The plane ride to Cairo–the city that had once been Alexandria, Maxence explained to Asura, and the place where once the most beautiful library in the world had stood–was only a little bumpy, and it made both of them uneasy.
They hadn't checked in any luggage, and the ride only lasted a little longer than an hour, but it felt like so much longer. In her head, Maxence was already counting down the minutes until she could jump into a taxi and harass the driver into going over the speed limit–possibly breaking a couple of laws–to get her to Rhakotis as fast as possible.
Maxence and Asura had gone over the plan multiple times, and now she could sum it up in her sleep. If this didn't work, she didn't know what would. Bouncing her knee, she chewed on the inside of her cheek and gazed out of the plane window, casting a few thoughtful looks to the dark clouds that had started to gather above them. Dark clouds meant storm: they were running out of time.
She didn't miss Asura tensing up beside her. Racking her brain for something to say, or do, to calm him down–he'd been muttering a string of increasingly creative curses under his breath for the last twenty minutes–she just started talking. She talked about anything that wasn't Nemesis, or storms, or earthquakes, keeping a firm gaze on Asura's face, not stopping until his muscles released some of that tension and his jaw loosened up.
A voice rang out inside the plane. "Ladies and gentlemen, please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for landing."
The plane leant forward, and Maxence felt weightless and light-headed: landing was usually her favourite part of all plane rides, but this time the nerves were too much for her to concentrate on anything. A knot she hadn't realised had settled in her stomach unravelled when the plane safely touched the ground and the flight attendant started talking again, ushering everyone to please stay seated until the lights on the seatbelts turn off. Maxence didn't let go of Asura's hand as they speed-walked down the stairs and followed the path marked by white stripes on the floor, mumbling impatient comments under their breath and cursing the check-out system, and the family of six hobbling along in front of them with the same number of suitcases and two screaming toddlers hanging off their parents' hand. Get, Maxence thought, irritated, We're in a bit of a hurry.
The clouds that had gathered above Cairo didn't follow them to Rhakotis. Maxence stepped out of the taxi, an uneasy feeling gathering in her stomach, clutching the briefcase to her chest and gesturing for Asura to follow her.
Rhakotis probably was beautiful, once. Maxence imagined lush trees, pretty flowers, birds fluttering about, cosy houses scattered around a stream of water, some closer to it than others. What kind of people had lived here before it fell into ruins? For how long had Agata Milas lived here, if at all?
That was the reason why Maxence had wanted to be an archaeologist ever since she was a kid: she wanted to know the answer to those questions, and most of all, she wanted to be the one to unravel the stories, to uncover the secrets that mankind had left for her to discover. It gave her a thrill, a rush of energy that nothing else managed to set loose in her. She loved her job, more than anything. Maybe not at the moment, though, but that was irrelevant.
Maxence spotted Eleni Rayova's dark brown ponytail and red sweater standing in front of the lab. Her friend stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot on the ground, and started when she recognised Maxence sprinting towards her. They crashed into each other, and Maxence wrapped her arms around Eleni in a bone-crushing hug, dropping the briefcase to the floor.
"Max, what the hell happened?" Eleni yelled, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her back and forth. "I was worrying my ass off! First the storms, then I hear you're reported missing and never got to Washington..." She cupped Maxence's cheeks, forcing her to look into her eyes, her lower lip trembling. "You call me from goddamn Athens telling me to basically steal the most important find this dig has seen, offering me nothing but a half-assed 'I'll explain later'. Screw you, man," she said, wiping at her eyes and giving Maxence one more shake for good measure.
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?
But then she recalled what her father had said to her on the phone call she'd made from Athens. Make sure Nemesis doesn't destroy our world. Was this what he meant? Surely there had to be another way to prevent the curse from spreading.
She shook the still-lit match, snuffing out the small flame.
"Max, what are you doing?" There was a cautious undertone to his voice.
She looked up, feeling more lost than ever, her eyes wide and her heart empty. "This can't be the only way," she breathed, voice level and somewhat robotic. A dark blanket seemed to fall over her mind, smothering her thoughts and preventing her from thinking straight. It was like cotton filled her head. "There has to be another way."
