#tom syndicate

What had started as a half-jog had quickly become a mad dash through the tunnels, Capsize taking the lead with a confidence that was perhaps unearned but one so natural that those following her saw no reason to question. Perhaps they ought to have done with how quickly she had changed her position in letting their dig site be taken, but when she clearly had a plan, it was hard to want to slow her down. They just hoped she had an idea of where she was going.

There hadn’t for a moment been so much of a lick of intent in Capsize to give up the Book of Amun-Ra. That was her relic to find. A relic she had been told the stories of by her aunt. She was not allowing it to be shipped off out of the country where she’d never get to see it.

However, she wasn’t so foolish as to let them start a firefight over it. While she admired Foxx and Red’s confidence for believing themselves capable of taking all of the other lot by themselves, she rather preferred them not riddled with bullets. As such, a less confrontational method for acquiring the book was necessary. Thankfully, she had an inkling that just such a method might be possible.

That inkling, which she had been increasingly scared was a ridiculous long shot, had proven to be correct.

The little group now found themselves deeper in the depths of the ruins within another chamber smaller than the previous ones they had been in. Perhaps another preparation chamber given the stone altar in the centre but not even Capsize cared about such things at this moment. The altar – if indeed it was one – currently only served the purpose of being a place for her companions to stand as they carved away at the ceiling. The only importance to the room was it hopefully being in the right location.

Capsize quickly scanned her eyes across the engravings on the walls, reading through the ancient writings as fast as she could. It was hard to focus on translating when her heart was beating in her ears, but she could force herself to. This was necessary and it wasn’t as though she was in any danger, so she just needed to manage and focus. She just needed confirmation that they were in the right place. If they weren’t, they still had plenty of time to move.

Finally, she found the symbols that confirmed her hunch right. It was as though a weight was lifted from her chest.

“Yes! I was right! These hieroglyphics say we’re right under the statue,” She exclaimed with a beaming smile. They were in the right place. Not all was lost. “You two should come up right through its legs.”

The two she was referring to were, of course, Foxx and Redbeard who were currently wielding pickaxes, working away at the ceiling to break down the stone between them and the statue in its chamber above. Thank God they were in the right place. She would’ve felt awful destroying any more of this place than absolutely required for this plan.

Sonja nearly laughed both at the phrasing and this whole ridiculous plan. Perhaps she should’ve realised the woman would be a sneak. Her brother was, after all. Why assume anything different of her? Except, she had seemed so prim and proper. Sure, she had caused a scene at the prison, knew how to be mouthy and stand her ground, but still the soldier had thought her above tricks. How wonderful it was to be proven wrong, even if it was getting her covered in stone dust.

Red too was impressed by his sister’s little plan. He could’ve done with less physical labour being a part of it. He wasn’t built for this sort of thing, his arms already felt like rubber and they’d barely made progress yet, but imagining the look on those prick’s faces made the exertion mostly worth it.

“Good. When those damn foreign asses go to sleep—” He paused, giving a halfway glance to Foxx. “—No offense.”

“None taken,” She replied with the smallest hint of amusement.

“We’ll be able to sneak our way up and take the book from right under their noses!” He finished. He was absolutely thrilled at this development. While it might’ve been a shock to have Capsize come up with such an idea, it was a completely welcome one. He couldn’t think of a better way for them to get the book than screwing over that lot at the same time. It was the least they deserved after having the nerve to point a gun at his sister. He only wished he'd be able to see the look on their faces when they realised what they were looking for was already gone.

Sonja gave a glance over to the woman who seemed to almost be vibrating with anticipation. If they had another pick, she had no doubt that she’d be helping bring down the ceiling alongside them. Hell, she might take a pick off one of them if they weren’t careful.

To try and keep her grounded, the soldier gave her a look.

“You’re sure you’ll be able to find this secret compartment?” She asked. She did her best not to sound doubting as that was in no way her intent. She just knew this was something they’d need to be quick about. She wanted to make sure they were prepared.

Her smile somehow became even brighter.

“I’m positive. Just as long as they don’t find it first,” She said with absolute certainty.

Her sureness was so clear, so obvious. That alone was enough to fuel the soldier. She didn’t really care what treasure she got out of this trip. Her greatest desire was to be away from this place. If she got some money too that’d be a nice bonus. But with how much this book seemed to matter to this woman, if they took any treasures away from this trip, it was going to be the Book of Amun-Ra.

The room became awash with noise. The destruction of a centuries old ceiling wasn’t precisely quiet work. Yet it still occurred to Redbeard that the room was strangely quiet. He paused in his action for a brief moment. He looked around to confirm his observations and, indeed, it was undeniable. Their little group had lost a number.

“Say, where’s our unwanted tagalong gotten to?”

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

Alister wandered the empty tunnels alone, torch in hand lighting his way. Most would suppose that anyone wandering such ruins separate from the group they’d entered with was hopelessly lost, but there was nothing unintentional about his current situation. He had a plan quite cemented in his head.

