Elizabeth's gaze fell upon the large number of people occupying the space near a large paddock where a group of men was riding horses. Her gaze fixated on the man who was the only one not wearing a shirt which she assumed was the person they came for who had the sarcophagus.
Elizabeth fidgeted, playing with the ends of her shirt to help calm her nerves as she went over and over with what Layla had told her. The whole reason Layla had tarted her up was to distract him, Elizabeth was the kind of woman that was enough to drive his attention away from everything else. It was flattering but Elizabeth felt disgusted by the fact that the man would not be able to keep his hands off of when they arrive.
The boat reached the docks, Marc was the first one to step out into the wooden platform. His eyes scanned their surroundings cautiously. But he took his attention away from them, helping Elizabeth whose bottom lips caught in between her teeth in deep concentration as she held onto the wooden platform, trying her hardest not to lose balance and fall.
Marc found this amusing, a low chuckle rumbling from his chest as he captured her attention by tapping her head. Elizabeth lifted her head, releasing her bottom lip as her jaw fell slack. Their eyes connected for a brief second, Elizabeth had to look away when she realized she was staring far longer than she was supposed to. Her gaze flickered to his hand, immediately taking it.
Elizabeth sipped her head down, hiding how flushed her cheeks were until her left foot caught on the edge of the boat, losing her balance and causing her to lurch forward just to regain it.
"Woah," Marc exclaimed, swiftly taking her arms to support her as she collected herself. "I got you. I got you."
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth muttered softly, her voice filled with embarrassment as she lifted her gaze from the ground. Their gaze connected once more, and her heart began racing when Marc's lips curled into a soft smile.
"It's okay. How's your foot?"
"It's fine." Elizabeth spared a glance at her foot, thankful that she didn't sprain it or it would've been a huge hindrance and it would slow them down. Returning her gaze to Marc, only at that moment did she realize how close they were so she took it upon herself to step back while clearing her throat.
Marc only noticed it at that moment as well, he blinked a couple of times to snap out of his stare when he realized.
Layla glanced between the two, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she walked to the edge of the boat before tossing a bag in Marc's way.
"This guy's got a lot of friends." Marc pointed out as he looked at the party occurring behind them, anything to distract himself from the awkward tension between him and Elizabeth.
"Yeah," Layla retorted as she hoisted herself up to the platform, "With a lot of guns."
Elizabeth grimaced as she eyed the guard lined along the paddock behind the party, all of the guards stationed there had guns strapped to them. Seeing them caused her to grip her weapon tightly until her knuckles turned white.
"That's reassuring, mate," Elizabeth stated softly, letting out a deep sigh.
She wanted to keep her weapon close to her at all times. But Layla didn't allow it, she took it and hid it right next to the bags brought which they put under the wooden platform. She sighed in dismay but she understood why she couldn't bring it with her.
After Marc had set their items down below the platform, something caught his eyes. As his gaze drifted upwards, he spotted a boar slowly approaching them, their faces were shrouded in darkness so he couldn't make out what they look like, but one thing's for sure. The two women noticed this and followed his gaze.
"Harrow's men keeping tabs?" Layla assumed as she stepped closer to Marc, her gaze on the people riding the boat never wavered. Elizabeth tensed at the mention of Harrow's name.
"Yeah, could be." Marc then looked over to Elizabeth, who kept looking at the boat like she was expecting someone else to be there. She watched on with bated breath as their boat was becoming closer to them.
"Are you okay?" Marc asked, his eyebrows scrunched together in worry. He rested his hand over her shoulder, noting the way she softly gasped when she turned her head.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay!" she stammered, putting up a smile to hide the fact that she was scared to face her sister, not this early at least.
Layla glanced between the two, noting the way Elizabeth immediately calmed down just by Marc's reassurance. She broke their moment by walking in between them, this caused Marc to draw his arm back as they stepped away from her.
Marc and Elizabeth followed Layla, both of them tailing behind her as they wove through the crowd. Marc couldn't help but look over to Elizabeth, worry was building up in his chest when he saw how troubled she was. He couldn't understand why he was feeling all bothered to see her like this.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked, concern coating his voice as Elizabeth raised her head and turned it in Marc's direction. He was able to see her eyes again, which twinkled under the lights around them. His breath got caught in his throat but he then parted his lips as a soft breath escaped them.
