Chapter Text
Author's Note: This is the sequel to And Into The Light. The reading order so far for all of my Flynn/Clara fiction is: And She Was Not An Adventure, Plato's Step-Daughter, A Christmas Clara, Sure As Sin, Once Upon A Dime, Reap The Whirlwind, Out Of The Darkness, And Into The Light, and By The Sword. Each new Flynn/Clara story will include an updated reading order.
Thunder & Lightning
Sit tight with the lights off
Waiting for my brain to start
Trying to work things out
It's thunder and it's lightning
And it's all things too frightening…
Clara opened her eyes, the world a blur above her, the sky another mystery to solve. Slowly, her existence began to make sense, Clara piecing it together like a puzzle, her father taking her hand, his eyes encouraging. She was in the House of Refuge, birdsong in the air, the sunlight streaming in through the window, silence reigning supreme. There was peace here, the best of dark and bright, the choice she had chosen.
Jacob was in Paris, remembering the rain. Eve had taken back her position as Guardian. Cassandra was still condemning the past, what she could have done to save those already damned. Ezekiel sat in smoky bars, losing count of how many beers he'd knocked back, trying to knock himself out. Jenkins sought shelter from the storm, despite knowing there was none to be found, that it was just a story in a book, a fairytale for children. But Galeas had grown up, and grown out of fairytales, reality a truth he couldn't comprehend...
And all around Clara, the battle raged, swords crashing together like thunder and lightning. Camelot was burning, fading as she faded, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The sky was a mystery she'd long since learned to solve, tracing the stars with her bloodstained fingers, finding her home in freedom before desire destroyed it, desecrating what had once been holy ground -
"Hartley!"
Clara opened her eyes, only to discover the world was sideways, Jacob's voice dragging her out of the darkness.
"Hartley, get up!" Jacob yelled, ducking, the axe missing his head by inches. "You're losin' focus - again!"
Clara staggered to her feet, snatching up her spear, only for somebody's sword to inexplicably slice it in two. Eve's sword to be precise. "What did you do that for!?" she yelled at Eve, diving to avoid a flying dagger.
"Sorry, it was an accident!" Eve yelled back, swinging her sword at her assailant, the mummy snarling at her. "Jones, what's holding you up!?" she bellowed at Ezekiel, who was prancing about in front of a wall displaying rows of hieroglyphs oddly interspersed with gleaming dials and gears.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ezekiel said sarcastically, "I just assumed you didn't want the ancient death-trap to drop a thousand tonnes of rocks on Cassandra" -
- "Get on it like a car bonnet!" Clara said, half vaulting, half sliding over the sarcophagus, making Jacob wince. It was the very reason why they were here, the key to their conundrum, but right now it was just in her way.
"I could rush if you like," Ezekiel said, striking a thoughtful pose.
"Please do!" Clara said, sinking her brogue into a mummy's stomach.
"The mathematical combination is based on these hieroglyphs!" Cassandra shouted above the din. "How many base symbols is there!?"
"Twenty four!" Jacob and Clara chorused in unison. "Old and New Kingdom!"
"Ezekiel, turn the gear twice clockwise," Cassandra said quickly, crouching down beside him, "and then the disciples of the sun divided by golden ratios and the pyramids three times counter clockwise" -
- "Ha!" Ezekiel crowed as the walls cracked open, only to reveal empty space. His face comically fell. "Ha," he said weakly, shaking his head.
"Where the hell is Flynn, Hartley!?" Eve said in disbelief, dodging a dead hand. "Seems like a no show from where I'm standing!"
"I don't know! He said to meet him here!" Clara cried, punching a mummy in the face. "But he didn't mention the possessed corpses!"
"You can say that again!" Jacob snapped, diving past her, rather like a goalkeeper.
Out of the blue, the mummies suddenly froze, only to crumble into dust. Flynn stepped forwards, carrying a casket, eyes alight with adventure. "Remove the medallion, and the mummies are no more!" he declaimed, striking a noble pose.
Clara stiffened, before catching herself, aware they had an audience. "You didn't mention the mummies or the medallions," she said pertly, sashaying over to him.
Flynn tilted his chin. "I'm sure I did," he said, eying her appreciatively despite everything, "back in Venice, just after that particularly ravishing sunset."
"I only remember what came after that," Clara said seductively, wrapping her arms around his neck, Flynn hesitating before sliding his own arm around her waist.
"Stone, Baird, Cassandra and Ezekiel, did I not mention the mummies nor the medallions in my message to meet me at the Monolith of Moods?" Flynn reeled off, throwing the casket at Cassandra who barely caught it, Ezekiel all but ripping it from her hands. "If only I had a glass of Fanta to toast our triumph!"
"Occasion calls more for champagne, man," Ezekiel complained.
At this, Eve clipped Ezekiel around the ear, forcing him to drop the casket.
"Nope, next time, mummy memo," Jacob said, picking himself up off the floor.
"You came back alive," Clara said, exaggeratedly tapping Flynn on the nose, just to remind him she was there.
"So I did, Hartley," Flynn said tiredly, wrapping his other arm around her waist as well, making Clara tense.
"Not that I don't enjoy a spot of classic tomb-robbing," Ezekiel said, swaggering over to them, "but why are we here?"
"Because I believe this sarcophagus holds the key," Flynn said, letting go of Clara, both hiding their relief, "I think I've found the way to bring back the Library."