Chapter Text
The first time he had faced Imhotep, he’d known that nothing would ever be the same.
His desperate prayers for mercy, to all different gods he had an amulet for except the one before him, had not gone unheard. With a star on his hand and Hebrew on his tongue, the rotting corpse of the high priest had taken him under his wing.
To take over the world, or whatever.
Beni remembered it like yesterday. The fear that took over him, the relief of understanding the mummy's speech, the sight of gold in his hand. It was easy to be by his side rather than in his path.
Despite knowing that a part of Imhotep’s plan included resurrecting his old girlfriend, Beni could not help but look at him with a certain curiosity. There had been something about him that captivated Beni more than any woman could. It wasn’t just his strangely handsome features, those gentle touches he gave to his ‘slave’ so casually they must have carried no meaning yet felt somewhat intentional, the way the tone of his voice sometimes lowered when he spoke of love.
It wasn’t just those things that made Beni question himself.
It was mostly the idea that for the first time, someone saw something worthy in him.
Perhaps he was imagining things. After all, he was merely a tool to be used until he was no longer needed. Yet the attention he received, although minimal, made him treasure it as if it meant something.
Nothing had happened between them. Imhotep had been too busy to follow his plan to leave much time for distractions. Beni, on the other hand, had been too scared to try anything.
Realizing that the high priest would resurrect Anck-Su-Namun, Beni didn’t have the strength to try and change his mind, to confess how strange he felt and how the air between them felt almost magical.
No. Instead, Beni stole two bags of treasure, climbed on a camel and rode away from Hamunaptra before it, as the rumor tells, swallowed itself underneath the sand, and Imhotep with it.
With the stolen treasure, Beni lived a comfortable but meaningless life for a while before finding himself back where he began - with an unreachable desire for treasure.
-
Years later when he heard word of a certain cult digging in Hamunaptra, Beni wasted no time to join their cause. Nobody questioned why he was so eager to serve the high priest. Nobody questioned how he found about their plans. They only took him in because of his previous experience in the field and his sworn loyalty to their cause.
With them, Beni traveled to the British Museum, being one of the men who carried the crystal-like object inside the building, the shape of a man hidden within it. From the shadows, Beni watched as Imhotep was resurrected. He didn’t feel a drop of fear when he saw the mummy again.
He only felt fear when he realized that Imhotep still loved Anck-Su-Namun, and was pouring that love onto a woman that carried her face but not her soul. As long as she was around, Beni was nothing more but another servant. The fact Beni had served him years ago didn’t seem to matter. Imhotep had remembered him but not given him the time of day.
Yet he followed. He followed Imhotep in hopes of the high priest noticing him again. He followed Imhotep to the temple at Karnak, the temple island of Philae, to Abu Simbel and the blue nile.
He tried to approach Imhotep multiple times, but there was always an interruption of some sort. Mostly it was her. With her around, Imhotep had nothing more to spare than looks Beni could not read. And those eyes of his gave just enough for Beni to please himself during the quiet hours of the night, his sobbing moans drowned onto his own hand. He wished for more. He wished to be seen, to be caressed like she was, to be talked to, to be admired like she was. But Beni wasn't her.
When they finally reached the oasis of Ahm Shere, Beni grew more hopeful. Maybe today, his devotion would be seen. Maybe today, as the rest of their large group disappeared within the forestation of the oasis, his master would see who truly cared for him.
But as always, Beni’s plans fell astray. Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun entered the pyramid while he was stuck within the oasis.
Only when it was too late, he found the pyramid and rushed inside.
The ground beneath began shaking. Pillars fell down, the floor split into pieces like a broken plate and a deafening roar of the oasis being sucked away rang through the sky. Anck-Su-Namun and Evelyn stood by a doorway, both looking for their partners within the room falling into ruin. Two pairs of hands emerged from one of the cracks on the floor, desperately clinging on as the hands of lost souls tried to pull them down to the underworld.
Evelyn did not hesitate to save her husband despite his pleading for her to just run and save herself. Seeing this, Imhotep pleaded to be saved too by his lover.
Instead, Anck-Su-Namun ran.
Beni ran within the pyramid, jumping over holes and cracks and swinging his arms around to not fall into any pit filled with scorpions or any other type of bugs. As he grew closer to shouts that definitely came from people, a dark figure came towards him. It was Anck-Su-Namun, her eyes filled with fear, her dark hair swinging as she ran.
Beni continued running until he found where she had come from. He found himself within a room that was falling apart, the floor soon turning into a massive red hole, the ceiling dropping rocks so often it would soon collapse on top of them. The shaking was now stronger than any earthquake, forcing Beni to balance himself constantly.
In the distance, the O’Connells were holding onto each other, relieved to be together again. Slightly further away a man was holding onto the edge, wearing a defeated smile. Feeling betrayed by his lover, and jealous of the love of the two mortals whose love was stronger than his, Imhotep relaxed his grip and let himself be swallowed by the earth.
But then a pair of skinny hands grabbed onto his wrist and held onto him until nails dug into his flesh. Imhotep looked up and was surprised to see Beni of all people there, holding onto him, showing more devotion than any of the other cultists. The souls of the underworld were now gathering around Imhotep, trying to pull him down with them, but Beni refused to let go. He gritted his teeth together and tried to pull, but he had not enough strength to do so.
“Let go”, Imhotep spoke to him in a calm defeated voice.
Beni shook his head. He was sweating, his arms were shaking, and blood was pouring out of the wounds from when the falling rocks had scratched him.
“Leave me!” Imhotep shouted again, spreading his own fingers apart to show he was not going to hold on any longer.
“No!” Beni whimpered, tears falling down from his eyes, spit covering his chin. “All the treasure I’ve ever had, I’ve lost. I – I won’t lose you, too – !”
Imhotep stared at him with wide eyes. His immortal body suddenly felt more alive than ever before. Before his mind could decide, his body acted and grabbed onto Beni, the last will to live left in his body forcing him to climb up. Anck-Su-Namun had taken his reason to life. To his surprise, Beni Gabor had given him a reason to stay.
Beni’s whole body ached. His muscles screamed in agony as he pulled and pulled and nothing happened. His legs tried to help and kneel up as he was laying on his stomach, but the more he tried to get himself up, the more his body slid towards the edge.
Then, just as Beni’s body became too tired to hold on, the O’Connells came to their aid. Evelyn was pulling at Beni’s suspenders, while Rick reached down, grabbed onto Imhotep’s arms and pulled until the priest was up and safe. For now.
No words were said, but both Rick and Imhotep simply nodded to each other as if to say ‘all is forgiven’, or most likely, ‘this doesn’t mean anything’.
As the oasis and the pyramid in the middle of it disappeared, the dirigible flew off with two unwanted guests, later dropping them shamelessly to the desert, close enough to Cairo but far enough for it to be a nuisance to travel there.
With the city’s buildings giving hope from the horizon, the desert sun leaving no room for shadows, two pairs of footsteps left imprints on the sand.