He couldn’t stand staying with those imbeciles any longer. They had already been trying his patience before, then that girl had proven to be a bigger idiot than he had thought possible. All the withering talk of the importance of finding that damn relic for what? To surrender it the moment she was asked to? Now because of her he was out twenty-five percent of the selling price of a solid gold book. Like hell was he going to keep following her lead after that. He’d been a fool to do that in the first place.

Now though, he’d formed his own plan. It hadn’t been hard to split away from the three morons he’d been forced to tag along with, too busy with their own walk of shame to keep an eye on him. Given how little they paid attention to him, he’d likely have an hour before they came looking for him. Even if they noticed he was gone in a timely manner, this place was large enough he’d have enough time to find himself something worthwhile. Let them fruitlessly dig around for ‘history’. He was in the greatest treasure trove in this country. He was going to find himself some damn riches.

He wasn’t going to be picky about this. It didn’t have to be anything extravagant. In fact, it was probably better if it wasn’t. If it was just some loose jewels or gold, it’d be small enough to shove into his bag. Anything he could hide away couldn’t be counted by the prissy thing as part of his measly twenty-five percent. What did it matter if he got himself a little bonus? The annoying girl was rich anyway. It wasn’t as though she needed the money.

All he needed to do in this little alone time he’d won for himself was find that prize before Foxx came looking for him. Then, when she did, he’d simply blame her for losing him in the tunnels in the first place. That’d wipe the smug look off her face too. That’d be as satisfying as any treasures he found down here. After all, where did that damn murderer get off acting as though she was better than him?

Despite being alone in these ruins that apparently swallowed all their seekers alive, he felt completely relaxed. Sure, he wasn’t a particular fan of the noise of his surroundings, the echoing chitters of pests in the walls. He wasn’t in any way fond of bugs. He dealt with enough pests in his day to day life, he could do without the literal ones. However, at this particular moment, he didn’t care. This was his first peace away from those idiots in days. Anything was a refreshing experience at this point.

What he wouldn’t do to be rid of all three of them. Dealing with them was worth the riches, of course, but all of them acted so incredibly out of turn treating him the way they did. It would be a great time to remind them of his rightful position over them.

He couldn’t wait until they were back in the city. With her purpose spent, he could throw Foxx back to the gallows where she belonged. That would remind the lot of them where they stood. He could just hear the girl begging as she had the first time, but now without the treasure trove to fall back on, she could do nothing but watch Foxx slowly lose her fight against gravity and die.

Though that was a wondrous fantasy, one that truly kept him going through all this humiliation, the joy he gained from it was quickly overshadowed by that caused by the sight before him.

He had managed to stumble upon a dead end. The arch where the tunnel was supposed to turn had collapsed completely into rubble that blocked any further progress. That could’ve been a disappointing annoyance after the effort he’d gone through thus far to get this far. Except, right there was precisely what he had been looking for.

On the wall he found himself facing was a mural. Some artistic depiction of a long dead king, not that Al gave any sort of a damn about that. The only part of the display he cared at all about were the spots glimmering in his torch light.

He strode over, a grin only growing on his face as he got closer and saw the things more clearly. Embedded into the wall decorating the image were dozens of blue gold ornaments shaped into scarabs. Each one was small enough to fit into his head but whether they were real precious metal or simply painted stones, he knew each one would be worth a small fortune.

As he pulled a knife from his bag to pry the things free, he couldn’t help laughing to himself. Yes, this little solo excursion was certainly going to be more than worth it.

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

The foreign crew’s efforts were not making nearly as much progress as an onlooker might expect given the number of them. Most of them were not doing anything beyond standing around in wait, including the diggers who had been solely hired to do work. It seemed quite ridiculous how little work had been started and yet that didn’t change the reality of it.

Admittedly, it had taken longer than strictly necessary for them to get started at all. The lot of them had been celebrating their claiming of the site so they had gotten distracted from actually setting up the dig. Who could blame them for that? They’d managed to get the place without so much as a contest, that deserved a little time to congratulate themselves. It wasn’t as though they needed to rush when they had the place to themselves.

Still, their little party had to eventually end. While they certainly didn’t need to rush, they still needed to start eventually. Ever focused, Wag had been the one to actually get down to work, walking over to the base of the statue while his friends still talked among themselves. He hadn’t intended to stop them from their distractions but slowly, they had all fallen silent as he read along the hieroglyphics, watching and waiting.

There was a certain tension in the air now as the eyes rested on him. There was still some quiet chatter, but it was safe to say that nerves were beginning to fester. It wasn’t a lack of trust in Wag. If anyone in their group was capable of finding the compartment, it was going to be him. However, if he didn’t find it, if the translations they were following were wrong, then it would mean the effort put forth in getting this dig site had been wasted.

