"Where is this place?" Evangeline asked out loud when they manage to get through the thick jungle just to get here. Daphne, who's never a fan of doing any outdoorsy activity, looks around the dark cave and try to kill every bug that is trying to make contact with her skin.

"Lucky for me I have everything to kill these bugs! Why does it have to be in the jungle? Why can't it be in a mall or something? Where is this place?" Keres was this close to snap Daphne's neck when Hotep pulled her back by the collar.

"If I remember correctly, this is where I put every single of my soldiers to sleep before I was caught and buried alive," Imperia hummed while looking around the dark cave. She hummed.

"This is the cave but..." Imperia kneels to touch the floor.

"Unfortunately, someone manages to find this cave and place a barrier around them. I wonder who might that be..." Imperia turns to miss Kingston with a smile.

"This place was used by many occult worshippers to perform human sacrifice. I can smell the faint scent of human blood coming from deep in the cave. Miss Kingston, you shall do the honours of waking my soldier up from their slumber," Miss Kingston was speechless.

"But... I ... there is now at I can go in there alone!" Imperia then pointed at Miss Waters, Evangeline and Daphne.

"They're humans too, yes? They will come with you too," Daphne gasped dramatically.

"No! No way in hell, I'm going inside a dark cave! Nope! No!" Daphne declined until Hotep went to her side and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"You shall do what's best for Queen Imperia. That's your order, human," Hotep smiled before letting Daphne go from her hold. Evangeline was worried that she might end up eating Daphne but Hotep didn't.

"She is now your loyal servant, my queen. Don't worry humans, once she succeeds, I can bring her back to normal. That's a simple task," Miss Kingston sigh heavily before getting herself ready for the search.

"How should I know what to look for? I have no idea where this cave leads to. I might end dead because of this," Princess Keres sigh.

"There are traps all over the place but I'm sure the humans who venture into the cave before you do must've activated it. If they manage to do human sacrifice in here, there's a chance that there is no more hidden traps," Keres explained.

"Is it safe in there? I don't want to die yet," Evangeline question for her dead life.

"Oh human, exploring a dark cave bound to be dangerous. Where have you been living? This is a perfect moment for you to find something worth to study. If you manage to find the soldiers, you can add that to your thesis as well," Hotep smiled.

"Umm... how do we woke them?" Miss Waters question.

"Ah, I have just the thing for that," Keres gave Miss Waters a vile of blood.

"There should be an altar in the middle of the room where the soldiers were. You'll know what it is once you see the altar itself," Miss Waters took the vile and kept it safe in her vest jacket.

"Now go, we don't have much time. Just follow Daphne who shall be your guide. Since Hotep place a spell on her, she will be of use if something went wrong," Imperia smile while he humans look at the dark path with a heavy heart.

***

As they entered the dark caves, they followed Daphne who seems to be enchanted by Hotep's spell. For someone who doesn't like to do any outdoor activity, she sure looks like a pro, walking around without any source of light.

"This way," she said like a robot. They all know that's not the real Daphne.

As they walked through the hard terrain, Miss Kingston noticed an ancient text on the wall. Since she can't stop for further inspection, she just scans it. Her heart drop when she realised it's a warning.

"Guys, there's a warning for those who enter this cave. Will it affect us since the owner itself asked us to be in here?" None of them answers Miss Kingston question when they stumbled on a group of people wearing a hooded robe.

Evangeline pulled Daphne away from being seen and hide behind one of the huge rock not far from the main path. Miss Waters knows this kind of group far too well.

"Occult worshippers. They probably thought this place could grant them endless wealth or power or something. It seems like they're sacrificing animals for this rituals," she whispered.

"What should we do? We can't wait until they're done. Those vampires will kill us if we take too much time," Miss Kingston reminded them. Evangeline thought of an idea.

She picked a small rock near her foot and threw it against the wall. The group of people seems to be excited hearing strange sound around them.

"They probably thought it's the real devil. If only they know that they're just waiting for us outside of this cave," Miss Waters sigh, worried about the faith of this world in the hands of delusional like them.

Once the group of people leave the path they should be taking, they let go of Daphne and lead them towards their original destination.

"Holy... mother of God... what is this place?!" Evangeline then realised that her friend is back to her normal self.

"It's an open casket... for a woman with a buxom figure wearing a white dress on each casket. What is this? This is her supposedly army? How many are they?" Miss Kingston examine the casket and was astounded by her find.

"Guys, this is not just a normal burial cave. This is the place where the queen places her most elite soldier, the vampire brides," they gasped. Miss Waters looks around for an altar.

"So we should just pour the blood into this little hole?" They all shrugged. Miss Waters decided to do what's best and pour the whole vile into the hole.

"Oh my God..." one by one the brides rise from their casket once they were regained consciousness from their master's blood. One of the brides even try to devour Miss Waters but somehow it stops and remain calm.

