Ava woke up her twin, Aria. “Ughh…. Just five more minutes, it's just five in the morning", she mumbled.
“Wake up, silly, it's not five but eight in the morning! Besides, mom and dad had just decided about the trip to Egypt, and they want you to know about their decision too!” Ava and Aria’s Mother, Maria and Father, Frank, were renowned archaeologists. They always travelled around the world, discovering artefacts as they went. Now they had planned a trip to Egypt, but they were not sure if they could go since they were very busy. After hearing the word ‘Egypt’, Aria was wide awake. She could clearly see the happy smile on her sister’s face, but she still asked, “What?” “We’re going!” Ava squealed, “Yess!!” Aria said happily, “We’d better start packing right away!”.
As they were packing, Aria packed all her beauty products and best dresses, fit to wear in the scorching hot sun..Ava also packed them, but she left some space for her books( at this moment, the books which gave info about Egypt). Their poodle (dog), Duchess, was packing all her plushies. As Ava was searching for more books, a big book fell down next to her. She gasped, “Huh! hey! This is another diary of Sarah Jameson!” Aria came running towards her “What?!” she said. “Yess!”Ava squealed, “Let's go to the park and read it for more light!” “Ya, the handwriting is so old and foggy”, said Aria.
Hundreds of years ago, there was a famous archaeologist named Sarah Jameson who always uncovered artefacts wherever she went. However, she had a really bad boss, James Eric, who forced Sarah to give him the artefacts she found, so that he could keep them in his personal gallery. Sarah did not like this. She thought they should be kept in a place where everyone can admire them and should not be locked away in some personal gallery where no one can see them anymore. So she joined another department of archaeology and did her work there. But this didn’t stop James. He still went after her and stole the artefact in every possible way. So she carefully retrieved it and hid it here and there where nobody could find them ever. But she had a plan. She always wrote diaries and hid them, too. They had the clue to finding the artefacts. But she gave one to her daughter, Emilie and went on a mission but never came back. Emilie didn’t understand it and gave it to her daughter. Nobody understood until it came to the hands of Sarah’s great-great-granddaughters Ava and Aria. Now James tried his best to pursue his sons and grandchildren but none had the passion for archaeology like James did until Lucas came along. He too became an archaeologist and used modern technology to find the artefacts and complete the gallery on behalf of his great-grandfather. But he always lost against Ava and Aria, the Mystery Masters. He felt stupid that he, a man aged 26 always lost against two teenagers. So he kept sending a couple of spies, like he did at the moment.
Ava and Aria were so excited that they failed to notice a person lurking around behind the tree, eavesdropping on their conversation and clicking photos of their diary. Ava and Aria noticed two bright lights coming from a bush. Binoculars. Their suspicions suddenly grew. “Lucas”, they both said out loud. Suddenly, the camera clicking light behind the tree and lights from the bushes disappeared. “OMG, Lucas is always so nosy!” Ava exclaimed. “ We’d better tell mom and dad quickly before Lucas gets to know that we know we have company everywhere. Also our house is very far away. We'd better keep a check of our surroundings if there are any spies,” Aria whispered grimly. “How about we call Mom and Dad? It’ll be quicker. ”Ava said quietly. “ No. Let's keep it this way. Lucas uses modern technology and can listen to all calls around the world. Besides, his secret headquarters is in the South Pole it will take a jet about an hour to reach there We’ll have plenty of time, and it's safe because Lucas will not get the message quickly.” Aria whispered. “Ok” Ava whispered back.
After telling their parents what happened, Maria said, “We can’t cancel our trip to Egypt. After all we booked our tickets and did our vaccinations.”
“Ugh!What!” cried Lucas sitting in his headquarters in the habitable portion of Antarctica drinking a cappuccino “ They got to know that I sent you to spy on them!?” “Yes, sir”, said his spy agents, Andrew and Craig as they hung their heads in shame. “ How could you be so careless?” shouted Lucas “Maybe I should get more advanced spy agents. He looked at Craig and Andrew and said angrily “ What are you two looking at! This was all because of you two, now they will be extra careful! And never mind the extra agents. I’ll do it myself!”
