The group watched Neferet's figure dissolve into a black mist. Leaving them with nothing. Ayumi spoke, trying to piece together a plan fast.
"W-wait.."
Ayumi knelt before a faded wall carving, her fingers tracing the worn hieroglyphs, they must have been left by old spirits. Haru and Haruka crowded close as she deciphered the ancient text.
"This describes a binding ritual," Ayumi said, voice tight.
"It says the bride's spirit is trapped by a curse. To break it, you must return her bones, reassemble them, and place the five sacred relics on her skeleton."
Haru's jaw clenched. "Neferet's skeleton must be hidden somewhere in the depths. If we find it and perform this ritual, we can free Yui."
Haruka nodded, determination in her eyes. "Then we move now—before the wedding is complete."
Yui's Wedding Preparation
Back in the sunlit chamber, Yui sat rigid as attendants fastened the final clasps of her deep-blue and gold gown. The lotus circlet settled on her brow, and the cobra bracelet clicked into place on her wrist. Every ornate detail—each shimmering thread, every gilded ornament—felt like another link in her prison. A hush fell as the chief attendant stepped back to admire her work. Yui felt hollow, as though the gown itself was draining what little was left of her own will.
"Princess Neferet," the attendant intoned, "you are ready."
Yui rose unsteadily. The heat of the room, the weight of the fabrics, and the mounting chants from the courtyard below pressed in on her. Her vision blurred, and a cold emptiness spread through her chest.
Yui's breath caught. The hopelessness that had consumed Neferet seeped into her mind—the despair of a life dictated by others, a future chosen for her, a cycle of death and rebirth with no escape. Her fingertips brushed the dagger at her waist—a ceremonial blade meant for ritual use. In that instant, the oppressive weight became too much to bear.
Her voice trembled as she spoke without thinking, eyes unfocused. "Can someone… escort me? I'd like to be alone for a moment."
An attendant paused. "Of course, Princess. Shall I bring you the blade?" Yui nodded, tears springing unbidden. "Yes… please."
As the attendant turned to fetch the knife, Yui's knees threatened to buckle. The silence of the chamber echoed her darkest thoughts.
A sudden crash of footsteps against stone made Yui's head snap up. The door burst open.
"Ayumi…?" she whispered, relief and fear tangled in her voice.
Ayumi rushed forward, relics clutched in her hands. "Yui, stand back!" she cried.
Haru and Haruka fanned out to block the attendants, whose eyes widened in shock.
Ayumi pressed the lotus amulet to Yui's chest. "We've found her bones. We're here to save you."
Yui's hand slipped toward the dagger—but Haru caught her wrist gently, pulling it away. Haruka set the crescent diadem around Yui's shoulders, and Ayumi draped the remaining relics over her arms.
"Now," Ayumi urged, "we end this."
Before the palace guards could react, the three friends guided Yui toward the hidden passage Ayumi had discovered—a secret stair leading down to Neferet's crypt. The attendants called and chased them, but Haru's blade and Haruka's warding chants kept the path clear.
Together, clutching each other and the relics, they descended into darkness—ready to bind Neferet's bones, break the curse, and free Yui from the nightmare of the wedding.
The narrow stairs spiraled deeper into the earth, and with every step, the air grew colder, heavier. Torches hissed in their hands, casting long shadows that flickered like spirits on the stone walls. Yui leaned against Ayumi, her legs weak beneath the heavy gown, heart still echoing with the rhythm of a wedding that wasn't hers.
The passage finally opened into a low, round chamber. The air was thick with silence, broken only by the soft crackle of flames. In the center of the room stood a raised stone platform—an altar. And there, curled in a fetal position atop it, lay Neferet's bones.
Thin, yellowed, and delicate, they were arranged in the shape of a young girl who had once surrendered to the weight of her own fate.
Yui's breath caught.
"She's been here all this time…" Ayumi whispered.
Haruka stepped forward first, kneeling beside the altar. Her fingers glowed faintly as she reached out, her voice low and steady with ancient words of guidance. As if hearing her, the bones stirred. She gently guided a missing wrist bone into place, aligning each piece of Neferet's skeleton until it lay whole, peaceful, and still.
