OOM: June 2012: Alexandria, Egypt
Jun. 7th, 2013 09:06 pmEgypt hadn’t changed very much since the 1890s. It was the same combination of Arabic culture, western culture, and something that was just uniquely Egypt that Helena couldn’t put her finger on. As they walked through the bazaar, Helena kept seeing flashes of this or that, a small child clinging to her mother’s skirt, a pickpocket that almost made off with Pete’s wallet, and the wind catching Myka’s curls. As they pushed aside yet another bead curtain (Pete had said something about the seventies wanting their decorations back) Helena wasn’t actually surprised to see Valda sitting there. He hadn’t been the most comfortable with her being reinstated in the first place, and his expression upon seeing her there wasn’t the kindest. He made a few cutting remarks at Pete, and then they left the city for the remote wadi where Warehouse 2 was said to be.
She was silent during the travel, staring out of the window as the desert passed by, punctuated by the odd camel or tour group, and even a couple digs. When they got to the dig site, Pete walked off with Valda, and she found a picture of the little girl she’d spoken to the day before. The feeling was back, the feeling of inevitability that something was coming that she couldn’t stop. As she walked back outside and took off her jacket, Myka made a few confused comments, and she realized that perhaps no matter what Pete tried to say, the internet wasn’t really really great after all.
There wasn’t enough time for worrying about that, however, as they once more went into the breach, or Warehouse 2, whichever. The first room they encountered had small-ish obsidian obelisks, on the floor, and an oddly-shaped ceiling. After a moment, the door started to close, and Helena ran over to it, trying to pry it open. It was absolutely no use. The inevitability set in even deeper as the ceiling started to slowly come down. Myka was ranting something about Mind, Body, and Spirit, and Pete started babbling about pancakes. After a moment, he started moving the obelisks around. It wasn’t long before Helena realized what he was doing. It was that solitaire game that Charles liked to say he was so good at. She moved pegs at Pete’s direction, mentally following his plays. He was good, better than she was, likely, but the ceiling was unrelenting. Pete made it, however, placing the last peg in its place just as the ceiling fell just low enough. Behind them, a door creaked open.
After a too-short moment of recovery, they all slowly made their way to the next room. As with the last, hieroglyphs that she couldn’t place were on the walls, and in front of them was a series of platforms. Pete and Valda made ‘couldn’t be worse’ comments, and unsurprisingly, both blades and flames came up from the pits between the platforms. Standing there, Helena took in everything in front of her. This was the Body test, if Myka and Valda were correct. She couldn’t help but wince at Pete’s poor attempts at Martial Arts, but her mind was elsewhere. When Pete finally came back, the grappler bumped her leg, and she had what might be the first moment of clarity she’d had in ages.
Climbing the raised stairs behind them, she took a shot, across the flames and blades, locking onto the opposite wall. Taking off her belt, she slid across the rope before anyone could really object. Looking back, she watched Myka, then Pete slide across, then for some bloody reason, Valda was climbing across hand over hand. She wanted to shout, to get him to stop and go back, but just as she was about to, one of the flames flared in front of him, burning the string to the grappler. Pete tried to go back, but she and Myka held him back. It was like a train wreck, watching the string burn through and Valda drop, screaming at them to go on.
The door opened, and it took everything Helena had to jump down, take a torch and go through it. When she got into the next room, it was empty except for some decorations on the walls that she didn’t have time to look at before.... “Mummy?”. That voice. The voice that haunted her dreams, haunted her waking moments. Christina. She took a couple steps forward, and there she was. Her beautiful girl, just smiling at her with that half-smirking grin that she had. Running, Helena hugged her daughter close, lost in that moment, in that reunion. There was nothing else, just her girl, her beloved daughter. Everything was finally alright. Christina was back, she had her girl, and absolutely nothing else mattered. She could move on. All of the worry, all of the strange foreboding that she had for the past weeks quickly fell away as she played with Christina. She didn’t know how long it was before a voice cut through, calling out to her. Christina vanished, and Myka pushed her backwards. The floor was falling out from under her feet. She was reeling emotionally. This was the third time she’d lost Christina, the third time that her little girl had been torn out from under her fingers. At that moment, she didn’t care, didn’t give a rat’s bollock if the floor had fallen out from under her feet. At least she would have been with her Christina. Things were going on around her, but she couldn’t really understand anything that was going on until Myka pulled her up, and they went through another door, into what had to be the main area of Warehouse 2.
