To be fair, he last time I posted something here was when I was a kid. But I got a really nice review a short while ago, and it made my go through my old stories, most of them were never published in any way. And than there was this really great story that I never finished. I longed for the ending, and I found one, but I had to do a mayor rewrite. To make things interesting, I did it in English (I've been sick at home for a while now and have way to many free time on my hands). So in short:
1. English is not my mother tongue, if you could help me improve it, you're very welcome.
2. It might be understandable, but "old English" (like Egyptians would speak) is a lot harder for me. Just read it in a really archaic voice and you'll be fine.
3. I do not own Mummies Alive! How much is this franchise worth anyway? I'm thinking of buying it. ;)
Hope you enjoy the story!
Sweet Dreams
Scarab had had enough. Enough of being a mere mortal. Enough of those meddling mummies, who had been defending prince Rapses for so many years in this modern world. Even Heka got more and more aggravating over the years.
"This will never work", she exclaimed, hissing annoyingly. Scarab glared at her and continued his spell: "I call upon you, Tarum, god of visions and dreams, to come aid me in my dark plan." A cloud of dust appeared and when it cleared, Tarum stood before them.
The god of visions and dreams was – in lack of other words – a bat man. His body was that of a human, but he had dark wings and pointy ears. His eyes were black, but showed signs of anger. Heka seemed to grin: "So if he can't help, maybe next we will call Superman?"
"Oh god Tarum, I am-", Scarab began, but was interrupted harshly by the bat: "I know who you are. You are Scarab, the dung beetle man, who keeps calling gods and goddesses from the Netherworld for stupid plans to capture the spirit of a boy who should have lived a fulfilling live 3500 years ago."
Scarab looked at him with unease, only Heka smirked: "He nailed it." – "You know", Scarab began after a while, "I have been foolish in not calling you, the most powerful of all gods, sooner." Tarum seemed pleased by that, and motioned him to continue. "This time, your power will destroy the mummies once and for all."
"So what's in it for me", Tarum questioned, walking through the big room in the pyramid and looking at the exhibits that were displayed there. Scarab thought at it for a moment, then answered: "You know what happens if Rapses soul dies?" – "The guardians will die, too", Tarum answered truthfully, "but in the Netherworld we are rooting for them." Scarab made an effort to overhear the last sentence: "So with all the ancient Egyptians dead, there is no need for any deities anymore. The Netherworld will crumble and be destroyed." Tarum seemed surprised – he did not know if this statement was true, but it sure sounded plausible.
"So the only way to stay alive is to support me – since then you will be outside the Netherworld, when it collapses", Scarab finished, and grinned when he saw Tarum thinking about the offer. Before he could say something, Scarab chipped in: "And do not tell me it will not happen. Rapses might still be a youth now, but one day he will die, even if it is from old age."
Tarum thought hard about that, but what chance did he have? So after a long moment of silence, he and Scarab shook on the deal.
Rath awoke to a great amount of pain. His left arm hurt and his brain pounded violently against his skull. Something was wrong, but it took him an eternity to figure out what: He did not have a brain, at least not inside his skull. His brain was neatly preserved in a canopic jar next to his sarcophagus. So why did it hurt now inside his head?
He opened an eye, just one, since the pain was numbing. He was inside the sphinx – he recognized the sandstone bricks. Weird thing was – he was lying on a bed. Why was he not inside the sarcophagus, if he was hurt?
Something moved to the right of him. He tried to look in the direction, but a piercing pain stopped him. The person came into sight anyway. It was a person he hadn't seen in thousands of years. "Udja? The court physician", Rath asked with a hoarse voice. Udja smiled warmly: "It's a good sign you recognize me. But do you know who you are?" – "I am Rath, the teacher and guardian of the prince", Rath answered, "What on earth happened to me? And why are you here?" – "So you can't remember that, can you", the doctor asked, then went away for a short moment, chatting to another person. Rath could hear the word "short time memory loss".