Ayumi knelt next to her and drew the long strip of deep-blue silk from inside her coat. The same silk had once been sewn into Yui's cursed wedding gown—now frayed, trembling in her hands.
"This is what bound her… now we use it to free her."
She wrapped it slowly around the skeleton—first across the ribs, gently crossing over Neferet's chest, then around the wrists and ankles. The silk slid over bone with a whisper, like a lullaby being sung into stone. When she tied the final knot over the heart, a pulse seemed to echo in the altar beneath.
Yui stepped forward now, the five relics pressed tightly against her chest.
Her hands trembled as she lifted the first: the lotus amulet.
She leaned down and placed it gently on Neferet's forehead. The stone pendant shivered against bone, then stilled. A soft glow rippled through the chamber.
Next came the cobra bracelet—the same one they had fastened to her wrist back in the sunlit chamber. Yui carefully slipped it around Neferet's skeletal arm, closing the clasp with a quiet click. A faint hiss of wind moved through the room, like the bracelet had exhaled.
Haruka handed her the crescent diadem, still glowing faintly with magic. Yui placed it just beneath the neck, letting it settle across the collarbones. The metal sank into the bones as if recognizing their owner.
Then the dagger sheath, dusty and still warm from where Haru had carried it. Yui lay it gently by the hip. The leather was cracked but intact, its presence weighty—like it still remembered the pain it once held.
Finally, her hands hovered over the last relic: the ceremonial mirror, its surface cracked but still gleaming faintly in the dim torchlight. She held it to her chest a moment, her reflection fractured in the glass.
Then she laid it over Neferet's heart.
The moment it touched, a deep breath seemed to fill the room—though none of them had moved.
The air inside the crypt felt suffocating, like the walls themselves were holding their breath. Ayumi's fingers trembled as she set the last relic—the lotus amulet—on the brittle bones.
"This has to work," Ayumi whispered, her voice cracking.
Haruka's eyes narrowed. "It will. We have to believe it."
Haru shifted nervously, glancing at Yui. "Hey, you're okay, right? Don't faint on me now."
Yui gave him a weak smile. "Trying not to."
The ground beneath them shook violently.
"No way," Haru muttered, gripping his sword tighter.
"It's not just the tomb collapsing," Haruka said, voice low. "It's her. Neferet's fighting."
Dust rained down as the ceiling cracked. Haru grabbed Yui's wrist, pulling her to her feet. "Come on! We gotta get out of here before this whole place turns into rubble!"
Yui stumbled, her chest tight with fear and exhaustion, but Haru's steady grip kept her upright.
"Faster!" Ayumi urged, voice rising over the thunderous crashes.
The narrow stairs loomed ahead, dark and twisting.
Haruka's chant echoed, faint but fierce, trying to hold back the crumbling stone.
"Can't stop now," Haruka panted. "Keep moving!"
The world around them seemed to shatter as they raced upward.
At last, they burst onto the pyramid's rooftop. The blood-red sun hung low in the sky, casting jagged shadows. Neferet stood before them, a terrifying silhouette crowned by whirling dark smoke."You think you can break free?" Her voice was soft, cruel, like a nightmare whisper. "You belong to me." Yui's breath caught, but she squared her shoulders.
"I'm not yours."
Her hand slid to her ankle, fingers curling around the cool silver bracelet. The emerald pulsed once, then flared, sending ribbons of light crawling up her leg.The wedding gown burned away like dry leaves, replaced by armor glowing with emerald and gold.Her hair lifted like underwater tendrils, eyes shining bright green.
"I choose my own path."
Neferet snarled and lunged.Chaos exploded as friends and foe collided—swords clashed, magic flared, and spirit energy pulsed.
Neferet was fast, weaving through their attacks like a shadow made flesh. Ayumi cried out, "She's too quick!" Haru grinned, bouncing on his feet despite the pain, He swung wildly, landing a glancing blow,
Harukas wards flared but flickered under Neferet's assault.Yui stepped forward, trying to find an opening.
"She's not just strong," Ayumi gasped, "she's smart!"
The fight dragged on, exhaustion and hope tangled tight.And then—Haru's eyes widened. He spotted it—an obsidian knife resting on a broken altar.
