I don't Honkai Impact nor The Mummy 1999 and I don't recognize the Cruise Reboot as an officialand is nothing but a quick cash grab
Fu Hua took the map to Theresa immediately after performing a few tests on it. She opened it up to see the simplistic, yet stylistic designs ancient Vacuo was famed for.
"You see the cartouche there?" Fu Hua asked her, excitedly, "It's the official royal seal of Seti I, I'm sure of it."
"Perhaps…" Theresa said as she examined the map.
"You seem rather Doubting of this, Theresa?" Himeko said in a teasing tone.
"Well, this version of myself seems to be much older then I already a, so I think it's logical for me to be skeptical of a much younger scholar. ." Theresa defended herself.
"Honestly I was expecting you have some grey in your hair," Himeko said, squinting at the screen, "I do notice some facial wrinkles. "
"I would say you've aged rather well, Principal." Fu Hua said in a complementary tone, seeing Theresa looking great for her age in the scree.
"Thanks?" Theresa said, not knowing how to properly respond to that.
"Two questions." Himeko interjected. "Who was Seti I and was he rich?"
"The second pharaoh of the 19th dynasty, said to be the wealthiest pharaoh of them all." Fua Hua explained, indulging her simplistic friend.
"Good. That's good. I like this fellow. I like him very much."
"I've already dated the map. It's almost 3000 years old. And if you look at the hieratic right here," she pointed to a corner of the map. "Well… it's Hamunaptra." That caught everyone's attention.
"Dear Gods, don't be ridiculous." Theresa scoffed. "We're scholars here, not treasure hunters. Hamunaptra's a myth told by ancient storytellers to amuse superstitious tourists, old and new."
"As is with all stories." Himeko said with a nod.
"Well there are some truth to those stories." Fu Hua said in a disagreeing tone.
"Yeah Remember when we were sent on that retrieval mission to grab the Xuanyuan Sword a few months ago?" Asked Kiana as she recalled the mission to Chiyou.
"Point." Himeko said.
"Yes, yes, I know all the rumors and tall tales about the city being protected by a mummy monster and all that, but my research has led me to believe that the city itself may have actually existed."
"Wait a sec," Himeko said, looking up from the map, "Are we talking about the Hamunaptra here?"
"Yes, 'the City of the Dead', where the earliest pharaohs were said to have hidden the wealth of Egypt."
"Yeah, yeah, in a big underground chamber." Himeko said, recalling what she could of the legend. Theresa scoffed at him and shook her head. "Oh, come on. Everyone knows the story. The entire necropolis was rigged to sink at Pharaoh's command. Just a flick of a switch, and the whole city would disappear under the sands, taking the treasure with it."
"As the British would say, it's all fairy tales and hokum." Theresa said as she held the map before her lamp as she examined it. Unfortunately, she held it too close and it caught fire. She cried out as she threw it to the floor in alarm. Himeko and Fu Hua scrambled to put it out, but by the time they did, the most important part had been lost.
"God dammit! You burnt off the part with the lost city!" Hiemeko said in dismay.
"Well that looks rather convenient." Mei simply commented.
"Totally on accident, I'm sure." Kiana deadpanned.
"The Bronya has to agree with Subject Kiana for once." Bronya admitted to herself in a hush tone.
"It's for the best, I'm sure." Theresa said, sitting at her desk. "Many People have wasted their lives in the pursuit of Hamunaptra. No one's ever found it. Most, have never returned."
"Come, come, step over the threshold." An obese man going by the name Gad Hassan who seemed to be dressed in a French Foreign Legion uniform said as he introduced Himeko and Fu Hua to the Prison. "Welcome to Cairo Prison, my humble home!"
"Why are they in the prison?" Kiana asked wondering why the alternate reality versions of Himeko and Fu Hua were in Cairo Prison.
Everywhere men in uniform watched over prisoners as they worked in the yard. Fu Hua punched Himeko in the arm.
"You told me you got it on a dig down in Thebes." She said, her ears displaying her indignance.
"Yes, well I was mistaken, wasn't I?" Himeko said, rubbing her arm where Fu Hua had hit her.
"You lied to me!"
"I lie to everyone. What makes you so special?"
"I'm your sister, you ass."
"Well, then that just makes you more gullible, doesn't it?" That earned her yet another punch.
"Well those two may not be sisters, but maaan do they act the part rather convincingly." Theresasaid.
"Yyyup." Kiana agreed, which earned a chuckle from Mei and Bronya... well was silent, recalling some memories from the Cocolia orphanage.
"Himeko, you stole it from a drunk in the local bar!"
"Picked his pocket, actually, so I don't think it's a very good idea to- " She tried to walk away, but Hua pulled her back in line beside her.
"Man up and face it, Hime." She turned to Gad and asked, "What is this man in prison for?"
