FEATHER OF MA'AT
This is the second chapter! I don't own The Mummy or The Mummy Returns.
Evie--now officially divorced and named Nefertiri Ishak--walked out of the
office. Rick was sitting in his car, and he opened the door for her.
"I wish you weren't going," Rick said softly.
"It wouldn't matter anyway, Rick. Egypt's my home."
"Ev--Nefertiri, I won't let you do this alone. When we get to the docks, I'm
going to call Jonathan. He can stay with Alex for a good while until you
deciede what to do."
"Thank you, Rick."
The car pulled up to the docks, and the tow of thekm got out, pulling
Nefertiri's luggage with them. Rick went to find a telephone and Nefertiri
closed her eyes. The first face to come to her mind was her father's. Seti
had been so strong, so very regal, but he had been only mortal. Then, her
mother's face; kind and gentle, sweet and yet stern and commanding when the
need arose. She had died after Moses had ran off to Myddian. Moses. Her nephew
close to her own age, being Maya's adopted son, had gone off to who knew where,
only to return to demand that the Israelite slaves be set free.
His departure was as a catalyst. Her father had found out about Imhotep and
Anck-su-namun's affair, then had been killed. Nofret had then been married to
Ramessses, her own son, and had died in the birth of her son, Smenkhare. The
boy had hardly lived three years before being killed by a pet cheetah.
Ramesses had married again, and his firstborn son, Mena, had died after the
Plagues, when the Firstborn of everything not Israelite had died. She was lucky
that Menet-ka was the firstborn, though he had gone for the Priesthood. The
High Priest of Set had found him draped like a sacrifice to the god of Chaos and
Destruction.
"Alright, Evie--Nefertiri. Everything is set up so that we can be gone
indefinitely. Your aunt Jezebel is taking care of Alex and Jonathan. We could
be gone for the rest of our lives, and though they wouldn't like it, they'd
survive."
"Good. Thank you, Rick." Nefertiri and Rick boarded the liner, listening to
the people crying out to their loved ones, and walked down to the state room
that Rick had secured for them. The rooms were nice, and Rick had the
forethought to get a two-bedroom suite. Then again, that could have been the
only one left, as it looked extremely pricy. The walls were paneled birch,
mahogany bordering it, with the walls between the doorways decorated with a pale
wood done in an Egyptian style pillar. Since Howard Carter had discovered and
subsequently demolished Pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb in "22, the Egyptian style
for everything had come in style with a bang. Nefertiri hated it. Nothing they
tried had gotten right. She had become sick and tired of Egyptomania going
crazy, and all of the insane curators wanting this, that, and the other that
came from Egypt, but didn't realize that they were grave robbing.
"Are you alright?" Rick asked.
"I don't know if I ever will be again, Senekhtenre," Nefertiri replied
softly.
"Excuse me?" Rick inquired, sounding thoroughly puzzled. "You spoke
Egyptian."
"Sorry. I don't know if I ever will be alright again, Rick. My family is
gone. Father is dead, as are my siblings. Even my crazy runabout brother is
dead, probably from old age and or dehydration from walking around the desert
for who-knows-how-long. Ramesses and Father, Grandfather, and everyone before
or since is on display like a... a... freak of nature! My family are not
freaks of nature, Rick! We are human, just like everyone else! So what if
we're the children of Horus! My people are dying, if not already dead. They
died when that git Alexander came and destroyed their land, put us under Greek
rule. Then the Romans, and that Greek bint, Cleopatra, and all her descendants
followed him. I feel horrible, Rick! I want to go home, to sit on a couch
beside my brothers, to play with my sisters, to be held by my mother! I miss
them, Rick! If only I could see one of them." Nefertiri looked up at Rick,
and saw that he had gone slightly white and looked a
bit panicked. She fell onto one of the couches, and began to weep.
"Evie..." Rick began, sitting next to her. He rubbed her back, gently soothing
her. Then, he began to do something completely unexpected. He began to sing a
lullaby to her.
Dream by night
Love it seems
Rick began to hum slightly before beginning to sing once more.
Love it seems
You and I
Ev'ry part
Nefertiri felt herself drifting off after the first verse, and was completely
out cold by the time Rick had finished singing the song.
