"If it's true that people can be read like open books, then Laila would be a book in an undecipherable language" ~~Zackary Akil


Chapter 1

From the day of her birth Laila Venesacia was a walking mystery. Her absurdly light features were a complete clash to her mothers' dark, tan Egyptian features. In truth her looks derived from her father, a wealthy European man who had married her mother at a young age. However, since the marriage was short-lived (due to her fathers' dislike of living 'below his status') the comparisons between them could never be made by the general public. Despite only living with her mother Laila couldn't be happier. She was a free spirit with a loving heart, adventurous soul and a mind full of curiosity. These qualities were unfortunate however, due to her mothers' profession. Being an Egyptologist meant that she was constantly around precious artifacts and delicate scriptures… as well as deadly traps. And being the adventurous type she enjoyed exploring the ancient tombs despite her mother's and co-workers warnings, which tended to have disastrous results.

On occasion however the little blue-eyed, white-haired wonder would, some way or another, find crucial and marvelous discoveries within the caverns of the ancient structures. It was a constant mystery to the archeologists on how she could find such things. When questioned on the matter, the young child would simply shrug her shoulders and say "I just followed the instructions" and then she'd run off to play with the other children. So the mystery continued. One day however, everything came into light when Laila came up to her mother and asked a peculiar question.

"Ummi, what does annihilation mean?"*

Her mother stared at the little girl looking up at her with her innocent eyes, waiting for the answer to her bizarre question.

"Well… it means to destroy a thing or group of people completely." She was about to ask why her 9 year old daughter would ask about something so dreadful when the little girl hugged and thanked her, then ran off once again into the tomb they were excavating. Now tired of the odd attitude of her daughters actions, She and some of her co-workers (who were there at the time) went off to find Laila. After a few minutes they found her lying casually on the ground with her feet swinging up and down as she stared at a papyrus scroll in her hand. One of the men walked up to her and knelt down to her side.

"Laila, where did you find that scroll?" He asked. Without taking her eyes off of it she point to a chest in the corner of the room. With a bit more seriousness he spoke again. "Child, you must put that back where it belongs, these artifacts must be preserved and they may be destroyed if you keep them out in the open like this."

"aww" she whimpered in complaint "but it's getting to the best part!" The adults stared wide-eyed at her with the statement she had just made.

"Preposterous" the man mumbled as he wretched the scroll from her hand. He looked of the scroll and laughed. "Child, enough of these silly games. This scroll is written in demotic, the casual cursive of the ancient people. There's no way that you could understand such a thing."

"Yes I can!" she yelled as she took the scroll back and read out it's contents. "And with thanks to the great skill of Pharaoh- may he live forever, under the guidance of the gods Mentu and Neith, Egypt's imperial army was able to defeat the Nubians and bring down their goal to bring our great country to annihilation. As each flank surrounded the unready tyrants…" The girl continued to read the story of the Pharaoh entombed at the site without falter in a scripture that only few archeologists ever mastered to learn.

*Ummi- Arabic word for mother.


The news of the girls' uncanny ability to read demotic script spread like wildfire over the Egyptology world. Laila's presence was now welcomed at digs as archeologists took no wait to take advantage of the little girl's gift. She had no objections to their constant fuss and demands over her attention, considering it was a great trade from the treatment they had given her before. She enjoyed the attention and praises. Of course, her mother worried for her. After all, how did she even learned the language in the first place? Well sure she had taught Laila to read Hieroglyphics, but it was at a basic state. Not to mention that she herself didn't know demotic script. So yes, it was an unusual situation indeed.

One night during dinner she took Laila aside and brought her away from the camp so to be out of ears reach of any of the other workers. Once away from camp she sat her daughter down and took her in her arms. "Laila-azizety**, I know that it must be hard on you to have to face so many questions in your life, but I must know the truth: how is it that you understand the writing of the ancient people?" The little girl closed her eyes and thought about it, and then she looked up to her mother and smiled.

"I don't know Ummi. I guess it's like reading Arabic. You look at it and it just make's sense." Her mother shook her head and laughed. She looked up at the night sky and spoke again.

"You're a strange one. And I don't mean for your looks or your gifts. You are just as I named you: Laila, beautiful night. You are so much like the night. Whenever a cloud of mystery covers you, all others are shrouded in darkness and confusion and are at a complete loss. And even when the clouds lift and the light of the stars and moon may shine bright it is still very dark and difficult to see exactly what is going on around them." She looked down at her daughter to see her looking back up at her in confusion. Her daughter made a strange face, trying to understand her mothers' words. The girl eventually gave up and, with a shrug, looked back up towards the sky and played with the constellations.

** 'My dear' in Arabic.