-Flight inbound for Oahu-

After all these years of searching for my memories and trying to piece together my past, things are quickly coming to light. I'm questioning the path that lies before me because I didn't pave it myself. Who's lying down these breadcrumbs for me to follow? Is she the one who's doing it or is she just an innocent bystander? Whatever the case may be, I'm going for broke. That's in part because I have no other leads to follow.

Darren sits in his plane seat, quietly reviewing the pictures that lie before him. He peers at the picture of the invitation for the tournament, which is now underway. A while later he peers at the picture of a woman in the cloak and thinks to himself; "I know it was you. You've just gotten older and your chi has grown much more powerful. Are you behind this?" It was at this very moment that his mind drifted off to the past encounter...

Flashback
San Francisco

"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your safety belts! We're preparing to land" That announcement woke Darren from his long slumber. He slept the whole flight from Japan to San Francisco. It has been a long while since he had rested like that. If not for the announcement, he may have rested for another 15 hours. Darren was relieved to get off the plane as he wiped his eyes. He pulled out the envelope one more time and looked at the contents inside. Inside was a picture of a young woman who he often dreamed of. The picture was taken in the desert and the more he examined the place in the picture the more suspicious of it he became.

After picking up his luggage, Darren began to exit the airport, intending to find a driver to take him to the address on the letter. As he was making his way out the door, he saw the reflection of the young lady he seen so many times in his dreams. He turned quickly to find that no one was behind him. Darren thought, "I must be a bit groggy from the flight. I am beginning to see things."

Hailing a taxi, Darren placed his backpack in the taxi and hopped in. "Where are you heading Mack?" asked the taxi driver. Darren gave him the address on the envelope. The driver looked at him strangely.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Ok Mack, it's your money!"

With that said, the taxi driver drove toward Darren's desired location. With his eyes ahead looking cautiously at the road, he asked, "Where you from Mack?"

Darren replied, "Japan."

The driver nodded and asked, "What you here for Mack, business or pleasure?"

Darren smiled slightly and said, "Pleasure."

"What made you want to visit San Francisco Mack?"

Darren pulled out the picture of the mysterious woman in the cloak and showed it to the taxi driver. The taxi driver smiled fondly and said, "She's a cutie. So you came to be with your girlfriend?"

Darren shook his head in response. The driver took the hint and didn't say anything else on the matter.

Darren turned to look out the window and thought, "I have no idea who she is. I just need to find her."

A few minutes later the taxi stopped in front of a vacant building. "This is it Mack."

Darren looked around surprisingly. He then turned to the taxi driver and asked, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

The driver turned around and replied, "Yes, this is the right place. This place has been closed for years, it was once a famous dojo owned by some actor or martial arts champion or something like that. From the look on your face I can see you were expecting something more. Sorry Mack."

Darren shook his head trying to collect his thoughts. He then handed the taxi driver a large sum of money. The taxi driver looked at the man surprisingly. He said, "Mack you gave me too much money, the fare wasn't this much."

Darren smiled and said, "I know, I just want you to have it. You've been a great help. Thank you."

The taxi driver smiled and said, "Thank you, if I had more fares like you, I could retire early."

Darren opened the car door and places his backpack over his shoulder. As he began to walk away, the taxi driver yelled, "Hey Mack, are you going to be ok? Do you have a place to go?"

Darren responded, "I'll be fine. And yes, I plan to go to a hotel."

The taxi driver nodded in understanding and said, "Take care kid!"

Darren said, "I will and you take care as well!"

With that, the taxi driver drove off and Darren began to walk towards the park a few blocks away from the vacant building.

