Disclaimer: I do not own the Mummy, but all OC's do belong to me. In addition, the legend written in italics below is an ancient Egyptian legend, written on the Metternich Stela. Discovered in 1828 (yes there's a history lesson here!), the stone tablet contains mostly spells for curing poison and illness, but also relates this story of Isis and Seth. I have made some changes (dialogue, emotions, etc.), but the basic plot is true to translations of the Stela. Seth's curse, however, is entirely my creation.
Chapter Seven
How do I explain this to Rick and Evelyn? Ardeth Bay mused silently, jaw clenched, hands still clutching his scimitar at the ready. Bodies littered the once attractively groomed gardens. Evelyn's delicate desert flowers were now trampled into the ground.
It wasn't even the O'Connell family's fault that Egypt- no, the whole world- was threatened yet again. Typically, Ardeth and his men would handle the situation themselves, but he was at a total loss. For all the strange men he interrogated as they desecrated the sacred temples at Karnak, Ardeth had gotten no closer to discovering the identity of their employer. His men had been outwitted, time and again, by the unknown mastermind. These people were smart—how else could they have solved the riddles and stolen three of those accursed statues?
That's why he came to Cairo. He'd heard that the O'Connell's had come for the weekend. If they could at least solve the riddles, reveal the locations of the last four scorpions. Not even all four—just one, and the world would be safe.
It wasn't fair of him to put the family back in danger, especially after their last meeting, but desperate times called for these measures.
"Sayyar, Irfan, gather the men and have them take care of the dead."
"Oh Ardeth," he heard a familiar American accent call out. "Care to explain why there's a body in the fountain?"
"I'm sorry, my friends, they followed me here." He walked to Rick O'Connell's side, shaking his and Jonathan's hands, and uncomfortably receiving a hug from Evy. Behind them, he noticed Alex, wide awake and buzzing with excitement, chattering away to a woman he didn't recognize.
"So, old boy, is the world about to end again?" Jonathan joked.
Ardeth glared at him. "Unfortunately, yes. These men—"
"We know, buddy, we know. Had a little run in with them ourselves. Shall we compare stories?" Stepping over another corpse as if their appearance in his yard was a common occurrence, Rick led the group into the house. Silently, Ardeth whispered a prayer that together, they could defeat this new evil.
Shell shocked, Libby stood back from the crowd, holding a piece of cloth hat she'd torn off her skirt to her bleeding cheek. Her brother apparently knew the desert man that stood amidst the dead. This was a comforting fact, because she didn't think she was up to running anymore. The strange man had a strong jaw, serious brow, and dark eyes that conveyed worry and fear. Pretty easy on the eyes, if I do say so myself, she thought, trying to find a positive in this disastrous night.
As he spoke with the group, Libby felt more and more like an outsider, though in all honesty, she knew that was exactly what she was. Rick felt obligated to keep her safe. As soon as all this was settled, she'd be out of his life again. Frankly, she couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"C'mon Libby, Ardeth's going to explain what's going on!" Alex shook her wildly out of her reverie. "Don't you want to know why the men came to your hotel?"
There better be a good reason, she thought angrily, following the boy. As they walked, like a museum tour guide, Alex showed her each room they passed, mentioning the more interesting artifacts his parents had collected with a wave of his hand. Despite everything, she couldn't help but smile at the boy's enthusiasm.
"Alex!" Evy called, appearing from a room farther down the corridor "Let your aunt sit a while, she's had a rough night."
Libby smiled at the other woman gratefully. She noticed that a bandage was now wrapped around Evy's head. "Come into the dining room, Libby. One of Ardeth's men will take a look at that cut on your cheek."
Taking her arm-in-arm, Evy led her to a seat next to Jonathan, where the man she spoke of began cleaning the wound. As she felt the alcohol drip into the cut, she jerked away. "Sit still or you'll bleed to death," the man said, annoyed, and even though Libby found that highly unlikely, she wasn't going to argue with the tone of his voice.
"So what are we dealing with, Bay? Mummies again?" Rick asked, wasting no time with formalities. Libby jolted in shock. Mummies? Mental cases, the whole group of them…
"Would you sit still?" the man growled. It wasn't his voice, but the sight of the needle he was going to use to stitch the wound, which froze her in place. Not even a whimper escaped when the cool metal cut through her flesh.
