Brown. Her eyes, her hair, her skin. All brown, and yet, she only now realized how pretty the color was: complex and deep. The warmth of the coffe leaked into her fingers and in response she swirled the liquid around in her cup. Nina. The only reason she hated the color brown. She was plain, brown and boring but Nina, with her honey-gold hair, tanned skin and shining blue eyes charmed anyone senselessly. So, it didn't matter if she was jealous, right? Being jealous of a popular person… Normal right? It seemed even more depressing to her that just two years ago she would have never been able to admit to jealousy. No matter how bad it got, she would've stayed stoic and stonish at the topic. What had changed? Nina. Perfect, pleasant, Nina. Even after they became friends she couldn't help but feel the awkwardness that loomed between them.

"Joy, you alright?" The question had seemingly come out of nowhere, then again, Joy was in her own little world. Focusing her eyes on her mom, she saw the motherly concern that was obvious in her deep gold eyes. As if it were a reflex, Joy started smiling," I'm fine… Just tired." She could tell that her mom didn't buy the whole excuse, but didn't push it. Besides Nina, Joy was anxious for the new school year. What excited her the most though was that there would be no life threatening mystery. Yes, it would be boring. Boring but safe. "Come on, you've been sitting down for long enough. We came here to shop, remember? The markets are there waiting for us Joy. Finish your coffee." Joy rolled her eyes melodramatically and whined," I've just gotten comfortable."

Her mother shot her an indignant look, making her bring the cup to her lips, swallowing the liquid as quickly as she could. With remorse, she bid a goodbye to her spot with the perfect balance between a pleasant summer breeze and the warm sun, and followed her mum as she walked across the cobble-stone stretch and into the markets. Her mum laid out a tedious plan for her: She would tackle the vintage clothing, looking for a less than spectacular gift for her sister-in-law, while Joy would tackle the jewelry. "Now, you have two hours Joy. We don't want a repeat of last time, do we?"

Bitter laughter followed, and her mother set off, leaving her alone. Alone to Joy was bad though. Her sense seemed to heighten. Smells of spices and exotic dishes drifted along from different carts as well as the constant hum of conversation, and the warmth of so many bodies in a compact space wrapped her in a welcoming hug of pure relaxation and glee. Though Joy didn't like to show it, she always felt like the markets were like a second home to her, and loved how anyone would be accepted, and how the people were just friendlier, regardless of their appearances. Just to the left, she caught sight of a girl who looked no older than the age of ten buying a collectable spoon from a guy who had a neon green Mohawk. The sight made her chuckle.

For a while she wandered around aimlessly, browsing various stalls, noting prices and products, but so far, nothing had popped out at her, or beckoned to her, so she kept on walking, intent on finding that thing that just begged for her to come in. "Come in here, my love," A thick accent called out towards her. Turning around revealed a caravan, a cart if you may, that hadn't been there before. It was clear it belonged to a gypsy woman. The cart looked as if it were horse drawn, yet no horses appeared in sight. The cart was painted a bright yellow, most of the paint fading into patches of dull gray. Swathes of fabric served as the door and curtains, often mismatched.

A bird cage hung near the door holding a gold-crest, its song clinging vibrantly to the air. A layer of haze seemed to ooze from behind the curtains where the female's voice had come from. Her sensible side told her to ignore it and walk away, but everything about the situation was so enticing. For Christ's sake Joy, she thought to herself, you're Joy! Take a risk! Her shaky hands reached for the curtain when a head popped out. " I thought you'd never get here, silly girl. Come in, come in!"

The woman had deep chocolate colored skin, almost like her own with brown eyes and long flowing hair that fell to her mid-back. Though she looked even shorter than Joy in stature, she was incredibly strong, almost lifting Joy into her little cart. Her arms were riddled with tribal like tattoos, almost fading into her skin. As she got settled in, Joy found it funny that her skirt occupied almost half of the little wagon. "Do you want any tea? Oops, actually, don't have any tea, never do. It's been long since I've had a visitor. So, what's your name, where're you from?" Her words were strewn drunkenly into sentences as she swayed about, making the cart groan from the effort. After a moments worth of hesitation, Joy sat down on one of the bigger pillows that littered the floor along with old books and boxes of all different shapes and sizes, all of which were embedded with a fine layer of dust.

"Don't be shy now," her kohl covered eyes stared into her relatively plain ones," What's your name?" "Joy," She stated plainly, looking at anything else except her eyes," Joy Mercer." "Ah! Joy, such a pretty name, a pretty name for a pretty girl, a name that holds deep meaning. Tell me then, why don't I see that in you?" She squirmed, knowing that she was still scrutinizing her every movement. "My name's… Anelka… Tell me girl, would you like me to read your future in the crystal ball?" For a second, Joy hesitated. Hadn't she learned not to trust strangers in what, the second grade? Yet here she was, blindly accepting an offer from a possible mad woman. "I guess it wouldn't hurt." Her tone was still skeptical, as if anticipating to be drugged and murdered, to which Anelka simply smiled. Reaching over gracefully, she grabbed a box about the size of an average tissue-box, only it was a deep mahogany, with floral patterns covering the whole box.

Carefully she opened the box and lifted out a crystal ball almost twice the size of her balled fist. There was a circular opening at the top which left Joy puzzled none the less. Anelka placed the ball down gently on a stand that looked like it was custom made for the ball as it was the same colored wood that the box was made of. Quickly, she lit a pipe and blew the smoke that accumulated into the ball. Joy waved her free hand in front of her face while coughing at the sickly smell. Please don't be drugs, please don't be drugs, please don't be drugs, She chanted in her mind. "What?" Anelka asked, a smile playing at her lips, " Every person has their different ways." The smoke seemed to stay solely in the crystal ball and with her skillful hands, she closed the ball sealing the pungent smelling smoke inside.