He tried sitting up and saw the physician talking to a woman – she was Udja's wife and helped him out with the patients. Well, had helped him, both of them should have been dead for a while now. Udja's wife approached him and helped him drink from a cup.
Behind her Rath could see only Armon, so he questioned: "Where's Ja-Kal and Nefer-Tina?" The doctor laughed, but his wife gave him and Rath the evil eye: "Nefer-Tina? That's your new nickname for him? That's just mean, he is not THAT girly. He's just a boy and you are grown man, you should know better!"
Rath was shocked. The most irrational memory of them all appeared in this consciousness – of him and the other court servants making fun of Nefer for not wanting to go bathing in the Nile, calling him names and giving him humiliating "presents", like a robe worn only by brides.
But now she was a girl – he corrected himself: Nefer-Tina of course had always been a girl – so why would they still talk about her as a boy. Udja interrupted his thoughts: "Nefer and Ja-Kal are with their families. Both you and Armon are not married, so we thought we take care of you here."
Rath laughed heartily, but not for long, since his body just ached too much. "Neither is Nefer", he wanted to say, but nobody heart him because of a groan from Armon. The strong man was able to sit up right away, even though he was wrapped in multiple places like a mummy.
Suddenly it hit Rath with a force that almost catapulted him out of bed. Armon was no mummy anymore – he was a black man with a golden arm, the few bandages he had were for his injuries only.
Armon looked at him with shock, too, since he had not seen Rath alive in so many years. "Is everything alright, Armon", Udja questioned, while his wife brought him water, too. The fighter looked at Udja, his wife, Rath again, and started over. His brain worked somewhat slower than Rath's. "No, everything is alright. I just had a weird dream", he answered. Rath nodded to himself. Yes, the weird "modern" world must have been a dream.
Ja-Kal awoke to his son's crying. He sat straight in bed and looked around. He was back at his home in Egypt, his son was in the neighboring room, and his wife calmed the baby.
It did not take him long to get a grasp of the situation. Evidently someone played a trick on them. There was no way they were back in Egypt. This was not his wife Tia. He stood up from the bed he was lying in. Tia looked over to him with concern: "Darling? Is everything alright? Please stay in bed!" – "Where are the others", Ja-Kal questioned, no emotion in his voice. Tia was taken aback: "Your men? As far as I know the scribe and the big one are taken care of by the court physician. And the little one is with his family." Muttering thanks, Ja-Kal left to find his friends.
"Armon, Rath! I'm so happy to find you alive and well", Ja-Kal greeted both his men with true joy. All of them needed a moment to adjust to one another being alive, before the leader spoke again: "I hope none of you fell for Scarab's trick?" Armon and Rath looked puzzled, and the doctor looked up, following Ja-Kal's every word: "We are not in Egypt! We have to get out of this… this thing! To protect Rapses!"
Udja went over to him, laying a hand on his forehead, and then motioning his wife to bring a wet rag. "Ja-Kal, you are having a fever. You should go home and rest", he advised. Ja-Kal jumped back and took a fighting stance. "It's you, Scarab, isn't it? I'm going to destroy you once and for all", Ja-Kal screamed, and grabbed his amulet, "With the strength of Ra!"
Nothing happened, Ja-Kal never even found his amulet. What was going on? Rath stood up, not without problems, a put his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Ja-Kal, it was a dream. Whatever you think happened did not. Earlier today we were fighting Scarab, after he lured Rapses to the secluded mountain. And we won", Rath explained, shaking madly from pain.
Ja-Kal shook his head and voiced a no. Then he stomped out, angrily shouting: "I'm going talk to Nefer-Tina! She will believe in me!" Udja grinned again, and his wife shook her head: "You really should stop calling the poor boy that."
The route to Nefer-Tina's house was longer than expected – especially since Ja-Kal did not know where she actually lived. Truth is, back in Egypt he was not actually fond of the royal charioteer. He found the boy utterly irresponsible. He knew most of the other servants did too, and that Nefer's voice never broke did not help matters. For most, he was just a small boy – how ever old he actually was – all the other called him a girl.