What if there had been a reason for the woman suddenly agreeing to leave? What if she knew something they didn’t? As much as that was a ridiculous notion, it was still one they found themselves pondering.

Waglington was acutely aware of the fact he was being stared at. Though they were attempting to hide it, to distract themselves with continued conversation, his friends were far quieter than they ever normally would be. He did his best to ignore them, to just focus on the work he was to do as if they weren’t actively anticipating his eureka. It was, however, quite the task to do so when with each passing second, they risked growing bored if he didn’t locate their treasure.

Thankfully for his friend’s waning patience, their decision to claim this spot finally proved fruitful. A grin grew upon his face as, between lines of text, he found a seam.

“It’s here,” He announced, running his finger across it to be sure. Sand was displaced, making the tiny gap between the base of the statue and the slab hiding the treasure just that bit more obvious. Satisfied with being able to relocate it should he move his eyes away; he straightened up and turned back to his friends.

Once more the excitement rippled through the crew. It was real. A book made of solid gold was waiting for them just behind that thin wall of stone. The riches of their dreams within spitting distance. Just the thought was enough to get them slobbering.

Unable to wait a moment longer, Tom rose to his feet, shovel in hand and a grin on his face. In just a few minutes he was going to be one of the richest men on the planet. Well, they’d need to sell the book for the money, but that was a technicality. Just owning the thing was enough to have wealth beyond kings. He was going to be the first person to hold it.

Now they knew where it was, it’d be so easy. All he had to do was jam a shovel in and pry open the compartment. Then he’d have the damn thing, he could tease Sparklez about what he was going to make him do for his share, and they could all celebrate. When the other lot came back up this evening, they’d be able to show off their findings, probably impress the girl enough to have a proper conversation.

His fantasies were rudely interrupted by Wag sticking an arm out to stop him in his tracks. His friend was glaring at him with a look as if he was being a complete idiot.

“Tom, Athar wasn’t a fool,” He said, as if the name was meant to mean something to him. To be fair, it was probably someone he’d mentioned several times before now, but all his history lectures went right over Tom’s head. What did he need to know about history besides the treasure? Who it used to belong to and who had hidden the best bits away hardly mattered.

He could, however, understand the point that was being made. The chamber was almost certainly trapped and forcing it open would trigger it. Doing so would likely be dangerous and an altogether stupid idea for him to attempt. Despite all of this, he still found himself rolling his eyes.

“One of us has to open it,” He stated the obvious. He could obviously acknowledge the danger, but he didn’t see what difference it made. If they wanted the book – which they obviously all did – they had to get in there.

Wag looked almost charmed by his words, as if the man was being cute rather than serious. Tom found himself struggling to not be offended by the reaction. However, before he could spit any part of that offense out, his friend pointed behind him.

“That’s what they’re for.”

Tom followed the point of his friend’s finger, turning around to see it land upon the diggers. Somehow the hired men looked even more nervous than they already had. None went to move, not wishing to do the job clearly signalled as a danger to those who had hired them. However, they had little choice in the matter. Having gotten the message, Tucker grabbed one of them by the scuff of their collar and begun shoving them forward.

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

Sonja was the only one left chipping away at the ceiling. Unlike most times she was left working alone, it was by her own choice as the work already done had left a sizable dent in the stone. As much as they all wanted this done fast, she’d prefer not to have her charges crushed if the whole thing caved in.

Redbeard hadn’t needed much persuasion to stop helping. He’d done the bare minimum of pretending to argue before quickly sauntering off to the other side of the room. Despite how he seemed like the sort to spend a great deal of time idle, he didn’t seem to know what to do with himself now that he was. He stood about, fiddling with his pick as if it was a toy to distract himself with rather than a mining tool.

He was grateful at least that he had something to listen to beyond just the continued breaking of the ceiling. Foxx had made the foolish decision to ask Capsize about history. That was the only opening she’d needed to start rambling. There she sat on the altar, talking away to her heart’s content. He’d heard it all so many times that he really couldn’t remember where she had started, but quickly the conversation had turned to mummies which was where it had very much stuck.

“So, let me get this straight,” Sonja began in a moment where Capsize had paused for breath. She had avoided interrupting with her questions for a short while now. Instead, she just focused on how nice it was to hear the passionate words as she continued in her own work. She found herself listening to every word. However, with the number of questions in her head ramping up, she had to ask some of them before the topic was done with. “They ripped out your guts and shoved them in a jar?”

At first, Capsize had been talking so passionately, so happily, that her tone had disguised the actual details. Then Sonja’s mind had caught onto the words actually being said, processed the gory details joyfully being recalled. The moment it did, she found herself in utter disbelief. She knew that history was full of barbaric practises, but the idea seemed completely out of left field, especially with how the woman speaking seemed to see nothing wrong with it.

