"Cartouche"
by Makura Kirei
Summary: An ancient prophecy foretelling the rise of Ancient Egypt has set in motion a chain of events that threatens to obliterate our world as we know it. The cartouches of four mysterious people have been uncovered in Tutankhamun's tomb. Next to the cartouches, the prophecy is written. What connection have these four cartouches to the prophecy? Who are the four mysterious people? And what is the prophecy? Stay tuned…
Tutankhamun's tomb
Place: Cairo, Egypt.
Time: 11:52 am
Year: 2002
She could feel the heat rising as she toiled in the fluorescent light of her lamp. She had worked ceaselessly from dusk until dawn, and it was almost midday. She checked her watch. It read 11:52. She sighed, straightened up from where she had crouched, and stretched.
Name: Marielle Stein
Age: 22
Occupation: Student-archaeologist
When she had gotten the call from her history professor, she was thrilled. Not many got a chance to work alongside professional archaeologists, excavating Tutankhamun's tomb. She jumped at the chance, helping the other archaeologists translating some of the many hieroglyphs on the walls of his tomb in an effort to completely catalogue the famous king's burial place. She had traveled here a week ago, and had managed to translate almost half of a small wall that she was working on.
The hieroglyphs she was working on seemed unimportant; merely an account of the king's everyday life. But here and there, the same hieroglyphs popped up. Translated, they read, 'the prophecy'. A small section mentioned the mysterious prophecy and the rise of ancient Egypt once again. Marielle attributed this to the fact that Tutankhamun's 'heretic' father, Akhenaten, had almost led Egypt to ruin, and the people of Egypt were still recovering from his disastrous rule. Perhaps it was just a testament to the will and power of ancient Egypt, no matter what would happen.
Actually, for the past few days she had become bored; uninterested. She wanted to find something that would rock the very foundations of the scientific world, and so far, she had found very little. All she had found was that the king enjoyed (gasp) archery. She had become discouraged; her hopes and dreams seemed as unattainable as ever. But, for some reason, today had felt different. Today had felt…special. Maybe that was the reason she was working so hard. Marielle could feel it in the air; something big was going to happen.
Marielle looked at her watch again: 11:55. She had wasted three minutes thinking. Only five more minutes until her lunch break. She had better finish up. Stooping down, she took a quick look at the last section of the wall. Her eyes scanned over it: nothing unusual. But, suddenly, three cartouches…no, six…no, eight cartouches popped into her line of vision. 'Eight cartouches?' Marielle thought, puzzled. 'That's weird.' She focused on the first four of the cartouches: Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun, Aye and Horemheb. 'Oh well.' Disappointed, she moved on to the last four.
The first cartouche…well, it was not like any Marielle had seen. The hieroglyphs didn't add up. Marielle ran trough the hieroglyphs. "He…ie…ro…Heero…What? This is impossible. There was no mention of a royal named Heero; it's not even an Egyptian name. So why is it here? Odd…" Marielle thought aloud, trailing off. She could feel her senses tingling, the adrenaline rushing through her veins. 'This could be it. This could be my big break.' She thought excitedly, moving on to the next cartouche. "Hoh..t…ru… Hotaru? That's even less of an Egyptian name than the first. Who are these people?" She wondered aloud again. Her blood coursed through her veins as her shaking fingers moved on to the next cartouche. "Wuh…fah..ie...Wufei? What is going on here? Dh…uu…o…Duo? Omigod…is that what I think it is?" Marielle exclaimed, her eyes falling upon the mysterious prophecy again.
"When the prophecy is realized, history will repeat itself. Egypt will rise again to welcome its ruler once more; long live Pharaoh! Long live Tutankhamun! Long live Ankhesenamun! May you live well in your new world, for Amun himself smiles upon you!" Marielle finished. Her head pounded and her vision blurred. With a shaking hand, she traced the cartouches of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. Only they didn't exactly read Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun.
"Heero…Hotaru…are they Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun? Were they the reincarnations the prophecy spoke of?" Marielle asked softly. The tomb began to spin, the light from her fluorescent lamp distorting the images on the walls. She saw five big robot-like machines, with a figure standing in front of each of them. She saw a group of four women dressed in odd outfits. And last, she saw a figure laughing…laughing…laughing. And with that last image, Marielle collapsed, only to forget everything she saw when she woke up.