So after asking one of the other servants for directions he found Nefer-Tina's House – not surprisingly only four houses down the road from the workshop that created the chariots. He knocked on the door. A boy with bright blue eyes opened. Ja-Kal knew these eyes; they looked just like Nefer-Tina's, so he was at the right house.
"I'm searching for Nefer", he asked tactically not calling her by her full name. The boy screamed: "Mother!" Ja-Kal was taken aback for a moment – could Nefer-Tina be the boy's mother? It seemed not utterly impossible, since she had only been in the royal service for a few years, when they died – and the boy was about six or seven.
A woman appeared behind the boy and bowed: "How may I help you, sir?" – "I'm searching for your brother." – "My brother, sir", the woman questioned, completely confused. Ja-Kal nodded – evidently he was wrong about Nefer being the mother of the boy, so what else could she be? "Nefer", he repeated, and the woman nodded, letting him in, saying in a very humble voice: "Nefer is hurt pretty bad and not decent at the moment. I will prepare him for your visit. Just feel at home, sir."
Than the woman hurried in what Ja-Kal assumed was the bedroom. Just in, she stated: "The time has come! We have to cut them!" Nefer-Tina lay in bed and looked at her with surprised, than held her long, black hair – at least the one not covered in bandages. "No, no, no! We can't cut them! How will we be able to go dancing if I have no hair", she cried. The other woman smirked: "Then I just have to go with my dear husband Nefer, instead of my sister-in-law Nefer-Tina." Nefer-Tina looked annoyed. "You know guys don't dance, they just hang around and drink beer, that's no fun", she explained, "Kamina, please! There must be another way!"
Kamina thought for a moment, than shrugged. "I can't think of one. The bandages around your head prevent you from using your helmet." Nefer-Tina's eyes lit up: "Oh you just gave me an idea!" While Kamina prepared everything, the royal charioteer whispered quietly: "You know I had a dream. A dream, where I could drive chariots and confess to being a woman." Kamina chuckled and let her continue. "Also, the chariots were horseless and were making over a hundred miles an hour!"
At the same time, Ja-Kal sat in the kitchen table facing the young boy who had greeted him at the door. "So, who are you", the royal hunter questioned friendly. The boy puffed his chest and exclaimed: "I am Siptah, son to Nefer, the royal charioteer and guardian to prince Rapses. And I am going to be a charioteer just like father."
Ja-Kal was taken aback. "Nefer's your father?" Siptah seemed proud: "Yes, yes he is." – "So the woman who opened the door was your mother, Nefer's wife?" The boy nodded and exclaimed naively: "How else could they be my parents?"
While Ja-Kal pondered how everything fitted together, Kamina entered the room: "He's ready now, sir." Both of the adults made their way to the bedroom, where Nefer-Tina now lied, all her hair hidden behind bandages that covered her entire head.
"Nef? How are you", Ja-Kal asked cheerfully. Nefer-Tina just looked somewhat suspicious. She too remembered how the other royal servants had treated her – and even though they were right, she was hurt. She just pressed out some icy words: "Nef is what my family calls me." For these words, Kamina gave her a stern look, and answered Ja-Kal in her place: "He will live. His head was hurt pretty badly, but other than that, his wounds are on the surface only."
Taking a deep breath, Ja-Kal asked the question that occupied his mind the most: "Are you a girl with the name Nefer-Tina?" The charioteer looked shocked, unable to answer, but her wife chipped in, laughing: "What are you trying to say? How could a girl drive chariots? Or be married to a woman? Or be the father of three children?"
Holding his head, Ja-Kal thought. If Nefer was no girl maybe the rest of the adventures in the modern world where just a dream, just as Rath and Armon thought. But he had to be sure. He opened his mouth, but Kamin cut him of: "Do you want to take a look?" The woman already fiddled with Nefer-Tinas bedding sheets and her clothing.
Ja-Kal jumped up straight away, waving his hands. He was entirely sure now that Nefer was a guy, but did not want to see thinks he might not be able to forget. Bathing with Armon and Rath had been traumatizing enough.
