You stopped in your tracks and froze, not making a sound. Kaveh's voice wafted through the rooms and it sounded like he was talking to someone...but who??
You slowly approached the room and hid behind a pillar to get a better look.
"There are so many things I haven't done and now I never can. I still didn't get money from that one client yet...and I was supposed to pay Al Haitham back for that other time..."
Once you realized what was happening, you had to hold in a laugh as you watched Kaveh pour out his sorrows to a poor scarab beetle that was minding its own business. He squatted beside it with his head in his hands, a helpless look on his face.
"Will he even notice I'm gone?? The only thing he cares about are his books," he continued in an annoyed tone. "And Y/N..." he sighed. "If I ever find her again she'll kill me before we make it out of the pyramid. I just stayed back for two seconds to see some carvings on the floor then when I looked up she was gone!!"
"Will you leave the poor beetle alone," you said, coming out from behind the pillar. Kaveh jumped up immediately, a flustered look across his face.
"How...how long were you here for??" he asked, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
"That doesn't matter. I told you to stay behind me!"
"I know but I couldn't help it! I mean, just look at this painting, it's beautiful!!" Kaveh exclaimed. He reached out to touch it and your eyes widened.
"Don't touch that!" you yelled, running towards him just as his fingers brushed the surface.
But it was too late. Before you knew it, you felt the floors slowly starting to rumble beneath your feet. You looked up to see Kaveh's face twisted into an expression full of regret as he stared back at you.
The entire room trembled and sand started to fall from cracks in the ceilings. Well this wasn't good. You could feel your heart hammering in your throat but kept a cool head as you made your way over to Kaveh. The two of you stumbled, trying to find your balance as the floors shook. There was no way you could run away now.
"Cover your head!!" you yelled as the floor cracked and crumbled beneath your feet. You braced yourself as the floor fell away, you and Kaveh falling along with it. You squeezed your eyes shut and fell to the ground with a thud, flinching as you felt chunks of rock fall on top of you.
You lay still for a few moments, making sure that nothing else moved before you slowly opened your eyes. You pushed away a large pile of rocks off your head and coughed from all the dust as you stood up wobbly. You waved the dust and sand away from your face and called out Kaveh's name.
"Kaveh!...Kaveh!!" your tone grew more frantic after you were met with an eerie silence. You slowly made your way across the shaky pile of rocks that covered the floor, scanning them for any sign of blonde hair. A heavy feeling of dread set in your heart and you feared the worst had happened.
Suddenly you heard a gasp and turned around to see a hand sticking up through the rubble. You made your way over the rubble and grabbed his hand, pushing the rocks away as you continued to struggle to pull Kaveh out of the mess. On the third attempt, you pulled on his arm with all your might and he suddenly broke free of the rubble, falling onto you.
You grimaced as all of Kaveh's weight fell on top of you. He quickly got up while coughing and helped you up as well.
"Are you alright??" Kaveh asked, a worried look in your eyes as he surveyed you for any injuries.
"I'm fine, don't worry. It's just a few scratches." you replied, dusting yourself off. You were about to check if your dagger was still with you when you suddenly felt two gentle hands on the sides of your face.
"It's more than just a scratch..!" Kaveh said, looking at you with a concerned expression. His brow furrowed and you could see worry in his deep red eyes. You followed your gaze and touched the side of your head,
Your eyes widened as your fingers came away covered in something wet.
"Huh...so I am bleeding," you observed, turning your fingers as you surveyed the dark red blood that coated them. "Eh, it's alright. Not the first time it's happened. What more important now is-"
"No!!" Kaveh yelled, tilting your head up with both of his hands. "We have to do something about it, now!! It could get infected and you could die! There is no way I'm letting you die on me," he said, with genuine fear in his eyes. You were taken aback for a moment, as it had been a while since someone was truly concerned for your wellbeing. And to think...you had only met this man a few days ago.
You sighed in surrender as you took his hands away from your head. "Alright, but there's really no need to make such a big deal out of it," you relented.
Before you could think of what to do, Kaveh immediately ripped off the sleeve of his shirt.
"What are you doin-"
"Just come over here," he said, moving toward you before wrapping the torn sleeve around your head as a makeshift bandage. "That should work for a while," he affirmed with a nod. You could tell he was proud of his handiwork, and from the way he wrapped it so well, his pride was certainly merited.
"Well....thanks," you said, a soft smile forming on your face. You had to admit you felt a little lightheaded, but it wasn't going to stop you now. "Let's keep going...and this time, stay behind me and don't touch anything," you ordered, looking at Kaveh who turned away sheepishly.
The two of you slowly progressed through the pyramid, guided by the gentle gusts of wind that occasionally blew in your direction. Carefully checking each room before entering, the bubble of hope in your chest grew larger as the wind gradually grew stronger. You were almost there.
Just thinking about seeing the sun again gave you enough motivation to push through...just to come face to face with a dead end. Your spirit dampened at once as you realized there was no other exit.
"What...I thought there was another opening...what about the wind..??" you asked aloud, losing hope with every word. The familiar feeling of dread crept up your spine and you tried to push away the emerging thoughts of entrapment to the back of your mind.
"No..it's not possible. Where else is the wind coming from then?" Kaveh asked, his brow furrowing. "Unless..."
You were slowly starting to panic and started picking at your nails as you tried to come up with a way to escape, a way to survive, anything that would keep your mind away from the thoughts of dying.
""Y/N look over here!" Kaveh said, eagerly turning towards you. You gave him a puzzled look as you watched him keenly gesture to the bare wall. "Yea, we're trapped in here, I know..." you said dejectedly.
"No!! Look closer!" Kaveh exclaimed, grabbing your arm and dragging you over to the wall. You took your hand and placed it against the wall. Your eyes widened as you noticed small cracks along the surface and felt a breeze blowing through them onto your palm.
"We just have to break through this wall and we'll be out! It's already cracked so it shouldn't be hard to do, we just need a lot of force." he said, surveying the wall once more.
"You're a genius!!" you exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulders and grinning from ear to ear.
He grew flustered at the sudden compliment and waved it away. "I didn't do much really, I just noticed i-" he stopped mid-sentence and you saw his eyes widen at something behind you.
- x -
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