The carvings in his mind screamed the truth: "The curse shall break when the pain is returned… to the heart." Without hesitation, Haru sprinted. Neferet's focus was shattered just enough. With a yell, Haru lunged, plunging the knife deep into her chest.
Her form froze, eyes wide with shock."I didn't want to be alone…" Tears spilled down her face, raw and human.
Yui knelt beside her, voice soft. "You're free now." Neferet sobbed, the weight of centuries falling away. Haru placed a steady hand on her back, whispering, "It's over."
She smiled through tears, fading into the wind.
And at last, peace.
Haru landed hard on his back, coughing against a mouthful of dust.
"Ugh—what the hell…"
He blinked up, the desert sun burning into his eyes. The distant noise of chattering tourists returned like a wave. It took a second for him to register where he was.
The inside of the pyramid, the real pyramid.
Yui groaned a few feet away, rubbing her head. Ayumi sat up fast, eyes darting around like a trapped animal.
Haruka was still sprawled across the ground, groaning.
And just a few inches from Haru's hand—still lying in the sand—was the object he'd broken earlier.
A cracked canopic jar.
It was one of the display pieces the local archaeologist had shown their group before letting them explore a small passage for class notes. Haru had been playing around and—well. Tripped. It hadn't seemed like a big deal then.
Now?
"Haru Tanaka!!" one of the chaperone teachers barked.
He flinched. "Oh no."
Later That Evening — Hotel Room, Cairo
The hotel lamp buzzed faintly overhead. Haru sat on the edge of the bed, clutching his phone like it might shatter in his hand. On the other end, a woman's voice rose sharply. "You what??!! Do you even understand what a canopic jar is? That's a sacred burial item, Haru!"
"I didn't mean to break it, Mom!" he hissed into the receiver. "I just—tripped! I wasn't even trying to touch it, it just—slipped out of that display thing!"
"And now the school says we'll probably have to pay for it! Do you know how much that might cost?! Do you think we're made of money?!"
Haru dragged a hand down his face, biting back every sarcastic reply trying to climb out of his throat. "I didn't ask to get dragged into some haunted nightmare pyramid either," he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. I said I'm sorry!" There was a long silence. Then a sigh from his mother. Exhausted, disappointed, but… softening.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Haru paused.
"Nah. Just… tired."
"Good," she said. "We'll talk about this when you're home."
The line went dead.
He tossed the phone onto the bed with a sigh and flopped back onto the pillow. The hotel ceiling didn't ripple or hum. No strange carvings. No whispering spirits.Just silence.For now.
The room was finally quiet.
Haru sat on the edge of his bed, the phone long since tossed aside. His shoulders slumped, and his hair hung slightly in front of his face as he stared down at his hands.
He could still hear his mom yelling echoing faintly in his skull. He could still see Neferet's eyes before she vanished. He could still feel the pyramid shake under his feet like it was alive.
Across the room, Haruka sat cross-legged on her bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. The hotel AC rattled softly above them.
"You're not in trouble with the school, right?" she asked after a minute, voice small.
Haru looked up, surprised by how calm she sounded. "I mean… probably. They said they're going to 'file a report' about the broken jar. Whatever that means."
He tried to sound casual, but his tone lacked all energy.
Haruka frowned. "It wasn't your fault."
He snorted. "Wasn't it?"
She paused. "Okay. Maybe it kind of was. But you didn't know that was going to trigger a spirit trap and pull us into another dimension."
Haru let out a dry laugh. "Wish I could write that on the incident form."
Silence stretched between them again. Outside, car horns and Cairo nightlife echoed faintly, muffled by the thick hotel windows.
There was a pause, and then Haruka mumbled, "I'm really glad they let me stay in your room."
Haru looked over. "Huh?"
"If we'd come back and they stuck me in a room with a bunch of loud girls after everything we went through…" She made a face. "I wouldn't sleep at all."
He snorted. "You just wanted the air conditioning to yourself."
"No," she said, half-laughing, half-serious. "I just… feel safer here."
Haru didn't say anything for a second. Then he gave a small nod.
"Yeah. Same."
She was already curling deeper into the covers, her breathing slowing.
Haru lay back, staring at the ceiling. The chaos was over. The danger, gone. No more spirits. No more traps. No more ancient curses. Just Cairo city lights outside the window, and the quiet hum of hotel life.