"I… I just wanted to see if you are alright. Since you are, I'll be on my way", he explained, already on his way out. Kamina stood up, but he just waved, "I see myself out. Nefer, come back to work whenever you fell like it."
When he was going, Nefer-Tina glared at her wife: "What would you have done if he wanted to take a peek?" – "Told him nobody sees my husband naked, except for me", Kamina answered in a flat voice. Both women looked at each other, than started to laugh.
"I'm really happy you decided to marry me", Nefer-Tina said, sounding truly happy. Kamina hugged her tightly: "Levirate marriage is hardly my idea or decision. You were the only brother of my deceased husband, so both of us had no choice. "– "Just that I'm not my brother's brother."
In another time and place, Scarab was flying over the city they call San Francisco, holding Heka in his Hands. "So what exactly is your plan", Heka questioned, searching the city. Scarab laughed eerily: "Well, my dear, it's quite easy. The mummies are asleep, so the prince will be unguarded." – "Won't they wake up tomorrow morning", Heka lisped, but was interrupted: "No they won't. They will sleep forever." Laughing menacingly, they flew away.
Presley was searching the sphinx thoroughly. "Where could they be", he murmured to himself, "they have not been following me for days now." The last place he looked for them were the insides of their sarcophagi, where he found the mummies sleeping.
"Hey Ja-Kal! Wake up", he said, shaking the leader of his guardians. No response. He went over to Rath: "Hey Rath! Wake up! Nefer-Tina trashed the Hot-Ra again!" When Rath did not respond, he tried to other two: "Nefer-Tina! Armon! Someone want a snack?"
He tumbled backwards, looking at his friends with shock in his eyes. "Are you… are you dead again? Is your quest to guard me finally over?" Presley shook his head and sat down on the stairs. He tried hard not to cry. But this news had a positive side: "That means I'm not Rapses anymore! No Scarab will try to kill me! And no one will interrupt my parties anymore."
He stood up again, looking back to his friends. "I'll miss you guys! See you on the other side." And with that, he sadly trotted away.
Days had passed. The royal guardians had adopted their normal positions as Rapses's servants. All of them had been a bit uneasy about the weird dreams they had of their afterlife as mummies, protecting a reincarnated prince – but as with all dreams, the memory of the events in the modern world faded over time.
But Ja-Kal could not let it go. Of course, neither he nor the other men had talked about their dreams, and he did not think much about it, but one detail bothered him: Nefer's gender. So for the past days he had been watching the royal charioteer.
Nothing seemed off to him. After work he would play with his children, take his wife out or do some chores around the house. Ja-Kal felt stupid for distrusting his friend. He decided he would not pursue this matter after tonight – his own family had not seen him much since "the accident".
He was just about to leave Nefer's house, when he saw his wife talking to the neighbor at the front door. "Don't think much of it, dear. I love looking over your children", the old lady said cheerfully. Nefer appeared at the door and put his hands on his wife's shoulders. "Thank you so much. They're asleep now, so you shouldn't have much to do."
"So when will the two of you return", the old woman questioned, already on her way inside the house. Nefer and his wife looked at one another and while he said "Sunrise", she said "Before midnight."
"Dear, you forgot", Kamina said smiling at her husband, "tomorrow morning you have to drive Rapses to Ja-Kal." – "That darn Ja-Kal and his early morning fishing trips", Nefer replied, and Ja-Kal clenched his fists for a moment, before realizing that Nefer's tendency to oversleep was not really news to him.
He saw Nefer and Kamina leave their home and looking around suspiciously. When they thought they were alone on the evening streets, Nefer took off his helmet. Ja-Kal was in shock – he had never seen Nefer without his helmet, but he had assumed Nefer's head would be clean shaven like the ones of most of the servants. But he had long black hair.
Still in awe he saw Nefer put on some rather girlish gown over his regular cloth. As soon as that was done, his wife pulled some kind of bandage from beneath the robe. Nefer's chest got bigger in the process and he spun around happily. Ja-Kal registered, he and the other guardians had been right to call him girly – he looked just like one. Or better yet – the leader concluded – Nefer WAS a girl. He had been right all along.