“Yes! Not just the intestines, but the lungs, liver, and stomach,” Capsize confirmed with the same level of joy. Her shining passion seemed beyond strange when talking on such a topic, but when her excitement got the better of her, she became quite oblivious to tone. There was far too much fun in actually getting to share the knowledge she had on the topic.

In a sudden burst of excitement, she lent closer to Foxx. “Do you know how they’d take your brains out?”

“I don’t think she needs to know that,” Red half-warned, knowing damn well his words would do nothing to stop her. He had never once had the ability to stop his sister from doing something, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now. There was, however, amusement for him in giving the warning knowing it wouldn’t be heeded as he, unlike his sister, could see the soldier's face turning a slight tint of green. He almost laughed at the image, though thought better of actually doing so. Who would have thought that his sister could scare a rough and tumble type so easily?

“They’d take a hook, stick it up your nose, scramble things about, then rip it all out through your nostrils,” She explained. As she did, she gestured in the air with a chisel from her kit, almost demonstrating the required action. She had such a smile on her face as she did, excited despite the morbid nature of what she was discussing. She couldn’t hide it. There was just so much excitement within her for this topic.

Sonja cringed slightly as she held that image in her head. She wrinkled her nose, attempting to stop the phantom pains her imagination had conjured up.

“That’s gotta hurt…” She muttered.

Capsize jolted. Had she somehow forgotten to mention…?

“Oh, you’d be dead when they did this. It’s called mummification,” She attempted to assure as though there was any possibility of this actually being done to the soldier. She must’ve neglected to mention it in her excitement at being able to talk about all this at all.

Sonja tried to not look too embarrassed at having not made that obvious assumption, hoping to God that her cheeks didn’t flush as she thought they did. How many times was she going to make herself look like an idiot in front of this girl?

“Huh. Was there any part of your corpse that they let you keep?” She attempted to cover by sounding entertained, as if she had known all along.

“Oh yes. They left the heart,” Capsize replied, her smile turning almost wistful. “You see, they believed that it contained all of a person’s being and intelligence so that was left in its place for when a person made their way to the afterlife, which I think is rather romantic when you think about it.”

“Oh yes, very romantic,” Red muttered, swinging his pick like a golf club. Really, he loved her, but she was quite ridiculous sometimes. If that’s what she thought romance was, he dreaded to think of her idea of a date.

Sonja gave the smallest of huffed laughs at their antics. At times, she felt like she barely understood the two. Then there were moments like these where it all seemed so simple and she desperately craved to be a part of it. How long had she been alone for? Why did that question suddenly shake her?

Before she could properly consider that, her attention was taken by a far more pressing matter. Her eyes traced along the ceiling that was quite suddenly beginning to crack. Far too large and dramatic a reaction to just be more loose chips. Something large was coming down.

She barely had time to grab Capsize and throw the both of them out of the way before something heavy crashed down from above, filling the entire room with dust.

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

A shallow thump could be heard within the statue chamber. It was so sudden and unexpected that a few of the foreign crew jumped before craning their necks to attempt to figure out the source. It was a rather pointless endeavour as it was immediately obvious that the source hadn’t been within the room they were in.

Despite them not seeming in immediate danger, the noise still very much set them on edge. The sound of something falling was never good, especially not when they were down in the depths of the earth and any blockage could trap them within the ruins.

“The hell was that?” Jordan questioned. It was a rhetorical one as he didn’t expect any of his friends to have an answer for him., but still one he thought necessary to voice.

“Something below us. So nothing for us to be concerned with,” Wag dismissed. Even if it was something blocking their path, they could deal with it later.

His words did reassure his fellows. If the smartest of them wasn’t concerned, why should they be? This was an old place. It was probably full of noises that sounded bad but in reality were little to worry about. If they kept jumping at every single one, they’d be trapped down here for the rest of eternity without being physically stuck.

Though some still held nerves, they turned their attention back to their treasure extraction rather than whatever might be happening below their feet. Their focus should be on their rightful riches, the receiving of which was being slowed by work still not proceeding.

Tucker had dragged three of the diggers over to the box of the statue. Though they all had the tools and position to be set with their task, none of them had actually started. Instead, they were looking towards their employers with desperate eyes.

They weren’t stupid. They fully understood that they were only being made to do this task because it was too dangerous for their employers to do so. Had it been outside of their job description, they would’ve refused, but this very much was the sort of job they had been paid for. Still, none of them were exactly keen to begin.

As the moments pressed on with them all just stood there, tension began to seep in. Annoyance was beginning to fester within the treasure hunters. They had paid these damn layabouts for one job. If they weren’t going to do it then what the hell was all that money given to them for? It certainly wasn’t to stand about looking scared.

“Can they get on with it?” Tom muttered, already beyond bored. He could’ve had this over and done with minutes ago if Wag wasn’t so damn cautious. Seriously, what the hell were they all so afraid of? Just shove a tool in there and get the thing open. It might not even be trapped for all they knew.

