming underneath the pharaoh's shattered skull, seeping out across the stone tiles. The redhead automatically tore a strip off his robe's sleeve with his teeth, but suddenly found himself being dragged away by Mello and Near instead.

"What are you doing? There's still time to save him!"

"It's too late," came Near's swift response. "We must leave at once."

His last words were almost drowned out by a deep keening noise that rocked the very walls; horns were being sounded simultaneously, alerting all those within the palace and the surrounding area that they were under attack. There was no doubt that Grand Vizier Ay was well on his way to debrief General Horembeb and his men to secure his own alibi and issue an order to arrest Matt and his alleged accomplices.

"We'll need this," Mello declared, snatching up the slightly bloodied Book of the Dead and gesturing for the others to follow.

They ran out of the throne room and dashed down the corridors, their bare feet slapping dully against the ornate rugs – rugs that were most certainly handcrafted by Asiatic slaves.

Speak of the devil, Matt thought as approximately thirty slaves spilled out of the rooms and down the staircases, clutching elongated trumpets made of bronze and silver. They stopped dead in their tracks when they spotted the wanted trio sticking out like sore thumbs in all their pale-skinned, blond, white and red-haired glory.

The slaves recovered quickly. "Over there! Get them!" They rushed forward, eyes gleaming at the prospect of being rewarded for capturing the fugitives.

"Oi! Heads up!" Mello shouted over the commotion.

Matt spun around just in time catch the Book square in the chest, ignoring the painful impact it made against his congealing wounds. He flipped it open to a random page. His heart immediately sank – he could only recognize one or two of the mystical symbols. Most of them were beyond ancient.

Then realization struck him.

Matt heaved the spellbook high above his head, hoping desperately that it would work, and shouted, "Abracadabra, hocus pocus, alakazam –"

It worked.

A chorus of frightened and confused squeals erupted all around them as the slaves dove for cover. Matt seized this opportunity to relieve the nearest man of his less-than-lethal instrument; Mello and Near did the same.

"This is pathetic."

"It's better to be armed than to be defenseless," Matt said pointedly.

"You call this being armed?"

"Can we move along? It's only a matter of time before they discover you haven't got an ounce of magical knowledge in you," Near murmured, eyeing the group of trembling slaves warily.

"And where do you propose we start? In case you've forgotten, we were blindfolded on our way in!" Mello grabbed the closest trumpetless slave by the collar of his shabby robes. "You! Lead us to our belongings!"

"I d-do not know w-what you m-mean," the tanned man blubbered.

"Don't lie to me," Mello snarled, tightening his fist in the stained cotton. "You and your friends were probably spying on us when we came in. Where did General Horembeb put our things? Our clothes, our weapons… my necklace?"

"P-probably in the t-treasury…" The slave swallowed hard. "The v-vaults are d-downstairs…"

"Take us there," Matt interrupted, waving the Book in front of the Asiatic man's face, "unless you want me to place a curse on you and your descendants. And no funny business, either."

"Abominations," the older man said weakly. "Assassins."

But he complied, leading the trio down the hall while the other slaves parted to make way for their fellow colleague and the rogue "assassins"; the rest of them had been struck dumb with fear.

When the quartet rounded the corner, out of sight and earshot of the thirty-something slaves, Near stopped.

We should split up, their youngest member signed. His hands were a white blur of motion, but Matt could process the words just as easily as if they were being vocalized. I am going to find the pharaoh's wife and convince her to help us. Ankhe is the only one other than Ay who can read the Book and send us back to the future.

The slave stared at Near's digits as though flames were going to shoot out of their very tips.

Near cleared his throat. "Nothing General Horembeb took from me was of value," he announced for the slave's benefit. "I will seek… an escape route… while you retrieve your items."

"And the rendezvous point?"

Near considered this, twisting a curl around his index finger as he ran through the possibilities. Tut's throne room, he finally signaled. It should not take them long to clear out his body, and nobody will suspect that we would return to the scene of the crime.

Matt and Mello nodded curtly to show that they understood.

"You," Near said, addressing the slave.

"W-what?"

"Where is the library?"

"U-upstairs… it is h-huge… you c-cannot miss it…"

And just like that, without so much as a good-bye, the SPK leader was gone, presumably in search of the nearest flight of stairs, and ultimately, Ankhesenamun.

"Alright, show us the money," Mello growled, linking arms with their captive slave. Matt snagged the other arm.

"M-money?"

"He means the treasury," the redhead prompted.

The Asiatic man let out a horrified squeak. "P-please, I am only a s-servant! There are t-traps down there that o-only my m-masters can d-deactivate!"

A maniac glint shone in Mello's bright azure eyes. Matt took an involuntary step backward; he knew that look.

"Challenge accepted," Mello said softly, his mouth curving up in disdain.

A/N: Haha, he is so dramatic :P

Sort-of spoiler: The next chapter will be the longest (and craziest) one yet.

Trivia – During the time of the New Kingdom, slaves employed by the Egyptians included other Africans, Jews and Asiatics (Asians). They were actually fairly treated and well-fed, working as house servants, musicians, accountants, etc.

Special thanks to the latest readers and reviewers: TheCatchingLightAlchemist, TeamDeanWinchester4Ever, OhMyGeePinkSucksAss, Pink Star Art, Lady Friday, akatsukifan (haha, I'm sorry ^_^ and you're absolutely right! Thank you again :D), Kira the Wolf, JesslovesLawliet, bffs4evaMattandMello, Kishimjoin, Sarapsys~

*insert that famous generic-sounding Egyptian/Arabic snake charming tune that's actually called Kradoutja*