A/N: Hello again! Sorry this is a few days late. I've been preparing for Halloween, and a roadtrip.

Something very important I forgot to mention last chapter: Consider this fanfiction an AU from our world, as well as from the original film. There have been a lot of things going on in Egypt since this fanfiction was plotted out, and I will not be addressing them in this story for several reasons, such as my inability to fully understand the complexity of these issues, and most importantly, I'd find it disrespectful and in bad taste.

Another important thing I forgot to mention (crazy, considering how much I rambled on), is the discussion of religion in this trilogy. The last one didn't touch on it, but this story and the next will. It's not a huge, in-your-face deal; I just wanted to explore the struggle I think people would have had to deal with when learning about the existence of Egyptian gods. In order to explore those feelings, one of the characters in this story is religious, nondenominational Christian to be exact.

Also, I have no idea how people are lowered in a harness, and Google didn't give me much info to go on. I also don't know how an excavation goes exactly, so I sort of made it up and bit and took artistic license with some things. And I did some research into the Valley of the Kings, but it was a while ago, and may not be entirely accurate. Sorry! I did my best.

Enjoy! And keep in mind this may be the last chapter until mid-November, as I'll be on the road a good part of the month. I'll try to get another chapter posted before I leave, though.

Set

Chapter One

Below The Valley of the Kings

The sunlight was hot and yellow as it reached the top of the clear, vibrant blue sky. It sparkled on yellow sand, and reached as deep into the great hole in the sand as it could. Deep in this hole was a crew of Egyptian diggers and archeologists, above the hole sat a few tired workers taking a break, along with an English scholar, an American adventurer, and three young adults who stood near the hole, texting.

The Valley of the Kings was always a popular tourist spot, but this group was not here for a tour of the tombs. Evelyn and Rick O'Connell had been called by the head archeologist shortly after another tomb had been discovered. The archeologist had by accident discovered a tunnel leading from WV25 (an unfinished tomb) to KV35 (a tomb containing many mummies, some of which were royalty). Deep below this tunnel a door had been discovered, revealing yet another tomb. They were ready to open the sarcophagus found inside, and the archeologist – an old friend of Evy's – wanted to know if the famous explorers wanted to be present for it. After much pleading on the part of his wife, Rick finally agreed. They were supposed to be in Egypt that weekend anyway, as Alice and Ardeth were going to be married in Cairo in two days, and a trip to the Valley of the Kings didn't seem too dangerous.

Alice remained at the hotel in Cairo, working on last-minute preparations and attempting to keep her mother Diana and father Robert from fighting constantly. Jonathan had decided to search the bars of Cairo for a date to the wedding, and Ardeth had gone on to the Med-Jai camp to drive the few Med-Jai who wanted to be at his wedding to the city, and to take care of business at the camp so things could run smoothly while he was on his honeymoon.

Evy stood above the great hole that led to the tomb, peering in to the darkness below, waiting for the archeologist to come and tell them it was time to go down. As she looked, she continued her long-winded rant. "And it's the tomb of a woman, so we can only assume she was once Pharaoh, because the Valley of the Queens is nearby and they didn't choose to bury her there. Although I've heard some of the workers saying that this may be the oldest tomb in the valley, maybe even from the Old Kingdom, a thousand years before the New Kingdom, when the rest of the tombs were made. If it's true, she would have been the first buried, and perhaps even the New Kingdom Egyptians didn't know about her and built the other tombs atop her without realizing it."

Evy had been going on about how fascinating the discovery of this tomb was for the last half an hour. Rick had taken to pretending to listen, nodding and saying 'yes, dear' every so often while he cleaned his tools. Their son Alex O'Connell, his girlfriend Paige Woods and their friend Fiona Bianca had chosen to not even pretend to listen anymore, and instead had conversations with each other via text messages. The majority of the conversation had to do with how Evy repeating the same information again and again in different ways, and whether or not Rick would eventually miss saying 'yes, dear' in the right place.

The young adults eventually took a seat under a tent, by a fan run by a generator, and took off their hats and took turns passing around a canteen of water.

Paige was the first to drink. She removed her rose-colored aviator sunglasses and drank deep, tilting her head back. The scarab necklace around her neck sparkled in the sun as she leaned forward to pass the drink to Fiona. She then replaced the brown Cowgirl hat, and sighed deeply. "It is really, really hot today."