He shifted on the spot, itching to do anything even if it meant doing this damn job himself.

The movement only spurned on the frustrations of the others in the group, their impatience becoming increasingly obvious. In turn, the diggers grew ever more nervous, knowing their inaction couldn’t last much longer. What could they even do?

The moments dragged on, the tension getting thicker. Then finally, there were a couple of loud claps.

“Get on with it!” Waglington yelled, startling the hired men.

They still considered refusing. If they could just wait until they had to be physically forced, one of their employers might get frustrated enough to do the task themselves. That outcome seemed the safer one for their health. However, behind them, their employers’ hands rested upon guns. While none of the three wished to do this, it was better to risk an uncertain death than a certain one.

Shovels were forced into the thin seam of the stone, the hafts held close to the head for better leverage against the stone. The sounds of grunts and metal straining against stone began to infect the air. Though neither noise began as particularly loud, they might as well have been a cacophonous din as everyone fell silent, watching with bated breath from either anticipation or fear.

A crack sounded as the stone began to give. The treasure hunters who were all cautiously standing back began to lean forward. They could practically taste the riches now.

Finally, the stone shielding the compartment fell and what should’ve been a celebration turned to absolute horror. As the cracked stone fell, a horrid sound erupted throughout the chamber. From the opening, a liquid burst forth. The geyser-like noise of its escape wouldn’t have caused anything more than a brief flinch but mixed with the screams of the three souls unlucky enough to have triggered its exit made a horrifying harmony.

The others in the chamber stumbled back. The sight of the screaming men was one more horrific than any of them had witnessed before. What flesh hadn’t melted away completely was a horrid blistering mess. It seemed a mercy when they finally lost whatever strength had been keeping them clinging to life.

The three men dropped to the floor in a shaking pile. The onlookers remained in silence as the reality of what they had just witnessed sunk in.

Tom could only let out a shaky breath as he found himself eternally glad that he had listened to Wag and that that hadn’t been him.

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

“Everyone alright?” Sonja asked as the dust began to clear and the ringing finally began to quiet and allow her to hear. That had been way too close for her liking. She didn’t know what the hell had fallen but she’d be frankly quite thankful if the worst they’d suffered was irritated lungs.

“Yes, I’m fine. No need to worry,” Redbeard answered between spluttering coughs that only slightly undermined his words. He hadn’t been in the line of danger at all, really. From where he’d been standing, he would’ve had to move into the path of disaster rather than out of it. Still, his confirmation was relieving for the soldier.

“What about you, Cap—” She began to ask the woman she was holding before the position they were in properly clicked. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the other woman, their bodies pressed close. It had been necessary in the moment, a split-second decision to make sure she could pull her out the way. Except now that the danger had passed, she suddenly became aware how improper this was.

Quickly, she untangled herself from the vice grip she had them locked in. She took a sheepish step back. As she straightened herself up and cleared her throat, she swore to God that she caught Redbeard rolling his eyes. She elected to believe she was making that reaction up as her focus once more fell upon Capsize. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. Thank you, Miss Foxx. Just a bit of a scare, that’s all,” She said as she dusted herself off, just about managing to sound convincing in her assurances. The entire time she was avoiding the soldier’s eyes as her cheeks were completely flushed. Despite how she was obviously embarrassed, she didn’t look hurt in any way. That just had to be good enough for the moment.

Capsize was just about catching her breath, feeling frightfully embarrassed despite there being no reason to be so. Why did she have to keep having such ridiculous thoughts? There was nothing even remotely to think upon regarding how close they had just been standing. It had been a decision made out of pure need and professionalism. Yet here her traitorous thoughts were again, stuck on how nice though strong arms had felt wrapped around her.

Good God, she needed to pull her thoughts from the gutter they were currently trudging through. She needed some distraction – any distraction – to stop herself from creating an actual reason to be embarrassed.

“Now what was it that tried to crush us?” She questioned aloud before turning back to where they had been standing. Suddenly she didn’t need to pretend to be distracted any more as every thought she had been holding dropped from her mind at the sight of it.

She took a few steps forward as if she was within a trance. Not a single part of her had expected for this to have been what fell from above. She could hardly believe the sight of it. She knew what it was, of course, she saw enough of them in the museum to know when she was looking at one. Still, that didn’t quell her disbelief.

“It’s a sarcophagus,” She breathed, carefully brushing a hand over the top, pushing away some of the sand. Though there was nothing unique about the feel, her fingers still tingled as her touch made it real. “A sarcophagus buried right under the feet of Anubis.”

She had never heard of such a thing nor anything similar. Not for any of the mummies currently housed at the museum nor within any of her readings on the topic. This was something new. Her heart beat faster at the thought.

Sonja walked up behind her, surprised at just how taken in by the coffin the woman was. Had it been buried in a ceiling that’d be one thing, but surely it couldn’t be all that unusual to be buried underneath a statue.

“Is that not common?”

