D E S E R T ❁ D E S I R ES// A.BAY

OH BROTHER...

(Lidia's Point of View)

I had just gotten back from a mission last night. Someone thought that selling a cursed wine cabinet to an opium powered cult enthusiast would be a fantastic idea. The particular curse goes to say that if a name is written on a piece of paper and placed in the cabinet with a blood offering, the person who's name was placed in the cabinet will die the next day. So when church leaders, politicians and regular people alike starting dropping like flies left and right of the exact same afflictions we were called in. Working in anthropology and history was something I had always enjoyed, but never would I have thought that I'd be fighting cults and misinformed self-righteous bastards on a monthly basis. I never meant to be in this line of work, but now I simply can't imagine doing anything else. Working for the Akashic Guardians is what I do best. Allow me to elaborate.

The Akashic Guardians are an secret organization with the goal to protect the world as well as it's many cultures. We work with preserving cultures and recovering historically significant artifacts of both non-harmful and harmful nature. An example of a non-harmful artifacts would be the Yasakani no Magatama of Japan, a simple Jewel that holds a lot of significance in the country's history. An example of a harmful artifact would be the Hope diamond that's said to kill anyone who wears it. Note to self, diamonds aren't always a girls bestfriend.  

It took about a two weeks for us to find Phillip Davidson. He believed himself to be a messenger of God; doing the lords work by eliminating those who were 'unclean'. Anyone who challenged his morphed sense of religious duty got their name thrown in the cabinet. After tracking him down, we were able to get him subdued and placed in a asylum. The 'Angels' who would speak to him was nothing but a case of undiagnosed schizophrenia apparently. The cabinet was placed in one of the organizations warehouses for safe keeping. Destroying a particular object doesn't necessarily keep the curse, spirit, and or unidentified entities from finding a new vessel. We keep these particular artifacts safe and tucked away, far from the world where no harm can be done.

So after three days of tracking Mr. Davidson through the desolate Italian countryside, I was just a bit tired. I hadn't bothered to take off most of my clothes when I saw my bed. She called to me like a siren to a sailor, and I was asleep before I knew it. It was supposed to be a nice relaxing time home. I'd go back to cataloging in the basement of the Louvre, doing research for the Guardians, and tending to my dying plants. That was the plan anyway. Looking through the mail, I found a letter with the return address being Cairo Prison. As per usual, I was probably being called to rescue my brother...again. Last I had heard from him, he was a Lieutenant in the French foreign legion. 'So what the hell has Ricky gotten himself into this time?' I pondered as I opened the letter.

"Oh...well this is so much worse than I thought."

---------A few days later--------

I was in the cab on the way to Cairo prison. I didn't have a plan per say, but I did have a goal. Keep my brother from being executed, then kill him myself.  Rick was always the more rebellious of us. We're twins, I just happened to have popped out first. Once I finally arrived at the prison, I was escorted inside. One of the guards had brought me through the decrepit prison and to an open courtyard area. I thanked the guard for escorting me once I was able to pick out my haggard looking brother. Odd enough there were others visiting him, one of which was on the ground unconscious. 

"Richard Joseph O'Connell " I had strolled up right up to the bars. "-I have half a mind to kill you myself."  

"Nice to see you too sis." Rick said sarcastically. I nonchalantly leaned against the bars.

"I'd say the same if it weren't for the smell making my eyes water. When was the last time you even showered?" I couldn't help but poke a bit of fun at him.