A Mummy for all seasons...
"Tenchi Muyo!" and characters were created by Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and is the property of AIC/Nippon Television, Geneon Entertainment and FUNimation Entertainment.
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A Mummy for all seasons...
By Daferge... ( Ch.01... the beginning )
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( Ancient Egypt, BC... )
The darkness slowly dispelled and she could begin to see some light...
The first thing she could make out was a low stone roof, lit by flickering torches...
There was a soft chanting coming from some where near by...
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When she tried to move, she couldn't...
What had happened?...
As if in answer, a familiar face came into view before her...
The Vizier?...
She tried to speak, but only mumbling could be heard...
The Vizier smiled and came closer...
" Welcome back, Princess... I thought I might not get to say... good-bye... "
The Vizier's smile was pure evil...
He saw her eyes dart around and smiled...
" You're in the mortuary chamber of the Temple... They're just finishing up the preparations for the late Pharaoh for his trip into the afterlife... "
There was sadness in her eyes...
Beloved!...
The Vizier saw a tear...
" And I thought that, since you didn't want to take my hand in marriage and sit on the throne with me, you might want to join the young Pharaoh on his voyage into the afterlife... "
She struggled, but couldn't move a muscle...
" You needn't bother... They finished wrapping you a while ago... Only your eyes and nose are left to wrap... "
She saw the sadistic gleam in the Vizier's eyes...
" And I so wanted my smiling face to be the last sight you see before you start your voyage with your beloved Pharaoh... "
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He leaned closer so he could whisper in her ear...
" It wouldn't be right to send a princess on her voyage without a handmaiden... "
His smile widened...
" And since you're so concerned about the common people, I thought you might like one for your handmaiden... "
She had no idea where this was going...
" As it so happens, a young female thief was caught trying to sneak into the royal treasury while everyone was moaning the loss of our beloved young Pharaoh... "
Her eyes widened...
" She was to be put to death, but I thought it such a waste... She will be joining you shortly... Good-bye, Princess... "
The Vizier leaned close, one last time...
" Oh... There wasn't enough room in the Pharaoh's Tomb for the three of you... But we'll find somewhere to put your sarcophagus... "
The last thing she heard as they wrapped the cloth over her eyes was the Vizier's cackling laugh...
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( 2008... Valley of the Kings, Egypt... )
It was late evening as Professor Nobuyuki Masaki examined the carving in the back corner of the old tomb...
Professor Masaki ( called old crazy one by the natives ) was doing a detailed reexamination of all the tombs in the valley, he had a theory that not all the tombs had been uncovered and that there might be some small clues that had been overlooked...
Recent events had shown he MIGHT be on to something...
An new tomb had been discovered and opened several years before...
Although KV-63 produced no mummies, it did produce a wealth of material for study...
The University had granted the funds for his research, but he was going to have to use volunteer help...
Nothing new for Masaki, he'd been working on 'shoestring' budgets most of his career and doing his own 'thing'...
Like the local natives, most of his colleagues thought he was a touch crazy...
But...
He had the most amazing luck...
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And with luck, his daughter, Tennyo Masaki, also a professor of Egyptology, had been able to join him...
She'd taken a short sabbatical to working on some paperwork of her own and gladly joined her father in the valley project...
Thou she enjoyed life at the University, she enjoyed fieldwork more...
Which was why she was standing in a dark musky door cut out of stone, wearing an air mask, holding a small light so her father could study the wall in front of them...
Before her mom passed away, it would be her holding the light and making sure he didn't miss meals...
Nobuyuki had a tendency to get lost in his work...
In fact, the two had spent their wedding night several hundred feet below ground in a 3000 year old tomb doing research...
Or so Nobuyuki said...
In fact it was exactly nine months later that Tennyo came along...
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However Tennyo didn't have much longer...
Her sabbatical was almost up and her Egyptology class would need her to leave in about a month...
This being their second year, they'd been here three months and had managed to updated the surveys of most of the known tombs...
As it stood, her father would have to finish the last few, along...
Well, not quite alone...
There was her father's good friend, Zahi Hawass (now the Secretary General of Egypt's EHCA ) who often dropped in on his american friend...
But mostly to see what was happening...
Unusual things tended to happen to Nobuyuki...
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On Nobuyuki's first visit to Egypt ( many years before ), he, Hawass and some others were headed across the desert to examine a new dig...
Nobuyuki, new to the desert, had not gotten use to the heat and had consumed too much water...
Every one in the two vans had a good laugh as they had to stop in the middle of the desert, under a hot sun to let Nobuyuki run behind a dune to answer the call of nature...
Minutes later they had all rushed around the dune when they heard Nobuyuki cry out...
They found him, sitting on the sand, holding his foot...
It seems he wasn't looking where he was going and stubbed his toe on a rock in the sand...
As it turned out, the 'rock' was the tip of an out cropping of stones from an ancient temple...
It became one of that years major finds...
Later, articles stated it was because of a tire blown by a rock that lead to the discover...
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Tennyo smiled as she considered her father's secret weapon...
Mihoshi Kuramitsu, his assistant...
With her around, there was never any shortage of workers...
All the local males wanted to see the tall, tanned, yellow haired american beauty...
Tennyo couldn't believe how many times she'd seen a worker get distracted as Mihoshi walked by and just walk off an embankment or step into a pit...
Usually the worker would just get back up, dust himself off and go right back to work...
