Title: When the Past
Comes Alive
Authors: Alex
(skettipikachu@aol.com) and Sarah (silivin@aol.com)
Rating: PG-13
Category:
Action/adventure
Spoilers: TMR
Status: Work in
progress (part 2)
Disclaimer: See
part 1
*********************************************************************
Rick pulled up
outside the British Museum and shut off the engine to the car. He turned to
Ardeth in the passenger seat. "Ready?" he asked. At the Med-jai's
nod, he got out of the car and they both walked up the stairs to the Egyptian
wing. Rick shuddered at the mess that was still there. "Look at this
place," he murmured.
"It has a
certain charm," Ardeth said looking off towards the office areas. His
friend snorted, withholding his laughter. Ardeth glanced at him. "Oh, you
mean the damage. Oh yes, very bad."
Rick smiled and
walked over to some of the displays that were still intact. It was early and
the Egyptian wing had been closed so there weren't that many people around. He
wandered over to one of the glass cases where Evie had showed him contained
some of the old scrolls or the Egyptian book of the Dead. He wasn't really sure
what he was looking for, but he glanced down at the parchment and was surprised
when he could actually make out some of the lettering. He looked more closely
at it and he realized that the symbols actually made sense. Hymn to Osiris.
Feeling somewhat disturbed by that, Rick turned quickly and looked away.
Ardeth meanwhile
had stayed on a steady coarse towards the offices. He was lost deep in thought,
remembering the last time he had been here when he collided with a smaller
person, knocking them to the ground. He dropped to his knee immediately.
"I am sorry! Let me help you!" It was a girl; she had been carrying a
stack of papers and was gathering them quickly now. "Here," he said
handing a stack of papers to her. So far he still hadn't seen her face, or
heard her voice.
"Oh, uh, thank
you," she said. She took the stack of papers from him and held them to her
chest. She glanced up at his face and gasped at the sight of him. He was a
striking-looking man, tall, dark-haired and obviously of the desert. She
briefly wondered what he would be doing here in London, but pushed that thought
away. "Um, I haven't seen you here before. We're actually closed right now
for repairs, but do you need any help at all?"
"Oh I don't
need-" He suddenly gasped. It was as if she was just sitting there then he
saw her in a palace, seated before a throne. Her long black hair braided and
beaded with gold. Her dark, nearly black eyes outlined with coal. The most
stunning thing was the clinging gold dress, which hid nothing of her from his
sight. He blinked and then there she was sitting on the floor, with papers
scattered about her.
She looked up from
gathering the rest of her papers and frowned at him in concern. "Are you
alright sir?" she asked gently. "You look a little ill. Would you
like me to get you a glass of water?" She got her stuff in order and stood
up to face him.
He remained on one
knee, looking up at her. "No, I am fine. I just ...it's nothing." He
stood up, and was amazed at how small she was. She could only have stood about
5'2 or 3 at most. He towered over her but almost a foot. He was about to say
something, what he wasn't sure, when Alex came barreling into the office.
"Hi Sari! Hey
Ardeth! Ardeth, where's my dad?" He said all this in about two seconds
flat.
"He's over
there," Ardeth replied, barely taking his eyes off of the lovely young
girl named Sari.
Sari briefly
removed her gaze from the man she had just discovered was named Ardeth and
glanced over at Alex. "Oh, hello Alex, I haven't seen your mother around
here lately." She liked Alex. He was a little too hyperactive for her
tastes but he was a cute kid and he was keen on Egyptology. She suddenly caught
sight of Mr. O'Connell making his way towards them and she smiled as Alex
charged up to him for a hug. She turned back to Ardeth. "So, you know the
O'Connell's?"
"Yes, You
could say that." He smiled and bent down to pick up a piece of paper she
had forgotten. "Here you go. Once again, I am sorry." He was rewarded
with a coloring of her cheeks, which made him smile even more.