“No, it certainly isn’t,” She was barely managing to speak as so many of her thoughts focused on just trying to process the discovery before her.

She traced her hand over the top of the sarcophagus. What kind of a person would be buried under the god of the dead? What soul would need to be hidden beneath the guide to the underworld with no worldly goods about them? “Whoever this was, they were either incredibly important… Or they did something horrifically bad.”

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

Alister dropped another blue gold scarab into his bag, unable to wipe the smile from his face. It was already growing heavy from the amount within, and a good dozen more still waited for him to pry them from their decorative prisons. He was going to be a very wealthy man when he returned to the city.

He had started to worry this whole journey would be a waste. He hadn’t had a choice but to come, of course. Had he left the stuck-up girl and her two idiot followers to their own devices he never would’ve actually gotten his share. He could just hear that haughty superior voice smiling the moment she had left the prison with Foxx.

‘Well, we got what we needed. No need to pay him what he’s owed.’ She probably said to the laughter and wholehearted agreement of the other two.

So, he’d had little choice but to come along. It was the only way to ensure he wasn’t cut out of his rightful share of Hamunaptra’s fortune. While the end goal was worth it – in theory, at least – the journey had been a mess from the beginning. Even beyond the attack that had driven them off the boat.

Not one of the three showed him the respect he was rightfully owed. He shouldn’t have expected anything less really. Even back in the prison, when she should’ve known she was little more than the dirt beneath his feet, Foxx had been a problem. She would sooner bite at him like a wild animal than speak to him like the superior to her he was. It would’ve been lunacy to expect her to act any better now she was armed and thought she’d gotten one over on him by escaping execution.

The girl too he had expected to be a problem. She had shown no regard for her own place at the prison. While she might have the appearance of a polite, up-standing young woman, she was beyond rude. He had hardly expected her to be any more polite outside of the view of polite society.

For some reason, he’d held some expectations that the man would have some sense. A foolish set of expectations in retrospect as he was as rude as the other two. The charm he’d shown in their initial meeting had completely disappeared, replaced with insolent snideness. He clearly held no interest in controlling his sister despite it being his job to do so. Rather he seemed quite happy to encourage her worst behaviours.

It had been truly hellish having to travel with the three of them. The man and Foxx appeared to have some kind of competition going regarding who could infuriate him more. They jumped upon him every time he so much as breathed, prodding him with unreasonable complaints about everything he did. Yet somehow, worse than the two of them was the girl.

She just loved acting so high and mighty, completely forgetting her place in the world and acting as though she ought to be in charge as if that idea wasn’t completely ridiculous. Of course, the other two encouraged her delusions, allowing her to stride around the place making decisions. While that might be expected from her brother, lazy men often did allow the women in their lives to take charge to not need to lift a finger themselves, there was no reasonable explanation for how she had Foxx eating out of her hand. Though, that relationship didn’t precisely seem one sided.

Oh yes, he had noticed the way the girl was throwing herself at the criminal. What a scandal waiting to happen that budding relationship was. He might’ve been tempted to expose it once they were back in the city, laugh at the resulting fall from grace it caused, but he had a far sweeter idea for his deserved revenge.

The moment they were back in society where the world made sense, he’d be enacting his plan. He still had some plotting to do to figure out the logistics of managing it all, but that could wait until later. At the very least, he was sure the profits from the scarabs would aid with it.

He pried another off the wall. He used a little too much force, sending the little thing flying off behind him. It mattered little. He could pick it up on his way out of here. It wouldn’t lose value from being on the floor a little while. Nor would he really lose value on his fortune from losing just one if it was now lost to the sand dusting the floors.

There was a certain providence to him finding this mural. Even if the girl’s clear incompetence led to the rest of them finding nothing of value, he would still walk out of here with a treasure horde. That meant just more power for him.

Wealth was precisely what he needed for his plan, to put himself on the same level as the siblings. Foxx he could easily ruin once they were back in the city. Those two, however, had money which meant the ability to worm their way out of his typical method of punishing people. It wasn’t hard to buy your way out of a criminal accusation which was the last thing he wanted when he attempted his revenge. It was just as easy, though, to buy a person’s guilt. Should he gain a fortune himself, all he’d need to do was outbid them.

He’d have fun when he finally got to put those—

There was what he swore was a crack behind him. He whipped around, eyes scouring the darkness for its source. Nothing greeted him but the passageway, empty as it should be. He could’ve sworn…

He shook his head. What was he doing acting as though he was a jumpy girl? No one knew he’d come down this way. When they did come looking for it, it would be loud and obvious, not a sneak attack. If for some unexplained reason someone was looking to attack him, he had a knife in hand and a gun on his belt. He would be able to swiftly defend himself and be well within his rights to do so. But there really was no one there and it was silly of him to act as though there might be.

Satisfied with his assessment, he turned back to his work, preparing his knife to pry another glimmering insect free.