'It has begun.'
by Makura Kirei
Summary: An ancient prophecy foretelling the rise of Ancient Egypt has set in motion a chain of events that threatens to obliterate our world as we know it. The cartouches of four mysterious people have been uncovered in Tutankhamun's tomb. Next to the cartouches, the prophecy is written. What connection have these four cartouches to the prophecy? Who are the four mysterious people? And what is the prophecy? Stay tuned…
Tutankhamun's tomb
Place: Cairo, Egypt.
Time: 11:52 am
Year: 2002
She could feel the heat rising as she toiled in the fluorescent light of her lamp. She had worked ceaselessly from dusk until dawn, and it was almost midday. She checked her watch. It read 11:52. She sighed, straightened up from where she had crouched, and stretched.
Name: Marielle Stein
Age: 22
Occupation: Student-archaeologist
When she had gotten the call from her history professor, she was thrilled. Not many got a chance to work alongside professional archaeologists, excavating Tutankhamun's tomb. She jumped at the chance, helping the other archaeologists translating some of the many hieroglyphs on the walls of his tomb in an effort to completely catalogue the famous king's burial place. She had traveled here a week ago, and had managed to translate almost half of a small wall that she was working on.
The hieroglyphs she was working on seemed unimportant; merely an account of the king's everyday life. But here and there, the same hieroglyphs popped up. Translated, they read, 'the prophecy'. A small section mentioned the mysterious prophecy and the rise of ancient Egypt once again. Marielle attributed this to the fact that Tutankhamun's 'heretic' father, Akhenaten, had almost led Egypt to ruin, and the people of Egypt were still recovering from his disastrous rule. Perhaps it was just a testament to the will and power of ancient Egypt, no matter what would happen.
Actually, for the past few days she had become bored; uninterested. She wanted to find something that would rock the very foundations of the scientific world, and so far, she had found very little. All she had found was that the king enjoyed (gasp) archery. She had become discouraged; her hopes and dreams seemed as unattainable as ever. But, for some reason, today had felt different. Today had felt…special. Maybe that was the reason she was working so hard. Marielle could feel it in the air; something big was going to happen.
Marielle looked at her watch again: 11:55. She had wasted three minutes thinking. Only five more minutes until her lunch break. She had better finish up. Stooping down, she took a quick look at the last section of the wall. Her eyes scanned over it: nothing unusual. But, suddenly, three cartouches…no, six…no, eight cartouches popped into her line of vision. 'Eight cartouches?' Marielle thought, puzzled. 'That's weird.' She focused on the first four of the cartouches: Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun, Aye and Horemheb. 'Oh well.' Disappointed, she moved on to the last four.
The first cartouche…well, it was not like any Marielle had seen. The hieroglyphs didn't add up. Marielle ran trough the hieroglyphs. "He…ie…ro…Heero…What? This is impossible. There was no mention of a royal named Heero; it's not even an Egyptian name. So why is it here? Odd…" Marielle thought aloud, trailing off. She could feel her senses tingling, the adrenaline rushing through her veins. 'This could be it. This could be my big break.' She thought excitedly, moving on to the next cartouche. "Hoh..t…ru… Hotaru? That's even less of an Egyptian name than the first. Who are these people?" She wondered aloud again. Her blood coursed through her veins as her shaking fingers moved on to the next cartouche. "Wuh…fah..ie...Wufei? What is going on here? Dh…uu…o…Duo? Omigod…is that what I think it is?" Marielle exclaimed, her eyes falling upon the mysterious prophecy again.
"When the prophecy is realized, history will repeat itself. Egypt will rise again to welcome its ruler once more; long live Pharaoh! Long live Tutankhamun! Long live Ankhesenamun! May you live well in your new world, for Amun himself smiles upon you!" Marielle finished. Her head pounded and her vision blurred. With a shaking hand, she traced the cartouches of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. Only they didn't exactly read Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun.
"Heero…Hotaru…are they Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun? Were they the reincarnations the prophecy spoke of?" Marielle asked softly. The tomb began to spin, the light from her fluorescent lamp distorting the images on the walls. She saw five big robot-like machines, with a figure standing in front of each of them. She saw a group of four women dressed in odd outfits. And last, she saw a figure laughing…laughing…laughing. And with that last image, Marielle collapsed, only to forget everything she saw when she woke up.
'It has begun.'