"Damn that Gabriel." Rachel cursed under her breath. That would be a normal reaction, considering Gabriel just took off to wherever god knows where, just as they landed at the airport.
Rachel and Gabriel were bickering about something that Jake didn't quite comprehend, before Gabriel finally snapped, then spun on his heels and rushed off like the devil was chasing him. Though, of course. Gabriel wouldn't run from the devil, he would charge straight at them, with crossbows in hand. Sometimes, Jake thought that Gabe has this death wish, that he is rushing to fulfill.
Though somewhere in his head he can imagine Gabriel charging with a sword in hand. Not crossbows.
Rachel and Jake were questioned by Anna who looked at them with curiousity. "Up and dusted, has he?" She says. Anna probably bumped into Gabriel as she made her way back to them at the lobby next to the arrival area, after settling some papers and legal documents from the office.
"Last chance to change your mind. You don't like the heat do you?" Jake urged Anna. It wasn't really a good idea for her to come to this trip.
"No can do." Anna says determinedly.
"Woman." Jake muttered and rolled his eyes.
Rachel exhaled a sigh and spoke. "Up and dusted, he did." And did she do a good job at standing out. Joke noted. She was the one who told them, that maybe they don't have to wear something flashy as to not attract attention. But her red dress and boots didn't seem to be helping her cause. Especially the guys that had been looking at her, probably checking her out. She had that kind of effect, though Jake knew that the effect was furthermore magnified on him. Not that he would admit that to her.
He didn't have to read their minds to know what they were thinking.
One more look, and I'm gonna bash these guys head off. God, I'm starting to sound like Gabriel. Jake thought, and snapped his head back to Rachel's direction, which seemed to have grabbed her attention. "Entirely oblivious, aren't we." He says.
Rachel raised a brow at him. "Oh." She says as she noticed the looks on the guys faces, and a smile had slowly crept into her features. "Jealous, darling?" She grinned at him, and spoke in a playful tone.
"I am not." Jake snapped. I wasn't jealous, why would I be? He thought and a comeback instantly flashed inside his head.
You really want to play this game with me don't you?
He thought and spoke, "You wouldn't say that if you know what's playing inside their heads. It's like simultaneously watching porn, and you're the star." He went on, "Though it probably would be best picture, if I was the leading man."
I hate it when these guys think like they deserve to even lay a single touch on you, I'd raise hell and burn them all before they do. He wanted to say to his surprise that this idea was accompanied by another thought. An older one, almost like a memory.
Only I, in all my glory have the right to lay my hands upon you, and no one elses. You shall be stained, only by my name. It said. The thought instantly passed his head. Like someone just talked inside it. Someone very likely to be his own, deep down under the thick layers of his consciousness.
Rachel looked taken aback by what he'd just said. Though, the heat that coursed on her cheeks told him otherwise. "Can we just go through this day, without you making perverted comments out of the blue?" She says, snapping him back to reality. Though her tone suggested that she wasn't angry.
"Well, That would be out-of-the-green, not blue and besides, they started it." Jake rolled his eyes. "And not to mention, they aren't even getting your measurements right." He went on, "If it were up to me, I'd do every possible position-"
"Okay okay, I get your point." Rachel cut him off. She was blushing a few notches up than she was a few seconds ago. "Just shut up." She hushed.
"You do? Well, I feel really, really pointy somewhere. And it's quite a little bit uncomfortable, considering its getting tight, and the restraint is-"
"That's my body, you are defiling in your head, you imbecile." Rachel snapped, probably deciding what weapon to use to kill him.
"Earlier, it was darling. Now were back to imbecile?" Jake threw his hand up in the air. "How quickly you dismiss our love, darling." He muttered.
"Oh leave the lady, alone." Anna snapped, before Rachel could speak. "And better yet, stop your poor and sick attempt at verbal foreplay. You aren't fooling anyone." Her tone was playful, joking even. But, there was a force behind her words which Jake couldn't identify what that shattered his cool.
"I do not suck at verbal foreplay. And you know that." Jake says instead, emphasizing the word suck, as he picked up the pieces of what remained of his broken dignity. "I usually excel in four letter words that ends in u, c, and k." He fired back. What's her problem? He thought.
"Duck?" Rachel suggested.
"Suck." Anna says.
"Thank you, though you and I both know we have a different definition of the word." Jake started, "Actually, I was talking about f-"
Anna made an impatient noise, and spoke cutting Jake off. "Can we stop talking about sex? And get something to eat? I'm starving." She rolled her eyes.
"All that talk about sex, can really be starving and not to mention, thirsty." Jake says and looked at Rachel's direction. "In fact, maybe I could use some to quench my thirst." He pointed at her.
"What?" Rachel blurted out, she looked like he just blatantly asked her to make out with him, based on her horrified expression. He stiffled a laugh. Anna on the other hand, looked like she'd seen a ghost.
