Hello readers,
That's right I just wrote a fanfic for a cartoon that has been off the air for 16 years. That being the case will anyone actually read this? *shrug* No idea. I was watching a documentary on Egypt and decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch a cartoon that I used to watch as a kid. Unfortunately I got inspired to write something and this is the result.
I know I'm using science and realism so soft it could probably be spread on toast, but for a cartoon based on Egyptian mummies coming back to life I think we're looking a realism in the rear-view from the get-go.
Alright enough of my babbling, on with the story.
Ja-kal sat alone in a quiet, seldom used area near the back of the modern-day sphinx in San Francisco. The structure which had been built to resemble the giant, limestone statue of the great sphinx from his homeland in Egypt had been crafted by the nearby museum to temporarily house the Rapses exhibit, which he and his companions had formerly been a part of until their sudden resurrection into this modern world.
Now the building that was strangely familiar and yet unfamiliar served as their new home.
Why the people of this modern age would put effort into making such a structure only to tear it down shortly after had completely baffled the falcon-guardian. Then again there were a great number of things in this modern era that left the unofficial leader of the reanimated royal guardians mentally disorientated.
However his confusion was irrelevant. By the command of his pharaoh, the great Amenhotep, he had a sworn duty to perform. To protect the reincarnation of the young prince Rapses, and on his honor as a guardian he would see to it that no harm came to the boy.
Although the museum had intended on demolishing the recreated sphinx they had been able to convince the city to allow the building to remain permanently thanks to their prince's quick thinking. This was lucky for them because it was doubtful that any other place in the city could have housed four mummies, the mummified sacred cat as well as all their sarcophagi so easily without drawing any unwanted attention.
Protection of the prince would have indeed proven difficult without a safe place for them to rest and restore their powers.
As Ja-kal continued to sit in quiet solitude a forlorn sigh escaped past the mummified flesh of his lips as he stared down at the ratty scrap of worn linen resting gently in his palm with grief-stricken, blue eyes. A crushing sense of guilt squeezed at his un-beating heart as he ghosted his index finger over the remains of a black print on the fabric made by a tiny hand.
Though he was sworn to remain in this present-day world, which was over 3500 years from when he had last drawn breath, for as long as his pharaoh demanded he couldn't help but long for the family he had lost, his beautiful wife Tia and their infant son Padjet.
Tia. He had loved her with every fiber of his being when he had been alive, but she was no longer his. It would have been foolish for him to think that she had remained unmarried after he had left her a widow. A fresh wave of remorse clenched around his heart at the painful reminder of what he had sacrificed for his pharaoh.
Padjet. The infant son he never got a chance to know.
As he stared intently into the ancient fabric in his hand as though the material could somehow conjure up images of what had happened to his family after his death, he began to wonder what his own son would have thought of him.
Would he have thought of him as a brave warrior who died in service to the pharaoh, or would he have hated him for abandoning his mother and him in order to fulfill his duty as guardian to the young prince Rapses?
Had he even lived long enough to understand that his father had gone to the realm of Anubis? In his time infant mortality rates where quite high and it wasn't uncommon for death to claim a child before he or she had reached six years of age.
Though he knew his family had been gone for thousands of year, perhaps lost to him forever his recent encounter with his nephew, Kimas, brought the aching need to have a connection…any connection…with family rushing to the service.
He cared a great deal for the young prince; even loved the boy like a son but it wasn't the same. Rapses was a royal, sacred duty…Kimas had been blood.
Raising from his seated position the falcon-guardian carefully placed the shabby piece of linen back inside the wooden chest that kept it safe. After Kimas had returned through the Western Gate, sacrificing himself in order to help stop Arakh, the fragile piece of fabric was the only connection he had left to family and he could ill afford to lose it.
Another sigh escaped past his lips as he ran his hand over the top of the ancient box that housed his most treasured possession.
"Ah there you are Ja-kal," Rath's shrill, authoritative voice called.
Upon hearing his name Ja-Kal supressed his growing melancholy and turned in the direction of Rath's voice.
The soft, scraping sound of linen wrapped feet striking against the stone floor of the sphinx grew louder with each step until the snake-guardian was directly in front of Ja-kal, his tall, green and yellow head-dress sharply emphasizing the elongated structure of his face.
"What in the name of Ra are you doing back here?" the gangly scribe questioned curiously. "It's your turn to pick the young prince up from his house of study."
Ja-Kal's blue eyes widened momentarily when he realized just how much time had passed while he had been sitting in grievous solitude. He would always long for his family, whether or not the waited for him on the other side of the Western Gate, but for now his duty to the prince came first.
"I'd better not keep our prince waiting then," Ja-Kal replied before racing towards the Hot-Ra.
Presley Carnovan scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the sidewalk outside his school as shaggy pieces of brown hair fell over his eyes while he waited for one of his guardians to arrive to take him home. Though the brightly coloured, strange-looking vehicle of the mummies was typically waiting for him its unusual absence barely registered to the teenage boy.
It would be here eventually, besides the reincarnated prince had other things occupying his thoughts currently.