"Now, put your hands on the crystal ball. Yes, that's it, on top of mine." Uneasiness churned within her as her hands placed themselves on top of Anelka's. For a few minutes, nothing seemed to happen and Joy once again doubted the whole legitimacy of the crystal ball. Then, in an instant change, ice seemed to freeze the atmosphere causing Joy to gasp. Even in the now freezing cart, Anelka's hands were the coldest, as if she herself was to cause of freezing. A low unearthly laughter echoed from her," Foolish girl, what have you done? Hand over the amulet!" Joy tried to back away, but the ice seemed to keep her stuck in her current position. A black smoke seemed to emanate from Anelka's volatile form. Screams tried to fight their way out of her throat with no avail, as though her voice was stole by the wind. The voice barked again, this time much more aggressively," Hand the amulet over!"

Tears leaked out of Joy's burning eyes. A weight seemed to sink in her chest as she realized that there would no getting out of this one. No one to save her, no one to rely on, alone and soon, dead. Anelka lunged unnaturally, almost looking like a rabid animal but instead of clawing her eyes out, her hands pressed her temples. Instead of the expected pain that she had braced her for, the world seemed to spin around violently, wind battering her cheeks. Memories faded away in groups, as if they were being plucked from mind. Pluck, Memories of her fourth grade science fair disappeared. Pluck, pluck, memories of her seventh birthday party and Alfie and Jerome's first food fight at Anubis. Pluck, The whole of Anubis house, faded away, as if they were helium balloons floating off up into the sky. Fear was the only thing she felt. Soon, all her memories would be gone, her identity would fade, and she would be alone once more.

She momentarily prepared herself for the end. Numbness travelled her toes and slowly crept up throughout her body. Tears rolled down her cheeks faster now as her cries became less audible. "Ah!" Anelka cried out, falling back. Joy did the same, pulling her knees to her chest. Who was she? Family, she still remembered her mum, her dad but, who else? What had just happened? "I could see it, you know. All of the dead, burning in the ashes. And the smell," she shuddered," Burnt flesh rotting all around me. He is coming soon. He whispers to me the same thing every night,' I will take my revenge on the sisters of Isis.' What does that mean? Tell me what it means!" Her fingers dug into Joy's shoulders.

"You were strong… maybe…" The sounds of her breathing heavily as she dug through various boxes filled the cart. Joy watched as she lifted a seemingly old book from the clutter, its cover covered with dust hiding the leather binding. "I have long since searched for the sisters hoping that they would alleviate the curse, and I believe today my prayers have been answered. Dear child, does this symbol look familiar?" Her teary eyes squinted as she looked at the crude drawing. "The Eye of Horus," the words tumbled out of her lips. She'd seen it before, but where? So familiar yet so… unfamiliar. "Yes, yes, yes! I know you might not remember but you must try! You know what it is, it's very important to you. Please, try!" Anelka was in hysterics, almost mimicking how Joy felt. "I… there's something like a memory, I know, I can see it in your eyes; a ghost of a memory. They're not gone, they've been hidden. I know you can do it!" Her eyes wrenched shut as she focused.

Around her she could sense the remnants of the memories, hidden in plain sight, haunting figures, translucent like glass. "I know something that might help." Once again, she scrambled, much more desperate this time in her movements. She lifted up a much smaller box this time, one with a lock. "For decades, I've kept this a secret, one that has burdened me, but today, I give it to its rightful owner: you." A small key fit into the lock, and after a small turn, it opened with a resounding click. The first this that caught her eyes was a jewel that glittered brightly. It was set in the Eye of Horus, almost similar to a broken memory of hers. Her heart ached for the necklace, an impulsive need, a bruning fire that needed to be quenched. "Take it and go. Even now I can sense them. They're coming for me. My time has come. My last wish… Chosen One, stay safe." She placed the locket in Joy's hands and closed her hands around it before giving her a push to leave.

Chosen One: the term had been branded like a red hot poker on her mind. Anelka's warnings rang loud and clear in her mind,' Take it and go!' She shot one last look at the quaint little cart. A pang of fear struck her heart. The warmth she received from the market seemed to disintegrate before her very eyes leaving her cold and afraid. She ran for a while in search of safe seclusion. Mother, mom, one of the only people she remembered. Her eyes scanned the ever-moving crowd of people. Finally, she found her brgaining with an old lady. "Twenty quid, no more, no less, last offer," Her mother was always blunt and in her own words, was a 'No-Bullshit' person. The old lady grumbled a choice response before yanking the money from her mother. "Joy! I've got the perfect gift for your Aunt. Oh, did you just buy that?" She pointed to the amulet in Joy's fist. Seeing her mother smile, she decided it was best to act natural to lower her mother's suspicion. Her hands fumbled as she placed it around her own neck. "Got it at a little shop back there… it was a steal." Joy plastered a fake smile on her face holding in a sigh of relief.

"Come on, we have to go home. You need a good night's rest, don't you?" Joy smiled," Yeah, Anubis, can't wait."

~0o0o0o0~

This will most definitely be a multi-chapter, and I will be juggling updates like this as well as Letters and Angels, which is well under way, the Prank King (which I haven't even started) and various other stories. If you don't like this story, please, please, please do not trash it by going

Joyyzz like a biotch I frikken h8 her stop writin u sickooO! - Anything like this will be flagged because I like Joy as a character and I want stories besides Jabian and I want her involved with the mystery.

Read and Review, Please!

Eskimo Kisses,

z3stygurl97