"I wasn't talking about having sex with you," he clarrified, and cut her off. Though I would love that, I want that very much. He was tempted to add, "give me the bottle." He pointed at it specifically this time. It was tucked in the pocket outside of her luggage. "I'm fucking thirsty." Well, it was true. His throat was dry. Very dry indeed. Though he suppose it doesn't have anything to do with the hot weather, and the air conditioner. He thought.
He tossed the bottle within a few generous gulps before discarding the empty bottle in the trash bin as they got out, welcomed by dust and hot winds.
--
Cairo looked like what he had been expected. A city that thrived under the blazing heat of the risen sun.
After they left for the city. Anna hastily took off to attend to some errands. Though, Jake knew that she might have gone overboard with the private jet. Her gran must've been furious.
"So, where to?" Jake asked Rachel who shrugged. "I got something in mind."
"So, they sell weapons here? I thought this was a souvenir shop." Jake says as both of them entered the store. The four corners of the room were filled with rows and rows of various weapons, from knives neatly alligned inside a glass case. From a hunting dagger, a small daito, long swords, huge maces to axes.
"I don't think this is such a bad thing, considering our current situation." Rachel says, as she walked near the weapons that were hung on the wall.
"Are these things even legal?" Jake asked.
"I thought you didn't care if some things are even legal or not." Rachel muttered, studying a halberd that she picked up from the nearby stack.
"So what do you call this one?" Jake says, as he raised the weapon.
"That's a cutlass. Pirates."
"How about this one."
"An executioner sword." Rachel says, as she moved towards him and tapped the sword. "See it has a flat end." Before she proceeded to the counter.
"Now this." Rachel says, clearly impressed by what she just picked up. "This is a masterpiece." She waved the dagger at him, before expertly spinning it between her fingertips.
"You serious?"
"This kind of knives." She says, as she showed him it's jeweled hilt. "They always come back to you."
Jake raised a brow. "Like magic?"
"No." Rachel dismisses him with a wave of a hand. "You pick it back up, because it's expensive."
"Got a good eye." Said the shopkeeper, who suddenly walked out of the door behind the counter. "That's a rather unique piece you are looking at, senorita."
The shopkeeper then noticed Jake, who walked towards Rachel and stood by her side."How about you, senor? Fancied anything lately?"
"Yes, this one right here, beside me." Jake says, as he slid his arm around Rachel's waist, pulling her near him to her surprise.
"Aye, ye got a good eye, senior. She's a pretty fine jewel." The shopkeeper chuckled. Jake gritted his teeth. You wouldn't be laughing after I'm done with you, you know. He wanted to say.
"Okay, okay. Both of you just stop." Rachel says in irritation, as she disentangled herself from Jake's arm, and moved closer to the counter. "I'd like to get a set of throwing knives."
"A set of throwing knives, coming right up for the lady." The shopkeeper says as he dissappeared into the door behind the counter.
"What was that for?" Rachel asked, clearly confused.
Jake inhaled sharply, "He was thinking lewd things about you."
"As if you don't." Rachel says, "but thanks, could have handled that myself anyways."
Jake chuckled, and looked at her before he spoke, "Would you like to try it? There's a practice room at the back."
"How'd you know?" Rachel asked, though the tone in her voice told him, that she was in.
"This is a weapons store." Jake started, hoping that she buys the excuse, considering he got into the shopkeepers head. "Of course, there's ought to be one." Though the look on her face, told him that she seemed to have caught up to what he did. "Oh no, you didn't." She says.
Jake nodded with a smile. "Of course, I did."
Rachel shook her head at him, and chuckled. "Mindreaders."
--
The training room was a huge rectangular room. In the middle were neatly alligned human shaped training dummies made from straws and wood. At the far back of the room, there were sets of round boards firmly attached to the wall, at intervals used for target practice. There were of course, weapons neatly tucked in a set of wooden stand, beside a small bricked well, where buckets were placed. As well as crates and wooden boxes at the left side of the room, and a table at the opposite side where different kinds of throwing knives, and guns of different caliber were carefully placed.
Rachel let out a high whistle. "Smooth." He heard her say, as she walked towards the table carefully picking up and generously studying the variety of weapons arrayed on top of it.
Jake walked over, and picked up a short sword from one of the stands. "That's no good. It's too short." He heard her say.
"Since you're the expert, what would you have me choose, milady?"
"If it were me, I'll take that long sword." Rachel says, as she carefully aimed the bayonet she was holding. Probably, inspecting the craftsmanship. She glances at him through the scope and smiles. "At least, there would be no wasteful movements, with a proper stance you can fend of two attacks from different directions at once." She says this as a matter-of-fact.
He picked the long sword that Rachel meant, when he noticed something gleaming inside the well. Like it was calling him. He dropped the sword he was currently holding, and walked over to where the well was. He looked down and saw the water inside ripple. Of course, It's a well. What would you expect? He thought. As he was about to turn away, his eyes caught something that shone for an instant, under the water.
"There's something in here though." He says, as he leaned over the well. He didn't know what to expect when he pushed one hand into the waters of the well. "What am I supposed to do here, wash my hands?" He talked to no one in particular.
