Alexandria (ONC entry)

Part eight

She heaved a sigh, gazing into Maxence's eyes and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're okay, though?"

"I'm fine, really. I'm sorry, Eli. I promise I'll explain as soon as possible–"

"Like hell you will. I want an explanation now. As in, right now." Eleni planted her hands on her hips, staring Maxence down with a hard glint in her eyes. Then she seemed to notice Asura standing behind her, and her eyes shot from him to Maxence, back to Asura and then back to Maxence again. "And who the hell is that?"

"Eleni, Asura Dawson. Asura, Eleni Rayova." A quick introduction would have to do, Maxence thought as she vaguely gestured to Asura behind her. But she knew Eleni better than that, and she wouldn't accept a simple 'I'll explain later'. "Here's the short version."

She quickly explained everything. Eleni grew more confused by the second, and Maxence felt a little bad for screwing up her day, but then again, this was the world they were talking about.

"You know, Rhakotis–and the dig and everything–never was touched by any storm or earthquake. But Cairo was, and that's only a couple kilometers away. It makes no sense at all, because we didn't feel anything!" she said, fiddling with the strings on her hoodie with shaky fingers.

"It does, though," Asura piped up. When the two women raised their eyebrows at him, he shuffled his feet and said, "It does! Rhakotis was probably where the curse was cast. If this is part of Agata Milas' world, it makes sense that she wouldn't want it destroyed."

"Anyway," said Maxence, pressing her palms together and shooting Eleni a pleading look, "Eli, please, please, tell me you got the statue. We need to stop this."

Eleni rubbed a hand across her forehead, her expression torn. "I'm going to get in so much trouble," she muttered, turning on her heel and stalking into the lab, coming out a few seconds later holding the marble statue, shoving it into Maxence's hands. "If this doesn't work, we both lose our jobs, you realise that?"

"It'll work," Maxence reassured her, because she didn't want to think about what would happen if it didn't.

Maxence and Asura stood over the pit where Maxence and Eleni had spent hours upon hours, scratching at the dirt covering Agata Milas' bones, and the marble statuette. The very statuette that Maxence was holding right now. With a nervous look Asura's way, she lowered herself into the pit, sidling up to the skeleton with cautious steps. She half expected it to come alive and strangle her with its bony fingers.

"Right. Well, here goes," she mumbled, setting the statue down on the dry earth and pulling the marble disk, that had sealed the sculpture shut, out of her pocket. Asura put a hand on her shoulder, handing her the briefcase, watching as she placed her fingers on the green rectangles and waited for the click.

The documents, once safely rolled up and slid into their original storing place, didn't look as intimidating anymore. With trembling fingers, she struck a match from the box Asura had handed her, and as she held it above the documents–the millenia old documents–a burst of doubt halted her movements and she froze, not physically able to move her hand any closer to the papyrus.

What was she doing? What was she doing? Your finds, the archaeologist part inside her screamed, this was your chance to get the recognition you deserve! This was your chance! Your finds! You finally know how the Alexandrian library was destroyed, you can prove it! She was being stupid. How many times had she dreamt of this happening? How many times had she imagined the look on her father's face when she would be in the news, on the internet, everywhere, every archaeologist and historian and student and intellectual would know her name. Maxence Mills. This was her dream. What was she doing?