"Well, this I did not know." He admitted. He even sounded different, less pompous and condescending, and more jovial, like a grandfather. "But when you said you wished to speak to him, I asked him myself. He said, 'he was just looking for a good time'."
On cue, the door to the meeting cell burst open and a man with messy, shoulder-length Silverish white hair and the beginnings of a beard was pulled out in chains by a pair of prison guards. They slammed him up against the bars and forced him to his knees.
"Man... This male version of Kiana sure is an eye candy." Himeko said as she sucked in the view of Kyle.
"Why do I feel so violated?" Kiana thought to herself, as she glanced a Himeko.
"Hey quit staring!" Yelled Theresa as she grabbed Himeko's Ear.
"What the hell was that for?!" Himeko yelled as she Massaged her aching ear.
"You were undressing Kyle by looking at him, and were making Kiana feel violated." The Chibi Principal said as she pointed at a disturbed looking Kiana.
"Sorry? But you have to admit the brat's alternate version is an eye candy." Said Himeko, trying to defend herself.
"You really are a pervert Major." Fu Hua said with a dull tone.
"This is the man you stole it from?" Fu Hua asked, a little impressed at her sister's guts.
"Yes, exactly." She said, turning his face away, "Now why don't we go find ourselves some lunch and- "
"Who are you?" Kyle asked. "And who's the broad?"
"Broad?" Hua was a little offended at the word.
"Well, see, I'm sort of a missionary-type, here to spread the good word and all that." Himeko said, cutting Hua off before she could lay into the man, "And this is my sister, Fu Hua."
"How do you do?" Hua said warily.
"Oh, well, guess she's not a total loss." Kyle replied.
"I beg your pardon?" she said indignantly.
"Wow, Talk about blunt." Himeko chuckled.
"At least you have jokes in this one." Theresa added.
"Are you saying I don't make jokes?" Kiana asked.
"No Subject Kiana, what Subject Principal meant is that you are the joke." Bronya said with a mocking tone.
"What did you say Bratnya?!" Kiana yelled at Bronya.
"Kiana calm down." Mei said.
This time Hassan cut her off, yelling something across the yard before excusing himself to deal with it.
"Ask him about the box." Himeko hissed in her ear.
"Right, um, we found- um, excuse me." Kyle had looked away when Gad had left and was staring at him in contempt. "Yes, we, uh, we found your puzzle box, and we've come ask you about it."
"No." Kyle said, the pieces coming together in his head.
"No?" Fu Hua was confused.
"No. you've come to ask me about Hamunaptra."
Hua was stunned while Himeko indicated to him to keep the talk quiet. "How do you know that the box pertains to Hamunaptra?"
"Because that's where I was when I found it. I was there." He explained.
Himeko looked skeptical and approached the cell. "Well, how do we know that's not a pile of bullshit?"
Kyle clicked his tongue. "You seem familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"
"No, no, no." Himeko said, trying to deflect, "I've just got one of those faces- "Recognition dawned on Kyle and he punched Himeko square in the jaw. The guards saw this and one of them hit him in the back with their club. His face screwed up in agony, but he rode it out without so much as a groan.
"Ok, that's jus rude." Himeko said as she glared at Kyle.
"Well you kind of deserved it." Theresa said, making Himeko feel as if she's been punched in the gut.
"The Principal isn't wrong, major you did have it coming." Fu Hua added.
Fu Hua ignored the violence and confidently approached the cell. "You were actually at Hamunaptra?" her eyes were practically sparkling in curiosity.
"Yeah, I was there." He said with a roguish grin.
"You swear?"
"Every damn day." He smiled.
"No, I-I didn't mean like that- "
"Yeah, I know what you meant. I was there. Seti's place. 'City of the Dead'."
"Could you tell me how to get there?" she asked eagerly. Jaune looked at her with surprise. This was new. "I mean, the exact location?"
"You want to know?"
"Well, yes."
"You really want to know?"
"Yes!"
He beckoned her closer and suddenly reached out, grabbed her chin and pulled her into a kiss. When he pulled off, he said, "Then get me the hell out of here!"
"Wow, talk about a pair of balls." Himeko, as she recovered. "And I'm betting they're the couple of the movie."
"Fu Hua and Kiana..." Theresa said to herself, she could see that being a thing
The guards began to beat him again, but this time he fought back, if briefly. "Do it, lady!" he yelled as the guards dragged him back into the prison.
"Where are they taking him?" she asked Hassan.
"To be hanged." Hassan explained. "Apparently, he had a very good time."
Prisoners gathered in droves around the execution grounds and cheered as Kyle ascended the steps of the gallows. Hassan sat in a viewing gallery alongside Hua, observing the proceedings.
"I will give you 100 Pound to spare this man's life." Velvet said desperately.
"Madame, I would pay 100 Pound just to see him hang." Hassan replied.
"Two! 200 Pounds!"
"Proceed."
