HOPE YOU ENJOY
PLEASE VOTE
(Huge deserving credit towards the mummy scrip for helping me out with this chapter)
**************************************
Shiro, Pidge and Lance race down the labyrinth, slapping at themselves and picking locusts out of their hair. Shiro holding tightly onto the torch in his right hand while his left hand gripped even tighter on Pidge hand as he pulled her along behind him. Lance making up the back, holding his own torch and trying his best to not freak out completely.
"Did you see that!? Grasshoppers! Billions of grasshoppers!" Lance yelled out, still in shock and going a little mad as he tried keeping as calm as one could be.
"That's one of the plagues, right? The grasshopper plague!" Shiro asked, looking a little bit crazy as he spoke.
"This is not a plague. It's generational. Every so many years the locusts of Egypt have a population explosion and they all take flight" Pidge argued back as if the two around her were the biggest idiots on earth.
Pidge steps forward, something squishes. Shiro lowers his torch, only to find the entire floor is filled with slimy frogs.
"Okay,... and what about frogs?" Shiro quietly asked as they all stared at the squashed frogs beneath their feet.
For the first real time in Shiro and Lance life, the two heard Pidge complete and horrified scream echo through their ears and almost make them both deaf. Neither had to worry over her safety because she shot down the rest of the hallway so fast that both had to run as fast as they could just to not lose sight of her or worse, lose her.
All three finally coming to a stop in an hallway where there wasn't any slimy animals underneath them. Pidge mostly squatting down as she struggled to breath. Shiro starting to worry as he knew she was unfit but she shouldn't be this bad. Having Lance push past him before kneeling down and pulling out an inhaler out of his pocket, passing it to her and rubbing smoothing circles in her back.
"You've got asthma! Why didn't you tell me so sooner? We've literally jumped into a dust filled death hole for you" Shiro cried back in horror over how bad things could have gotten if Lance wasn't around with the inhaler.
Before a single word could be spoke between any of the three, the ground under Shiro, Pidge and Lance starts to shake.
Then suddenly, right in front of them, hundreds of chittering scarab beetles boil up out of the sand. Start scurrying towards them. Katie screams. Lance screams. Even Shiro almost screams.
Shiro moving forward, offering Katie an hand and mostly just flinging her up into the air to stand before doing the same for Lance. His eyes never leaving the scarabs heading towards them.
They all turn around and haul ass.
The floor under The legs of Anubis,
With Shiro, Lance and Pidge..
"Did we leave that open?" Shiro asked out of the blue as he came to a sudden stop while staring at the Sarcophagus lid on the floor.
"N-No" Pidge stuttered back in shock as she came to a halt beside him, staring at the lid on the ground.
"Yeah, Pidgey would have gone hyped crazy if we opened it up before. She'd still be looking it over right now and none of us would know over what happened above" Lance mumbled back with a silly grin as they'd clearly known if they had opened it before by Pidge reaction.
"T-Than why is it open?" Shiro nervously asked back, turning his head towards the other two on his left who both tensed up.
"More importantly, why is it empty?" Pidge asked back in slight fear since they'd clearly had something inside. Even if they didn't see the inside themselves, the weight proved someone or something was inside.
"You don't mean.. We couldn't have just released the curse ourselves .. right? I mean, the lid was still on the Sarcophagus. We couldn't have let the mummy dude out!" Lance blurted out in an terrified panic, stumbling back as he knew mummies didn't just disappear that easily.
"And a mummy i all bandages and meatless bones so he couldn't have pushed himself out alone .. right?" Shiro muttered out weakly, feeling a bit crazy over what they're witnessing and knowing no outsider would believe this.
"I think we should have listened more over the rumoured curse before ever entering this plance" Pidge commented with an deep and troubled frown as she wondered what in the hell did they just find.
"Ew! It's still-" Lance started to yelp back as he was beside the Sarcophagus, his hands holding the edge and his finger tips now touching something sticky as he pulled his hands away.
"Juicy" Shiro and Lance groaned out together as they look to some of the juicy liquid left inside.
"He must have been more than 3,000 years old and by my guess, it looks as if he's still decomposing" Pidge mumbled out in surprise, stepping finding and pressing one of her finger's to part of juicy slime left around the sides of the Sarcophagus.