"Stop talkin to yourself, Its a little bit creepy." He heard Rachel say as she walked over to his direction, to take a look at what he was doing "What are you-" She was about to ask, as she drew near him. When he felt something slam at the palm of his hand, and pulled his arm back in surprise. Backing away from it, causing the water to burst out of the well. Rachel tried to evade, but horribly fails as Jake slid on his feet which sent them both stumbling down on the ground, on top of one another.
Jake must've bumped his head, courtesy of the throbbing pain in his temple as he laid flat on his back. He tried to move into a sitting position, using his elbows when he realized that she laid on top of him. He froze. Heaven knows he had been in these kind of situations before, but this feels different. It felt right. He can smell the fragrance of her shampoo, which smelled like apple and cherries from her head that rested on his chest. Rachel made a noise, probably cursing as she tried to rise up and raised her head.
Jake swallowed.
There was no other word to describe it. It was beautiful. Jake thought, as he looked into her emerald eyes that shone like crystals, to her soft cheek that went from fair to red. Till his eyes got stuck to where her lips were. He felt his heart slamming against his rib cage, as he felt her warm body against him. They were so close that her breathing sent warm gusts of air to his face, that it made him want to kiss those full red lips. He heard her sucked in a breath as his face slowly drew closer to hers. Just a little bit more. He can almost taste her lips by how close they were.
That's when the door slammed open, and standing right at the doorway was Anna. Her eyes went wide as she glanced back and forth between the two of them, like her mind was processing what was happening. Jake knew that look, and based on her reaction it seemed like it finally hit her when her face went blank, like a canvass wiped out of paint, before she spoke. "Get a room! You two!" Anna spat, and she turned her back on them.
"It's not-" He wanted to say, but she cut him off.
"And just so you know? I already went and reserved us a room." She went on, "You should've mentioned that I should've reserved another one." She says as she got out and slammed the door shut- so hard that the wall vibrated. Which made the both of them back away from each other like magnets of polar opposites. Jake knew he should follow Anna, but he can't leave Rachel here all alone. Not after that.
Rachel blinked her eyes and swallowed, as she rose to her feet, her head hung low. "It's not what?" She questioned, avoiding his gaze.
"What do you mean? It's not what?"Jake asked, and realized how dumb he was. She thought he was implying that what happened was worth nothing. Of course, she'd feel insulted.
"It's not what?" Rachel says, her eyes were blazing emeralds. "It's not what she thinks? That's what you were about to tell her." her words were voiced with disbelief. "What do you think it was?!" Her voice broke.
"That's not what I meant!" Jake started.
"Rachel-" "Don't. It's okay." Rachel interrupted, and held up a hand at him, as she stood opposite side of him for a moment. "Look-" she exhaled a sigh and was about to speak when she noticed what he held and inhaled sharply, cutting of her words as she backed away.
Jake followed her gaze to his arm, and under his grip, was a golden sword. He didn't even notice that he was holding it, as he turned the blade to the side. Inspecting the golden blade of it, that looked liked, as if it was carved right out of the sun. It looked oddly familiar, though he can't remember where he might've saw it.
"Where'd you get that?" She shook her head in disbelief as she approached him and got hold of the sword from him. The look in her eyes told him that there were no traces left of what happened- well almost happened between the two of them earlier.
"The well?" Jake didn't know what to say, he was just as surprised as she was. Its true, though he didn't know why the sword seemed to have set her off.
"What about it?" He says with concern as he looked at her mutter something too low to hear. She looked at him. "Here take this." She says, as she jerked the sword back to him. Jake wondered what was going through her mind, when she plucked the pendant off her neck. It bathed into light, that quickly dissipated as it always does, leaving a silver sword under her grip.
"I haven't had the chance to explain it to you. Now this," Rachel says, waving the sword in front of him. "Is called, Clarent" Jake nodded at her, waiting for further explaination. "That one you're holding right there." She points at the sword with the tip of her blade. "That's Caliburn."
Jake almost threw it, out of reflex. "The sword in the stone?"
"Not technically." Rachel started, "You were talkin about Excalibur, the sword in the stone." She says flipping the sword to the other side with the flat of her blade. "This?" She went on, " is the sword from the lake."
"From the well, you mean." Jake blurted out.
Rachel was deep in thought, when the door opened.
Jake was expecting that Anna had seen sense, not that he needs to explain anything to her at all, because it doesn't have anything to do with her business, whoever he likes or not, and came back, to his dismay that it was the shopkeeper that entered.
"That lady with the red head." He looked like he'd seen a ghost. Jake felt like someone had just punched him in the gut.
Rachel who seemed to have sensed something was wrong, walked towards the guy and slammed him against the door.
"Speak." She says, the tone in her voice was deadly.
"She was taken by some hooded guys in black. They said if you guys want her to live, you need to go to the Cairo Tower." He says, looking frantic.
"Let's go." Rachel says to Jake as she let the shopkeeper go, and walked out of the door.
"Mind if we bring the sword?" Jake asked as he passed by the shopkeeper who appeared to haven been shaken. "Take what you want. Just leave."