Fiona nodded in agreement as she fanned herself with her wide-brimmed, floppy white hat. She drank from the canteen, taking smaller, daintier sips than her friend had. The top of the canteen hit the large frames of her sunglasses, but she ignored it, not willing to expose her sensitive blue eyes to the sun. "I think I may be in worse condition than you are, though, Paige," she said, motioning to the pale cardigan she wore over her pale blue tank top. After a final sip, she passed the canteen to Alex, her own necklace sparkling in the sun a little brighter than Paige's, being a silver and crystal cross.

Alex rolled his eyes behind his own aviator sunglasses. "Your own fault for wearing the sweater," he said before taking a deep gulp. "Just because they said to bring long-sleeved shirts doesn't mean you have to wear them. Look at me – jeans, tshirt, tennis shoes…I'm fine." He capped the canteen as he spoke, then put his fedora back on his head. "Although the hat was a better idea. Yours keeps the sun out of your face a bit more."

Fiona shrugged. "The sweater is supposed to protect my skin from the sun. I'm really pale, I don't want to get skin cancer or something."

"Besides," said Paige, leaning back on her hands as she looked over to her boyfriend, "You're used to being in Egypt. Fiona is not."

"Fiona lived in Texas, that's still pretty hot."

Fiona laughed, shaking her brown hair behind her shoulders. "Until I was four, Alex! Otherwise the only time I've left England was to go to Paris for that drama competition."

"Yeah, those aren't exactly tropical locales, Alex," Paige said, playfully swatting his arm.

Alex stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend, and then looked the other way at Fiona, whose hair had fallen into her face again. "Just take the sweater off, Fi. We'll be going into the tomb soon, anyway."

Irritated, Fi stopped fanning herself, pushed her hair back and firmly placed the hat on her head. "Actually, I think I'm going to stay up here with Paige."

Alex groaned in disappointment. "Seriously? You're missing out on it, too? Why?"

Fi glanced at Paige for a second, and then back at Alex. "She might want the company. And I'm not as interested in Egypt as you are, Alex."

Alex snorted. "That's the worst excuse I've ever heard. This is a major historical event and you're present for it, and you're not even going to see it with your own two eyes because you aren't as weirdly obsessed with ancient Egypt as I am?"

"And Paige might get lonely."

Sighing, Alex said, "Paige's excuse is stupid, too."

Paige scoffed, and put her hands on her hips despite sitting in a position where she would lose her balance doing so. She fell backwards and, as Alex tried to turn his laugh into a cough, sat back up and put her hands on her hips again. "My excuse is perfectly legitimate, Alex O'Connell."

"No, it's not."

"The last time I was in a tomb things went horribly wrong. I'm not taking that chance again," she explained, her brown eyes wide as she stared down her boyfriend. "Besides, it's dark."

Alex adjusted his hat lower on his forehead as he pressed his lips together, recalling the misfortunate visit to Hamunaptra three years ago. "Well, it's unlikely you have another past life that's coming back to haunt you here."

"I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"You're ridiculous," he said, but his voice held a note of affection.

The three of them hadn't changed much the last three years. Physically, Alex had gained some muscle and height, Paige had cut her hair and gotten bangs and Fiona's hair seemed permanently in her face, but otherwise they looked the same. They all attended the same university, though Alex was a history major, Paige a drama major and Fiona a dance major, having discovered a love for modern dance. Alex still lived with his parents (he claimed it was because he didn't want to leave them alone, his parents said it was because he didn't want to have to clean his own house), and Paige lived with them. Fi had moved into a flat with her twin brother, Sebastian.

The rest of the changes were inward. Paige had become more sympathetic and willing to accept help, Alex found that he had more courage and faith in life than he'd thought, and after discovering a love of dance Fi found herself to be a hard worker, though one that often took time to help others due to her generous spirit.

This generous spirit was what caused her to decide to stay on the surface and keep Paige company while the rest went into the tomb. Well, and she felt uncomfortable underground.

"Okay, Alex! They're ready!" shouted Rick, setting his overly-shiny tools aside and getting to his feet.

Alex looked at Paige. "Are you sure you don't want to come down and see it?"