"Hang on! So, we've got ourselves a decomposing mummy on the lose" Shiro yelled out in disbelief and slight more horror than knowing their was a missing mummy earlier.
"Urg! I think I'm going to be sick" Lance groaned out, holding an hand to his stomach and turning pale as he thought over being killed by a still decomposing mummy.
"Hey. Look at that" Shiro perked up, nodding towards the lid left of the floor and taking notice of marking inside.
Katie turning around and staring at them too in confusion before walking over and kneeling down beside one side. Shiro kneeling down beside her, glancing to her before looking back to the markings.
"What do you make out of this?" Shiro asked with a worried frown, his eyebrows furrowed.
"These marks were made with .. fingernails. This man was buried alive" Pidge muttered out, her finger's running over the claw marks as if she was the one to make them and showing the other's how they were made before.
All three of them falling pale, feeling sick at the thought of being trapped inside an Sarcophagus while still alive. Going through all the stages of mummification while still being alive. Shivering at the pain he much have gone through by himself.
"Look, he clawed something in" Lance spoke up, pointing towards some Egypt writing left carved inside.
"He left an message" Pidge whispered back in shock, a bad feeling bubbling in all of them as she leaned forward to read the warning left behind.
Death is only the beginning.
"Like I wasn't scared before hearing his last words" Lance sarcastically huffed back as he placed his hands on his hips.
"Yeah, I think we have better chances of dying by our hearts stopping than our missing mummy right now" Pidge grumbled back as she walked over to one of the torches they had lit earlier and left inside when running off after the scream.
"That's a statement I can agree too because I don't think my heart is beating anymore after keeping being wedged into my throat" Shiro sighed back, still looking a little pale in the face and watching as Pidge pulled out the torch.
"Don't admit that you're scared!" Lance yelled back, even more freaked out than before.
"Why not? This is some creepy and freaky shit!" Shiro argued back as he threw his hands in the air thinking he deserves a break to be scared right now.
"Because your the big, strong man that's never scared of anything and protects us from the scary things. If you're scared than how are we meant to feel safe or brave" Katie mumbled back, still a bit shaken up herself as she hurried back over to the other two.
"Fine! I'm not scared. I'm just slightly unease over all this" Shiro huffed back in annoyance and can't believing he'd still have to act as the strong, brave American for them both.
"Better" Pidge smiled back happily.
"We're going to have to start running again .. those scarab beetles are here for a round two of Hide n' Seek!" Lance weakly started to choke out as he stared at the doorway the scarabs started hurrying through.
"And I don't think we'll be able to hide this time around" Lance cried out as he started running, not wanting to learn what happened when the scarabs do to you.
"RUN!" Shiro yelled out, grabbing at Katie hand and pulling her along with him as they got running.
"This running is going to kill me before the curse does!" Pidge snapped back, already feeling tired out and wanting to just give up on staying alive if it meant so much running.
"Just run like we've stolen your books" Lance yelled back, trying to trick her into running without noticing it.
"Or better yet like those beetles are chasing us like they are" Shiro yelled back as he glanced over his shoulder like the other two were complete idiots for having to think over reasons on why to run for their life in the middle of a chase.
A Few Moments Later..
Startled yelps and frightened screams filled the air as the three crashed into another four. All stumbling over before shaking hands lifted up their guns before realization took over everyone.
"Oh man, I never thought the day would come where I'd be pleased to see Americans with their guns" Lance breathed out in pure relief as he stared at the group of four Americans, and Slav.
"What were you guys running from?" Antok worriedly asked as they all started standing up again and he wondered if they'd have to head back the way they came again.
"Scarabs" Lance answered with a disgusted look.
"Scarabs?" Regris repeated with an raised eyebrow as he's never heard it before.
"Trust me, you don't want them reaching you" Pidge muttered back weakly as she was the only one who knew what they did.
"Okay, well our way leads back outside" Curtis replied as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder showing what was in their direction.
"We need to find somewhere safe for the night. Somewhere the scarabs can't easily follow us to" Shiro spoke up completely serious and he went into leader mode and knowing what needed to be done.