A few minutes later, Darren arrived at the park and decided to take a seat at the bench to recollect his thoughts. On the walk to the park, he thought over and over about the address and the vacant building. Once he got to a bench he began to question the letter. He thought, "Why was I directed to an abandoned dojo? Was it my dojo? I don't know this place, so it can't be mine. Or have I just merely forgotten that I once owned it? Nothing makes sense, what the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, Darren got a weird feeling that shook his body. It felt spiritual, he sensed energy although it was faint; it was still powerful. He got up from the bench and walked towards the energy that he sensed. The closer he got to it, the stronger it became. He looked around and about 75 yards away he seen two people standing (a man and a woman) and they seem to be preparing for a fight. He had a good view of the man. He was tall, muscled bound, and had long, wavy hair. His view of the woman was lacking, but something about her screamed familiarity. He noticed that the woman was using chi attacks and it was the same type of energy that he was sensing earlier. He noticed that the girl had a pet squirrel that was highly intelligent. Darren thought, "I remember that squirrel. Is she communicating with it?" The squirrel gave the man a white envelope and then returned to the young woman. While the man was picking up the letter, the young woman turned around for a brief moment. Her eyes met his and a memory pounded its way painfully into his head. After shaking off the initial shock, he looked around and noticed that the young woman was gone at around the same time that the man below did. Darren thought, "What was she doing here? Who is that man and what did she give him? I have to find out. I have to keep a close eye on that man."

It didn't take me long to find out that the man involved in the incident was Luke Blaze. It took me even less time to infiltrate his penthouse and see the contents inside the envelope. I gathered information at preliminaries, and after taking care of a few things I headed to Hawaii. What frightened me the most was the look in that woman's eyes; it shook me to the very core of my being.

The flight attendant's voice disturbed Darren's thoughts. "Sir, would you fasten you safety belt, we're preparing to land."

Darren smiled in response and did as the flight attendant asked. He thought to himself, "I'm here; it's time to get things into gear."

=====

-A small outdoors café-

With a quick glance upwards, Natalie regards the hostess with a small nod as she places a cup of herbal tea onto the table. She takes a slow, deliberate intake of the warm liquid and returns it back to the table, right next to the local newspaper laid out on the table in front of her. In light of yesterday's recent events, the nature of the front-page headline is already self-evident. In fact, she surmises, I doubt there'll be anything in this that hasn't been shown on TV already, or discussed all over internet message boards worldwide.

Even so, Natalie still picks up the paper and begins reading.

She once read somewhere that you should never read anything written about yourself in the press if you were famous, since you'll always find something that offends you. As Natalie skims through the pages relating to the main headline, she quickly begins to notice traces of some truth behind those words, acknowledging this realisation with an amused grin. Fleetingly, she wonders how Jin would react if he read this article. The pair hadn't spoken to each other this morning, Jin leaving nothing but a small note on his pillow - Gone training. Will be back soon, Jin. - while she was still asleep. For Natalie, it was an opportunity for her to spend some time in the more quieter, residential parts of Oahu, knowing full well that a training session would occupy a large portion of Jin's day, and she wasn't prepared to wait that long.

Just as Natalie reaches to take a second mouthful of her tea, she suddenly senses someone approaching, someone walking towards her. Without looking up, Natalie is the first to speak. "Can I help you?"

"Mien, is it?" A masculine voice questions.

"That depends..." Natalie's gaze still remains downward, but continues. "Who wants to know?" She hears a brief chuckle, before her new guest responds.

"An old friend, Wynshire. An old friend."

Out of everyone she'd encountered, both past and present, there were only a select few who knew her real family name. It's that fact which causes Natalie to look up sharply with narrowed eyes, where they come to rest on a man wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt that matches his cream-coloured slacks and black shoes, all covered by a long beige coat. Wearing a pair of rose-tinted shades, the figure meets Natalie's gaze with his own as he brushes one hand through his spiky raven hair, flashing a confident smile that also seems to gleam with a hint of arrogance.

It was that same smile Natalie had seen over four years ago.

In fact, it was that same smile - and the face that went with it - which was one of the many things Natalie had hoped to never encounter again.

"Parker..." Natalie mutters, almost unable to hide the bitterness in her voice. Her narrowed eyes are not lost on Parker, however, who lets out another amused chuckle.

"Now, is that any way to treat a friend of yours, Wynshire?"

"Save it," Natalie spat. The look on her face does not change either. "What's this about?"

"Why, you of course," Parker says, as if stating the obvious. "You could prove to be of great help to us, like you were in the past."

That was all she needed to hear. She casually finishes off the remainder of her tea, as if having all the time in the world, shortly before making her feelings known.

"Too bad," Natalie replies curtly as she rises up from her seat, clearly about to leave, "since I'm not helping you." With that, she steps past the FBI agent, heading for the end of the street.

"I do beg to differ, Wynshire," Parker blurts out, turning around slightly just as Natalie pauses a few feet away from where he stood. He also takes the time to casually take off his shades, still wearing that borderline arrogant smile. "I'm sure your fiancé, for instance, would agree with me as well."