For the past several weeks Presley's science class had been studying genetics. Learning about chromosomes and how traits such as eye or hair colour were passed down from one generation to the next. As part of a learning project they had been asked to send in DNA samples to the Global Genome Project, a scientific research group that was studying how individual people related to one another.
They could send in samples, easily collected by rubbing a specialized Q-tip against the inside of a cheek, from themselves as well as anyone else they knew that was willing to take part in the study.
The Global Genome Project was a massive scientific study and thousands of people had already sent in DNA samples for them to add to their database. In return for sending in the DNA the research group sent back a report telling those who participated all about their ancestors as well as who they might unknowingly be related to.
Due to this fact those wishing to contribute DNA to the project had to agree that their own DNA results could be sent out in a report to someone whenever it was applicable.
Presley had been mildly apprehensive about participating at first. Briefly he was worried that the project could be used by Scarab to track him down in order rip out the soul of the young prince that dwelled within him, before dismissing the idea as being utterly ridiculous.
Scarab knew him as Rapses not as Presley Carnovan. Although Presley wasn't entirely sure what effect the prince's spirit had on his own DNA he was fairly confident that the withered, dark-sorcerer wouldn't be able to figure out how to use the genetic blue print in order to find him.
The ancient Egyptian probably had no idea what DNA was.
With his momentary, absurd fears cast aside Presley had himself as well as Ja-Kal participate in the research study. He had chosen the falcon-guardian because out of the four of them Ja-Kal was the only one who had any children, at least that he knew of anyway. So he had the perplexed guardian swab his cheek in the name of science. Although Presley had been highly dubious about a match being found to the ancient DNA he had decided to send it in regardless.
Presley's class had received their reports today and to his absolute astonishment there had actually been a likely match to Ja-Kal. However, the report indicated that the sample sent in by 'Jack' could have been damaged or contaminated due the abnormally high number of possible generations between the two individuals.
Stunned couldn't even begin to describe the boy prince's present mental state. He had sent in Ja-Kal's DNA sample as a joke, expecting to read a report later that stated that the sample had been invalid or something. Never in his wildest dreams did he think there would be an actual match.
What was he supposed to do now? Despite the fact that the mummified man generally tried to keep his emotions hidden Presley was well aware that the unofficial leader of his guardians greatly missed his family. One would have to have a blackened heart made of stone not to have noticed.
If it had been up to him the reincarnated prince would have already released Ja-Kal from his duty to him so he could return to the family he had lost so long ago. However, no matter how much the falcon-guardian obviously missed his family he would never forsake his duty unless otherwise order to do so by none other than Amenhotep himself.
Should he tell him, would Ja-Kal even believe him if he did? The mummies relied heavily on Rath, the wisest among them, to explain anything they came across in this modern world that they didn't understand. However, Presley doubted that even the snake-guardian would be able to understand the concept of DNA testing. They weren't exactly open to current scientific ideas, they're disastrous visit and subsequent banning from the planetarium could attest to that.
Then again Rath had surprised him in the past. Regardless of the fact that the ancient scribe had no prior knowledge of cars he had been able to create several, functional vehicles in a surprisingly short period of time.
Perhaps magic really was handy to have.
The familiar rev of an engine torn Presley out of his current reverie, the Hot-Ra had arrived to pick him up. Raising his vibrant, green eyes from the piece of sidewalk he had been intently staring at this entire time he was greeted with the sight of Ja-Kal sitting in the driver's seat, the glass-like dome lifted so the prince could get in.
Even though they had been alternating who came to pick him up for a while now it was still strange to see anyone other than Nefer-Tina behind the wheel.
Leaping into the awaiting vehicle Presley quickly settled into the passenger seat beside Ja-Kal.
"My apologises O'Prince, I hope you weren't having to wait long," Ja-Kal offered, his voice heavily laced with guilt as the Hot-Ra once again raced through the busy streets of San Francisco.
"Don't worry about it. I had some stuff I needed to take care of after school anyway," Presley immediately replied. Like figure out what I'm going to do with the information in this report.
The stiffened posture that the falcon-guardian had adopted since his arrival at Presley's school slowly began to relax. Even though Ja-Kal could be quiet fatherly, almost friendly at times he could become quiet rigid whenever he was worried that he might have upset or offended his prince.
Apparently no amount of arguing would ever convince the mummies that they didn't need to treat him like a pharaoh. As far as Presley was concerned he was just an ordinary kid, but to the mummies he was the boy prince, only son to pharaoh Amenhotep, great ruler of upper and lower Egypt.
"Hey Ja-Kal," Presley began as he stared absentmindedly out the dome of the Hot-Ra watching the world of San Francisco pass by in a dizzying blur.
"Yes my prince?" Ja-Kal questioned, keeping his eyes on the road but letting the boy know that he had his attention.
"Instead of taking me home could you take me back to the sphinx?" Presley finished, turning to face the guardian across from him.