The humans were surprised by this. They all wonder just how did every single vampire they rise from the dead .. never once searching for blood.

***

"What exactly do the brides do?" Daphne asked as they prepared something to eat by the fire.

"They clean, they cook and they tend to my needs. When I need them to fight, they act as a soldier," Imperia explained as she plays with the coal with her bare hands.

"I thought vampires afraid of fire," Evangeline pointed out.

"Wife's tale. I can produce fire from my palms," Imperia showed the ball of fire that's on her palm before threw it onto the fire.

"Let me get this into one simple explanation, okay?" Imperia let Miss Kingston continue with her deduction that she's been working on together with Miss Waters for hours now.

"You were forced into the golden casket because your father doesn't want you to interfere with her son's coronation. Princess Keres was forced to be buried because she is your lover and will lead a rebel army to bring Gotus down for burying you. That I can understand why but where does Hotep stands? Not to mention she's way in Egypt," Hotep smiled.

"Back in the day, it's common for a royal blooded queen to have more than 1 lover. Hotep here is the second lover before she found a new boy toy if that's what the modern world calls it," Miss Kingston then realised something.

"You were cheated on the queen and was turned to a vampire to stay by her side?" Hotep nod.

"I killed my family because Imperia told me that I can be queen if they're gone. But since my father has a lot of loyalist on his side, I was captured and well, treated like a beast with spears pierced through my resting place just to keep me from rising back to life," Hotep explained.

"What's the point of bringing he brides back?" Miss Waters asked.

"Hmmm, that's a good question. What do you plan on doing with them, Imperia?" Keres asked since she doesn't have any clue at all.

"I'm thinking, now that I am alive, I want to build my own kingdom again. But of course, that doesn't mean anything anymore since this is a modern world," they look at each other. Daphne almost burns her food as well.

"I'm going to establish myself. Letting my name out and who knows my family will notice me. We should commercialise my name into the media, let everyone know that Imperia Luna is alive and well," Hotep hummed.

"Hmmm... I think I have an idea. Why not make use of these humans knowledge and build an empire from excavating antiquities. We have anthropologist and archaeologist in our hands," Hotep suggested.

"You mean build a museum?" Hotep nod.

"I have knowledge of where does an ancient king buried themselves and where he stashed his gold. With this find, we can tell the world that Imperia Luna is alive and well. I'm sure by now your family knows that your tomb has been discovered by them. It's only a matter of time when they strike," Keres smiled when Hotep doesn't sound like it's a bad idea at all.

"Which king would that be?" Miss Kingston was intrigued.

"The Great Iron King," Hotep smiled while the anthropologist questions herself about the king. She never heard of any Iron King before.

***

"Who the hell is this Iron King? I never heard of them in any ancient text before," Daphne asked the archaeologist. Miss Waters shakes her head.

"I never heard of any claims before. Even in the books I've read through the college years, none mentioned anything about the Iron King. This is truly a new find even for us," Miss Kingston agreed with Miss Waters.

"Well, at least the journey is a lot easier with the brides making a path for us to walk on. Evangeline tries to lighten the mood. Daphne on the other hand never enjoys fieldwork.

"How does someone like you even wanted to study anthropology if you have the field work?" Hotep asked when she's suddenly appeared beside Daphne.

"I like the history and investigating part. I never like the field work. I can always ask someone else to do that for me," Daphne sprayed herself with the bug spray again.

"You're killing Mother Nature, human," Imperia said who seems to be unfazed by the bugs.

"Are we there yet, Hotep?! And how did you know about him? I never even heard of this Iron King before," Keres beginning to feel annoyed by the buzzing sound. Hotep chuckled.

"I used to date him. He went to Egypt for a peace talk but instead of talking about peace, he made my father angry and was kicked out from the summit for raising his voice. My father refuses to acknowledge his presence in the summit and then the Iron King simply vanished from the history text," Hotep explained.

"You used to date someone so repulsive? That is totally you Hotep," Hotep smiled. They continued to walk through the thick jungle until they came across a massive man-made cave.

"Magnificent. To think an ancient civilisation made these is beyond me," the vampires chuckled.

"I thought you humans question the existence of aliens because of the pyramids. Ever wonder if there is a possibility that a vampire helps the civilisation? We do have unimaginable strength," the humans look at each other and think about the possibility.

"Should we just go in? That's not wise," Miss Kingston asked while looking around the cave until she came across an ancient lettering on the walls of the cave entrance.

"Hotep, can you translate that?" Imperia asked Hotep who nods.

"Ummm... it says here... those who disturb the King's slumber shall face the consequences. That's fun, let's go! I remember that the king's trusted advisor kept his wealth in the burial ground as well. This is the time to take pictures of this excavation, humans," Hotep simply waltz into the cave without a care in the world.