Natalie whirls around sharply at this with widened eyes, instantly realising the implication behind Parker's words. She throws a glare at him. "If you've done anything to-"

Natalie's threat goes unfinished as she feels something stab into her shoulder, forcing out an involuntary cry of pain. That is soon washed over by a feeling of drowsiness, accentuated further by the tranquilliser dart she now sees imbedded into her shoulder. Damn. That... bastard... is all she has time to think as she feels her legs begin to grow weaker.

"Don't bother fighting it," Parker says flatly. "There's plenty of dosage in that tranq to put you down. Of course, just to make sure..." In a smooth motion, the FBI agent procures a specialised handgun from his hip - having had the weapon concealed under the folds of his long coat - and fires, driving a second tranquilliser dart to the base of Natalie's neck that brings her down in an instant. "...that'll do."

=====

COZUMEL, MEXICO

Juli hitched her bag higher over her shoulder as her partner stepped outside of the terminal of Cozumel Airport.

After coming to a stop beside her, Pablo easily shrugged out of his coat, placing it over his arm. "Did you arrange for a driver?"

"Yes. Our driver should be here soon...Not only is she here to pick us up...but she'll know where to find what we're looking for." Juli scanned the line of cars and taxis lined up at the front. Using her hand to shield above her eyes, she quickly caught sight of a woman waving at her.

Pablo chuckled. "Chica, remind me to buy you a drink later."

Juli slowly turned her head to look at him. "Why is that?"

"For selecting a woman to do the job."

Juli sighed, shaking her head. "Try to keep your pants on until we finish," she snapped. "Bison wants that artifact and us back in Hawaii in seven days...before your fight is scheduled."

"We'll be there in half that time," he said smugly.

She shot him a look. "Fine."

As they made their way towards the woman and her SUV, Pablo admired the figure in front of them. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a pair of round glasses perched on her nose. She wore a white short-sleeved blouse and a straight, long denim skirt that fell to her ankles. He smiled wryly. All those sensual curves hidden from the world. The woman obviously didn't know how to use her good points.

Ah well. Librarian types weren't really for him. He usually preferred women who weren't afraid to flaunt their beauty.

The woman greeted Juli with a polite smile, "I'm Esperanza."

"Juli," the other woman shook her hand in greeting. "Thanks for picking us up."

"Of course." Esperanza turned to Pablo, hesitating slightly, her pupils dilating.

Pablo grinned and took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips. "Pleasure to meet you, Esperanza."

He could hear her breath catch in her throat...no doubt to the combination of his lips on her hand and the way he said her name.

Juli refrained from rolling her eyes. "Esperanza, this is Pablo." She quickly moved to the back of the vehicle. "Mind if I store my bag here?"

Esperanza tore her eyes away from Pablo and pulled her hand back. "I-Yes, yes of course you can."

Pablo tossed his bag into the back and made his way to the passenger's side door. Juli shot him a look as she placed her bag next to his and made her way to the rear passenger door. He merely responded with a smile and slid into the seat next to their driver.

Could his partner really blame him for wanting to get to know their driver a little better?

=====

-Somewhere in Oahu, Hawaii-

The grogginess was accompanied by a mild headache when Natalie opened her eyes hours later. Her shoulders hurt, and as soon as she was coherent enough to recognize up from down, she could tell it was from having her hands both cuffed together and secured to the back of the chair she sat in. Similarly, her feet were secured, and it was a metal chair. So, they hadn't forgotten their favorite firestarter...

Her eyes took in the small, featureless interrogation room, with an equally unremarkable white table before her. A mirror, which she knew to be a one-way window, took up the top half of the wall opposite her. Neither Parker nor any enforcers were in sight, but she suspected someone was alerting her former superior to her waking. The clock, the only decoration on the wall to her right, told her it was twelve-fifteen, though she hadn't the faintest idea whether it was in the A.M. or P.M, or whether it was the same day for that matter. She groaned softly. Stupid. She was so stupid to come to this island and this damned tournament... and now not only was she in federal custody again, but they had Jin as well. They wouldn't have made the threat if there weren't some sort of insurance to back it up. For all she knew, they knew where to find her brother, too. Congrats, Natalie, she told herself mentally, You've managed to royally f--k up not only your life as you know it, but your fiancé's and maybe even your last living relative's as well. Good job. The sarcastic tone of her inner voice was, of course, not missed.