"Never, never again will I enter a tomb," Paige insisted. "Just in case."

Sighing, Alex looked over to Fiona. "And you?"

Fiona's hair fell into her face again, despite her attempts to keep it back with the hat. She gave up and let the strand fall over her eyelashes and cheek. "I'm sure, thank you."

"You know Paige doesn't have monophobia like you do, she can be left alone-"

"I know. It's okay, I'd like to keep Paige company."

"It seems like a shame."

Paige stretched her legs out in front of her, one leg going on either side of Fiona. "It'll probably end up in a museum anyway, Alex. We'll see it then."

"But this is the first time it'll be opened in maybe five thousand years-"

"Alex! Fi! If you're coming down, we need to go," called Evy, standing on the top of the ladder down to the tomb.

"Go ahead, Alex," said Fiona, pulling her floral print backpack closer to her by the handle. "We can do some reading while you're down there."

"Or play Kalah," said Paige, also reaching for her bag. "We've got lots to entertain ourselves with. Go ahead, Alex."

"I don't want you to regret not going," said Alex, frowning.

Paige rolled her eyes as she pulled on the strings to open her bag. "Seriously, Alex. I do not want to go down there, it's just…too dark, and I'll have all kinds of awful flashbacks. I've had fun coming here, and I'm not going to feel like I'm missing anything. I promise."

Alex nodded, and then turned back to the brunette. "Fi?" he asked hopefully.

Fiona shook her head. "It's okay, Alex, really. You go on, we'll meet you when you're done."

With a final sigh, Alex grabbed his backpack, swung it over his shoulder and crawled out of the tent. After getting to his feet, he bent over and peeked into the tent. "Alright, guys. I'll see you later."

"Have fun!" the girls replied, as they searched through their backpacks for something to keep themselves entertained.

Paige watched as Evy and Rick began down the ladder, and then smiled and waved at Alex as he blew her a kiss before heading down himself. After a moment, she winced and wiggled, trying to lessen her back pain. They had been sitting outside waiting for most of the day, with no chairs in sight, except for ones meant for the workers.

Paige dug through her bag, tossed aside a bag of jelly babies with a sound of disgust, and then looked back up at her friend, who already had her nose in a book of modern dance, likely trying to prepare for the next semester.

"Do you want to play a game of Kalah?" Paige asked, hoping to not have to pull out her own textbook.

Fi glanced up, and with a small smile said, "Sure."

"Fantastic," said Paige, eagerly pulling out the game from her bag. She'd have preferred Poker, but Fiona wasn't a fan of card games. Besides…she was starting to get good at the capture game.

"How long do you think they'll take?" asked Fi, helping set the game up.

Paige shrugged. "I don't know. Hopefully not long. I really, really need a freaking chair."

It was two hours and sixteen games later when Paige caught the sound of rustling by the hole. Paige pulled her hair off her neck, trying to cool off as she looked over to see what was causing the noise. Alex was crawling out of the hole, and the solemn look on his face made her stomach clench in fear.

Something was wrong. But what?

Fiona finally noticed the direction of Paige's glance, and turned to look in time to see Alex get to his feet and put his hands deep in his pockets as he walked through the sand towards the tent. His dark eyes were intense, almost angry but more…something Fi couldn't put a finger on. Confused, maybe. Or scared.

"Guys," Alex said as he reached the tent, and bent down from the knees to look them in the eyes. "You need to go down there."

Fiona could only stare in surprise, but Paige's brow wrinkled in confusion as she asked, "What for?"

Alex shook his head as he took Paige's hands and began gently pulling her out of the tent and to her feet. "You have to see it."

"What is it?" asked Fiona, as she followed the couple out of the tent.

Alex looked from Fiona to Paige, biting his bottom lip softly as he hesitated telling them. Paige could practically see the debate going on his head, and she knew Alex's flair for the dramatic – not unlike her own – would win out and he would make them see with their own eyes rather than tell them outright.

But suddenly he said, "English. It's English."

Paige's eyes widened. "What's English?"

As the girls stared at him with wide eyes, Alex cleared his throat, and began pulling Paige along behind him as he headed back to the hole. "There's writing down there. In English."

"What does it say?" Fiona asked, having to jog a little to keep up with her friends.

"You have to see it."