The two women put the helmet and the other cloth inside the alley next to their home and strolled down the road, talking about something. Ja-Kal followed them out of sight. He registered a change in their behavior; while normally Nefer and Kamina where quite close, always hugging or holding hands, and on more than one occasion he had seen him even laying a hand on her butt. Now they were just walking next to each other, like friends. Ja-Kal had to give it to Nefer – she really knew how to lie and put on a convincing show. He hated it, like he hated all dishonesty with all his heart.
After a while the two of them went inside a tavern, Ja-Kal followed of course. He watched them drink some beer (that was not that unusual since it was a basic food for Egyptians) and dance. He sat next to some other fellow, who watched the women. "You know the both of them", Ja-Kal questioned the other man, who responded in a slurred voice: "Sure, everyone here knows them! They're dancing here almost every weekend. If you asked me, their husbands are really stupid to let them go alone."
Ja-Kal watched his former friend dancing and shook his head: "Their husbands?!" – "Sure, the taller one is married to some wimp, who probably doesn't even know how to satisfy a woman", the man told and took a sip of his beer, "the smaller one is the wimp's sister or something, she's probably got a husband on her own. Don't know, never seen her with a guy, but she is a bit old to not been married, don't you think?"
Another sip of the beer, a new order to one of the bar-maids, and the man continued: "I'd love to play her husband for a night, if you know what I mean." Ja-Kal knew, and he actually tried to un-know it – this man was disgusting to say the least. But he was drunk and a good source of information, so Ja-Kal pressed forward: "How do you know the small one is the sister of the one you call 'wimp'?" – "Oh it's easy", the disgusting man said, smiling broadly, "they said so. They're sister-in-laws. And she looks somewhat like the wimp, with the blue eyes and all. Only the wimp is much less attractive."
Ja-Kal had heard enough. He stood up, and following an adventurous streak, went to dance with "the small one". Nefer, or probably Nefer-Tina, looked shocked when he approached her. Did he recognize her? She looked quite different with all that hair, but was it enough to fool the best hunter in all of Egypt?
"Care to dance", he asked and smiled warmly; she nodded quite sheepishly, trying to let her hair hide her face. "Are you here with your husband", Ja-Kal questioned politely, while both of them started dancing. The dancing girl in front of him had no idea how to answer that, and he liked it, probing some more: "You do have a husband, don't you? A girl your age ought to be married!" – "Oh I am married", Nefer-Tina answered and blushed, "but I'm here with my sister-in-law."
The both of them danced some more, he was not quite finished with her and hated how she shuffled out of this situation. "So you know you have to leave soon", he said grinning, "I'm not allowing you to oversleep when prince Rapses is looking forward to the fishing trip tomorrow." Nefer-Tina stood dead in her tracks and starred at Ja-Kal for a while, before stiffly starting to dance again and faking a laugh: "You must have me confused with somebody else."
"I saw you change in the alley", he stated matter-of-factly, "you've been lying all this time." – "No I haven't", Nefer-Tina said sourly. She was an outspoken and quite honest person, after all. "I never said I was a boy", she whispered angrily, "you all just assumed it, because a woman could not best all the charioteers of Egypt."
Ja-Kal laughed, her explanation was pathetic: "So what about your 'wife', or 'sister-in-law', or whatever the two of you are?" Before she could answer, Kamina interrupted: "Everything alright?" She looked from the royal hunter to the charioteer and back again. Both of them seemed really angry. "We probably should discuss this somewhere else." And with that, she took both of them outside the pub.
"So what now", Ja-Kal questioned crossing his arms before his breast, "now she's acting like your mother!" – "What's happening", Kamina asked, trying to figure out what had happened. "I never lied about her", Nefer-Tina spat, "she was my brother's wife, so she is my sister-in-law. And since he died he is my wife, too." – "She is your wife", Ja-Kal laughed, still angry, "you're both girls! How would that even work?"