Then he stopped. His knife was dropped to the ground, the handle bouncing on the stone. A sharp pain stabbed through his foot.

It was by far the worst pain he had ever felt. As though his flesh was being torn through and crawled into. A horrific, painful nightmare on its own, made worse as the source of pain began crawling up his leg.

Something was burrowing under his flesh. Higher and higher by the second. Further and further the pain travelled through his body.

In a fit of desperation, he tore open his shirt. It let him see it; the lump moving under his skin. Up from his stomach to his chest. He scratched at it, willing his nails to tear open his own skin. Anything to get this thing out of him.

Nothing he did stopped its ascent.

All there was left for the warden to do was scream as the lump crawled up his neck towards his head.

𓂀 𓂀 𓂀

Red drummed his fingers against his leg impatiently as Capsize read along the inscription of the sarcophagus. She was reading slower than normal, he was sure of that fact. He swore that she was going along the same section multiple times as if she was unsure of herself for the first time in her life. She almost certainly had good reasoning for that but even acknowledging that didn’t stop his growing impatience.

If Capsize was right, which she typically was, this was something new. It might not be gold or jewels, but discoveries of new parts of history had their worth if one knew who to go to about them. He and Capsize certainly did know people they could go to with this knowledge for it to be profitable. They just needed to be sure.

So, he tried to bite back his numerous questions to just allow his sister to work. Answers would only come slower if he interrupted. As such, he held his tongue, managing despite the struggle to stop himself from speaking until, finally, his sister raised her head up.

“Well, who is it?” He asked, restless. He didn’t quite know what he was hoping to hear. Some name he vaguely recognised followed by some ramble about their importance in history would be ideal, he supposed. The burial sites of kings and queens were always worth a pretty penny for the original discoverer. However, excitement wasn’t precisely the expression his sister was wearing.

“She who must be forgotten,” Capsize quoted, hardly able to understand it. The look of the sarcophagus and the location they had found it implied that this woman – whoever she was – was of some importance. Perhaps not a pharaoh, but not just anyone would be buried within the city of the dead.

Yet where a name should be upon their coffin, the bare minimum of information to denote who this soul was in life, instead engraved was a label insisting she be lost to history. It unsettled her. The logical conclusion was that this was the coffin of a criminal of some kind, but for her entire identity to have been stripped away from her, it left Capsize with a rather hollow feeling in her chest.

She swallowed, trying to steady her nerves. Whoever this soul was, her story was quite literally ancient history. Not only was getting upset over the potential reasons for the state of her burial rather pointless, it would also only prevent her from figuring out the actual facts of the matter. There would be answers to what happened to this woman, they just had to dig deeper. “By the size of it, I think there’s a second coffin within this one. That should have more engravings which will hopefully be less cryptic.”

That was really all she could think of to get further information. Normally, they’d be able to gather assumptions from things buried with the deceased, but well, that wasn’t really an option in this circumstance.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it’ll be that simple,” Foxx spoke up. She hated to say so as her words gave Capsize a look of disappointment that caused a pang in her chest. However, she was fairly certain of her judgement. “Looks like the thing’s locked.”

Capsize looked in confusion towards the point Foxx was examining. She did hold an objection about it as she couldn’t fathom a reason for the soldier’s words being true. Yet, matching with the general oddities about this burial, the claim was indeed the truth.

Had she just been giving it a cursory glance, she would’ve assumed the odd star indent to be purely decorative. Even now, she wanted to believe that idea as it felt the far more logical conclusion, but she couldn’t deny Foxx’s conclusion. It was hard to see in the dim light, but she was just able to see the mechanisms within. The shape itself looked familiar to Capsize which was odd as she hadn’t seen nor so much as heard of a locked sarcophagus before.

“It doesn’t make sense…” She muttered, tracing a finger within it as she attempted to figure out any reason for this. There obviously had to be one, else there wouldn’t be all these peculiarities. However, she was left without any easy way to access the answers. It made her quiet. “It’s like they were trying to stop whoever’s in here from getting out.”

That seemed a preposterous idea, but perhaps it was meant to be a spiritual punishment. Perhaps the intention had been to stop the soul from moving on so they had locked up the body. She wasn’t sure that entirely made sense, but with no further information, she could only work on theories.

Red lent forward, resting his elbows atop the coffin.

“Can’t we just crack it open with the picks?” He questioned, immediately receiving a pained look from his sister. He had expected that. She was never going to like the idea of damaging something with historical value. He didn’t love the idea either but needs must. “Yes, yes Ize, I know. The history. But if the thing’s locked surely, it’s better to get in there than not.”

Capsize slumped, knowing that he was indeed right. As much as it absolutely pained her, her brother had a point.

