Chapter10: Eyes of a scorpion

Ardeth Bay.

The man who she least expected (and wanted) to see was standing in the museum. Next to Mr. Bey.

And they looked very, VERY chummy.

The others immediately went on the defensive and all the men drew what weapons they carried.

Aida longed to have her sword, but she'd left it at the hotel, feeling she wouldn't need it against a damn mummy.

"Miss Carnahan," Mr. Bey said as though he had only seen her a few hours before and he nodded his head in a friendly manner towards the others, "Miss Bancroft. Gentleman."

Aida folded her arms and glared at the curator.

"Evening, Mr. Bey. Anything you want to, oh, I don't know," Aida switched her pointed gaze to Ardeth and frowned, "tell us about? Perhaps something REALLY important."

"What is HE doing here?" Evy sounded cold and angry, everything that Aida felt right at that moment in time.

Mr. Bey did not look bothered by either women's questioning. He looked momentarily at Ardeth with a calm expression and seeing that his acquaintance looked stern and ready for a fight, decided to be the one to remain calm.

"Do you really want to know, or would you prefer to just shoot us?"

There was a two-second pause amongst the group as they seemed to debate what to do.

On one hand, Aida was mad at both of them and her trust was very thin.

But on the other...

"Oh," she nudged Jonathan gently with her elbow and threw him a look, "I vote not shooting. I'd at least like to hear what bull they're about to tell us."

She heard the shuffling behind her as everyone put their weapons away and Rick stepped forward, the unofficial selected 'leader' of their small group.

"After what I just saw, I'm willing to go on a little faith here."

"Trust me," Mr. Bey took a step forward also, his calmness slipping to show a firmness he always had with Evy, "you're going to need some faith for what you are about to hear."

He turned from Rick and looked at Evy, almost a little sad.

"I should have known. Bright, intelligent, and curious," he sighed and turned from her, but not before Aida heard his mutter, "that may very well be our downfall."

"Mr. Bey," Aida walked forward and decided to finally screw her courage to the sticking place, "if you had been honest with us in the first place, we would have never have gone-"

"What?!" He whipped around so quick and gave her an incredulous look, "So if I had told you that the lost city of Hamunaptra harbors an evil creature that if awakened, could bring the very end of days, you would have stopped and believed me?"

Aida paused for two seconds and tried not to groan in frustration.

"You know that's not what I meant-"

"What did you think he meant?" Ardeth caught her attention and she saw that familiar, cold stare in his eyes.

She didn't answer him because Evy had come up behind her and placed a calming hand flat against her back.

"Come on," she steered her to the side, a little farther away from Ardeth, and continued to whisper in her friend's ear, "lets at least hear what they have to say."

Everyone in the room wondered around and got comfy, either sitting or standing close by those they trusted.

Aida did not trust Ardeth Bey, but he stood far too close to Evy for her liking and immediately placed herself between them.

He'd only given her one curious look before all attention turned to Mr. Bey.

He dove right in.

"We are part of an ancient secret society," he gestured to Ardeth as he wandered back and forth, calm but sternly telling them his story, "for over Three-Thousand years, we have guarded the City of the Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our part to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world."

When he sat down, Aida's eyes went to Ardeth, expecting to see him following Mr. Bey as the room was. But curiously, his gaze was on her.

She swiftly looked away, wondering why she was feeling so hot under his intense look.

"You could have come with us. You could have explained-" Aida quickly shut up at the look he gave her and knew that no matter how she tried to defend their actions, nothing short of killing them would have stopped them going to Hamunaptra.

"Because of you, we have failed," Ardeth stated simply and Evy let her anger and frustration out on both of them.

"You think this justifies the killing of innocent people?!"

"To stop this creature? Let me think," he pretended to pause but he didn't even think for a second before he looked back at her, "yes! Yes!"

Ardeth joined him on the last 'yes' and Aida had to rub her face.

They had a point, but they were still getting to her.

Evy, having no argument, walked calmly to the other side of the room, thinking deeply.

"Question," Rick raised his hand and asked something that no one expected, "why doesn't he like cats?"

"Allergies?" She offered with a shrug and the two smirked at one another.

'Oh Fuck, he's your loyal friend for life now.'

"Cats are the guardians of the underworld. He will fear them until fully regenerated."

"Perhaps we get an army of cats?" Aida rubbed at her temple but Ardeth obviously didn't think she was joking.

"You can go and round up your army."

