ENG | The Cursed Scepter

The Cursed Scepter

They crossed some rooms and antechambers where Ignacio made a point of stopping to examine artifacts and their periods, despite the protests of his companions. He even found a reference to the underworld that mentioned a duology between Medjed and Physis. But how he managed to unite two different mythological beliefs, Jackie had no idea.

She was just enchanted by the way her man was intelligent and wonderful in those scenes. The sparkle in his eyes and the didactic way he explained things would make anyone jealous. Even Julian was captivated by the story.

Intelligence has always been something more, hasn't it?

She didn't know how much time had passed, whether it was still day or night, but they finally reached the bottom of the slope. Jackie cautiously illuminated the area after ordering the men to stop, almost knowing that terrifying beings were lurking in the beyond.

No one joined a special division without seeing things that challenged the conception of reality. At a glance, in the dim light, she saw Ignacio grip the scepter with a concerned, even somewhat doubtful, expression. Taking one hand off the weapon, she intertwined her fingers on his and smiled.

He wasn't alone.

They turned a corner and entered a vast oval-shaped chamber filled with hieroglyphs. The upper corridors were covered with gravel, and around them, they saw something magnificent.

Scattered around an enormous and elegant scepter, several standing sarcophagi were facing the object, whose glow from its handle gave it a magical and symbolic appearance. The matte blue was enchanting, but the most surprising scene came from the object in the hand of the Spaniard.

The trio opened their mouths and widened their eyes, in clear surprise, seeing the object disengage from Ignacio's hand and float towards the scepter placed on an altar in the center of the chamber.

Something, however, made Julian draw his pistol, Jackie not far behind. In a silent gesture, both circled the room while Ignacio crouched down. He brought his hand to his chin and raised his gaze to the paths leading to the true mausoleum, his face serious.

Why don't I want to get too excited about this discovery? She thought.

"Now I understand why Santi wants this scepter and why Lupin..."

Before Ignacio could finish lamenting, the impact of one scepter against the other threw everyone against the wall. Jackie was still recovering from the back pain, groping the floor for the fallen pistol, when the sarcophagus lids opened, revealing foul-smelling mummies.

In a quick move, Julian prepared to gun them down. Jackie, on the other hand, crawled on the floor to reach the weapon before pointing the pistol at his head.

"Julian! You can't destroy history." She growled through clenched teeth, rising with some difficulty and looking for Ignacio with her eyes. He was in front of the scepters.

Hadn't he felt the impact?

"If you think I'll let mummies rise from their eternal rest just because you want to protect history, you're sorely mistaken," he said, tightening his hands in a precise aim.

"Julian Lattimer! You are arrested for numerous crimes" she despaired, knowing that the mercenary, the fixer for the rich and powerful, would never comply with that order. "Destruction of public heritage, murder, kidnapping..."

"In the first place," he laughed. "Interpol agents have no authority to arrest anyone unless authorized by the local government."

Yes, it was true, and that's why she worked more as a spy, searching for evidence to finally hand the criminals over to the local authorities, if not helping them in an advisory capacity. She had grown tired of navigating such stormy waters that it would make Ulysses from the Odyssey admire her courage. Politics, ego, power... everything influenced the defense of the world against men like Julian.

Even though her division had the prerogative to act independently if an unexplained crime was proven, there were protocols.

"Second." He interrupted her thoughts and pointed to the center of the altar. "It's to your boyfriend you should be saying something like that."

Ignacio slid his fingers over the sarcophagi, murmuring some incomprehensible sounds. Then he turned to the altar with a furrowed brow, as if something puzzled him. She knew those expressions very well after months of living together. He was puzzled by the difference between what he read and what was happening.

"Julian, if you're afraid that Imhotep will raise his army of the dead, don't worry." Ignacio tapped the edges of the sarcophagus. "They won't awaken."

Julian raised an eyebrow.

"The sarcophagi opened because the handles of both scepters are coated with a magnetism that only a more thorough analysis could explain." Ignacio circled the place, investigating the scepters with his gaze. "I still don't have an explanation for what fully happened, but the wind produced by the impact probably somehow opened the seals of the sarcophagi."

Ignacio pointed to the edges.

"Take a look at the corrosion and then tell me what you know."

Julian nodded after debating with himself for a few seconds and holstered his weapon. She also put hers away and stood up with some protests of pain. She tried to touch her back and see if she was injured when the Spaniard inquired.

"Are you alright, mon coeur?" Again, that irritating French accent.

"Nothing that some rest won't fix." She clapped her hands to clean off the sand before turning to the hazel eyes that enchanted her. "What really happened?"

"I don't know." He nibbled his lips and furrowed his brow at the altar. "Santi must have the answer."

"Your brother?" It was already the third time in less than a day that Ignacio mentioned his older brother. Usually, in family conversations, she heard more about the younger one, Diogo.

"Have you ever heard of Rasunda?" Ignacio brought her close and looked at Julian. "My brother uses them to prove that magical myths are stories made for children to fall asleep."

"Something like myth busters?"

"Yes. So, if this scepter falls into their hands, they would have the answers to all the..." He stopped and brought his right hand to the bridge of his nose. "We can call..."

Jackie didn't notice, nor did she even realize the appearance of five enormous men accompanying a medium-built dark-haired man with a mustache. Julian had disappeared, but at least he didn't take the scepters with him. Perhaps fearful of some curse? Afraid of messing with something beyond his understanding? She would never know.

"Thank you very much, monsieur Cortez, mademoiselle Smith" Aziz opened an ear-to-ear smile. "We'll take it from here. I believe you want to rest after an incessant search, don't you?"

She nodded. She couldn't wait to take a good shower and relax in Ignacio's arms, but why did she get annoyed with the mocking smile of the deputy secretary of the ministry or the automatic stiffness of the army men?

Was it too much paranoia, or was something happening behind the scenes?

Shewouldn't know, not after being enveloped in the arms of the man she loved.