Disclaimer - Don't own them. Never will own them. Can't say Ramses belongs to me either but the idea of his jewel is (and her Spire), Geb, and Isis plus any others you don't recognize are mine though.

Summary - A trip to Egypt for the O'Connells turns into a race against time in the search for the jewel of Ramses II.

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The Jewel of the Mummy

"Evie, tell me again why we are here?" asked Rick.

"Legend has it that one of the three parts of Ramses II's jewel is here. After we find this one, if we do of course, we should try and find the other two pieces. It'd be magnificient though it might take us a while to find them all. They were all hidden away," explained Evie, moving away a few of the stones.

"I don't understand all this stuff you keep saying about this rock. What's so important about it anyway?" asked Rick.

"This jewel of Ramses is very powerful. The story is that it was broken into three pieces. Two were placed into hidden temples and no one knows where the third one was placed. There's a good chance that it will never be found. My research for that piece had led nowhere with it for its location was apparently never recorded," explained Evie.

Alex stood several feet away from his parents, gazing upon the ruins of the temple. They never noticed two eyes watched them from the darkness. It appeared that the figure was leaning on a pillar which had something coiled around it. The figure soon sat down beside it, still watching them from the darkness.

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At a temple closely, two bright eyes watched two figures walk inside.

"Now where would that chest be? Everybody's outside waiting for it," demanded one.

"Be careful. These ruins could collapse on top of us. On top of that, there's the guardian of this chest. Nobody has ever lived to tell the tale of that ferocious creature," the other replied.

The two searched for a minute before one stopped and smiled at his companion.

"Come on scaredy-cat, the entrance is over here," he said.

They headed towards a doorway as a figure steathily followed them down the hallway. As they continued on, the second man turned around and screamed at what he saw. The other man stopped and gave an angry sigh.

"What's wrong now?" he angrily asked.

"THAT!" he screamed, pointing at the growling figure.

They had a good look at the creature standing before them and it was a full grown lynx. It growled at them before darting past them and down the tunnel where they quickly followed it. The lynx ran into large room, its doors invisible against the walls. It ran up to the chest on the pedestal in the middle of the room and grasped onto it with its teeth before running out a back entrance. The two men soon came to a dead end, the chest nowhere in sight.

"What happened to the cat? It vanished into thin air!" the one said angrily.

"No, you scaredy-cat dolt. It knew where that piece of jewel was and it could've lead us right to it! It's gone! Let's go!" the other man replied, starting to run back.

They ran outside and climbed onto their horses. The group spotted the cat in the distance and gave chase. The cat continued to run hard towards a temple, which was slowly coming into view.

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Alex stood behind his parents, wondering if that chest was indeed here.

"Mom, Dad, the jewel could be anywhere. Do you know what you're looking for?" he curiously asked.

"I'm pretty sure Alex," replied Evie.

Suddenly, they heard noises coming from outside, causing Evie to stop what she was doing and they all watched the entrance.

"What the heck is that all about?" asked Rick.

The cat ran into the temple, startling the figure already there. The figure was very surprised to see the cat's arrival. The animal put down the chest and roared. A horse ran into the room through a hidden passage and the cloaked figure jumped down. The figure grabbed the chest, picked up the cat and climbed onto the horse. The cat was in front of the figure, the chest behind. The horse started out the door but was stopped by a band of men.

"Stop right there and hand over the chest!" the leader ordered in Arabic.

The figure shook his head before hitting a stone with his hand. The chain reaction shook the the swirling pillar from its foundation and fell. The figure grabbed it in midair. It was a long rod with a snake's body swirling around it, its head at the top. The horse turned around and ran into a hidden passage.

"After him!" cried the leader, turning his horse around.

Once they left, the three O'Connells looked at each other in surprise before running outside.

"What do you think that guy had that those guys wanted so badly?" asked Rick as they hurried towards Hamunaptra on their camels.

"It's very possible that he has a part of the same jewel we're looking for," Evie replied.

"Whoa, just imagine if we actually got a piece of that jewel. It'd be amazing," Alex piped up.

"Yes, it'd be wonderful for research," Evie told them as they hurried towards the city.

The cloaked figure looked over his shoulder as the horse ran away. The group was slowly catching up and the figure saw this. He pulled the horse in by the mountain. The figure climbed off, rod in hand and took off the cat. The horse ran in one direction, the figure in another. The figure and cat ran for a bit before the figure collapsed in the sand and gasped for air. The leader walked up to him.

"Give us the chest," he ordered in Arabic.

The figure shook his head, making sure that they did not see his face.

"Then you shall die," the leader replied.

He lifted up his gun in order to fire but the clicks of guns caught everyone's attention. They looked behind her to see the Medjai, guns in hand.

"Oh no! Please let us live!" screamed one.

He started to run off into the desert and the rest of the group soon followed him, including their leader. They ran off far away into the desert in order to escape the Medjai.

Ardeth Bay walked up to the cloaked figure and the cat as Rick, Evie and Alex came into view. The Medjai knelt by the figure. He sighed and shook his head.

"Catlanda, do you realize that was suicide?" he asked in Arabic.

The figure nodded, gasping for air and carefully watching him.

"Take off the hood now, we have guests," Ardeth Bay told him in English.

He stood up as the three walked up to him, wondering what was going on.

"Rick, Evelyn, Alex, this is Catlanda, ally and messenger to all the Medjai tribes and is also one themself. I have to thank you for notifying us of this problem. It could've been much worse," he told them.

"No problem. Right now, I just want to know what's in that chest that he has," Rick replied.

Ardeth Bay looked at Catlanda with a smile as a hand took off the hood, revealing feminine features...

TBC...