She snapped her head around so quickly to glare at him but bit her tongue. Luckily, Mr. Daniels spoke up and interrupted her from biting his head off.

"You know how he gets himself fully regenerated?"

Aida already had a feeling. The corpse had looked different from when they first opened it to just after...well, what happened to Mr. Burns. The eyes...the tongue.

Henderson knew as well.

"By killing everyone who opened that chest," he played with his gun in his hand, the same one he'd told Aida that he always kept loaded.

"And sucking them dry, that's how!" Daniels got hysterical and she couldn't blame him. She'd be unhappy too if she knew that the creature was after her lifeforce to regenerate itself.

She turned back to Ardeth, but Jonathan was fiddling with a statue with a bow and arrow.

"Oi!" She startled him and he 'twanged' the bow accidentally when he jumped, "Pack it in, If I don't play with things, you can restrain yourself also."

Evy walked back over to them and quickly glared at her brother before returning her attention back to her boss.

"When I saw him alive at Hamunaptra, he called me," she paused briefly when she tried to remember the name, "Anck-Su-Namun."

Ardeth and Mr bey both shared a look that everyone picked up on.

"Someone else we should be worried about?"

Aida knew it was serious when the curator just gave her a very serious look and nodded.

"And-and then just now in Mr. Burns' quarters, he tried to kiss me."

"I remember," Aida grimaced when she remembered the powerlessness she felt at that moment.

"It's because of his love for Anck-Su-Namun that he was cursed. Apparently, even after three-thousand-years-"

"He is still in love with her," Ardeth finished for him.

"Oh?" Something fluttered in Aida's chest and she had to restrain a smile, "So it's...a tragic love story? Very Shakespeare."

"Yes, well," Evy rolled her eyes at her friend and continued, "that is very romantic, but what has it got to do with me?"

For a moment, it seemed Ardeth was ignoring everyone else, but his next query made everyone feel suddenly very sick.

"Perhaps he will once again try to raise her from the dead," he leaned closer to Mr. Bey and Aida felt her stomach roll.

'No.'

"Yes," the curator said and turned his gaze to Evy pointedly, "and it appears he has already chosen his human sacrifice-"

"No!"

Out of everyone in the room, the one most upset was Aida.

She wasn't about to let ANYTHING happen to Evy.

With her anger rising, she glared at the two males as though they were the ones about to sacrifice her best friend.

"He can fuck off if he thinks he's going to sacrifice her!"

Evy laid a calming hand on her shoulder, though it was slightly juxtaposed by the quivering she felt.

"Aida-"

"No, Evy!" She turned to her friend and felt tears prickle her eyes, "It's bloody true! I will NOT let him kill you!"

Frustrated, she turned about, looking at the other men in the room.

"And I think you all feel the same way. Henderson, Daniels," she looked at the two and found she was willing to put aside her own distrust for Evy's sake, "I know it's after you. And I promise I will try everything in my power to help you. So-"

"No need to fret, darlin'," Henderson gave her that cocky, almost flirty smile as he twisted his pistol in his hands flamboyantly and nodded, "we won't let anything happen to Miss Carnahan."

"It's just bad luck, old mum," Jonathan sighed heavily, but Aida wasn't about to scold him when she knew he was just hiding how scared he was. She knew the depths of his love for his baby sister.

"On the contrary," Mr. Bey stood suddenly and looked extremely thoughtful, as though he knew something that no one else did, "it may just give us the time we need to kill the creature."

"We will need all the help we can get," Ardeth moved past him, but his eyes were trained upwards.

Slowly, everyone turned to look with him and saw what had captivated him.

On one of the highest walls, was a large, open window.

Outside the sky appeared calm again but...there was something moving fast in front of the sun.

An eclipse.

"His powers are growing," Ardeth sounded a little horrified and it was almost reassuring to Aida to know that something like this was even shocking to him.

The room around them went dark as though night had fallen.

Aida knew what this was, even before Jonathan quoted the holy scripture.

"And he stretched forth his hand towards the heavens and there was darkness through the land of Egypt."

His voice sent an unpleasant shudder through Aida and she was the first to look away.

"Out of all the things you remember, you remember the terrifying parts," she rubbed the back of her neck and tried to calm herself down.

She'd always thought herself rational but this...this was insanity. More than insanity, it was happening. The end of days, it seemed.

"Right, well," Evy caught her attention and decided to quickly take a roll as a leader herself, "plan of action. We'll head back to Fort Brydon and-and...we'll think of something."