Asura knelt in front of her, grabbing hold of her hands and forcing her to look into his eyes. He was worried. The little crease between his eyebrows gave him away. Maxence hated that she noticed that so quickly. "If you can think of another way, I'm all ears," he said.
But she couldn't. Her mind was empty, and her thoughts were sluggish, and she really wanted to cry. This is the way, whispered the small part of her that hadn't completely lost its mind. You can do this. There'll be plenty of opportunities to prove yourself.
Maybe you already did.
Maxence frowned, turning her full attention towards the little voice. Would Asura have come back for you if he didn't trust you? Would he have come back if he didn't know that you're capable of great things? The voice grew louder and louder, until it took over on the screaming part of her. Would Papa trust you with this if you hadn't proven yourself to him?
The voice strangely resembled her mother's. You have nothing to prove.
Maxence struck off a second match and dropped it inside the statue, and watched Agata Milas' testimonial and the last surviving remains of the Alexandrian library burn.
With a yelp, Asura stumbled back, only just managing to catch himself on the ground behind him, staring wide-eyed at the flames curling up from the inside of the marble, licking at the air and reaching up, searching for more things to burn, until there was nothing left but ashes.
A silence fell over the two of them as they realised that it should be over now. It should be over. But she didn't... feel any different. No huge weight was suddenly lifted off her shoulders. No feeling of lightness suddenly washed over her.
"Is it–is it gone?" Asura spoke the exact thoughts that whirled through Maxence's head.
"I mean... it should?" It came out as a question. She wasn't sure. Surely, something would happen to confirm that the curse had been broken, right?
The ground shook, cracks appearing in the dry earth. A fissure appeared where Agata's bones lay, pulling a femur down into... somewhere. Eyes widening, Asura jumped up, a stream of curses falling from his lips. He grabbed Maxence's arm, pulling her up with him. She was frozen, her fingers still curled around the marble statue and stained black with ash. Her gaze was stuck to the growing gap in the earth that sucked Agata's remains down into some sort of abyss, collapsing the whole pit in on itself.
Asura was screaming at her. A ringing in her ears drowned out every other sound, but his face was close to hers and his lips were moving frantically and he was screaming and his eyes were alight with fear. Finally, her legs responded to her brain again and she sprinted for the ladder, Asura right behind her, and she scrambled up the steps, backing away from the imploding pit, her mind no longer clouded with horror but instead racing with thousands of thoughts, none of them making any sense at all. A hurricane.
Asura was next to her in seconds. He took her wrist, nudging her along, but something was wrong. What was it? When she looked down, Maxence realised that her hands were empty.
The statuette.
"Wait, Asura, wait," she panted, weakly struggling against his hold, scolding herself internally for losing the statue. How could she just have lost a whole marble statue? Why did she just realise that she'd lost a whole marble statue? A flash of white caught her eye, there and then gone: it was the sculpture, being swallowed whole by the ground, buried beneath the earth, along with Agata Milas' bones, and her testimonial's ashes.
"Max, we have to go," said Asura, clearly scared. "As in, now. Preferably."
There was nothing she could do, she told herself. Nothing. It was gone. Everything was gone. But for a good cause. She was going to lose her job. Worry about that later. Anna Cordeiro was absolutely going to slaughter her. Worry about that later. She stopped struggling, instead turning on her heel and following Asura out of the excavation site.
The walk back to the lab was cloaked in a silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. If anything, it was peaceful. No more rumbling. No more earthquakes. And something told Maxence that it was done. There were no more dark clouds in the air, and she had a feeling that it was truly over. The air had lost a weight she hadn't realised was there in the first place.
"We've really done it, huh," said Asura suddenly, and from the lightness in his voice Maxence heard that he felt it too. The change.
"Yes, we have," she mused, letting the content settle in her chest. And in a rush of giddiness, she reached out and grabbed Asura's hand, swinging it between them as they walked. She felt, for the first time since what felt like forever, at peace.
"Max! You're okay? What happened?" Eleni met them halfway, a worried frown knotting her eyebrows. When she saw Maxence's black fingers, the sooty streaks on her face and clothes, her eyes widened, and Maxence saw the realisation dawn on her. "Oh, god. Oh, my God."
"I know," said Maxence quietly. "Anna Cordeiro is going to murder us."