"Ardeth, you haven't met Libby yet. Libby is Rick's sister," Evelyn said, motioning to her. One eyebrow lifted, she wasn't sure if it was from surprise or to determine if she was trustworthy.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss O'Connell," he replied with a nod of his head. Libby attempted a smile back, all the while trying not to move. It was odd to be referred to as an O'Connell.
"To answer your question, Rick, for once I cannot tell you who these people are, or what they wish to attain, though I would assume it is power. Isn't it always power?" he asked this to everyone and no one. "There are a series of riddles in Karnak, pertaining to seven sacred scorpions."
Jonathan instantly perked up. "Just hold on a second, old friend. Davey—he's the bloke that attacked at the hotel tonight—was talking about collecting scorpions. I figured he was trying to find the Scorpion King's riches."
"Unfortunately, no," Ardeth replied. "At least we know how to defeat the Scorpion King. This… this comes from a legend far older than that. There are a series of riddles in Karnak, written by Cleopatra, regarding the hiding spots of seven ancient scorpions, protectors of the goddess Isis."
That's impossible, Libby thought. That stupid statue couldn't have belonged to a goddess. And even if it did, how did it end up in a Cairo hotel?
Ardeth continued. "When her husband, Osiris, was killed by Seth, Isis was taken prisoner…"
In the Nile Delta...
Isis pushed her long, black hair away from her sweat-dampened face. Though her heart was heavy, she refused to allow her captor to see her cry as she weaved her husband's funeral shroud. She would not allow Seth to get the best of her—he could not know she was pregnant. Her first priority was to protect her child. And so she played the obedient captive, staring at the loom, fingering the soft linen that would protect her beloved Osiris's body in the afterlife.
A rap at the locked door instantly drew her attention from the fabric. Seth never knocked, just burst thoughtlessly into the room to scream taunts, and threats toward those mortals she was sworn to protect.
"Isis, it is I, Thoth!"
She gasped in delight. Finally, a sign that maybe, just maybe, things would be alright. Rushing to the door, she whispered, "I'm locked in."
Instantly, she heard the intricate mechanisms moving. The door swung open, and her beloved friend enveloped her in a hug, conveying his sorrow at the death of Osiris and joy at finding her safe. Rarely did he, the wisest among her friends, show his emotions so openly.
"You must get away from here. Isis, you can only hide your pregnancy so long. Seth may not be the most intelligent, but his power…"
"I know, Thoth. But I can't hide away from Egypt, our people need me! What of the mothers? And the children?"
"What of your own child?" Thoth replied, and she knew he was right, as he always was. "You can continue your work, I have found a way for you to travel unharmed to a hiding spot." From a cage outside the door, he released seven scorpions, larger than those found in the desert, each a beautiful gold color. They scattered across the floor quickly.
"I asked Mafdet for them." Isis thought of her friend, a young woman with a head of beautiful golden hair she kept in a braid, who had power over the snakes and scorpions of Egypt. "They will protect you on your journey. Petet, Tjetet, and Matet will walk before you. Mesetet and Mesetetef will guard your to the right and left, and Tefen and Befen will walk behind. Move quickly and quietly, hide amidst the reeds if you must. If I find a safe house before you do, I will find you."
Gratitude filling her, she embraced Thoth again. They did not say goodbye, because it wasn't goodbye. They would see each other soon, once the threat of Seth was gone. As she walked out the door she heard Thoth ask a final question. "Have you picked a name yet, Isis?"
She turned with a smile. "Horus."
Ten days it had been since she left her captivity, wandering what seemed to be the whole of Egypt in search of a hiding place. With the seven scorpions at her side, providing a guard that nearly surpassed the greatest Egyptian army, the kicks of her son's tiny feet served as a reminder of what was at stake.
As evening approached on the tenth day, Isis entered a small village. There were no inns for her to rest, so she approached an opulent home, so large that she was sure there would be extra rooms that she might borrow for the night. There was gold in her pocket to pay for a night's rest. Knocking, the lady of the house opened the door. Isis felt the woman's eyes on her, on the tattered, mud-stained clothes that she'd worn since the day of the battle. While she longed to be clean, the dirt helped in hiding her identity. "What do you want?" the woman sneered.