No one argued with Evy. There wasn't much to argue with. Everyone felt that listening to her would be in their best interest.

But just before they left, she turned to Mr. Bey with a curious gaze.

"You haven't gone through my things whilst I've been gone, have you?"

"No, Miss Carnahan," he didn't sound offended at all, just slightly annoyed at the obvious (but warranted) distrust), "I do not believe in rifling through personal property."

Aida ignored his little look, knowing that was a pointed remark at her.

She instead knelt down and busied herself untying and tying up her shoelace, ignoring him and getting herself calm.

"Good. There's a book I want to find before I go," she went to walk quickly out of the room, but turned and slowly walked backward as she said, "Jonathan, do you remember when I messed up the bookshelves? Look for Father's book there for me, I might have left it on the side."

"I'll come help you," Rick followed obediently after her, though that seemed to be more of a reason to spend time with her.

When Jonathan headed off, Daniels and Henderson followed after and Aida eventually stood up to find Mr. Bey giving her a very curious look indeed.

"That speech was rather inspired. I may have underestimated you, Miss Bancroft," he turned away, ending their conversation and Aida could only fold her arms and glare after him.

"You've always underestimated me," she muttered quietly enough so that he didn't hear her, "but then it seems I underestimated you also."

"What?"

Aida jumped a little and looked over her shoulder to see Ardeth Bay was still with her.

In the room.

Alone.

In the room.

Together.

'Oh!'

She turned away and would have quickly sped off in search of the others, but his next question stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Where did you learn your Arab?"

She turned back to him and raised a questioning brow.

When did he-

The image of them fighting back at the camp the first time they met sprang to her mind.

His mild surprise and anger at her little insult.

"I learned it on the streets. I had to pick up the important things to survive."

He cocked his head curiously at her and took one step closer.

She squared her shoulders and did not back away.

"You learned to fight on the streets also?"

"Yes. Enough to keep me alive."

He got close enough that all he had to do was raise his arm and he'd have grabbed her. But he instead stepped to the side and slowly, began to circle her.

She had a feeling he was trying to intimidate her and size her up, but she wouldn't rise up to it. She remained cool and calm.

"But not your sword. You're a novice," he said a little pointedly and she had to concede him that.

"True. But then I wasn't expecting to fight men in the dessert. My other strengths and skills are better used away from combat."

That got his attention. He stopped himself right beside her and gave her a curious look.

"Other skills and strengths?"

She smiled at him, feeling it was the most genuine smile she could give him, considering what she was about to demonstrate.

She turned herself around and took a small step forward, lowering her head as though to whisper to him.

"Well, I'm sure you've had training in other things as well," her hand casually reached out, unnoticed to him (or so she thought) and she spotted a small pocket in his robes, "not just with swords and guns obviously, but-"

"Enough!"

A small gasp of shock escaped her mouth before she could stop it and she went to jump away from his sudden bark, but his hand was over her wrist and he held it up between them as if to show her that, YES...he had caught her trying to pick his pockets.

"I see. You are no more than a thief," he looked at the hand between them and noticed her missing finger, "who has stolen before."

Stung by his callous words, she snarled and tugged, snatching her hand free from his grip.

"Yes?! I've stolen to EAT and I paid the price when I was caught," she looked him up and down and decided to get him back with a low insult of her own, "we don't all have brothers to protect us."

"You have choices. Friends at museums-"

"You don't take advantage of friends. You don't become a burden," she saw the confusion in his eyes and calmed herself before continuing, "In this world, you fight and live by yourself."

She willingly raised her hand in front of her and waggled her three fingers and thumb.

"And if that means I lose a finger to pinch an apple, then so be it."

There was a long silence between the two as he gazed into her eyes and she just had to ask him.

"What?" She dropped her hand and tilted her head as she stared at him, "What can you see that's so fascinating?"

There was the teeniest little quirk in his cheek and for a moment, she could have sworn he smiled.

"Your eyes are the same colour as a green scorpion," he stated matter-of-factly and she could only snort.

"I've never heard that one before," she smiled at him and folded her arms, seeing they were having a friendly conversation, "I'd like to ask you something. Were you on the boat when we were attacked?"

"No. Others," he looked away too late, for she had already seen the sad glimmer in his eyes, "many that did not return."

This tugged at Aida's heart. With everything that she had seen and all that had gone on, his men had only been trying to protect the entire world. From their own stupid curiosity.