The door opened, interrupting her thoughts. Special Agent Kyle Bradford Parker walked in, sans coat, with that sh-t-eating grin she remembered him wearing every time he scored a kill or successfully apprehended a target. Cold blue eyes narrowed on him as her voice came out low and rough from lack of anything to drink in so many hours, "What the hell have you done to him?"

Parker dragged a chair from one corner of the room to the side of the table opposite of her, letting the metal legs screech against the floor until he was satisfied with the position and sat down, feigning a disappointed look. "My, my, Wyn. I don't see you for what, four years? Hell, we even had a funeral for you after your supposed death. Could've sworn I saw the last of those sparkling, hateful eyes of yours. And now, all you can think about is a man with a very questionable reputation who somehow managed to break through that icy hell-bitch exterior you've shown to every other man who has ever had the misfortune of approaching you. Oh, don't worry," he cut her off before she could ask a second time, "He's in good hands. Well... he's in hands, at least. Took two tranqs to take him down. At present he's in a room very similar to this one, only without the benefit of good company." He smirked and took a newspaper out of his back pocket, the same one she had been reading at the cafe.

"I understand all about leverage. But he's got nothing to do with any of this. Let him go... and I swear if you hurt him-"

"You'll do what, Miss Wynshire? Go AWOL again? Exact some sort of revenge? Trust me, Wyn, if we were going to do anything like that right off the bat, you'd be identifying his body at the morgue right now." He let that sink in, watching as the muscles in her jaw tensed and her right brow twitched. He chuckled and continued, "You see, Wynshire, we didn't invest time and resources into you for naught. Why, we even cancelled your former debt to society before you spent any time in prison, which certainly you would have. Pyrokinetics are frowned upon at best in the real world. You... Miss, gave up quite the opportunity. I hear they were grooming you for Section work. Do you even know what that is?" He glanced at her over the paper.

Natalie stared hard at the white table, her teeth chewing at the insides of her cheeks. It was a moment before she answered, but he waited with that arrogant smile until she did. "I've only heard rumors. They handle most of the dirty jobs the government can't afford to have on record or conscience. The Section. It doesn't matter anyway, I'm not qualified for that, nor do I want to be," she deadpanned.

The man nearly barked a laugh, "Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe it wasn't made clear to you when you bargained for your freedom. What you want was never an issue. You agreed to our terms, until we see fit that you be released from the weight of the badge or you die, whichever comes first. And since you didn't actually die, you obviously only have one choice."

She almost laughed. Almost. It wouldn't help to tell him the truth anyway. He'd just have "psycho-therapy" added onto her list of things to do, which she did not doubt was being written up as they spoke. She fell silent, knowing that if she wanted to not only stay out of prison, but also keep them from hurting Jin, she would have to comply.

Parker tossed the paper onto the table in front of her, turned tot he page with the article about her fight. "Found you on a fluke. You might've garnered less attention with a better disguise... but eventually we'd have noticed. I flew in from D.C. as soon as I got the call that you'd been spotted. A tournament? Hell, even I'm curious about that one. Didn't you have enough last time?"

She didn't answer, and he just kept going. "Tell you what, girl. We're going to let your boyfriend go, and you too. All you have to do is finish up your debt to us. I'll even go as far as to tell you that if you complete these next few assignments, you might earn an early retirement. How'd you like to be on a beach in a year, drinking a martini and knowing you'll never have to flash a badge or see me again?"

"I'd swear I was dreaming, because I know you're lying."

He chuckled again, picking up the paper. "You never did trust anyone, did you? Still the same, I guess... wow, except maybe your skills. You lost to a rock star? Dear, you've got to quit holding back..."

"It's just a fight."

