The Kingdom of the Sun

Chapter Eight - The Journey Back

Manco yawned, waking up inside of the barn. He had slept pretty well last night, despite the fact that hay was his only bedding. The llama looked outside, surprised to find that the moon and stars were still out. He waited for Mata to come and open the barn doors. Mata came out and opened them, yawning.

"Well, it's about time. What took you so long?"

Mata punched Manco in the nose.

"OW! Hey, what was that for?"

"That's for acting like a brat for a straight week, llama boy!"

"It's emperor Manco, sweetheart."

"I'll take note of that! In fact, I'm beginning to believe you are the emperor, with the way you're treating me!"

"So you finally got a brain, huh?"

Mata's eye twitched.

"Say that again."

"Come here. No, a little closer."

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" Manco yelled in Mata's ear. She started to strangle the llama's neck out of rage.

"Uncle! UNCLE!" Manco cried. Mata stopped to look at the sky. "That's strange..."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. It's supposed to be morning, but the moon and stars are still out."

"Maybe we overslept...?"

"Could be. But we slept early."

"That's true."

"Wait... I remember now. I remember that last week, I overheard Yzma mentioning something about potions. She has been wanting to regain her youth, and..." He gasped. "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"Yzma summoned Supay to block out the sun! We have to get to the palace."

"What about my animals?"

"They don't matter right now! We need to get to Cusco and figure out a way to stop Yzma."

"Lead the way then, llama boy."

Mata and Manco proceeded to leave the field. They took the main trail back to Cusco, Mata fighting off any foes that got in their way. After a few more hours of walking, they began to see the city in the distance. Manco looked closely. "It should be a thirty minute walk from here, Mata. Come on, let's keep moving!" The two began to walk again, the sky above them going from dark blue to pitch black. Barely anything around them was even visible; most of the landscape was engulfed in the darkness.

"This is horrible. I've never seen it this dark in my life..." Mata said.

"Yeah. That's why we have to put an end to this."

"Right, let's keep walking."

They continued to make their journey to the palace. Soon after, they walked up the steps, only to find the doors barricaded. Manco sighed.

"Great. How are we gonna get in?"

"I don't know. I don't see anything that could break the barricade."

"Wait a minute." Manco glanced at some rope. "This looks long enough to help us scale the walls." He picked up the rope and threw it at the palace wall. "So, are you going to help me up or what?"

Mata sighed. "Fine, but only because I want to stop Yzma as well." She picked up Manco and began to climb the rope. The combined weight of the two began to break the string. "Oh, no..."

"Hurry up and climb!"

Just before the string broke, Mata managed to scale the wall and fell down to the other side. "That hurt..."

Both of them got up, struggling to look for the entrance to the house due to the darkness. However, after a few minutes, they found the doors. Mata opened them up; the candles inside were the only things lighting the place up. Using the candles as guides, Manco and Mata found the stairway to the roof. Mata grabbed a candle and began to walk up the stairs while Manco followed. When they made it up the roof, they were only greeted by the mummy duo, Mick and Bowie.

"Ah, Manco. What a pleasant surprise. And I see that you have a peasant girl accompanying you, as well." Bowie said.

"A talking mummy...?"

"Yeah. He's Bowie, and the other one is Mick. They work for Yzma." Manco began to address the mummies. "Where's Yzma and Hucua? Tell us now!"

"Hate to break it to ya, Manco, but you ain't that intimidating as a llama."

"Oh really?" Manco kicked Mick in the face.

"Mummies can't feel pain, you idiot." Bowie said as he rolled his eyes. "But it should be rather easy to dispose of the two of you..."

Mata sneered at Bowie. "You can't do anything to us. Now tell us where Yzma is!"

"I'm afraid you're quite wrong, my dear." Bowie cackled.