Nefer-Tina thought of her dream, and in deep thought murmured: "I wish you had been to San Francisco, too. Presley would never allow such intolerance." Kamina, who just wanted to calm the situation, answered loud: "We're just rooming together. Nefer is acting like a good husband should, and I'm the wife, of course."
Ja-Kal had not heard the wife, only the "husband". Flashbacks from San Francisco and Presley Carnovan, the reincarnated prince, where flashing before his eyes. "You… you'd been to San Francisco, too", he questioned, and both he and Nefer-Tina were mirror-images of surprise.
"We should get home", she said flatly, and both went to her home.
Sometime later, Ja-Kal sat in Nefer-Tina's kitchen, drinking some water Kamina brought him before leaving. Nefer entered the room, with helmet and basic armor, but obviously she had not have had time to bind her breasts down. It was still not very apparent she was a girl; she had done a good job choosing her armor.
"Why the getup", Ja-Kal questioned, examining her quite intensely. She just shrugged: "I kind of feel naked around you with this thin girly gown and without my helmet." That was a feeling he could relate – he himself never voluntarily put his armor of – he felt helpless and naked without it.
"So you had the dream, too", Nefer-Tina questioned, uneasily, "the one about the horseless chariots, that went faster than you can ever imagine, and the city full of strange people, where even four mummies wouldn't stand out?" Ja-Kal laughed – that was so Nefer to only remember the chariots. "Yes, but I don't believe it to be a dream", he explained. Sipping from a cup of water her wife had brought, Nefer-Tina asked: "What else could it be? We're back in Egypt now, and everything is back to the way it was, before we were…" She never finished the sentence, trailing of sadly. The past days had made her realize how much she had missed her family, and how hard it would have been for them to lose the provider.
"I don't know, yet", Ja-Kal thought aloud, "we have to question Rath and Armon tomorrow. Maybe the two of them know something." Both nodded in unison, and decided it would be best to resume the life they should have now. So the two guardians parted and went to bed next to their wives.
"Woa Nef, you're early", the young prince stated baffled, as Nefer and her chariot were already waiting for him on the next morning. The charioteer was her usual cheery self: "I couldn't sleep, so I thought: 'Why not ride a chariot?'" Rapses laughed, and climbed on the wagon.
With just a word she made the horse start going and finally galloping to their destination. "Ja-Kal and I will have a little chat when we arrived", he informed the prince, who instantly questioned: "About what?" – "He yesterday learned my secret", she said, not really feeling like lying to the prince. He echoed: "Your secret?" The charioteer looked at him with a funny expression – how many secrets did she have? "Oh that you are married", Rapses stated, which confused Nefer.
It did not take long for them to arrive at the fishing spot, Nefer's reckless driving made sure of it. The horse had not even come to a stop, when she jumped off and ran to talk to Ja-Kal. "I think you're right", she said, catching her breath, "that is not Rapses! He just told me he thought my big secret was that I am married!" Ja-Kal raised an eyebrow: "Well isn't that a secret, too?" – "Not really", Nefer laughed, as she saw the prince approaching, "if you hadn't been so busy calling me names, you might have known, too. Even Amenhotep invited my family for diner once. "
Ja-Kal shook his head, trying to think clearly. "After you take the prince to breakfast, the two of us are going to visit Rath and Armon", he decided. And so he absentmindedly went fishing with the prince, helped bring him back to the palace for breakfast and rode with Nefer to the other two guardians.
"May I ask you something personal", Ja-Kal questioned, because on topic held him up all night. As Nefer nodded, he asked: "How exactly where you able to father three children?" She charioteer laughed, as if he had told a funny joke: "How do you think I did it?" The royal hunter shrugged. "I just didn't", she explained, "when my big brother died, he left Kamina with one child and pregnant with twins. Since she didn't know I was a girl at first, she told the kids I was their father, which I was due to the ceremonial levirate marriage. We haven't had the heart to tell them otherwise. "
Ja-Kal thought about that for a moment, it kind of made sense to him. Maybe the dessert sun was getting to him. "Wait? How could your WIFE not know that you are a girl? I know our teaching methods are ancient, but there is a small difference everyone should know", he said, confused. She shrugged: "My parents told her I was just a boy, and so she waited patiently for me to become a man." Ja-Kal tried to figure out what she meant by that, but she continued, jokingly: "She's still waiting, I take it."