"Oh no... it's never just a fight. That one... Reno Tseng. And his partner, Miss Verdandi... we've got our suspicions about them. I dunno why you're here, Wyn, but something tells me it's not for the fun of letting some punk whip your ass." He stood, dropping the paper on the table again and walked around to stand behind her, leaning to speak near her ear. His breath stank of nicotine. "You know... all of us thought of you as our own little science project. A pretty little toy. You never seemed really alive until we watched you pick up a gun. When you had a gun in your hand, black powder on the back of you hand and forearm, and blood splattered on those weird clothes, you were a picture-perfect beauty, in the most twisted sense. Our own lovely little monster. Let that beautiful beast out again, would you? It'll save you a lot of trouble... and it will save your guy a lot more than that..." Her teeth ground silently against each other, and it took all her resolve not to use her power to set him ablaze, even with her hands tied.

He straightened with a grin, adjusting his tie. He was the bottom of the barrel as far as dirty agents went, and she knew that he would stop at nothing to get a pat on the back, an increase in salary or a promotion. She stewed silently in her anger as he headed for the door with parting words that infuriated her as much as they caused her to despair. "Oh... and about that guy's background. We've documented his presence at some major crime scenes in the past. I'll admit, we don't have enough to pin anything on him. But we reserve the right to hold him for twenty-four hours... and as I'm sure you know, a lot can happen in that period of time. Who knows? He might try to escape. And he might not stop when we ask him to. And in the heat of the moment with a potentially dangerous subject putting not only the public but my men in danger... some of my guys just might shoot." He stopped when he heard the cuffs rattling, and felt the heat in the room rise enough for the central air to kick on and compensate. Her eyes were dark and glowing in deep blue, and to his delight and her outrage, tears shimmered faintly. But they would not fall.

He left her there to think on the matter, furious at herself and her own stupidity as much as with him and the whole f--king system that was so set on ruining everything she'd worked for. And above all that, one thought prevailed...

She desperately hoped Jin was alright.


-Cell 325-

The surroundings regard Jin with an inanimate indifference as he wakes up from his drug-induced unconsciousness. Upon realising that he's lying face down on a thick sheet of metal - the closest thing to a bed that this holding cell provides - the courier gingerly pulls himself up into a seating position, briefly rubbing his temples gently in an attempt to catch his bearings and recall how he'd ended up in this place.

"I was in the middle of training... took me completely by surprise... an ambush..." Kushina mutters out loud to himself. The ambush had indeed taken Jin by surprise, preceded and triggered by the tranquilliser dart stabbing into his upper arm. Everything else, as far as his memory could recap, was a sedated blur.

In sharp contrast, the realisation of why he'd been ambushed and thrown into this holding cell was anything but blurry.

He was bait.

Not only a nice chunk of bait, but also serious collateral.

It was only a matter of time... Jin admits silently. Despite all the precautions Natalie had undertaken over the years, they were still able to catch up to her, to make her follow through on that outstanding "debt to society" they believed they required of her. Instantly, a pool of questions poured into his thoughts, but the most prevalent of them all is naturally the most obvious: had they gotten to her yet? He could imagine it now: a swarm of agents surrounding Natalie, possibly with weapons drawn, demanding her compliance if she wanted to see him again. She had still been sleeping peacefully when he'd left The Makai early this morning. Had that been the moment when they struck, no later than when they'd apprehended him?

Jin abruptly severs the mental image, forcing himself out of his thoughts. It's at this point that Kushina realises he's had his hands balled into tight fists the whole time.

Either way, he concedes, he wasn't exactly about to get an answer to any of his questions anytime soon. All he could do for now was wait, and hope that, wherever she was, his fiancée was alright.

=====

The sun wouldn't be up for another three hours. From the passenger side, Pablo kept his eyes on the Yucatan landscape while Juli slept in the backseat. Esperanza was at the wheel, softly humming along to the music playing from the CD player.

Pablo glanced towards their driver, not missing the sidelong look her eyes had given him before turning towards the front.

"How long have you lived here, Esperanza?" he asked in a conversational tone.

"All my life," she answered proudly. "When I was a child, my father would often take me to the Maya structures."

"Juli mentioned you have been invited to several universities around the world to lecture on the history and culture. You must be very knowledgeable about the subject." For someone so young, he was surprised. She couldn't have been older than twenty-six?

"I like to think that I am always learning about the Maya and their people," she responded with a satisfied smile.

"It's good for a woman to have her passions," he said smoothly. "Especially if she can share them."

"I agree."

He kept his eyes on her for many long moments, hiding a smile as she straightened slightly in her seat, smoothing her hair back. He had learned quite a lot about the body language of women...at the moment, she was being slightly self-conscious and hoping that she looked more attractive.