She lit a fire-trough, and the room lit up, the focal point on the Warehouse floor a giant ball of... something. Without realizing what she was saying, she rattled off something about finding a way to shut it down on the floor and went down some stairs. Once she was on the floor, she looked around, and walked off with a purpose. She remembered something from a map she’d seen over a hundred years ago, and she finally knew what she had to do, and there was very little time.
She was silent during the travel, staring out of the window as the desert passed by, punctuated by the odd camel or tour group, and even a couple digs. When they got to the dig site, Pete walked off with Valda, and she found a picture of the little girl she’d spoken to the day before. The feeling was back, the feeling of inevitability that something was coming that she couldn’t stop. As she walked back outside and took off her jacket, Myka made a few confused comments, and she realized that perhaps no matter what Pete tried to say, the internet wasn’t really really great after all.
There wasn’t enough time for worrying about that, however, as they once more went into the breach, or Warehouse 2, whichever. The first room they encountered had small-ish obsidian obelisks, on the floor, and an oddly-shaped ceiling. After a moment, the door started to close, and Helena ran over to it, trying to pry it open. It was absolutely no use. The inevitability set in even deeper as the ceiling started to slowly come down. Myka was ranting something about Mind, Body, and Spirit, and Pete started babbling about pancakes. After a moment, he started moving the obelisks around. It wasn’t long before Helena realized what he was doing. It was that solitaire game that Charles liked to say he was so good at. She moved pegs at Pete’s direction, mentally following his plays. He was good, better than she was, likely, but the ceiling was unrelenting. Pete made it, however, placing the last peg in its place just as the ceiling fell just low enough. Behind them, a door creaked open.
After a too-short moment of recovery, they all slowly made their way to the next room. As with the last, hieroglyphs that she couldn’t place were on the walls, and in front of them was a series of platforms. Pete and Valda made ‘couldn’t be worse’ comments, and unsurprisingly, both blades and flames came up from the pits between the platforms. Standing there, Helena took in everything in front of her. This was the Body test, if Myka and Valda were correct. She couldn’t help but wince at Pete’s poor attempts at Martial Arts, but her mind was elsewhere. When Pete finally came back, the grappler bumped her leg, and she had what might be the first moment of clarity she’d had in ages.
Climbing the raised stairs behind them, she took a shot, across the flames and blades, locking onto the opposite wall. Taking off her belt, she slid across the rope before anyone could really object. Looking back, she watched Myka, then Pete slide across, then for some bloody reason, Valda was climbing across hand over hand. She wanted to shout, to get him to stop and go back, but just as she was about to, one of the flames flared in front of him, burning the string to the grappler. Pete tried to go back, but she and Myka held him back. It was like a train wreck, watching the string burn through and Valda drop, screaming at them to go on.
The door opened, and it took everything Helena had to jump down, take a torch and go through it. When she got into the next room, it was empty except for some decorations on the walls that she didn’t have time to look at before.... “Mummy?”. That voice. The voice that haunted her dreams, haunted her waking moments. Christina. She took a couple steps forward, and there she was. Her beautiful girl, just smiling at her with that half-smirking grin that she had. Running, Helena hugged her daughter close, lost in that moment, in that reunion. There was nothing else, just her girl, her beloved daughter. Everything was finally alright. Christina was back, she had her girl, and absolutely nothing else mattered. She could move on. All of the worry, all of the strange foreboding that she had for the past weeks quickly fell away as she played with Christina. She didn’t know how long it was before a voice cut through, calling out to her. Christina vanished, and Myka pushed her backwards. The floor was falling out from under her feet. She was reeling emotionally. This was the third time she’d lost Christina, the third time that her little girl had been torn out from under her fingers. At that moment, she didn’t care, didn’t give a rat’s bollock if the floor had fallen out from under her feet. At least she would have been with her Christina. Things were going on around her, but she couldn’t really understand anything that was going on until Myka pulled her up, and they went through another door, into what had to be the main area of Warehouse 2.
She lit a fire-trough, and the room lit up, the focal point on the Warehouse floor a giant ball of... something. Without realizing what she was saying, she rattled off something about finding a way to shut it down on the floor and went down some stairs. Once she was on the floor, she looked around, and walked off with a purpose. She remembered something from a map she’d seen over a hundred years ago, and she finally knew what she had to do, and there was very little time.
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