The both of them had arrived at the quarters of the servants. Nefer gave the horse in the care of a stable boy and went with Ja-Kal to Armon and Rath. The four guardians interchanged a quick greeting, before the leader told the other three: "I think we are being tricked here. You had this dreams of a town called San Francisco, too, don't you?" – "The one, where Mr. Beefy made his famous burgers", Armon questioned, "I kind of miss him. My mother's meals just don't taste like they used to."
A worried look appeared on Ja-Kals face: "So you also found thinks wrong with this 'reality'? What about you Rath?" Rath took his most arrogant stance and said proudly: "Of course I have found things wrong with this version of Egypt. In fact, so many thinks that it would take too long to tell you all of them."
Armon whispered to his friend Nefer: "I bet he hasn't had a clue." The charioteer just snickered. "So if this isn't Egypt, what is it", she wanted to know. All the men just shrugged. "I think that if our life in San Francisco wasn't a dream", Rath thought aloud, "that probably means that this is a dream."
"No offense guys", Nefer stated, laughing, "But I never dreamt of you. Except for nightmares, maybe." The other three men looked at her angrily, and Rath was about to say something nasty, his index finger pointing at the girl angrily, when something hit him: "You're a girl, aren't you?" - "And again with the names", Nefer answered, rolling her eyes.
"We have more important issues to attend to", Ja-Kal interrupted the both of them, before either of them could start a fight, "How do we get back? As long as we are dreaming, Presley is without a guardian."
"It's quite simple, actually", Rath told the other three a while later. The guardians were now inside one of the temples. Rath continued: "We call upon Tarum, the god of dreams. If anyone can help us, he will." – "Do you think this will work in this dream world", Ja-Kal asked, unsure of how this all worked. Rath shrugged, mumbling something, than started the actual incantation: "I call upon you, Tarum, god of visions and dreams, to come aid use in our escape from this world."
It did not seem to work at first, but than the bat god materialized before their eyes. "You know all deities of the Netherworld bet on how long it would take you to recognize this as a dream", he stated without taking the time to even greet, "If you had waited 2 more weeks, I would have been the richest god of them all!"
Rath did not seem to hear what Tarum was saying, or maybe he just was ignoring it. "Oh Tarum, god of the dreams, we pray to you to let us out of this dream world." Tarum looked at him with an amused smiley, than shrugged: "No can do. I make people dream, it's not my responsibility to get people OUT of their dreams." – "So what do you advise us to do, to end this dream, oh wise Tarum", Rath queried, but was notable annoyed by the god.
The god grinned widely: "Oh that's easy. You just wake up!" And with that, the bat man faded away, leaving four very confused royal guardians.
"So the real question is: How do we wake up", Ja-Kal summarized, pacing around the room like a lion in a cage. Armon had an idea: "When I am dreaming, I always wake up before taking the first bite of my mother's great cooking." He was quiet for a moment. "But I already ate many meals of her here, and they didn't even taste that great."
"I usually dream of working on scientific problems", the scribe piped up, "and wake up right before I find the solution. But of course, being the pharaoh's most trusted man of science and magic, I have done that on an almost daily basis."
Ja-Kal was thinking of this dream: "In the modern world I often dreamed of my wife Tia and my son, and I always woke up before I could touch or even hug them." He starred at the wall for some time, before continuing: "Well, I did touch my wife and hug my son, so this is out, too."
All were quite for some time, before Armon asked: "What about you, Nef?" She looked away and turned red. "I better not talk about my dreams", she murmured. The other three found that rather strange and nudged her to tell them. She looked just somewhat annoyed and told them: "What were you dreaming about when you were my age?"