"HOTEP! YOU SHOULD LET THE BRIDE ENTER FIRST!" Imperia warned but Hotep just went further inside without heed Imperia's warning.

***

"Magnificent... this is truly magnificent! There is a whole story about this king on the wall! His advisor truly loves their king," Miss Kingston turn to Hotep who admire the wall like the others.

"How did he die?" She asked the Egyptian princess.

"He died while having sex with me," both Imperia and Keres turn to Hotep, waiting for the real reason of his passing.

"Are you serious? He really died while having sex with you? When was this? I didn't even know anything about this," Imperia was curious.

"It was when I was a human okay! He was hot and I just can't resist being with him. I leave right after I noticed he was motionless," Keres can't believe her ears and so does Imperia.

"That aside, can any of you translate this lettering? I don't speak this language. Hotep?" Hotep examined each detail of the lettering. Even she was astounded by what she had read. Hotep has no idea that the king he used to sleep with was this amazing in his lifetime.

"It says here that he died protecting his people. Of course, they didn't mention I was the cause of it. Even Imperia falls for me when she saw me naked," Hotep chuckled. Imperia pinches the bridge of her nose when Keres glares at her.

"Ahhh, here it mentioned how he build his kingdom from scratch. He wasn't born royal. He made himself into one. That is why none of the ancient rulers in his time takes him seriously, except for me of course," Miss Kingston was writing every single word in her book while Evangeline and Daphne taking pictures of the cave walls.

"Make sure to get every single word, ladies, once I get them on my computer, I can translate them easily. That is after I learned their language," Miss Waters said.

"Knowing the ancient ruler will never see him as a king, he works hard and finally got himself to marry a princess, from the Mayan empire. But something happens after the marriage that the Mayan king disown his own seed and once again, his name was not shown in any ancient text belongs to the Mayan," Miss Kingston seems excited about this find.

"I think he lied about his position. The Mayan king probably learns about his true story but the princess just can't leave him for her father. Along this time, some of the Mayan look up to him and call him as a righteous king. That is how he grew his kingdom," Hotep dust some of the dirt off the text.

"This explains the Mayan symbol right here," Miss Waters pointed at a symbol on the other side of the wall. She was astounded by this until she came across a familiar looking symbol again.

"Isn't this your symbol?" Hotep went to Miss Waters side and laughed.

"Yes, it is. They mentioned about me here as well. I was called as the mistress of the king. But, the text mentioned how I took the king away from the Mayan princess. This is a lie! He never leaves her, he loves the princess more than anything. I was the one who lured him to sleep with me. His heart was never with me, it's for the princess," Hotep explained.

"How did you ever fall for this slut?" Keres asked Imperia who ignored her question.

Hotep tilts her head and examines the rock formation. She proceeds to push the rock forward and another doorway was revealed to them.

"Well ladies, shall we go inside?" This time Imperia command her brides to check the surrounding before they went inside.

***

When they walk through the path that the bride makes sure is safe to walk on, they came across a golden door which Hotep confirms as the treasure that was put inside for the king's afterlife journey. After they're done with taking necessary pictures, Hotep opens the door and revealed a vast collection of gold jewellery, Crown Jewels and even a few gold caskets in several sizes.

This is simply heaven for the anthropologists and archaeologist.

"This is one of the most preserved burial sides we've ever encountered. Take all the pictures I clear shot, Daphne," Daphne nods her head and proceed to take pictures of the whole room. Evangeline went to one of the treasure chests and was applauded by this. It's a wonder how gravedigger hasn't found this place yet.

"Mother Nature manages to cover up everything including the existence of this very king. Seems like she doesn't want anyone to disturb his peace," Imperia pulled Evangeline away from touching the treasure chest.

"It's dangerous to touch ancient treasure without proper equipment. Sometimes ancient people place a cursed or some kind of poison to kill those who touch their kings' possession," Evangeline thanked the vampire queen.

"Keres, is it poison?" Keres nods her head.

"Hotep, cleanse it all. Miss Waters, Miss Kingston, I hope this find will help to bring my name to light. There's a whole history of this unknown king right here. Hotep will help you both to translate the ancient text," they nod.

"I'm sure even the museum who see us as amateur excavator will shit bricks when they saw what we've accomplished. I'm sure we've made Angela proud too," Evangeline smiled when Miss Kingston mentioned her mother.

"Angela?" Imperia question.

"Evangeline's mother. She was the one who studies about your history before anyone else. Imperia smiled.

"Lady Angela Odin, yes? So she is your mother?" Evangeline nod.

"You know my mother?"

"Of course I do, she was the first human who taught me about the modern world. She used to talk to me while studying about me. She mentions about her daughter once or twice before," Imperia then stands in front of Evangeline and examined her feature.

"That is why you look familiar to me before, you're her child," Imperia smiled.