"If...if everything that is happening now is exactly as you say and there's an undead mummy walking around then...I'm sorry," she shuffled her feet about, feeling an odd sense of guilt, "about your men."

Ardeth seemed to think about her apology and the tiny look of surprise in his eyes filled her with a strange feeling.

He nodded at her and this time...he did smile.

'Oh.'

Footsteps approaching snapped her out of her moment and she turned a little too quickly, making sure she made herself appear 'casual' for whoever was walking back in on them.

"I can't find that bloody book!" Evy stomped back in and walked quickly over to Aida, "And I'm sure I put it down when I was cataloging the other day."

Aida, now distracted from Ardeth, walked over to Evy and laid calming hands on her shoulders.

"It's alright. Which one are you looking for?"

"The one my father gave me," Evy sighed and lowered her voice, "with the little notes in the margins? I'm sure I-there was something in there that I read. I left it on my desk."

Evy started drifted off as she got lost in her thoughts, but the little crease in her brow was new. She was far too worried and luckily, Aida was very good at finding things that her friend misplaced. Especially on her notoriously messy desk.

"Right, madam," she put on her sternness face and made Evy look at her again, "go back to the hotel with everyone and stay safe. I'll keep looking for it."

Evy looked ready to argue for a moment, but then she actually looked utterly relieved.

"You," she sighed and gave her a soft smile, "you...you are my best friend!"

They both laughed softly and completely ignoring Ardeth, wrapped their arms around the other.

And whilst the hug had always ignited a warm flame inside of her, it wasn't as powerful. She loved her, yes, but...she felt as though the love was dwindling. Or at least, that the love she wanted back wasn't as desperately desired as she thought.

A short while later...

Once Evy and the small group of 'protectors' had left, making sure to stay close by one another and send word encase anything turned up, Aida got to work.

She pointedly made it clear to Mr. Bey just what it was she was doing and what she was looking for and for the first time, he didn't bother to sarcastically tell her not to steal anything.

She went to Evy's small corner and indeed, her desk was a frenzied mess (as always) and sat down, carefully sorting out and piling papers in places as she looked for the elusive book.

She'd done this for her friend a couple of times before and for her, it was a strangely therapeutic experience to tidy and organise in her own way. Even if she knew her friend would mess it up again.

It was to her great surprise when she heard soft footsteps and looked up to see Ardeth had joined her.

"Do you need help?" He offered and she blinked a few times before realising he was sincere.

"Oh, urm...no, thank you," she looked away when she felt herself grow flustered and continued to quickly sort through the papers, "this place is a little like a dig. You've got to search carefully to find what you're looking for."

She expected him to leave after that, but he sat down on the chair on the other side of the desk and just...watched her.

'Well...that's not off-putting.'

She continued to look on the desk but truthfully, she had no idea where the book was. For all she knew, Evy had left it in her house.

"What book is it?" He asked during the long stretch of silence.

"I think it's a book on the Gods...or Hamunaptra," she bit her lip as she inspected an open drawer, "I've only ever seen it a couple of times, but it just looks like a normal plain, leather-bound, brown book. You know...one of the many hundreds and thousands you can find in the library."

"Do you believe there may be in answer inside?"

"No, not really. Actually," she finally looked at him and asked, "it might be about the 'myth' surrounding it. Evy did mention something about a tragic love story. What was it again? Their names?"

"Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun. The Pharaoh's high priest and his concubine."

Aida grimaced and it did not go unnoticed by him.

"You already do not like the story?"

"No, just the term 'concubine'."

He gave her another small smile and she quickly buried her head again.

"So what exactly did they do?"

"They killed the pharaoh."

"Oh...Oh!" She suddenly realised why exactly Imhotep had been buried the way he had, "Oh...he definitely did do a bad thing."

"Imhotep escaped before the guards could apprehend him. Anck-Su-Namun took her own life, knowing he would be able to bring her back. He had the power and the books. He stole her body and took it with him to Hamunaptra but before he could complete the ceremony, the pharaoh's guards apprehended him. He was punished and buried. And now...he has come back-"

"I know, I know," she waved her hand, not wanting to hear blame again, "we awakened him, that was our mistake. So he wants to bring her back by sacrificing Evy?"

He nodded at her and whilst she hated to admit it, there was something horribly romantic about the whole morbid situation.

"I could have been swayed by his plight if it wasn't for the murder and the world ending. It's almost...sad in a way. He's doing all this for her?"

"And power. He wants the whole world."