"Yep, perfectly fine," she reassured him, but something in the way she spoke made him think otherwise.
Marc nodded, not wanting to press her about the matter before facing ahead. They were getting close to the paddock, and sounds of sticks clashing against one another filled the air inside the paddock where they were displaying a game of El-Mermah. Marc sprinted over to join Layla's side.
"Remember," Layla began, her tone firm as she stood closer to Marc while slowing down to allow Elizabeth to catch up to them so she could hear as well, "Your name is Rufino Estrada."
"Right." Marc answered, "We just got back from our honeymoon in the Maldives." Marc looked on to Layla, whose face held an irritated look, "That's an interesting little detail to give to them."
"I'd tell them you worked at a gift shop but they'd never believe me, would they?" Layla rebutted, then she turned to Elizabeth, "How about you?"
"A third-wheel apparently." Elizabeth glanced at the pair, the corners of her lips tugging upwards as she offered a cheeky smile before shaking her head, her voice dropping to a serious one, "I'm just kidding. What do you think I should—"
She was then interrupted when a tall, dark-skinned man stopped in front of them. Layla called him Bek as they shook hands and exchanged greetings. Elizabeth's gaze darted down to the gun strapped to his belt, the metal glinting under the moonlight.
"It's been a while," Layla said, lifting her hand to shake hands with the man in front of them.
"Right this way." Said Bek, stepping to the side to allow the three of them to move forward. Elizabeth nodded at the man when he met her gaze, following behind Marc and Layla who walked in front of her, hand in hand. She was quick to divert her gaze away.
She began panicking the moment they were standing next to the fence while Bek walked into the paddock, calling the attention of the person they came for.
"So what? This joker just puts on El-Mermah games in his backyard for fun?" Marc questioned, his tone unimpressed.
"No, he gets private lessons by the best in his backyard." Layla answered while shooting Marc a knowing look.
The three of them watched on as a shirtless man dismounted his horse and was put in a red robe by Bek. His lips upturned into a delighted smile as he spotted Layla and two other people standing beside her, but his attention was captured by the woman on Layla's right, captivated by her.
"Layla!" the man greeted, moving his arm in a come hither motion, telling them to approach, "Come in."
Elizabeth gulped, glancing over to Marc as he opened the fence door for the both of them.
"I don't know what to do." She whispered to Marc after he closed the door behind him and walked beside Elizabeth.
"Just go with it." Marc told her.
"But—"
"Such a delight to see you." the man's voice caused Elizabeth to pause. She turned to see him taking Layla's hand before pulling it up to his lips to place a kiss.
"You too." Layla answered with a soft smile, pulling her hand from his grasp.
"How have you been?"
"Good. Thank you for having us over on such short notice."
"Oh, please. I hope you realize you need no excuse to drop by."
"This is my husband," Layla placed her hand over Marc's shoulder, bringing the man's attention to him, "Rufino."
Marc smiled politely in the man's direction as he lifted his hand, offering it to him. The man let it hang in the air while he wiped his hand on his robe before sharing a handshake. Elizabeth grimaced in the exchange, it was awkward.
"And who is this?" He asked, now bringing his gaze over to the woman who really grabbed his attention. Elizabeth tensed under his gaze as his eyes scanned her from head to toe, basically eye-fucking her.
Elizabeth wasted no time and immediately said the name that popped into her mind.
"Winona Madden," Elizabeth said rather quickly, offering her hand for him to shake. It was the first name that popped into her mind, her mother's maiden name.
Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, when Marc heard this, his body went rigid. He knew the name.
The man glanced down at her hand, one side of his lips curling upwards into a charming smirk as he took her hand and planted a lingering kiss on the back of it.
"Winona Madden." He echoed, a delighted look taking over his features as he studied her. "I am Anton Mogart. A pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure to meet you too." she replied politely, giving him a smile that made him do it as well.