Paige sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Can't you just tell us?"

Alex shook his head as they arrived at the ladder. "No. You need to see it."

"I can't," insisted Paige, shaking her hair, gone wild with the humidity. "It's too dark down there."

"There are lights set up, it's not that dark," Alex said as he reassuringly ran a hand up and down her arm.

"It's too high up."

"Don't think of it as 'high up'," responded Alex, "It's really the opposite – it's down."

Paige scoffed. "That doesn't really help."

"Come on, Paige," groaned Alex, "You've faced your fear of heights before-"

"Because I had to!" Paige insisted.

"-And this is much easier. Just trust me, okay? You're not gonna fall. And you really want to see this."

Paige hesitated a moment, and then cautiously scooted forward to peer down the hole. She could see lights set up along the walls, lighting the ladder as far down as she could see. She knew that after that she'd have to be lowered into the tomb in a harness, and that was what scared her. She'd go down who knew how far with nothing below her feet. Could she really do that?

Uncertainly, she looked back at Alex. "This writing. Could it have something to do with Imhotep?"

Alex quickly shook his head. "Nah, this tomb hasn't been opened since before he was even alive the first time. I promise – no Imhotep."

Paige sighed, her shoulders falling as she again peered into the pit. Imagining going down that ladder made her sick to her stomach, but the last three years had made her a much bolder person. She knew what she was capable of, and going down a ladder and being lowered in a harness was really nothing compared to saving the world from an undead creature, or dealing with Alice's wedding jitters. She could do this.

"Okay," she finally relented, then looked over at her brunette friend. "Are you going down, too?"

"I can't stay up here alone, now, can I?" said Fiona, smiling though she was referencing her own phobia. "I'll go down. I want to see this, anyway."

Alex nodded. "Good. You especially need to take a look at this."

The expression on Fiona's face quickly changed from curiosity to complete confusion. "What do you mean, especially me?"

But Alex was already headed down the ladder, and he called up, "Just come on, already!"

The girls glanced at each other uncertainly, and then with a very small shrug, Fiona began to follow Alex down the ladder. Paige stood at the top a moment longer, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her racing heart. Darkness, heights, and ancient Egyptian things that contained English…none of these were anything good.

Carefully, Paige began down the ladder, her grip so tight on the handles that her knuckles turned white. From below she could hear the muffled breathing coming from Alex and Fiona, and after a few minutes she realized why they were breathing so hard. The ladder was very long, and going down a narrow tunnel. A panicked voice in the back of her head told her they were short on air, and though it was true there wasn't as much oxygen here as up above, Paige reassured herself by remembering that there was a great deal of air available below.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the bottom of the ladder. Paige turned and looked around what appeared to be a large cavern as she shook her hands, feeling blisters beginning to build. There were a few workers with what looked like a complicated collection of fabric and rope and pulleys, and they motioned to the young adults to get ready to be lowered down.

Fiona glanced at Paige, and then smiled. "I'll go down first."

"But…" Paige started, confused, "You'll be alone."

Fi shook her head as she removed her hat and sweater, setting it down near the ladder. "No I won't. Evy and Rick are down there already, remember?"

Alex looked concerned as he held a hand up to motion to the workers to hold off on fitting the harness on Fiona. "They're a ways down the tunnel, and then down another ladder, Fiona. They aren't directly below. You'd be alone for a good five minutes."

Hearing this, Fiona swallowed hard, but one of the workers behind her corrected Alex. "Actually, Hafiz went down a moment ago so he can help you out of the harness. She wouldn't be alone down there."

With a sigh of relief, Fiona walked up to the workers and began pulling the harness on. "See? I'll be fine. And it's better if you're here to help Paige down."

Paige wanted to object, but it was true. Having Alex by her side until the moment they lowered her into the pit would be reassuring, and she needed that comfort in order to do this. She hadn't done anything frightening without him by her side since she'd ran off to Paris to face off Imhotep three years ago.

"Okay," Alex sighed. "Be careful."