Nefertiri walked down the stairs, completely alone. There was nothing to see,
nothing to hear or touch or smell. No incense burning to the gods. No sounds
of fervent worshipers. It was as if she was walking through a dead city. The
towers and statues her brother had made stood at odd angles. She saw one of his
statues had been decapitated, which made her feel rather ill. How dare they
treat her brother's works of art and majesty like this! On top of the
decapitated statue was Jonathan, who was yelling down at her. Then, Ramesses
walked up.
"What happened here, little sister?" Ramesses asked.
"Archeologists. Or, rather, plunderers and people who believe themselves to be
archeologists. They would rather destroy a culture than learn about it."
"I see."
"Get away from me, damnit!" a voice screamed. It was a woman's voice, and
then she screamed back to herself a string of obscenities. Rounding the bend,
Ramesses and Nefertiri came upon two Anck-su-namun's fighting like angry cats.
Off to the side were two Imhotep's, one covered in scarabs and semi-decayed,
the other looking like the High Priest of Osiris had been thoroughly
regenerated. A horseman rounded the bend, followed by a legion of riders. It
was Ardeth Bay, seeming to charge the four people. Nefertiri saw herself leap
in front of Ardeth as both Anck-su-namun's ran off, leaving the Imhotep's to
be slaughtered by the Medjai.
"Ardeth! No!" Nefertiri cried as she saw herself go down under the black
stallion's hooves. The leader of the Medjai leapt off of his horse and held
the dying woman to him. Both Imhotep's glared daggers at Ardeth Bay as
Nefertiri ran over. Suddenly, the regenerated Imhotep scooped her up in his
arms, holding her close.
Then, without warning, the ground gave way beneath Imhotep, who clung to the
side of the gorge. Senakhtenre, with Rick's hair, held Nefertiri to him. She
broke out of the hold, and held her hand down to Imhotep, hauling him up and
clutching him like all life depended on it. The High Priest obviously seemed to
forget that Anck-su-namun had ever existed.
Nefertiri yelled as she sat up, sweating and gasping. She felt the skin between
her loins was wet, her abdomen was throbbing, and she was tingling all over.
She knew that she had to take a bath. A very cold bath. Blushes
weren't only one thing that needed cooling. She got out of the bed, seeing the
sheets tangled so that they had been yanked off of the bed in places, revealing
the thin, lumpy and crinkly blue-and-white striped mattress. Her cheeks heated
up again, and she ran into the bathing room to draw her bath, turning the water
on icy cold.
She dunked her foot into the water, yelping from the frigid temperature. She
hopped on one foot while trying to warm the other, and fell into the water.
"Evie? Are you alright?" Rick's voice yelled.
"Hoh my Gods it's cold! I'm fine!" she replied, her voice higher
than normal due to the icy water. She cursed in a mixture of ancient Egyptian
and English, surely making him worry more than he should.
"Are you sure?" Rick called.
"Yes, "Tenre! Now go on and go oversee a field practice or
something," she called in ancient Egyptian, not able to think properly.
She dunked her head, cooling her blushes instantly. A very quick scrub later,
and she was pale and shivering, wrapped up in a spare blanket and seated on the
couch as the maid changed the sheets.
"Whyever ye "ad te go an' dunk yerself in th'ice water is b'yond me,
Miss," the maid said, her thick accent making it slightly difficult to hear
correctly. Nefertiri didn't answer.
Wish by day
Love begins this way.
Loving starts
When open hearts
Touch, and stay.
Sleep for now
Dreaming's how
Lover's lives are planned.
Future songs
And flying dreams,
Hand, in hand.
Made flying dreams
So hearts, could soar.
Heaven sent
These wings were meant
To prove, once more.
That love is the key....
Love is the key.
You and I
Touch the sky
The eagle and the dove.
Nightingales
We keep our sails
Filled with love.
And love it seems
Made flying dreams,
To bring you home to me....
Made flying dreams
So hearts, could soar.
Heaven sent
These wings were meant
To prove, once more.
That love is the key....
Love is the key.
Touch the sky
The eagle and the dove.
Nightingales
We keep our sails
Filled with love.
Ever strong
Our future song,
To sing it must be free.
Is from the heart,
And love is still the key.
And love it seems
Made flying dreams
To bring you home
To me
Three weeks later, the steamer pulled into Cairo, and Nefertiri and Rick
disembarked. They went to wander around before they found somewhere to live and
begin their lives anew.
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