Sometimes they had to be treated, but none seem to complain...
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Mihoshi was the daughter of their mom's best friend...
To Nobuyuki, who'd watched her grow up, Mihoshi was almost another daughter...
And as such, he saw her in a different way...
Recently Hawass had dropped by and watched in amazement as Mihoshi walked through the dig and half the crew bumped into the other half...
After Mihoshi left, it was as if nothing had happen...
Hawass asked his friend if his assistant had this effect every time she dropped by...
Nobuyuki looked around surprised before turning to his friend...
" Mihoshi was here?... "
Nobuyuki then just stood there shaking his head, wondering why Hawass was laughing so hard...
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Tennyo looked at her watch, Mihoshi should be back from the nile boat dock any time now...
Mihoshi had been the only one that could be sent to pick up her little brother, Tenchi, here visiting while school was out...
" Father?... "
" Humm?... "
" Any idea how much longer?... "
" Humm... "
Tennyo sighed...
She spoke again, lower and softer...
" Daddy?... When we go home?... "
" Soon sweety, soon... "
Tennyo smiled...
" Daddy want some wa-wa?... "
" I am kind of thirsty... "
Nobuyuki turned to find his NOT so little daughter smiling at him...
Tennyo couldn't help but smile, a University Professor, who could speak six languages, but would only respond to one...
Baby-talk...
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( Nile dock - Luxor )
Mihoshi had been standing by the car watching the dock for almost an hour, but hadn't seen any one who even looked like Tenchi get off...
This was the last boat of the day and they'd finished deboarded...
In fact passengers headed back to Cairo were beginning to board...
Tennyo had given her the job of getting Tenchi and she was determined to find him...
Looking at her watch, she discovered she was already late getting back...
Sighing, she took one last look around before starting to get back in the jeep...
That's when she heard a voice behind her...
" Do You Know the Way to San José?... "
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Mihoshi was trying hard to think which would be the best route to suggest as she turned around...
She was startled to find a tall, young male with dark hair smiling at her...
It took a moment, but her eyes widened and she quickly had him in a tight hug, tears in her eyes...
" Tenchi!!... "
Tenchi smiled and was thankful he'd taken that deep breath before she recognized him...
It'd been a while since he'd last seen her and how much more beautiful she'd gotten...
All those things his sister had written in her letters came back to him and he shook his head...
When he was younger, all the male teens had wanted him to introduce them to Mihoshi and Tennyo...
He got beat up several times for saying no...
Thank goodness Grandpa had started teaching him self defence moves...
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It took a while for Mihoshi to calm down, she'd thought she'd lost him and was sobbing on his shoulder...
But soon they were on their was back to the small native house that was acting as both headquarters for the research project and sleeping quarters for his father, sister and Mihoshi...
Last year, knowing how tight Nobuyuki's budget was, his old friend Hawass, had manage to acquire an old unused house just outside the valley for them to stay in...
Under Mihoshi's supervision, it hadn't taken long for some of the local helpers to get it fixed up better than new...
When Hawass dropped by, he swore they must have built a whole new house...
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When Tenchi and Mihoshi got to the house, his father and sister hadn't gotten back yet...
But knowing his father, it would probably be well after dark...
He wasn't worried...
Last year, just after they'd started work, a couple of males had stopped his father and Mihoshi on their way back from the valley late at night...
They were holding them at knife point when a group of workers, also getting off late, came by and recognized Mihoshi...
The would-be thiefs soon found themselves surrounded by an angry mob that grabbed them, beat them up, dragged them down to the Nile and tossed them in...
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Afterwards, as Nobuyuki watched, Mihoshi ran around hugging every one...
Needless to say, a large number of smiling males were picked up off the ground by other smiling males...
Nobuyuki wasn't sure how many passed out from joy and how many from lack of air...
The next day word circulated the 'old crazy one' and his yellow hair assistant were under the protection of the local workers...
Nobuyuki hadn't had to worry about working late or workers since...
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Tenchi and Mihoshi had just gotten dinner fixed and on the table when Nobuyuki and Tennyo walked in...
Tenchi turned to a smiling Mihoshi...
" Wouldn't you know it... We slave over a hot stove and when we're all done, look who shows up... "
Tennyo walked over, looked him straight in the eye and ran her hand through his hair...
" You little brat... "
Tenchi was just able to take a deep breath before she hugged him, tight...
" Not so little any more... "
He whispered in her ear...
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Nobuyuki smiled, it was good for the three to be back together again...
Even if for a month or so...
He watched as Tennyo tried her best to turn little brother, blue...
But Tenchi was smiling, he'd been learning too...
Nobuyuki thought it best to step in...
" Tennyo... Better let your little brother go before he turns blue... "
He winked at Tenchi as Tennyo let him go...
Before she got too far away, Tenchi planted a quick kiss on her cheek, knowing it always embarrassed her...
She turned and wiped away a tear...
Tenchi smiled as he saw her blush too...
With a big smile he turn to the others...
" Everything's on the table... Let's eat... "
To be continued...
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Nobuyuki as Egyptology Professor Nobuyuki Masaki
Tennyo as Egyptology Professor Tennyo Masaki - his daughter
Mihoshi as Mihoshi Masaki - Nobuyuki's assistant - adopted daughter
Tenchi as Tenchi Masaki - his visiting son
Zahi Hawass - Secretary General of the EHCA ( Egyptian Higher Council of Antiqities )