"There's a room up ahead with an stone door still working. It's got one other doorway that leads into the hallway and circles back. We can head over there and rest up for the night" Antok offered as he thought about rooms that at least had one door in them that was still workable and be closed or open by them.
"The scarabs came from under the sand" Shiro warned with an frown as he remembered how the scarabs turned up the first time.
"We'll just take turns in taking night watch. If the sand starts building up than we'll wake the rest and run through the other hallway" Regris offered over instead as he knew he'd prefer someone keeping watch while they all slept as well. Scarabs or no scarabs, this place was creepy as it is along without Magi trying to kill them too.
"And if they come from the open hallway than we'd know to leave through the closed door and head out in this direction instead" Pidge perked up with a smile as the rest nodded in agreement, silently glad when they noticed she held the torch and becoming their only source of light right now.
"I like this plan very much" Lance agreed with a huge grin and a quick childish nod.
"As do I" Curtis mumbled back with an weak frown, glad he'd have more people covering his back.
The group had made their way to the mentioned room. Closing the door before checking around the doorframe on the opposite side. Looking down the hallways a little to check that they were still usable before heading back to the main room.
They were lucky enough to grab a couple of torches on their walk over but no one tried lighting them. They knew better than to try and waste them all at once. So they stuck the one that Pidge held into the sand in the centre of the room, acting like an campfire.
Placing the unlit ones close by to light one once the lit one had almost burned out. All speaking over watch shifts, every hour being their timeframe to give everyone a chance to sleep. But for the first ten minutes, no one was very tried as all the adrenaline was still pumping through their veins.
That left them all sitting around the lit torch, trying to keep warm and deciding to just talk among enough other. The hallway through the doorframe held three different directions, one being a dead end that got voted to become their bathroom hallway throughout the night and the other two would lead them back to where they bumped into each other before.
Shiro simply glanced to his left where Slav sat beside him, rather close with Lance on the other side of Slav. Making the shorter guy boxed in by the two taller males. Neither knew why he sat between them right now and just look across to where the Americans had settled down on the other side of the torch.
"W-What do you think these will fetch back home? If we survive through the curse at least" Antok shakily asked with a small smile as he held up the jar he took, showing it off and trying to keep the mood light with a bit of banter.
"I-I don't think both those jars and US will be leaving this place" Lance weakly mumbled back, still scared out of it wits.
"The way we hear. You boys found yourselves a nice, gooey mummy" Curtis perked up, trying to keep the banter alive to distract them all from what was going on outside the room.
"Congratulations!" Regris cheered back with a smirk, holding his own jar up as he raised his hands in the air.
"Who told you that?" Shiro asked with an raised eyebrow, wondering if they moved their missing mummy to mess with them earlier or something.
"Oh, I did. It was why you were checking the last hall and we got talking about the curse a little. Told them we found ourselves a mummy, a juicy one and that'd they'll most likely be seeing it too soon" Lance answered complexly calm, an smug grin on his lips as the Americans had no clue over the mummy actually being missing right now.
"That is cruel" Shiro mouthed back towards Lance who just shrugged back, sitting a bit amused since if the mummy was part of the curse, they'd all be seeing it again soon.
"Maybe if we go dry that fella out, we might be able to use him for firewood" Antok joked back, leaning back on his hands and staring up at the ceiling.
"But of course, we'd make sure to pay you for the firewood once we've sell these babies" Regris smirked back, shaking his jar as he mentioned "babies" to show they'd pay a bit from their own profit on their find.
"I think I've got it!" Katie excited voice echoed the room as she came stepping in from the outside hallways. The rest noticed her wonder off a bit before but just assumed she was going to the ladies in the dead end hallway making them stick to the room to give her privacy.
"You're in her seat" Shiro simply warned as he turned to look at Slav, Lance doing the same towards the shorter guy.
"Yeah" Slav airy laughed back as he turned his head towards Shiro, thinking the guy was joking since he sat beside him first.
"Now!" Shiro spoke a bit more sterner making Slav quickly turn pale.
"Yes" Slav yelp back before quickly getting up just as Pidge reached him and hurrying to sit between Shiro and the Americans, between them.
"Oh, thank you" Pidge smiled sweetly towards Slav before sitting down where he once sat.