"300 Pounds!"
Down below, the hangman placed the noose around Kyles's neck and tightened it.
"Any last requests, pig?" he asked maliciously.
"Yeah, loosen the knot and let me go." He said sarcastically. The hangman was confused by the request and relayed it to Watts.
"What are you, an idiot? Of course, we're not going to let him go!" Gad yelled down. The hangman slapped Kyle upside the head for making him look the fool.
"500 Pounds!" Fu Hua offered.
Gad ordered a halt and turned to her. "And what else?" he placed his hand on her leg. "I'm a very lonely man."
"Pig." Said the females simultaneously.
She slapped his hand with her book, and he pulled away. Prisoners all around the yard laughed at him. He ordered for the execution to proceed.
"NO!" Fu Hua cried uselessly. The floor beneath Kyle gave out and he fell. The rope pulled taut and he began to swing. He grunted as he tried to breathe.
"This is not going to be pretty." Mei said. She took extra elective history classes with Himeko, so she knew roughly what hanging as a form of execution entailed. At best, the victim would break their neck in the drop, but if that failed, they would die from strangulation which was an even worse fate.
Gad laughed in triumph. "Ha ha! His neck did not break! I'm so sorry miss. Now, we must watch him strangle to death."
Seeing her only guide dying before her, Fu Hua knew she had no choice. She played her trump card. "He knows the location to Hamunaptra!"
He rounded on her in disbelief. "You lie!"
"I would never!" Fu Hua said in an offended tone.
"Are you telling me that this filthy, god-less son of a pig knows where to find the City of the Dead?"
"Yes."
"Truly?"
"Yes! And if you set him free, we'll give you… 10% of the treasure."
"50%." He fired back.
"Ooh, that's a mistake." Himeko said. "Here's a pro-tip I learned the hard way, kids; never, ever gamble or haggle with Hua." She said the last with a glare at Hua, who was whistling innocently, which was slightly out of character for the class monitor.
"20." She offered.
"40."
"30."
"25."
"Ah!" she caught him. "Deal."
He cursed himself for not keeping track. "Cut him down!" The guard that had led Kyle up the stairs cut the rope he hung from with a sword. When Kyle hit the dirt, the prisoners burst into cheers for one of their own. Kyle looked up and saw Hua looking down on him triumphantly. The message was clear.
I did my bit. Time for you to do yours.
A few days later, a large white riverboat sat docked in Cairo's Port District. It was still undergoing the loading process as Hua and Himeko walked up, luggage in tow.
"Do you really think he's going to show up?" Hua asked her sister.
"Knowing my luck, without a doubt." He answered.
"But how can you be so sure?"
"Hua, trust me, I've seen the type a thousand times. He may be a cowboy, but his word is his bond."
"Well, personally, I think he's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit."
"Anyone I know?" came a voice from behind. The siblings turned to see Kyle coming up behind them. His hair had been to Neck length and ties in a ponytail, his beard shaven off, and he was dressed in a white dress shirt, a tan coat and pants, brown boots and a leather rucksack over one shoulder. Both Himeko and Hua stood staring with her mouth open.
"Ok now this is what I call and eye candy," Himeko said liking what she was seeing.
As for Hua and Mei, both of the Valkyries were blushing slightly at Kyle's sight.
And Kiana, she was felt like she was looking at her old man who had ditched her.
"Oh, uh, hello." Hua said when she finally recovered. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Enough." He said with a grin.
"Good day to start an adventure, am I right Arc?" Himeko said with a flirty tone, offering Jaune his hand.
"Yeah. Yeah, real great." He said with sarcasm, politely shaking the woman's hand. "Oh, before I forget, no hard feelings about the, uh…" she indicated her nose.
"Bah, all's forgiven. Happens all the time."
"He's not joking about that." Hua interjected, rolling her eyes. "But, Mr. Kaslana, can you look me in the eye and guarantee me this isn't all some kind of a… flimflam?"
"Okay, first off, 'flimflam'? Second, let me tell you something, lady, my whole damned garrison believed in this so much, that without orders we marched from our post on the other side of the continent to find that city. And when we did, all we found was sand and blood." He let his words hang in the air before speaking again. "Let me get your bags for ya."
Well for Himeko, and Theresa that hit really hit close to heart as they recalled those that they lost.
Hua stared after him as he walked up the gang plank. Himeko saw the look on her face and grinned.
"Yes, yes, you're right. Filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel. Nothing to like there at all." She teased.
"Oh, shut it, you." She shot back.
"A bright good morning to all." Gad Hassan said as he came up next to them, thankfully in a fresh set of clothes.
"Oh, what are you doing here?" Hua whined.
"I'm here to protect my investment. Thank you very much." He said as he made his way on board.
"This is gonna be a looong trip, isn't it?" Himeko asked.
"Yyyep." Velvet responded with a pop.