Three weeks later, they departed from their hometown, Los Angeles, California. Now their plane was zooming over the Red Sea. Ava, the bookworm was engrossed in the diary. Araia, a tech genius, was trying to secure the area by sending counter signals to destroy Lucas’s signals. The parents were sleeping like logs. “What!” cried Aria “There are new signals coming, but what kind of signals are they anyway?” “ Maybe you should try to decode them,” Ava suggested. “No but these signals are not coming from Puerto Toro, Antarctica, but from inside the plane itself. And the signals are strong, which means it's coming from inside the plane itself!” Aria whispered. The feeling of uneasiness crept over her. As if someone was watching her. Duchess started growling. “Can you tell me where this signal-sender is sitting? He’s starting to give me the creeps!”. “Sure, they're sitting in this row, but if they have to spy on us, they have to sit in front or behind us, huh!, yep, they’re sitting behind us”. Aria noticed her sister getting uncomfortable “Don't worry”, she said “, We will arrive at Luxor quite soon”.
Suddenly, there was extreme turbulence, which meant that they landed. “Welcome to Luxor International Airport and have a lovely stay!” said the pilot. Later, they checked into a small,old-style hotel overlooking the Nile - something which was quiet, away from tourist crowds. Their parents were sleeping peacefully as if they had not got enough sleep. Ava placed the old diary on the bedspread “Hey! Sarah wrote about this inn!” she said, eyes lighting up. “So this is where she started the Egypt chapter of her life…” said Aria.
“Hey! We're going to the museum to research more about Sarah's diary!” Ava said, “Ok,” their parents mumbled sleepily. “ Look what she mentions in the diary!...” said Ava.
“I left my whisper with the keepers of the kings…”
“I think she meant the valley of the kings, where kings were buried” Ava said “No!” Aria said, laughing, “The Valley of the Kings is very big for one to travel. I’m sure she meant the Valley of the Kings museum archive!” Inside, they found all types of Egyptian stuff. Paintings, things from tombs, sculptures of gods and goddesses and even coffins. Everything was really beautiful, but one display caught Ava’s eye- a necklace that looked exactly like the one Sarah wore in an old family photo. “Hey! Look at that!” she exclaimed “Yeah, it's so beautiful!” Aria said. Next to the necklace is a paper that looks completely blank, as Aria leaned forward to have a good look, and her warm breath accidentally fogged the glass. Suddenly, faint glowing words appear through the mist. The guard nearby was startled, but let them examine the sheet, after all, they are student archaeologists. And that’s where they found their second poem clue:
“Luxur, where Ra once kissed the stone,
The secret sleeps where no roots have Grown.
Beneath the gaze of old statues,
Find the one with eyes of gold…”
Ava wrote it down quickly. Aria gasped, “ Sarah’s vault… It's here! She exclaimed.
The morning sun blazed across the golden stone as Ava,Aria, and their parents stepped through the towering pylons of Karnak Temple. Tourists crowded the outer courtyards, but the girls followed closely behind their parents, who flashed special access passes to the site supervisor.
"This section's restricted," the guard warned.
"We’re here with the university team," Maria replied calmly. "We’re helping with cataloguing." She smiled and gestured to her daughters. "These two have made some surprising connections from the diaries we’re researching."
Inside the cool shade of the Hypostyle Hall, the towering columns rose like stone trees, their tops blooming with carvings of lotus flowers and stars. Ava felt the weight of history pressing gently on her shoulders — not heavy, but steady, like a hand guiding her forward.
They paused before a row of statues, each weathered by centuries. But one stood out: a seated figure of a falcon-headed god, Horus, with eyes that shimmered faintly gold in the light.
Aria's voice was almost a whisper. “The one with eyes of gold…”
Their father stepped back, letting them move forward. "Go ahead. We’re right here if you need us."
Ava stepped closer, tracing her fingers around the base of the statue. There — a carved scarab, barely visible, matching the symbol in Sara’s diary. She pressed it gently.