"I-It was my p-pleasure" Slav stuttered out, keeping piolet as he didn't want to face Shiro anger if he ended up setting the women.
Regris, Antok and Curtis just silently watched. Their faces making the expressions that went with what they were thinking. All deciding not to mess with the little lady anytime soon, not why Shiro was so hooked with her.
"Scarab skeletons, flesh-eaters" Pidge announced happily as she held out the three skeletons she held in her palms while the rest all stared at her in disgust over touching something dead.
"I found them inside our friend's coffin" Pidge admitted with a shy grin, watching as Shiro and Lance took one from her palm before she offered them to the rest, none of the other's brave enough to pick one up.
"Our coffin? When did you have time to grab these from th- KATIE HOLT YOU DID NOT JUST GO BACK TO THAT COFFIN!" Lance muttered back clueless at first before it smacked him in the face and he snapped his head towards her while yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Lance she couldn't have. We were all right here with her and she only ju- You wondered off didn't you?" Shiro started to calmly say while Pidge guilty looked at the skeletons in her hands before realization hit Shiro and he raised an unimpressed eyebrow towards her sneaking off like that.
"They can stay alive for years feasting on the flesh of a corpse. Too bad for our friend, he was still alive when they started eating him" Pidge started to pass on the main fact she came to tell them about over her findings with their lost mummies, pretending she didn't just get caught sneaking off into an dangerous place.
"Don't you go acting like your innocent little Pidgeon!" Lance huffed back like an scolding mother, dropping the selection back into her hands.
"So somebody threw these in with our guy, and then they slowly ate him alive?" Shiro asked in shock, overlooking her sneaking off to find more answers over the mummy that was currently missing.
"Don't help her to play innocent Shiro!" Lance snapped back in disapproval over Shiro helping his sister to be.
"Very slowly" Katie grinned back as she tried acting spooky over it making Shiro chuckle.
"He sure wasn't a popular guy when they planted him" Lance commented with a small smirk, finally giving up as he knew he'd already lost the battle with Pidge.
"Ah! He gave up" Antok, Regris and Slav all thought at the same time once Lance started acting like the young women of their group didn't just wonder off into dangerous ruins by herself moments ago.
"He probably got a little too frisky with the Pharaoh's daughter" Shiro grinned back, a playfully look in his eyes and gave back the skeleton he hand in his hand to Katie.
The rest all chuckling and even Katie gave a cute little giggle over the thought making Shiro sit a little more smugly beside her. Lance just rolling his eyes over the two as the Americans sat rather amused over the sight of Shiro acting all behaved while trying to impress Pidge.
"According to my readings our friend suffered the Hom-Dai, the worst of all ancient Egyptian curses. One reserved only for the most evil of blasphemers. In all my life, I've never heard of this curse having actually been performed" Katie mumbled back excitedly, concern in her eyes but still enjoying talking about something she was interested in and having Shiro deeply listening to her making her feel even happier.
"That bad?" Shiro questioned with an frown and not noticing the three Americans listening in to Pidge completely engrossed with what she was saying. Even if the three of them felt a little sick over parts of it and a bit spooked over it all as well. Even Slav was all ears and staring towards Pidge, waiting for her to go on as they all learnt something new.
"Yes, well, they .. they never used it because they feared it so. It's written that if a victim of the Hom-Dai should ever arise he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt" Katie replied with a small worried smile as she knew how bad the ten plagues would be and also having a really bad feeling over them releasing such a curse.
"I-I don't want to be told anymore" Lance weakly muttered back, feeling even more scared now he understood what would be coming their way.
Before anymore could be said among the group, the sand started to pile up around the torch making it shake and earning them all to quick jump up. Grabbing the other two torches, lighting them just as the lit one started to fall over and soon the scarabs were flowing out from the tip of the sand pile.
All screaming out and running out, the Americans out of the doorframe to the hallways and the other three hurrying out the door. Shiro and Lance almost ripping the door open before running out with Katie. Slav mostly running after the Americans, leaving Curtis behind when the guy had fallen over and hurt his knee.
Neither Antok or Regris noticing as they were already too far ahead, sharing the one torch their group had taken as Lance took the other spare torch with his group.