Hi everybody!
Enjoy the next chapter!
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Disclaimer: I only own Jasmine. :(
Evie led the group into a level lower than the statue of Anubis, and Rick and Jonathan began to pick away at the ceiling.
"According to our location, we should be right underneath the statue of Anubis. We should come up right in between his legs." Evie was saying. Jasmine snickered as she looked around the large room. Evie sent her a look, before helping the two men pick at the ceiling.
"So we'll be able to steal the book as soon as those beastly Americans go to sleep." Evie said excitedly, "No offense." Rick grunted as he hit the ceiling.
"None taken." He replied. Jasmine smirked, looking at the inscriptions on the wall, brushing at the dust with her fingertips.
"Where'd our smelly little friend go?" Jonathan asked, looking around.
"Not sure. Hey, Jonathan, want to play golf?" Jasmine said, smiling as she picked up the abandoned pick, and placed a few solid clumps of dirt on the ground. Jonathan grinned, and took his own pick, and they began to hit them.
"And you know how they took out your brains?" Evie said. She and Rick had been discussing mummification.
"Evie, I don't think we really need to know this." Jonathan said, hitting a clump of dirt.
"They stick a red-hot poker up through your nose, scramble things up a bit, then rip it all out through your nostrils." Evie said, miming the actions. Rick winced, and touched his own nose.
"That's got to hurt." He remarked.
"It's called mummification. You'll be dead when they do this." Evie said nonchalantly.
"For the record, if I die down here, don't put me down for mummification." Jasmine told Jonathan.
"Likewise." He agreed, and as he hit the next piece of dirt, the ceiling above them crumbled, and a large sarcophagus fell.
"What the hell?" Jasmine yelled, falling backwards onto the ground.
"Oh my God! It's a sarcophagus!" Evie exclaimed, looking down at the stone encasement. Jasmine stood with the help of Jonathan, and felt dread at seeing it.
"Buried at the base of Anubis. Evie, you know what this means, right?" Jasmine asked, looking at her friend. Evie nodded.
"Either he was someone of great importance," she began, and glanced up at Rick, "Or he did something very naughty." The four were startled when the warden suddenly came screaming towards them, clutching his head, and he ran headlong into a stone wall, hitting it, and falling to the ground. Jasmine didn't need to check his pulse to know that the man was dead. Later that night, Jasmine was curled in her blanket, as she watched Evie and Jonathan around the fire.
"Apparently our American friends had a little catastrophe of their own today." Rick said, coming over, and sitting next to Evie. Jasmine sat up.
"What happened?" she asked through her scarf. Even through it was dark, it was windy, and the face scarf kept the sand from hitting her eyes and mouth.
"Three of their diggers were melted." Rick said, looking at her. Jasmine gaped at her father, disbelieving.
"How?" Evie asked in shock.
"Salt acid. Pressurized salt acid." Rick said, poking at the fire with a stick.
"Maybe this place really is cursed." Jonathan said, looking around. A gust of wind blew around them, and Evie rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, you two." She said. Jasmine smiled, and picked up the book she had brought, and began to read it by the firelight, ignoring the banter between the English and her father. At one point, Jasmine looked up, hearing hoof-beats. Rick stood up, picking up his own gun. Jasmine reached into her bag, and pulled out her long knives.
"Take this, and stay here." Rick commanded, handing Evie a shotgun.
"Of course not!" Evie exclaimed, standing up and following Rick. Jonathan took his own gun, and a bottle of alcohol he had found in the warden's bag, and followed his sister.
"Evie, didn't the man just say to stay here?" he yelled after her. Jasmine scoffed, and stood, looking around. She let out a small yelp as the tens closest to her began to burn, and black-robed men came riding into the camp, shooting at them. Jasmine ran from their fire, but was met with another man, his own hood down, revealing a tanned face with tattoos, shoulder-length black hair, and deep brown eyes. Jasmine's hidden eyes widened. He looked just like the Asim from her dreams.
"What business does a girl have with the City of the Dead?" the man asked, and Jasmine swung her knives at him, keeping her distance. She was hiding her shock. Even his voice sounded familiar.
"This girl's business is private, and I won't reveal anything to a man who attacked my friends." She said, and the man began to fight against her. He slashed at her, and Jasmine spun out of the way, but the blade caught her scarf, pulling it down, leaving her face visible. Jasmine was able to hold her own, and the man seemed to evenly match here but he managed to push her back, and Jasmine fell to the ground, and he swung his sword down, and Jasmine's eyes widened as she leaned back on her arms on the sand, staring up at the man. The man looked shocked, staring back at her for a moment. There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, before Rick came out of nowhere, and kicked him away, and grabbed Jasmine, pulling her up, and to his side. Jasmine buried her face in his side, wrapping her arms around his waist, terrified. Rick put an arm around her, and held up a lit stick of dynamite, and the man held up his hands.
"Enough! No more blood shall be spilt this night. But understand this. You do not know what hides beneath your feet. You all must leave this place, or die." He said, and Rick glared at him. Jasmine looked up as the man jumped onto his horse. He looked down at her, and turned away, riding with the rest of his men out of the camp. Rick pulled the flaming string out of the dynamite, and threw it down. He looked down at Jasmine.