"For her?"

He paused for a moment and she wondered if he was deliberating his answer.

"I...never thought about that."

She couldn't help but smile at his honesty.

"There are a few people in history who've wanted the world, but it turns out they only wanted it to give it to someone else. Call them fools or romantics, sometimes the maddest ideas come from the simplest urges."

"Would you want a man to give you the world?" He leaned closer, seemingly to get comfortable.

She thought about it for a long time. Would she want someone to give her the world? If Evy could give that to her...no.

'No,' she thought.

"It's not the world I want."

"What is it you want?"

She paused again at such an honest question. He genuinely wanted to know.

"Happiness. Respect, trust," she bit her lip and shyly looked down at her clasped hands on the table, "love. That's it. You?"

When she looked back into his eyes, it was his turn to stare at her hands.

For a long while, there was silence and she thought he would just ignore her question.

"I do not know."

The answer seemed to come from a man she had not met. Someone that had hidden his own emotions and thoughts very well.

"Well," she decided to push him gently, "what did you want when you were younger? Before all this...havoc."

His eyes were still away from her and he got another strange look in his eye. He seemed to be remembering something fondly.

"Simple things. I wanted to keep my family and friends safe from all danger," he seemed to snap out of his thoughts and looked to realise that he'd shared too much, "you?"

"Oh, not much."

"That is not fair," he cocked his head at her like a bird observing prey, "I shared something with you. You should share it back."

She would have lost her temper and barked at him to stop being a snoop, except there was almost a mischievous glint in his eye. Like he was teasing her as a small boy would. She quite liked it.

"Alright. You tell me something about you and I'll tell you something about myself. Deal?"

Without thinking twice about it, she reached her hand out and held it aloft for him to take.

He looked at it for a moment and she smirked.

"I won't hit you, I promise."

He smirked back at her and took her hand in his own.

He was warm and strong and his skin against hers sent a strange rush through her.

"Deal. Where should I begin?"

"Hmm," she pulled her hand back reluctantly and shrugged, "how about...at the beginning."

A short while later...

It hadn't taken much to get either of them to open up about themselves.

Aida had stopped looking for the book and just listened happily as he recounted his childhood and growing up in the desert.

She discovered his parents had passed when he was young and he had one sister and many, many cousins.

He was secretive about the Medjai (she gathered it was an unspoken rule not to talk about them) but did say he was raised by the elders.

And whilst he didn't look it, he was actually ten years older than her. That had surprised her.

She in turn revealed that she was born in England and had moved to Egypt with her family. She had two sisters who died within the first year of living in Cairo and a brother who was reported MIA whilst fighting with the Legionnaires. She believed he was dead also.

"Dad lost himself to drink and opium and he went soon after that," she said casually, feeling no more pain from these past experiences.

"What of your mother?"

"Barely knew her. She died when I was ..one or two. Dad was never sure about the age," when he raised an eyebrow at her she began to clarify, "all our certificates went missing when we got here. Dad had never celebrated our birthdays and the only thing I know for certain is I was born in 1904 because Dad kept bragging about the Wright boys flying a loop in their plane. He said, 'all these great achievements and my daughter can't even pour a decent beer.'"

There was a slightly bitter tone to her voice at the end, remembering the way her father had been. They'd never got on, but when his mind went he became harsher with his words. It was almost a blessing when he died.

"What happened to you?"

She realised she'd gone silent and quickly looked back at him.

"What do you mean?"

"After your father past. Where did you go?"

"Oh. I went to a friend's house for a while, but then I ended up on the streets," she held up her hand for him to look at and waggled her fingers, "became the master criminal you know me as."

"Surely, someone cared enough to take you in?" He scrunched his brow at her but she just shook her head.

"No...No, the only one that took me in wanted something I could not give them," she tried not to remember the brothel and looked back down, remembering what she was supposed to be doing, "I was supposed to be looking for that damn book."

She busied herself again and he just watched her.

He had felt that there was something she was hiding.

Something wrong, but he would not push her on it. It had hurt her greatly he could see that. Maybe something to do with the fight they had in the tunnels and the way she had reacted to him.

Which reminded him...

"Why did you not apologise for biting me?"

She seemed to pause in thought before looking back at him.

She slowly raised her head, smiled sweetly, and shrugged.

"Because you hit me. So we're even."

Despite the dire circumstances of their meeting and the way he had felt about her when they first met, he gave her a large, real smile.

'Perhaps I underestimated her.'