The three of them seemed to remember, since Ja-Kal starred at the wall, Rath blushed somewhat and Armon chuckled a bit, saying: "Oh I still have these dreams."
An awkward silence followed, disrupted by Nefer: "But when I'm having a nightmare, I always wake up when I'm about to die." The other guardians looked up. "That might just be the solution", Rath said, standing up.
"So we are going to kill ourselves", Armon questioned, unsure of if he had understood that right. Ja-Kal just left the room, motioning for the others to come: "It's the only way out."
Back in San Francisco, Presley was just leaving the arcade with his best friend Walther. Both of them had played way too much, it was dark already. Presley just needed the distraction, because without the mummies turning every event into a disaster his life had been pretty boring.
He and Walther said their goodbyes and went into different directions. Presley had both his hands in his pockets and was sadly starring at the sidewalk.
"Did you miss me, Rapses", a very familiar voice said next to him. Presley looked up and saw Scarab in his armor, grinning widely. "What do you want", he questioned bitterly, "I'm not Rapses any longer! The mummies are back to being dead." Scarab was surprised for a second there, but the explanation made him laugh.
He took the boy and put him on his shoulder. Flying away, he explained: "There not dead, they are just sleeping never to be woken up again."
In Egypt the four guardians stood on top of a deep cliff inside the dessert, looking down. "I always thought I would die inside a chariot, wrapped around a palm tree", Nefer said, fright could clearly be heard in her voice.
Rath looked down, swallowing hard: "Me too, actually." – "We have to do it, for our prince", Ja-Kal said and took the last step. He screamed all the way down, than there was a thud and eerie silence. The three remaining guardians looked at one another. "How do we know it worked", Armon spoke aloud, what they all were thinking. Rath took a really deep breath, the last one. "We don't", he simply said and jumped.
"Let's just forget about that and go back", Nefer suggested half jokingly, looking down to where their friends where probably lying. Armon shook his head and grabbed Nefer with his big hands. "Sorry, but we have an order", he said, than jumped, taking her with him. Flying down she screamed: "Let go, how else am I going to land on my pa-" Thud.
This time it would just be perfect. Scarab had hat a lot of time to prepare for the ritual. On top of the Golden Gate Bridge he had Presley chained to the bridge. Shabtis were standing all around – all of them made from silver with a golden armor. He himself was sitting in some kind of throne.
"So finally it has come to this", Scarab mused, smiling like a groom on his wedding day. Heka was being a lot more down to earth: "I'm sure you'll find a way to still ruin it."
If he was being angry, he did not let it show – Scarab just leaned against the throne and stood up. With the sun setting behind him, be began to chant: "Spirit of the true Rapses. Come to me. Give me life eternal."
"No", Presley screamed, as Rapses's soul departed from him. "Guys", he whispered, "you can save me now anytime." Nothing happened. Rapses's soul slowly floated over the top of the bridge, towards Scarab.
At the very last Moment a scream pierced the air – Ja-Kal was flying above them, nose-diving. A second later he was hitting Scarab hart. The beetle man tumbled and fell over the side of his throne. A short moment after, the Jet-Cycle could be heard. Nefer-Tina drove over the big cables of the bridge, jumped and landed on one of the silver shabtis, than a second one. Both of them fell over the edge inside the water.
"No! These shabits didn't come cheap", Scarab cried while transforming into a beetle. It was no use – only seconds after the attack had started, both Armon and Rath climbed to the top, each of them proceeded to throw one of the shabtis down.
It did not take long for the four mummies to remove all of Scarabs helpers. Finally, they were circling him. So the villain did what he always did: He fled the scene.
Ja-Kal was the first to speak while Armon still destroyed Presley's chains: "Are you all right, oh prince?" Presley could not believe his eyes: They were alive! Well, alivish. He jumped and hugged Ja-Kal, than Nefer-Tina, than the other two.
"I so missed you guys", he almost shouted, tears welling in his eyes, "where have you been?" All of them stood just there, watching the sun set. Rath was the one to answer: "Let's just say: We dreamt of what we never could have."