“Something locked this tight won’t be that easy to force open. Probably lined with something we can’t just smash through,” Sonja spoke up. Even if she’d only felt the need to do so because of how dejected the woman looked, she was speaking from experience. Only idiots would put a heavy lock on something flimsy enough to completely ignore it. Given that the thing hadn’t shattered the moment it hit the ground, she doubted it was made by idiots. “Prefer not to break the tools if we can help it.”

“Well, what choice do we have? Unless we somehow find the key that lock will take months to crack,” Red found himself exasperated. It wasn’t as though they could spend a month here. They didn’t have the supplies for that. Nor could they lug the bloody thing back. They needed to get into it here and they needed to do so quickly.

“A key?” Capsize quietly questioned, thoughts beginning to turn. She kept staring at the star indent. She had definitely seen the shape before. It was so freshly familiar to her, but why? Where had she seen it? “A key!”

She perked up suddenly.

“That’s what that bastard on the boat was looking for!” She exclaimed. Everything clicked. The words that had been said with a knife pressed against her throat suddenly made sense. The object he had been willing to kill her over had been closer to hand than she had ever imagined.

The others looked at her rather baffled. However, she wasn’t about to stop for an explanation. She all but lunged towards her brother, rifling through his pockets to find what she needed.

“Oh, Jesus, you know you could just ask,” He complained, though it had no effect on her action. He barely had time to get through it before she had pulled the puzzle box from his jacket and was already hurrying back to the lock.

The grin on her face was wild, near manic, yet it was alluring. It was impossible to not be drawn in as she opened the box in a now well-practised manner. An excited laugh escaped her as she placed the unfurled box into the indent, its opened panels creating a star that fit perfectly within the lock. Somehow, her smile grew wider.

“Seems we have our way in.”

“Well, don’t leave us waiting. Let’s crack it open!” Red replied, his smile turning as wild as his sister’s. She could maybe learn a thing or two about verbalising her thoughts, but there was something both intoxicating and frightening about when her intelligence showed its potential.

Capsize took a breath. Whatever they found, it was going to be a discovery that would finally give her some credit within the academic world. That was as exciting as it was frankly terrifying. Her hands were shaking at the thought, but she didn’t want to put it off for even a moment.

She began to twist the key.

A scream filled the air

All three were stuck frozen by the sudden noise. It didn’t fade, instead growing just louder, clearer, closer. The longer it drew on, the longer they were forced to listen for, the more obvious it became who the source was.

“Shit!” Sonja drew her pistols and turned on a dime, sprinting into the tunnels towards the source. She might not like the warden, but the man was supposed to be under her protection. She couldn’t just leave him to die.

Capsize followed right after despite what an ill idea that might be. Had the soldier had a spare second, she certainly would’ve told the siblings to stay put. Not that Capsize would’ve done so regardless. She didn’t know what danger Alister had gotten himself into, but she knew the safest place to be in these ruins was by Foxx’s side.

Red only paused for a moment, remaining only a few seconds longer than his sister to grab the puzzle box back from the sarcophagus. He had no idea if any of their fellows would find this chamber, but on the off chance they did, he wasn’t risking losing the damn thing now he knew how important it was.

The corridors’ maze-like winding was far more stressful with a soundtrack of pained screams echoing through them. However horrid a man the warden was, not a soul deserved whatever torturous experience could be causing such a reaction. Though that fuelled their speed, it made the labyrinth no easier to navigate.

When they finally caught sight of him, it was as horrific a one as the noises escaping him implied. The man who throughout the entire journey had remained the buttoned-up image of a professional despite lacking the personality of one, was a ragged mess. His shirt was torn open, scratches and cuts littering his stomach, chest, and neck. Chunks of his hair had been torn out, his scalp too left bloody at certain points.

Yet worse, there was no sign of any attacker. It was just the man himself with a crazed look in his eyes as he flailed wildly with bloodied hands. Still, he howled in pain, hardly sounding human.

Sonja took a cautious step towards him. She had no idea why the hell he might be doing this to himself, but she needed to stop him before it got any worse. It shouldn’t be too hard to restrain him. God knows how she’d calm him down afterwards, but that was a task for once he was properly prevented from harming himself.

She took another, more decisive step towards him, confident in her ability to do something to stop him, when the man let out a guttural wail. There was something different about this one, something that triggered Sonja to sprint to try and stop what was to happen next.

But she was too late.

Alister, without any hesitation, turned to the closest wall and bashed his own head against it.

Capsize gasped at the sight of it. Red stepped forward and attempted to turn her away, but he couldn’t budge her. She was locked, frozen, staring at the nauseating sight.

Sonja made a grab for the man, but he somehow held enough strength to shove her off him. As she was pushed back, he once more thrust his head towards ancient stone.

There was a crack. A squelch.

The man fell silent. He slumped to the ground.

The horrid noise was replaced by ragged breath as all three stood staring at the bloodied mess on the ground. They didn’t need Foxx to check his pulse, the result of what they had just watched was obvious, but she did anyway. Her hand came back bloodied from the mess of a corpse they were left with.