"Right this way." he gestured towards the mansion before he offered his arm for Elizabeth. Elizabeth took it and they walked ahead of the two.
"I hope you understand this is more than a collection to me." he explained to them, his hand resting on Elizabeth's as they walked across the paddock, "Preserving history is a responsibility I take very seriously."
"A self-appointed responsibility that you alone were able to enjoy, no?" Layla replied before glancing over to her friend who she could tell was nervous but hid it very well. Her plan worked well, she knew Elizabeth would capture Mogart's attention just like she had expected.
"Well, I prefer to see it as a philanthropic effort at preservation." Anton glanced down at Elizabeth, offering her a smile. "Now, if I may ask, why such interest in Senfu in particular?"
"Oh, actually; our purchases are—" Layla began, using the story they planned to tell him when Mogart raised his hand, interrupting her.
"I'm sorry. I'd like to hear from your husband and your friend over here if you don't mind." Mogart told her before turning to Marc. Elizabeth started to assume he was being suspicious, just seeing it from where she was standing almost broke her out of her character.
"I think that...But I think I just would love to take a look." Marc answered, glancing over to the pyramid-shaped structure that housed a sarcophagus. The reason why they were here in the first place.
Mogart scoffed, shooting Marc a suspicious look. He didn't look fully convinced yet he brushed it off. He then turned his head to Elizabeth, his features softened once he laid eyes on her. He chuckle at the way she tensed, he felt her grip tighten in his arm for a brief moment. He then slipped his arm from her grasp, bringing it down to wrap around her waist, keeping a gentle grip on it.
"How about you, Miss Madden?" he asked.
Elizabeth glanced over to Marc and Layla, who kept quiet as they anticipated what kind of a response she would bring up. She would need it to be convincing enough for Mogart to believe.
"I'm a graduating archeology student." she started, keeping her tone from sounding nervous and uncertain as she carries on, "I'm creating a thesis about medjays and my father had mentioned someone named Senfu. I called Layla if she knew one and she mentioned you. So I traveled all the way from London just to see you."
"Archeology." Mogart said, his lips curling up into a soft smile, his interest piqued, "So like me, you want to preserve history."
"Yes," she replied, putting on her best smile as she faced him. She felt her confidence sink in, she didn't know where it came from but she went with the flow.
"But unlike you, I want the whole world to see it, not just for my own amusement." Elizabeth told him, her voice barely above a whisper but loud enough for Mogart to hear. She enticingly gazed at him while capturing her bottom lip between her teeth. Her hands glided across his chest, smoothing the fabric of his robe. She made sure her fingers brushed against his exposed skin.
Elizabeth swore she heard him release a tremulous breath at the contact, causing her lips to curl up in a devious smirk.
Meanwhile, Marc and Layla watched on, are latter impressed at what she was doing, she was a natural while Marc couldn't get his eyes off of her, there was a feeling in his chest that he could not understand, all he knows is that he didn't like how touchy he was being to Elizabeth.
He releases a relieved breath once he kept his hands off of her.
"Feel free." he told them, gesturing to the building that housed the sarcophagus. Elizabeth nodded and walked inside, together with Marc and Layla.
"Please, let Steven out before you blow this." Layla reminded Marc as they came close to the sarcophagus. Elizabeth could barely hold her excitement as she gazed down, this was her first time being close to a real one.
"Not a chance." Marc said firmly. "All right, what do you see?"
Both Layla and Elizabeth leaned down, assessing the sarcophagus.
"Well, the burial practices are in line with the Studenwachen texts." Layla informed Marc.
"The what?" he asked.
"It's legit." she replied, "But all I'm seeing is literature to guide the dead. There's no information indicated."
"That's because the information has to be unlocked." Elizabeth brought up, bringing their attention to her, she shot them a knowing look while saying, "It's coded."
That's my girl.
Marc glanced upwards, spotting Steven in the ceiling reflection, watching Elizabeth with a bright smile.
She's right. It's coded.
"Can you decode it?" Marc asked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth returned her gaze to the sarcophagus, surveying the mummy inside, using her eyes to scan for anything that could help her unlock the code. She, however, did not find any.