She cleared her throat. "We should be there by sunrise."

"Good." Pablo leaned back in his seat, turning to look at the scenery.

Honestly, most people would be a little suspicious of what they were doing. Esperanza herself didn't know the real reason they were retrieving this particular item. He, Juli, and a couple of the Shadowlaw employees had come up with a very good story. Basically saying that the items they wished to retrieve from Yaxkin's tomb, a ruler who lived long ago, would go on display in a European museum. Shadowlaw employees had even gone so far as to make it seem as if the museum actually existed. While a good portion of the Shadowlaw employees knew exactly what needed to be retrieved, they didn't know exactly where to find said items. And with Bison getting anxious, they needed to get the job done quickly. So if it meant consulting with local experts and tricking them...well...deception was one of Shadowlaw's specialties.

By the time the sun had risen, Esperanza had pulled her SUV to a stop. Pablo turned in his seat to wake up his partner.

He must have called her name four times before Juli opened her eyes. When they stepped out, Pablo immediately surveyed the area. They had left the limestone terrain of the Yucatan and had begun to wander into a more lush landscape of tropical forests.

"Where is the site?" Juli asked as she adjusted the straps of her backpack.

"It's just over there...behind the brush," their guide said. "Follow me."

One couldn't tell that an ancient tomb existed here. Esperanza must have walked three hundred feet before she began to push aside several plants with long leaves. She raised a slender hand to point upwards. Pablo lifted his eyes to see a structure cleverly hidden among the foliage and trees, against the cliffside of the terrain.

"See that?" Esperanza gestured to a narrow crevice a good thirty foot climb up. "The entrance."

"Can we fit?" Juli squinted.

"Most temples were designed to fit very few," Esperanza explained. "But we should be able to fit in the door."

Pablo turned around, observing the sun as it cast light across the landscape.

"Pablo, let's get moving," Juli ordered as she and Esperanza reached the bottom of the small stairs that would lead them inside.

He turned towards the women and followed.

"Are you all right?" Esperanza asked. "You seemed...distracted."

"I'm fine," he assured her, minding his steps.

The stairs were very small, he could only use the front half of his foot to climb. Pablo leaned forward slightly, keeping his weight centered to the front of his body.

"Just let me know if-oh!" Esperanza miscalculated her footing and slipped, but Pablo reacted quickly and caught her by the upper arm, holding onto her until she was able to regain her balance.

"Careful, señorita," he said softly, before releasing her arm...but not before letting his fingers trail down to brush the inside of her elbow.

Esperanza cleared her throat. "Th-Thank you..." Her face was slightly flushed and she smiled gratefully towards him before continuing her climb.

Very interesting. The women he encountered normally didn't blush.

When they reached the top, Esperanza entered first, with Juli and Pablo right behind her. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and he could see that the room was small...maybe no more than thirty feet wide and long. Esperanza reached for the light stick strapped to her backpack and held it at eye level.

Juli lifted her own light stick and examined the walls. Numerous relief carvings completely covered the walls - curved and organic in shape.

She let out a whistle. "Interesting art."

"It's more than art," Pablo said, lifting his hand to touch the stone wall. "This is telling a story of the ruler buried here. This part...says that when he was fifteen, he went to war with a neighboring city. He defeated them and added their land to his kingdom."

"You can read their language?" Esperanza asked in an awed whisper.

Pablo turned to give their guide a smile. "You are not the only one here with interest in the ancients."

A shy smile crossed her lips before she turned to read the wall. "There should be a clue here somewhere that will lead to his chamber..."

Several minutes passed by, with Juli in the center of the room, Esperanza and Pablo on opposite sides, reading the walls.

"'And here he will pass on...to unite with the gods...'" Pablo read aloud as he squatted down to read the last part of the story.

His eyes moved down to see that the floor was made of flat stone slabs. The one he was perched on had two wooden pegs - one on the top right and top left.

"Juli," he called out.

Esperanza turned at the sound of his voice, watching as he handed his light to his partner before he bent slightly, slipping his fingers between the wall and underneath a stone slab. He pulled, lifting the slab and setting it aside.

His partner leaned forward, bringing the lights closer so that they could see a set of small stairs leading into darkness below.

"Oh..." Esperanza let out a soft breath.