A faint grinding noise echoed beneath their feet. A stone slab behind the statue shifted, revealing a narrow passage cut deep into the ground.
"She found it," Maria whispered in awe.
"Sara hid this… right here, all these years?" Aria gasped
Ava nodded. “She wanted someone who knew how to look to find it.”
Their parents knelt to examine the opening but didn’t go in.
"This is your journey,” Frank said softly. “You’ve come this far. We trust you.”
Flashlights in hand, hearts pounding, Anna and Arya descended the stone steps into the darkness — not afraid, but full of anticipation. The air was dry, ancient, and sacred. And at the end of the passage… waited the truth.
“What!?” Lucas cried in Alaska, “The treasure was supposed to be here! I’ve searched every nook and corner of Alaska but still found nothing!” Actually, what happened was the girls knew that Lucas was spying on them, so they pretended to drop the sheet and walk away. He ran, picked the sheet and read :
Where the sky meets the glass in the frozen lands,
Beneath the ice lie golden sands
Seek the wolf who guards the Flame
In the land that knows not Ra’s name.
And he decoded it just the right way! But his mind did not work well. He knew Ava and Aria always won against him. But his greed got in his way and lured him in the wrong direction!
Now in Egypt.
The air grew colder, and the atmosphere went tense as Ava and Aria went deeper into the stone passage. Their flashlight beams danced along the ancient walls, revealing faint carvings- some egyptian ,some unfamiliar, almost like Sarah added her own marks beside the hieroglyphics. The passage opened into a small chamber, untouched for years. Sand dusted the floor like fine sugar. At the very center stood a stone pedestal, and on it rested a jewel unlike anything they had ever seen.
It was about the size of a walnut, encased in an elegant golden scarab frame, its wing folding protectively around the gem. The jewel itself was shaped like a teardrop, but glowed from inside like it held sunlight trapped inside. Its colour was ever changing from soft red to deep tangerine to glowing amber. The light shimmered and pulsed gently like a star.
Aria stepped closer and said, “ It’s alive…” and gently touched the jewel. The moment her skin touched the golden frame all the hieroglyphics in the room lit up, suddenly illuminating the room. The jewel responded to her presence, casting out soft rays, revealing Sarah’s letter, written in an ink no one could see unless they had the eye of Ra.
Resting beneath the jewel was a folded paper, sealed with Sarah’s wax stamp. The girls exchanged a glance and opened it together.
My dearest daughter, Emilie...
This is the Eye of Ra, long believed to be lost. In ancient times, it was said to protect sacred knowledge, not to grant power, but to reveal truth to those who seek it with pure hearts.
When held in sunlight it reveals markings unseen by eye- symbols, maps and truths once forgotten. I used it once, briefly, to uncover a secret passage buried beneath sand and time. I sealed it away here, so it would never be reduced to another item in a collector's vault.
If James finds it, it will be just another shiny thing to him. But to you, it will show you the way.
Protect it. Guard what it reveals. And above all, keep searching- the world still holds wonders for those brave enough to look.
With all my love and Hope, Your loving Mother
Sarah Jameson.
As they read the letter, the jewel grew just a little brighter, as if it recognised them. A soft hum filled the air, like the faint sound of wind across the desert sands. Aria looked at her sister and said, “We are the last piece of her puzzle.” Ava nodded slowly, her eyes glinting with the jewel’s golden light. “ She never meant for this to end with her”, she whispered “Sarah hid the treasure because she believed someone in the future - someone like us- would understand why it mattered. Not to own it. But to protect it.” Anna turned the jewel in her hand as they stood at the entrance of the chamber. Its light had now dimmed, now warm and steady- no longer hiding, no longer afraid.
“We should take it,” Aria said softly. “ Not to keep it …but to protect it. To finish what she had started”. Their parents agreed. The vault would be carefully sealed again, the passage reinforced. Notes would be made for the museum archives, but no announcements.
No headlines.
Some things weren’t meant for crowds.
The jewel, though, still had more to reveal.
And deep inside, they knew: this wasn’t the end. It was just the first story told.