"People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within"~ Elizabeth Kubler Ross.

~'~

" It's just for fun, really," Agnes said settling her long slender black Egyptian gown which was belted at the waist. The girls were ready in their costumes even if they very well knew this was insane.

"Where are the boys?"Akane asked.

"I know right. Where is Takumi? And Jason?" Fidel responded.

And then they came. Jason and Takumi. Agnes and Fidel gasped. The Egyptian costume for men was a belted knee length black skirt. Yes, that's all. It would have otherwise looked weird but Takumi and Jason carried it out so well that it actually looked classy on them.

"Oh lord...," Agnes began. Heart attack. She'll get one if Jason doesn't wear anything right now. He was looking extraordinary. One could tell Jason was feeling extremely uncomfortable. But he was looking handsome. Handsome beyond comprehension.

"Agnes...," Fidel began, looking at Takumi. "Give me ice."

Akane laughed loudly from behind. Fidel and Agnes looked around. They noticed the girls looking intently at their men. Smiling. Giggling. Laughing. Drooling. Okay enough.

"Agnes?"

"I know, Fidel. They need to wear something. Go on both of you, go and wear your normal clothes," Agnes told them, blushing.

"Yeah that we will. But first you both need to stop blushing," Takumi said as he gave Fidel a killer smile.

"JUST GET CHANGED!" both of them screamed as Jason and Takumi rushed inside, laughing.

~'~

"Your plan totally backfired," Fidel said.

"How was I supposed to know they would look like that?"Agnes defended. "Irresistible"

"Time for viewing the Sphinx," the guide said. Jason and Takumi walked behind him now in jeans and button downs. Agnes heaved a sigh of relief.

Takumi planted a light kiss on Fidel's forehead as she embraced him. Jason smiled. He would keep his sister happy.

The great Sphinx was a massive limestone structure in the likeness of a mythical creature called 'sphinx'. In Arabic it literally translates 'Father of Dread'.

The structure of the Sphinx was that of half a pharaoh and half a lion. The nose and the beard were missing. However, even with its flaws, the Sphinx looked magnificent. It was of the colour from soft yellow to hard gray.

"The creature's human head is generally thought to be in the likeness of pharaoh Khafre," the guide explained as they went inside.

They descended a brief entry tunnel and then climbed upwards through another tunnel leading into a layer gallery and finally to above ground funerary vaults. This aspect was unique in the Sphinx as other pyramids interiors only have only a tunnel system leading to underground chambers.

"What about your next work?," Jason whispered to Agnes.

"I'll give it to you in the hotel," she replied smiling. "Thank you, Jason"

"What for?"

"For your support"

"Believe me they are totally worth it"

"I'm kind of frightened. What if a mummy..," Akane began.

"Oh come on Akane, of course not," Agnes said, shaking her head.

"BOOOOO"

"OH MY MUMMY! WHAT IN THE PYRAMID?," Akane said as a boy draped in toilet paper grinned at her.

Takumi laughed, holding his sister's mouth. "Shut up idiot. He's joking with you"

Agnes and Jason laughed loudly. The guide shook his head and gestured them outside.

"You people are too loud," he said.

"Sorry!," the five of them said in unison.

"Never mind. Let's go for camel riding"

~'~

"Where is Akane?"Jason asked.

Takumi pointed towards her. She was sitting on a camel screaming her lungs out as her hands went up in the air. They smiled.

"Takumi and Fidel said they will ride the camel together," the guide said.

"Ahem ahem"

"That leaves us with one camel so you both have to ride it together. Fortunately or unfortunately"

"What?" Jason and Agnes said in unison.

"Ahem ahem," Fidel and Takumi laughed giving them a taste of their own medicine. Agnes face turned into a colour which perfectly resembled a tomato.

Jason held her as she climbed the camel. She was about to tumble, but he sat behind her giving her support.

"You both make a lovely pair you know," the man handling the camel said.

Jason nodded lightly.

"Why are you nodding ?" Agnes whispered.

"What else do I do?"

She sighed shaking her head. The camel rose to stand and slowly started walking. Agnes held on to the rope attached to the camel's rein.

"I'm sorry Cherry. I have to do this or else I'll fall," Jason said as he held the rein. His hands brushed against hers, his head above hers and his body leaning. Agnes turned tomato red. Jason chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"You"

She shrugged. Why is he so warm? And nice? And caring, handsome, loving?

They say that only pain is involved in love. But when people looked at them, somewhere, somehow the candle of hope burnt that perhaps love can be beautiful too. Because even though the affects of love are devastating, a beautiful morning often comes after a dark, dreary night. And perhaps now the midnight had passed, the stars were vanquishing and the dawn was emerging.

~'~

It was Fidel's last day. The next morning she would leave for England.

That night Jason and Fidel stood at the balcony of their hotel room, staring at Egypt silently and enjoying each other's company.

"Fidel can I ask you something?" Jason began.

"Yes of course"

"What do you think of Agnes?"

"Why? Are you thinking of marrying her?"

"Fidel I'm serious," he said to a laughing Fidel.

"Okay, okay I am sorry. I think she's incredible"

Jason nodded in reply.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's this feeling I get when I'm around her , you know. So warm and pleasant.. I don't understand"

"I understand. It's love"

He shook his head. "It's my neurons. Now tell me how to control them"

Fidel chuckled. "Okay now listen here, Jason. Love is complicated, beautiful and appealing all at the same time. I want you to be good to Agnes. I want you to be her prince. I want you to take care of her. Every girl wants a perfect guy for her, Jason. I want you to be hers. If you're a poet, I want you to be her poetry. Make her your art, Jason. Be a painter. Make her your heart. "

He looked at her. "We are not in love, Fidel"

"That is what you think. You know Jason, love is like the law of energy. Just like energy cannot be destroyed or created, love cannot be destroyed or created. Love for each other is inborn in the forn of humanity. Slowly, when someone pleases your heart which is your soulmate, this love blooms and bursts. Also, love is never destroyed. It is just overpowered by hate. Because hate sadly is stronger than love.

It's always better to let the spring come and let the flower bloom, alright? It's always better to fall in love with the right one. Not everyone finds it. You have. Keep it. Let the flower bloom and be the most beautiful of it's kind. Your heart is singing a song today. The beats to that song is being played inside Agnes. Capture her in your frame, Jason. Make a beautiful picture out of it. "

Jason nodded imperceptibly still uncertain.

"And remember one thing," she continued as she gently punched his chest. "It's not your neurons. It's your heart"

"But--"

"You teach human psychology, silly. You know all of this better than I do. So come on!"

He sighed. She smiled and embraced her brother lovingly. "I love you, brother. And I wish you realise this soon that you have fallen in love too."

She walked towards the door. "Takumi called me now. So see ya! "

"Hey Fidel?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too"

She laughed and went out.

Jason looked at the sky and it's stars which shined their brightest. Perhaps she was like the moon in his night sky and the sun of his day. Perhaps she was the colour of his petals and flavour of this ice cream. Perhaps she was completing him.

Perhaps.. she was the sweetness to his dark chocolate.

~'~

:D I'm sorry I couldn't reveal much of the pyramids. But it's only because it hasn't been discovered much itself.
25. A step closer.