"Of course my prince," Ja-Kal replied. Perplexed as to why the young prince had asked such a question and not simply ordered it. As long as it didn't put the prince in danger the mummies had to obey whatever he commanded of them. Something this modern version of the prince was still surprising uncomfortable with Ja-Kal thought with a knowing grin. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh no, no…not really…at least I don't think so…," Presley awkwardly mumbled, still uncertain how he was going to explain the possible existence of a living relative to Ja-Kal. "There's just something I want to talk to you about."
He still wasn't sure how the falcon-guardian was going to react to the unexpected news of having a potential, multiple-great-granddaughter but he felt that the man deserved to know. Presley just hoped that the news wouldn't inadvertently cause his guardian, his friend any unnecessary heartache.
"You can talk to me now O'Prince."
"Uhh trust me Ja-Kal, I'd rather wait until we're no longer in a moving vehicle."
"I don't understand my prince. What's this about a Global Genome Project?" Ja-kal questioned his puzzlement unmistakable in his tone.
They had arrived back at the sphinx and with the Hot-Ra returned to its place in the garage Presley had offered a friendly greeting to his three remaining guardians before following Ja-Kal to a relatively quiet area of the sphinx so that they could talk privately.
Well as privately as one could manage with three nosey mummies around anyway.
Presley had been trying to explain how his class had been studying genetics in science, and about sending in DNA to the Global Genome Project but was failing miserable. Ugh where's Rath when I need him? If he didn't understand why Rath used the phrase 'it's far too complicated to explain right now' before he certainly did now. Though in Rath's case he suspected the phrase was a ruse to hide whenever the snake-guardian didn't actually know something himself.
Which given the circumstances was probably far more often than the lanky scribe would ever be willing to admit.
"Do you remember when I had you rub the inside of your cheek with that Q-tip?" Presley questioned.
"Yes," Ja-Kal replied, an eyelid lifting slightly as he arched an eyebrow under his bandages. It had been an odd request from his prince but seeing no harm in it he had nonetheless done what had been asked of him.
"Well the Global Genome Project takes those Q-tips and sends back a report letting you know things about ancestry and who you might be related to," he continued flipping to his section of the DNA report. "See here," he started pointing to the information written on the page, "it says here that it's possible that I have a distant cousin living in the UK," he finished pointed to a picture of a freckled man with wild red hair.
The mummified flesh of his brow furrowed in confusion. Though the prince seemed rather animated over whatever it was he was talking about Ja-Kal was still unclear on why the adolescent boy felt the need to discuss this with him personally.
"That's nice my prince," Ja-Kal responded noncommittally before a sudden realization struck him as though Horus himself had slapped him across the face. "My prince you didn't give this Project a copy of your image did you?" he questioned worriedly. "If scarab were to…."
"Relax Ja-Kal, sending in a photo was optional and I opted not to," he quickly replied before Ja-Kal could continue with his impromptu lecture.
Ja-Kal sighed in relief. As long as there wasn't an image that could be associated with the name, Presley Carnovan, it was unlikely that the evil sorcerer would be able to learn the modern identity of their prince.
"Anyway, the point I've been trying to get to is they found someone who you might be related to as well," Presley ineloquently concluded, frantically flipping to the section that held said information.
For Ja-Kal time seemed to stop completely. If his heart were still beating it would no doubt be pounding against his ribs like a caged lion right now. Could what his prince was saying be true? Was it even possible? Tears began to well-up in his eyes at the ramification of what such a thing would mean.
His son had lived.
Presley nervously bite his lower lip hoping that the unshed tears he saw glistening in Ja-kal's eyes were tears of joy and not sadness. He hadn't meant to cause the man any undue pain.
"See here she is," Presley stated, pointing to the image of a pale-looking girl with long, dark hair. Hair that looked so similar to Tia's. However what shocked him the most were the girls striking blue eyes. He recognized those eyes; he saw them whenever he looked into a mirror.
If he didn't think this girl was related to him before, he had little doubt of it now.
"My prince…how…where…can I…," he mumbled incoherently, completely at a loss for words.
"I'm sorry Ja-Kal, I didn't mean to upset you," the boy prince guiltily replied nervously scratching at the back of his neck. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."
"No my prince, I'm glad you did. I'm just stunned is all, but it gives me great joy to know that my son lived and had a family of his own."
"Are you sure?" Presley questioned suspiciously.
"Yes my prince," Ja-Kal replied with a grin. "Will I get to meet her?"
Having learned of this girl's existence and of her possible relationship to him Ja-Kal was eager to meet her. However the giddy almost child-like glee he felt at knowing he still had family in this world was quickly replaced by a sobering wave of responsibility. He still had a duty to the prince. Besides would meeting her be fair to this girl? No one would ever expect to learn that they had an ancient relative that was still alive.
Alive being a relative term of course.
"Who knows, it says here that she studies paleontology so maybe she'll come to the San Francisco museum one day," the young prince responded with a shrug.
After learning that a 3500 year old mummy had a potential living relative anything was possible.
Thanks for reading.
This was a random spur of the moment idea, so I'm not sure if I'll continue with this story (or if there's any interest in me doing so).
For those of you reading any of my other stories, before you rush over and attempt to flog me with giant sticks you should know that I have a new chapter started for each story. When the inspiration bug bites again I'll be sure to finish them.