Fiona nodded, and then was strapped into the harness, given instruction, and then she was lowered down into the pit. Six minutes later, the harness was back, and it was Paige's turn. She stood on her toes to give Alex a kiss before putting the harness on. Carefully, she followed the workers' instructions. She went to the edge and stood with her back to it, and then it was time for the terrifying part – she had to lean back into the pit without even being able to look. Her heart beat in her throat and she felt sick, but she swallowed twice, took a deep breath and then leaned back until her feet were flat against the wall. She felt ropes being pulled above her and then heard one of the workers shout, 'Now!' and she bent her knees, and then pushed off the wall. And suddenly, she was being lowed down into the darkness with nothing below her. Paige felt the bitter taste of fear in the back of her throat, but felt very proud of herself for not being paralyzed by fear as she would have been a few years ago. Still, she couldn't help but feel something deep in her chest tremble with terror, and tears ran down her cheeks unheeded, though she refused to sob. Air felt short for a different reason as she went further into darkness.

It took three minutes of being slowly lowered down for her feet to touch the ground at the bottom. This area was lighted by fire torches, since all the wires that led down had to be used by excavation tools and computers. Paige found the way the light moved on the ancient red walls eerie. Hafiz helped her out of the harness, and then gave it a jerk to let the workers above know that they could pull it back up.

Fiona gave Paige a quick hug, wrapping her long arms around the blonde's shoulders. "Good job, Paige. You did great."

"Yeah," joked Paige breathlessly, wiping tears from her cheek, "I didn't even scream once."

A few minutes later, Alex joined them and led them down a narrow tunnel, to another ladder. This one was significantly shorter than the first, and soon they found themselves in another narrow corridor.

"It's just up here," Alex reassured them as he took Paige's hand and led the way. Here there were a few electric lights, which ran on batteries. Finally, he turned into a room, a large burial chamber still filled with statues, piles of dried incense and amulets and papyrus scrolls, even a few cracked vases. In a pile of incense cones, Paige recognized an Osiris bed, a brick with the image of the god of the underworld Osiris cut into it. Barley would have been planted in it, but the soil was long gone.

A crew of workers, the Egyptologist friend of Evy O'Connells and Evy and Rick themselves stood around a large sarcophagus. The stunning golden funerary mask had been removed, the image of a beautiful woman painted onto it. It wasn't the outer coffin mask Paige was used to seeing, though – it was small, like it had been made on the face of the mummy itself. The lid for the sarcophagus had been removed and was leaning against a wall, being examined by Evy and the Egyptologist while Rick seemed to be getting a closer look at the mummy, still lying in it's final resting place.

Once Evy spotted them, she waved them closer, and then leaned in to look at the inner side of the lid of the sarcophagus. "Did he tell you what it says?" she asked the girls.

Fi shook her head and Paige replied, "No, he likes to build suspense. What does it say?"

Again, Evy waved them closer, and the workers stepped aside as the girls moved in to get a good look. Evy moved out of the way, but carefully pointed her finger at faded marks on the inner lid. She handed Paige a lighted magnifying glass, and Paige leaned in to get a closer look, trying to ignore the mummy of the woman a few feet away from her.

"I can't see anything," she admitted.

Evy nodded, understanding. "At first I thought they may have been nail marks, like…like a certain someone," she said softly, and Paige thought she was oddly excited. But then, Evy was like this anytime they discovered something weird. "But then I realized they were letters."

The Egyptologist leaned in, and with a thin finger followed the lines, careful not to touch the actual stone. "This is an 'S', then an 'I', and then a 'T' and another 'I'….do you see it now?"

Paige bit her lip softly and tried to focus her eyes differently, looking even closer. Finally, she smiled. "Yeah, I see it. Sitiah? But there's a line through it."

"Yes," said Evy, pulling her curls out of her face. "The name was scratched out and replaced with the name 'Nebthet', the Egyptian name for the goddess Nephthys."

"The markings look newer on each line…" said the Egyptologist, lowering his finger to point to a word below the scratched out 'Sitiah'.

Paige looked at the word, eyes tracing each line before her mind put together the shapes as letters…and then she gasped softly. "Miu! It says Miu!"

"I thought you might find that interesting," said Evy, though some of the excitement had left with her voice, anxiety taking it's place.

Hesitantly, Fiona moved in closer, trying to see the words without the aid of the magnifying glass. "Did…didn't you say that was my name in another life, Paige?" she asked, though she felt sick in speaking. She still found it difficult to believe she'd been reincarnated. Nearly impossible at times, really – sometimes she had to convince herself that Paige wouldn't lie. And all this business about mummies being raised from the dead seemed to prove it.