"I'm sorry. I can't." she said, turning to Layla and Marc. "But I think...Steven can do this."
Layla turned to Marc, the two women looking at him with anticipation.
"Okay, um, will you give me a minute? I gotta talk to Steven. Just keep him occupied." Marc told the both of them. Both Layla and Elizabeth nodded and began walking back outside.
Really? You're going to let Elizabeth go back to that man?
"Yeah, what about it?"
He can barely keep his hands off of my girl, Marc.
"It's just a distraction, Steven. There's no time for this." he told Steven, his voice filled with irritation. "Now talk to me. What now?"
What now? What now is, you give me the body and you piss off.
"Damn it, Steven, there's no time for this." Marc seethed, keeping himself from bursting with anger from Steven's lack of cooperation. "Tell me if there's something that you know."
Meanwhile, outside the building, Anton smiled down at Elizabeth, his arm wrapping around her waist to pull her close to his boy as much as she was disgusted at the contact, she had to put up a facade that she was liking this in order not to raise suspicions.
"He just needs a couple of minutes in there alone." Layla told them, she blocked Bek when he seemed about to go where Marc is.
When they all brought their gazes to him, all of them saw him talking to himself. The men behind them eyed him skeptically.
"He's praying." Layla quickly said, reassuring the both of them.
Sorry. If you expect my help, it's not gonna be while I'm imprisoned.
"Do you want a bloodbath? Huh?" Marc questioned him with annoyance in his tone. "Fine, have it your way."
All right! You are the worst. Check the cartonnage.
Doing as instructed, Marc gazed down on the sarcophagus, his eyes sweeping over the mummy.
"Okay, what do I do?"
Take that first piece and fold it over the middle piece.
Marc quickly set his eyes on the cloth-like object on top of the mummy's chest, he pointed at it and asked. "This one?"
Yes, that one.
Marc picked it up and folded it just like Steven had told him. "Like this?"
Yeah.
Once he finished folding the first piece, he turned to the piece right beside it. He then folded the second piece in half, starting to get the gist of it.
Now, if you match the stars up with the other side over there it should make a star—
"What are you doing?"
Once Marc felt a hand wrap around his arm, he quickly twisted around, snatching the gun that Bek had pulled out and aimed at him.
Marc was about to shoot until.
"Marc!" Layla called to him, bringing his attention to them. He saw both Layla and Elizabeth standing next to each other, hands raised in surrender with guns aimed at their heads. "Don't."
"Shit." he hissed through gritted teeth. Marc then returned the gun to Bek. He raised his hands in surrender.
"Do you really think I'm an idiot?" Anton questioned him with contempt, "Get on your knees."
"Anton, stop!" Layla begged.
"Get on your knees." Anton asserted, his voice demanding the second time.
Marc relented, doing as he was told. He got down on both knees, his arms still raised up.
Anton turned to Layla's direction, a disappointed frown spread on his lips. "Layla, I was so ready to make peace with you."
"You don't understand. We're trying to save many lives." Layla reasoned with him as she and Elizabeth were being pushed toward him.
"Hey pal," Marc said, prompting Mogart to turn his head in his direction, "Take a look inside the sarcophagus. There's somethin' really, really big."
Anton approached the sarcophagus and slow strides, gazing down at it quizzically until Bek walked towards him and whispered something in his ear in a different language.
"Well, that's interesting. It appears we have a concerned third party here." Anton began making his way out of the building. Layla and Elizabeth shared a look as the guards pushed them outside.
Elizabeth's eyes widened when she saw Harrow approaching them, but she was relieved that her sister was not there with him.
"Whatever they've told you, I'm sure I can offer something much more tangible." Harrow informed him as he lifted his hand, revealing the golden scars which was the compass to Ammit's tomb.
"Why settle for a clue when you can have the treasure?"
"Anton. Anton, don't listen to this man. He's trying to stop us from reaching—" Layla begged but was cut off.
"Please! Stop!" Anton interrupted her.
"He's gonna kill millions! Trust me!"
"Are you seriously talking about trust?" he countered, rendering Layla unable to speak back against him.
"Please, there's no need to descend into violent accusations." Harrow said, approaching them, "Each one of you has so much common than you know."