"You alright, sweetie?" he asked, and Jasmine nodded.
"That was terrifying." She said. Rick rubbed her shoulders gently as one of the Americans, Burns, walked up to them.
"Maybe it would be best if we joined forces, just for the night." He said, and Rick nodded. Jasmine walked back to their camp, and curled underneath her blanket, and attempted to go to sleep.
"Kidashka, come here." Seti said to his youngest daughter, who was walking by with Nefertiri. Kidashka smiled, and went to her father.
"Yes, Father?" she asked.
"Kidashka, you are growing into a young woman, and I now believe it is time for you to become betrothed." Seti said, and Kidashka tried her hardest not to look at the Medjai standing behind her father in hope.
"Of course, Father. To whom am I going to be betrothed to?" Kidashka asked. Seti clapped his hands, and a man stepped forward. One that Kidashka loathed.
"You are to marry Imhotep. You shall wait, however, until Nefertiri has been married. Understood?" he asked, and Kidashka nodded, bowing, "Good. Asim, escort my daughter to her room." Kidashka turned, and left the throne room, followed closely by Asim. As soon as the two were out of sight of peering eyes, Kidashka turned, and threw her arms around Asim's neck, and began to cry.
"I don't want to marry Imhotep. I want to marry you, Asim!" she said. Asim tightened his hold on the princess, and kissed her head.
"Don't worry, Kida. Come, let's go see Nefertiri. She should have something to enlighten us." He said, and Kidashka nodded. Asim took her hand, and the two raced through the halls of Kidashka's home.
"Dashka? Asim?" Nefertiri looked up as her sister and the man she loved ran into her room. Kidashka sat down next to her sister, and began to cry again.
"Tiri, Father has betrothed me to Imhotep!" she said. Nefertiri gasped, and looked up at Asim, who was looking at her sister with love and pain.
"Oh, Dashka, Asim. I'm so sorry." She said, rubbing her sister's back comfortingly. Asim knelt in front of Kidashka, and gently took her hands.
"Don't worry, Kida. I will never leave you, and nothing will ever come between us." He promised, kissing her brow. Nefertiri smiled, and watched her sister and her love embrace each other.
"Jasmine. Jasmine, wake up." Evie said, gently shaking the sleeping girl. Jasmine sat up, and looked at the British woman standing over her.
"Are we going back underground today?" she asked, beginning to stand up. Evie nodded. Jasmine later watched with Evie as Rick and Jonathan took the smaller sarcophagus out of the stone encasement, and propped it against the wall. Evie took out the key.
"I've dreamt about this since I was a little girl!" she said excitedly.
"You dream about dead guys?" Rick asked with a raised eyebrow. Jasmine ignored their talk, and inspected the sarcophagus.
"Evie, look! His sacred spells have been chiseled off! He wasn't only condemned in this life, but the next!" she said in a shocked voice.
"So, who is he?" Rick asked, and Evie looked.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." She said, and Jasmine felt a sense of dread inside her. Evie opened the key, and placed it in the hole, turning it until the sarcophagus unlocked. Jasmine slowly backed away, and let out a scream as the top flew off, and the mummy flew forward.
"Oh, I hate it when these things do that!" Evie said, looking surprised as well.
"Evie, is he supposed to look like that?" Jasmine asked, stepping forward, and inspecting the mummy.
"No. He still looks…" Evie began.
"Juicy." Rick and Jonathan finished. Jasmine felt sick, and not because of the still-decomposing mummy. For some reason, she felt as though they should not be there.
"Yes, he must be more than three thousand years old, but he still seems to be… decomposing!" Evie said in awe. Jasmine looked down at the top casing, and gasped.
"Evie, Mr. O'Connell, Jonathan! Look at this!" she said, and knelt down. Evie bent down next to her, and saw the grooves and dried blood. "These marks were made by fingernails." Jasmine put her own fingernails to the grooves, and dragged them down.
"This man was buried alive." Evie said in a hushed voice. Rick and Jonathan went back up to their camp, but Jasmine stayed behind as Evie inspected the mummy.
"Evie, can I ask you a strange question?" Jasmine asked after a while.
"Of course, Jasmine. What is it?" Evie asked, and sat down next to the girl on the sand.
"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Jasmine asked, scared of Evie's answer.
"Yes, I do in fact." The Englishwoman said, smiling, "Why?" Jasmine sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness. Well, it's because of my dreams lately." She said, and Jasmine proceeded to tell Evie all of her dreams, and how sometimes, it was her who was in Kidashka's place in the dreams. Evie was silent for a moment after Jasmine finished.
"Jasmine, I think that your dreams might be memories. You must have been Princess Kidashka in your previous life! It makes sense, with your dreams and all. It doesn't sound crazy at all, dear." She said, and Jasmine smiled.
"Thank you so much, Evie. I've been having these memories since I was little. Please don't tell Mr. O'Connell yet. I don't need him worrying about me." She said, and Evie nodded.
"Of course." She replied. Jasmine smiled, happy to finally have a mother figure in her life.
Please review!
You are all amazing and wonderful people! Be you always!
See you soon, mummies and royals!
Love,
Enchantress