"Please, my lady, all I ask is for a place to stay tonight."
The woman looked appalled at such a request. "Get on with you, girl. There's no room for you here." She slammed the door.
Disheartened, Isis returned to the road, preparing to walk on to the next town. "Excuse me, miss?" a shy voice rose. Isis immediately turned around. The girl who'd spoken was young, maybe twenty at the oldest. Her manner of dress, as well as the calluses on the hands that had grabbed her arm indicated she was poor. "Miss, my home is not large, but I can offer you a bed for the night, and a simple meal before you return to your travels in the morning."
Isis smiled gratefully, the first smile she'd let pass her lips in a long time. "I would be most appreciative…."
"Sheriti. My name is Sheriti."
That night...
A scream from the village woke Isis from her deep slumber. At first, convinced that it was Seth, she prepared to run. A hysterical voice from the streets shouted, "Help me! Oh somebody, help my son, he's dying! Please, oh please! Can't anyone help?"
Isis, followed closely by Sheriti, exited the house. It was the noblewoman who'd refused her a room. In her arms was a young boy, unmoving. "What happened?" Sheriti asked.
"He was bitten by a scorpion!" It was then Isis noticed Tefen was scampering back into Sheriti's home, the other scorpions waiting in the doorway.
The woman's sobs broke Isis's heart, and thinking of her own unborn son, she took the boy from his mother's arms. Whispering words she'd learned as a child, repeating each scorpion's name in turn, she drew the poison from the boy. A look of recognition passed over both Sheriti and the noblewoman.
"Isis, I am ashamed," the woman cried, holding her son close to her. "Please, I cannot take back my words. But I ask you, and the peasant girl, to take all I own. Whatever I have, is yours. So long as I have my son, I will survive."
"You are forgiven. I ask that you ensure that Sheriti is well taken care of. I must take my leave now, and continue my journey, but take care of each other. And remember this lesson, good woman." Both women curtsied out of respect to the goddess.
Though angered at the scorpions, she summoned them to her side, and after she conveyed her anger to them, Isis continued on her journey.
"Isis soon found a safe home," Ardeth continued. "However; all was not well in the village. Once her journey was completed, Isis sent the scorpions back to Sheriti, fearful that Seth would discover that the girl had aided her. She was right to be fearful, as he attacked the girl soon after, leaving her near death, and stole the seven scorpions. He cursed the seven scorpions, turning them to gold. If he was ever killed, these seven united would resurrect him from the afterlife, his soul taking the body of he who united the seven, giving him immortal power."
Ardeth paused to allow them to take in the story. "Eventually, Seth was defeated by Isis, who hid the seven scorpions, leaving riddles to their location to the pharaoh. Each generation passed these riddles to the next. However; Cleopatra, during her reign, felt threatened by Caesar's presence in Egypt. Though they were lovers, she feared he may try to gain Seth's power. She hid the scorpions again, and had the clues inscribed at Karnak, the only place the seven could be destroyed. I believe these people want to unite the seven scorpions, but I cannot be certain. "
He looked around the room. Alex and Evy were clearly intrigued, and Rick, sitting between the two, was unconsciously checking how many rounds were left in his pistol. Jonathan's face was blocked by the flask that, though refilled when they reached the house, was quickly emptying again. And Libby, the woman who'd never been through this before, was looking at everyone as if they should be institutionalized.
"There are two questions I want answered," Ardeth stated. "Who is behind this? And why did they attack the hotel you were staying in?"
The room was momentarily silent. Then Libby spoke up. "I think I can answer that."
AN: Hey everybody! Thanks so much for continuing to read! I hope that everyone is really enjoying the story. Special thanks to Bloody Jack Sparrow for the review, and to all of you who have added the story. It means a lot to me! Next chapter, we get a few cute family moments, and... well I'm not sure what else yet, but it should be good (I hope!). Please leave a review, even if it's to point out mistakes (I was that kid who couldn't get past the first round of our class spelling bee!). They are always appreciated! Best wishes to all! Jac