Harrow then turned his gaze to Layla and Elizabeth.
"Layla, you keep thinking that distance will prevent the wounds from your father's murder from reopening. But something stands in your way. Your husband doesn't tell you the truth. Elizabeth, you wanted answers for what happened to your parents when the answer is right there all along."
Elizabeth eyed him skeptically, trying to piece together what he was telling her.
"And Marc, you don't tell them because you know that if you do, they'll see you exactly as you see yourself, as unworthy of love."
"You piece of shit." Marc hissed.
"Anton." Harrow turned to him, lifting his came for him to see. The cane emitted an ominous, purple glow. "The lore surrounding these relics, I offer proof that it's real. this sarcophagus doesn't belong to anyone."
Anton followed Harrow as he approached the building. The lights began to flicker, capturing Elizabeth's attention. Her eyes searched until they fell upon Horus, who was silently telling her to summon her weapon. Elizabeth nodded, turning her attention back to Harrow, who started to chant in a different language.
The wind started to pick up as purple energy swirled around the sarcophagus, fully encased in its glow before it gathered above the sarcophagus and came down upon it.
The sarcophagus was completely burned.
Elizabeth glanced over to the guard that was standing beside her, when she saw he was distracted, she quickly called upon her weapon.
"Hey! He's gone!" Another guard called out just as the weapon was now in Elizabeth's grasp.
She turned to face Layla and Marc but she was surprised to see only Layla. Elizabeth gazed at Layla with a puzzled look when she noticed her eyes were trained upwards, prompting Elizabeth to follow it, and there she saw.
Marc was now in his white suit.
He threw crescent darts toward the two guards standing near Elizabeth and Layla, allowing them to escape.
With no one stopping her from taking action, Elizabeth jumped into the fray, activating her spear to fight the guards that all came in her way. After taking down a guard, she watched as Marc jumped from the building, the guard below him shot a couple of rounds until Marc landed on him, knocking him unconscious. He was unscathed, not one trace of a bullet was on his body.
"Good job." she said to Marc. Marc replied with a wink before running off to fight other guards.
"So when are you going to put me in a suit like that?" she asked as she spotted a guard coming up to her. She summoned forth her wings, folding them in front of her to block all the bullets from hitting her as she approached them briskly.
Once she was at a good distance, she bludgeoned the man with her wings before throwing her spear at the one approaching her from her left.
Give me a break, I'm new to this. You'll get one soon enough.
"Sure. Take your time, Horus." Elizabeth groaned as another guard rained bullets on her once again. She used her wings to block it all again, before manifesting a pair of feather blades and throwing it right at the barrel of the gun just before the guard shot it, causing t to explode in his hand.
With him crying out in pain of the burn he received from his gun, Elizabeth swiftly sprinted towards him, landing a punch across his face, knocking him unconscious.
Just focus on not getting hit!
Chaos ensued as gunshots filled the air, causing the crowd to into panic as they ran away from the commotion. Layla was quick to pick up a gun that one of the guards had dropped before shooting it at some that tried to escape.
More bullets started to rain down on the three of them, all coming from more of Anton's guards that were lined up in the paddock. Layla kept her head down while Marc came to her aid, using his cape to cover her whole body.
"Buy me some time." Layla told him.
"I can do that."
Once the guards had begun to reload more bullets, Marc had retaliated, using the bullets he had collected from his cape to kill them all instantly.
There were only two left from the attack and just as Marc was about to throw crescent darts at them, a figure descended beside him, using feather-shaped blades to disarm their weapons.
Marc turned to the figure, who turned out to be Elizabeth. He was impressed with the way she fought, he didn't expect her to have such fighting prowess.
"You're good." he told her with a smirk, although she could not see it under his mask.
"Thanks."
With more guards coming their way, the two teamed up. Elizabeth to the skies, shooting down the guards that were coming inside the paddock to lessen their numbers.
There was only a handful left at the paddock and Marc was dealing with them all by himself flawlessly.
That was until a guard grabbed ahold of his cape, limiting his actions, but he didn't stop there, he kept fighting even with a guard stopping him.
