Push the sarcophagus over the edge

{if Roxxy is alive = true}They tried their hardest, but the lid would just not budge at all.

Roxxy grunted and heaved. "Fucking shit, it's not coming off! Fuck it, help me push this thing over the edge!"

"Are you serious?! This thing is-"

"Cut the archeologist shpiel Nora! We're going to end up fucking dead if we don't come up with something! At least this will buy us some time to think."

"Alright alright! I just really, really don't want to do this."

They pushed the sarcophagus towards the steps. It was heavy, and Nora had to put all her effort into it. Roxxy tried to help, but she was scrawny compared to Nora's more muscular physique. The bottom grinded painfully against the stone floor, but they continued to push. Soon it was teetering over the edge.

"Come on! One final push!"

They almost fell down with it. For a moment it was silent, but then the sarcophagus hit one of the figures in the chest, crushing it to a million pieces. It continued to hop erratically down the steps, taking several of them out, each time emitting a loud ear wrenching sound. Eventually it reached the bottom and it broke, cracking into large chunks. There was something glowing inside, but it flickered, as if overloaded with power. It made a buzzing sound that rose in pitch.

"That doesn't sound good..." Roxxy said.

There was a blinding light. Nora couldn't see anything, and for a moment everything was quiet and tranquill. The ground shook, stones fell from the ceiling, and she was swept off her feet. She hit her head against a rock. It hurt. It rung the inside of her head like a bell.

Things slowly came back into her vision. She writhed on the floor, half blind, half deaf, and in pain, clutching her head and cursing. She slowly regained her senses, and lifted herself to her hand and knees.

"Fuck, what the hell just happened?!" She paused, expecting an answer, but none came. "Roxxy?"

Roxxy lay there with a shocked expression frozen on her face. A large shard of terracotta jutted from her forehead. Blood dripped down, welling in her eyes.

Nora began to cry.

"No... No, no-no-no! Oh god! Oh god!" She fell to her knees next to her body. She placed her hands on her shoulders, half expecting that she was still somehow alive, and that she'll suddenly cough and say one of her quips. But she continued to lie there, still as a statue. "Oh god, Roxxy, I'm so sorry... I'm sorry! We should've done something else. I- I didn't know that was going to happen..." She sobbed, her tears landing as wet circles on Roxxy's shirt.

She mourned for a long while. She wrapped Roxxy up with a blanket from her pack, and ceremoniously left her in the centre of the ziggurat for pickup later. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her cheeks were caked with dried tears. The explosion took out most of the terracotta figures, and the ones that remained stood there frozen on the spot, mid stride. She mused that whatever 'thing' or 'power' that brought them to life was in that sarcophagus. All that remained of it was a puddle of gold, with charred bones jutting from the wreckage. The only salvageable item that remained was a key, similar to the ones she used to get in here, except it was larger and decorated with a red band of color. She figured it was for the door back at the hub.

She couldn't stop thinking about Roxxy though, and how she was going to explain this to her brother.{else}She tried her hardest, but it would just not budge at all. She hated to think about it, but she might just have to push this sarcophagus into their path, and hope that buys her enough time to think of a plan. She felt a little selfish that she had to damage an artefact like this just for her own survival, but she didn't see any other choice. She strained her muscles pushing the sarcophagus towards the steps. The first part was the hardest, as it was stuck to the floor from hundreds of years of dust and inaction, but once she had it dislodged, it wasn't as hard to push it around. It grinded painfully against the stone floor. Soon, it was teetering over the edge of the steps.

"Just... One... More... PUSH! Hngh-whoops!"

The sarcophagus fell down the steps erratically, crashing into figures and shattering them to a million pieces. Unfortunately Nora fell with it. She tried to stop herself, but she continued to roll, bouncing and flailing her arms. "Aieeee!" She shouted, occasionally grunting. Eventually the sarcophagus reached the bottom and skidded to a stop. There was a large crack in its side. She hit the ground with a thud soon after. She groaned, struggling to get on her hands and knees. She heard them surround her.

"Ah shit, what did you get yourself into Nora..."{endif}