Still, anytime she thought about reincarnation or the ancient dead coming back to life, she couldn't help but reach for the cross on her necklace for reassurance.

Paige nodded as she continued to look at what seemed to be a list of names. "Yeah. When I was Isis, you were her best friend Miu. I don't recognize this next one – Yuzuki? But…oh my word. Colette is a modern name."

"So is 'Amelia', the next name," said Rick, coming up behind them. "Paige, let Fi read the next one."

Confused but obedient, Paige handed the glass to Fiona and stepped aside. Fi, equally confused, stepped up and looked at the name at the bottom. At first it seemed to be a bunch of scribbles, though the lines were not nearly as faded as the ones above them. But after a few seconds, Fiona felt dizzy as she recognized the two names.

"The first is Abigail, though it's been scratched out…" she whispered, lowering the glass and looking at Evy in confusion and fear. "The second is Fiona. My name."

"How is this possible?" Paige whispered, also beginning to feel unsteady. She reached out for Alex and he was there, wrapping an arm around her waist.

The Egyptologist moved away from the lid, and puffed air out quickly, and then he exclaimed, "It's impossible!"

"When you've been through as many impossibilities as we have, Henry, you realize that anything is possible," said Evy tiredly as she turned and walked away from the impossible words a few paces. From her tone and the pain in her face, it was clear she was sick of seeing impossibilities.

"But…but that's my name," said Fiona fearfully, handing the glass to Henry the Egyptologist and following Evy. "That's my name, the one I was going to have."

"What do you mean?" asked Henry, confused, his head already spinning.

Fi turned to face him, her hand clutching the cross hard enough to leave a white imprint on her palm. "Abigail. When my birth mother gave my brother and I up, she wrote us each a letter that we received when we turned eighteen. She told me that had she kept me, she would have named me Abigail after her mother. No one but Sebastian and my parents know that, how…how could it be here? Is it a coincidence?"

Paige shook her head. "I don't think so. Your name in a past life is here, too. That'd be one hell of a coincidence."

"But what does it mean?" Fi asked earnestly.

Everyone could only shake their heads. No one knew what it meant, and no one knew what to do about it. Most had never encountered something so strange in their lives before, and those who had been through strange things had always been dragged through them somehow. Never before had they been handed something unnatural without any idea of what it was, or what to do with it.

"I…I suppose I'll take pictures of it. Send it to…send it to someone," said Evy, as she picked up her bag and pulled her camera out. "I don't know what anyone can do, though."

"I wish I knew what this was…" Paige whispered, looking from the lid to the mummy of the woman in the coffin. This mummy hadn't been as well preserved as she'd expected…but then, it was older than any mummy she'd seen before. "All I can think of is…"

"Is what?" asked Fiona, fear apparent in her voice. She was used to living in a normal world, and for the bizarre to touch her life, her personally…it was chilling. "Tell me, any theory you have because I just…I just don't know what to think."

Paige shrugged weakly, moving away from Alex to walk up to Fi and take her hand, "The only thing I can think of is…is maybe that's a list of your past names. And this…this is you."

Fiona's eyes widened in shock. She turned to the coffin, and moved closer to get a better look. She tried to comprehend Paige's suggestion, that this…this long, skeletal, decayed thing covered in linen was her body in another life. That this was her.

She felt dizzy again, and her vision blurred as she stumbled. Paige grabbed her and supported her weight as Fiona tried to find her feet below her. Her stomach twisted in horror as the image of her own decomposed body filled her eyes. "I…I need to get out of here. I need air."

Rick stepped forward, taking Fi's arm and stabilizing her better than Paige could. "We need to get back to Cairo, anyway. Let's go…Evy, meet us when you're done taking pictures."

"Alright," said Evy, as she snapped a close-up photo of the English writing on the lid.

Slowly, Rick, Alex, Paige and Fiona made their way out of the chamber and into the corridor. As they turned and one by one headed back towards the surface, Fiona couldn't help but take one last glance back at the body that might have been hers.

Artificial: Please, if you liked it, if you didn't like it, if you're waiting to see how things go, leave a review. Feedback is how I grow as a writer. Thank you!