Elizabeth descended from the skies, striking the guard down and knocking him unconscious with a strong punch in the jaw. Marc offered her a look of gratitude for releasing him from the guards' grasp before separating, taking on the rest of the guards.
It was all going on smoothly, Elizabeth took down everyone that came in her way.
Until.
"All right, time out!"
A familiar voice took her out of her focus. She immediately turned around, her eyes falling upon a familiar white suit she had not seen since the night she first met Marc.
It was him. Steven was back.
"That's it, time out! Guys, let's all calm down yeah? We're all worked up!" Steven shouted, his voice a bit muffled because of the mask. "We're all worked up. Let's all just like, chill the F out and talk for a sec—"
A gasp escaped Elizabeth's mouth as she witnessed Steven getting stabbed by a spear, going all to the other side. He then was impaled by another one rising last him.
Elizabeth ran to help but was stopped. She froze from she stood, eyes drifting down to her leg, where a spear had been lodged through.
"Bugger." she muttered, grunting in pain when another spear went through her stomach.
"Too bad." Anton chastised, he was now riding his horse, holding another spear in his hand as he gazed down at Elizabeth, "What a waste."
"Bastard." Elizabeth muttered as she dropped down to her knees, blood seeping through her wounds. Anton chuckled previously as he rode away, leaving Elizabeth to bleed to death.
"Fuck..." Elizabeth strained as she began pulling the spear from her leg.
Gunshots filled the air once more, causing Elizabeth to raise her head to see the commotion. All she saw was Anton riding past her, hitting her with his spear to take her down.
"LAYLA!" Marc cried out in anger after witnessing it. He was being pinned down, speaks littered his body while the guard held onto them to prevent him from moving.
He watched as Anton went to collect another spear, it was at that moment he spotted Elizabeth, on her knees with a lot of blood dripping from her body.
Marc, now driven with anger, broke the spear that was lodged in his chest, using it to hit the guard that held it before fighting the rest, taking them all down within a few seconds.
Marc and Anton stared each other down, waiting for either one to make the first move. Once Anton spurred his horse into movement prompted Marc to take action as well. He was riding directly towards Layla, hitting her again to land a killing blow on Layla. Marc jumped and rolled themselves out of the way.
As Marc got up on one knee, he threw a crescent dart right at Anton's back with deadly precision.
Now with him out of the way, Marc knelt down and pulled Layla back to her feet.
"You okay?" he asked, gently pulling her up.
"Yeah." Layla replied.
"You got it?" Marc asked, referring to the cartonnage.
"Yeah, we need a car." Layla reminded him, "Where's Elizabeth?"
Marc turned his head to where he saw Elizabeth last and darted to her position. She was now on the sand, the spear on her leg now in half so that she was able to pull it out so easily. The last one was on her belly to which she had no strength left to break it in half just like she had done with the first one.
"Will you be okay?" he asked, his voice coated with worry as his mask started peeling off, leaving his face.
"Yeah, I just need to—" Elizabeth brought her hands around the spear, trying her best to break it only ending up in more pain.
"Let me." Marc told her, taking a few deep breaths while waiting for her signal. When she nodded, Marc easily snapped the spear in half and slowly, he was able to pull it out. Elizabeth was becoming pale, likely because of the blood she had lost. Seeing her in this state worried Marc greatly.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked with concern as he placed his hand over her wound, staunching the blood.
"Yeah, I'll heal...might take a while though...so I won't be able to stand." Elizabeth replied huskily as white energy began to swirl around her fingers before putting them above where she was stabbed.
He couldn't help but release a soft chuckle at that. Marc released a breath of relief, knowing that the was going to be well.
"Don't worry." Marc said, slipping his arm below her knees and behind her back before carefully hoisting her up, carrying her in full bridal style. "I got you."
Elizabeth smiled softly, her head leaning against his shoulder. "Thank you, Marc."
Marc offered a smile in return as he and Layla walked away.
Tick-tick, Marc Spector. Tick-Tock.
•••
I didn't know what to do at 3 am so I did this. Hope you enjoy it. Sorry for the spelling mistakes!