"Care to go further, señorita?" he asked with a grin.

Esperanza immediately pulled out one light stick, cracking it and dropping it into the hole. It immediately lit the room, which was only an eight-foot drop down.

"Let's take the quick way down," Pablo suggested.

Juli jumped down while Pablo bent slightly to scoop Esperanza in his arms.

"I...I'm sorry, what are you-?" she stammered, unable to complete her sentence as he promptly landed on the floor below them. "Oh."

He set her down, turning to observe the new room.

"These were companions of some kind," Esperanza declared, noticing the two looking around. "He obviously wanted some people to join him on his journey to the afterlife..."

Juli bent slightly to examine a skeleton wearing what appeared to be red fabric around his torso and head. The skeleton had some sort of intricate jewelry around its neck. "Now what?" the brunette asked.

"This room should lead into the tomb," Esperanza said, her eyes surveying the area.

"How?" Juli asked, raising the lights to get a better view.

Her partner reached out, snatching his light back. "This entire room is a puzzle. No way out except for the way we came in." He examined the writing on the wall, frowning in thought.

"It says here that this was built when all the heavens were one," Esperanza said, pointing at a portion on the wall.

"Meaning?" Juli brought her hand up, gesturing to two spaces on the wall, where a circle was inscribed into the square stone part of the wall. "And why do the relief carvings go around this? Is it telling a new story?"

"No," Pablo answered from his position on the other side of the room, examining a small statue placed between two skeletons. He picked it up, looking closely at it and said with a smile, "Let's try something...Esperanza, look for one of these which represents the sun."

"Of course..." the young woman turned around and began to search for the item he requested while he checked his side of the room.

"I don't understand what's going on," Juli said, slight exasperation in her voice.

"It's simple," Pablo said lightly, holding up the statue in his hand. "The Maya have many artifacts relating to the sky...the sun...the moon...planets. This is a priest wearing clothing that represents the moon."

"So if Esperanza finds the sun..."

"Here it is!" Esperanza quickly got to her feet, statue in both hands. She walked up to the wall, her eyes on the two empty spaces Juli had pointed out earlier.

The woman was smart. She had thought the same thing he had. They placed the base of the statues against the space in the wall so that the figures faced the ceiling. Slowly, those portions of the wall caved in, bringing the statues with them. The three stepped back as a rumbling sound entered the room. Slowly, parts of the floor moved to reveal stairs leading into two passageways.

"Oh no," Juli murmured. "One is a trap."

"Of course."

"I'll say we try that one first," Juli pointed to the one on their left. "We have a fifty-fifty chance, right?"

The three must have been walking in the chosen path for fifteen minutes until another rumbling sound came to their ears. Juli looked around wildly, her eyes widening in horror at the sight in front of her. She quickly turned around, shouting for her companions to run as she sprinted towards the way they had come in.

"What-?" Confused, Esperanza glanced at her before looking in the direction they had originally been heading.

A large boulder filling up the entire corridor was rolling towards them.

Without thinking any further, Pablo and Esperanza followed Juli's lead. The three were able to quickly reach the staircase, with Juli quickly performing a triangle jump, to spring safely into the room. Esperanza placed a hand over her chest, tired from the run.

"Let's try that again," Juli said nonchalantly.

They had taken the other passage and walked for a good hour before reaching another room. It was smaller and strangely enough, was not as dark as the other rooms. Pablo noted that this particular room had very, very, very little amounts of sunlight trickling in. He tried to peer outside through the cracks in the wall.

Esperanza glanced at him before taking a look around the room. At center of each wall, close to the ceiling, were the statue heads of different animals - a bat, a jaguar, a snake, and a bird. The wall that faced the sun in particular, with the snake, caught her interest. Her eyes went from the top to the bottom of the wall as a thought came to her.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost noon," Juli said.

At that moment, a thin streak of sunlight entered the room, its stream making its way from the floor to the snake head at the top.

"Here," Esperanza pointed to the floor against the wall with the snake head statue.

Handing Juli his light stick, Pablo began to lift several small stones out of the way, stopping Esperanza from retrieving her equipment in her backpack. After twenty minutes, he had pulled enough stones to reveal a hidden room with an intricately carved sarcophagus and assorted pottery, statues, and jewelry boxes.

"Wow..." Juli breathed.

They had found it.