She blushed,
averting her gaze, wondering why he was making her feel this awkward when she
had only just met the man. "Thank you," she said softly, quickly
looking up at him. "So, I'll leave you to your business then," she
said, feeling somewhat reluctant to leave him for some reason.
"Oh, you don't
have to go...Um...do you know where Evelyn is?" He groped for something
that would keep her there for another minute or so.
"Mrs.
O'Connell isn't here right now I'm afraid," she told him, smiling.
"But if there's anything you want to know, just ask Alex. He knows more
about this place than I do. But you know, if you are visiting the O'Connell's,
maybe I will see you around sometime?"
"Oh yes, you
probably will. I was sent here by the Cairo Museum to assist with the
cleanup." 'Very smooth, Ardeth," he thought to himself. 'You get all
tongue-tied around women, where's the Med-Jai leader now? Think of something
interesting to say!' "So yes, you will undoubtedly see me
around...here." He heard Rick snicker behind him and had the urge to smack
him up side the head.
"Oh,"
said Sari, smiling. She saw Mr. O'Connell and his son walk up to them and she
decided she had better leave. "Well it was nice meeting you Ardeth, but I
had better go and finish my work now. Maybe I'll see you soon." She smiled
again and turned to walk out of the room.
Rick grinned at his
friend as he watched the young assistant go. "You really have a way with
the ladies, Ardeth," he teased.
"Shut
up." He watched her retreating form, and he decided she had a very nice
figure at that.
Rick raised an
eyebrow at him. He hadn't seen this side of Ardeth before and it surprised him.
But then he should know how it felt to be around a pretty girl and not have a
clue what to say to her. Giving that tool kit to Evie back at Hamunaptra came
to mind. "Sari is still pretty new here," he said, trying to make
peace. "She's been one of Evie's assistants for the past couple of months.
She's a nice girl."
"How old is
she?" was the next thing that popped into his head. He himself had just
turned thirty-three. He could hardly believe he had only been twenty-three when
Imhotep had gone on his first rampage.
"Evie told me
that she just graduated from Oxford last year so I guess that makes her about
twenty two, twenty three years old?" Rick shrugged. "I don't know for
sure, you'd have to ask."
"Oh." He
blinked and shook his head slightly. He couldn't believe a girl had done this
to him. That dress she had been wearing in the vision he had seen wasn't
helping. He felt as if he had a pair of rolled up socks in his pants.
"Well after
that little interlude, shall we go look around?" Rick asked. He stared at
his friend. "Are you okay?" he asked. His attentions suddenly turned
to his son. "Alex, don't touch that. It's in a display case for a
reason!"
"Aww,
dad!" came the irritated reply. Rick smiled and looked back at Ardeth.
"I'm fine. I
saw...I saw something. I think it was a vision." The Med-jai turned to
look at Rick.
"You had a
vision?" he asked, shuddering as he remembered being able to decipher the
ancient Egyptian scrolls earlier. "What did you see?"
"Sari. She was
sitting at the foot of a throne. She was dressed like an Egyptian princess, or
a lady of high stature. She had on the most amazing dress..." Ardeth
stopped. He had never used the word amazing before in his life.
Rick would have
been amused by the Med-jai's speech had his mind not been so preoccupied.
"You saw Sari?" he asked, a little confused. "You're sure it was
her?" He could understand visions of him and his family, but Sari? A girl
they hardly knew? Now that was weird.
"Of course I'm
sure. I have eyes." Ardeth snapped.
"Eyeballs make
a better point!" Alex's voice sailed from across the room.
"Eyeballs." Ardeth repeated.
Rick held his hands
up in front of him in a gesture of peace. "Alright, take it easy," he
said. "I just wanted to make sure as it did seem a little strange. If it
helps, something weird happened to me too here, but it wasn't a vision."
"What?"
his friend asked, making a conscious effort to take the edge out of his voice.
Rick shook his
head. "Please give me a reason as to why I can suddenly read and speak
ancient Egyptian, Ardeth," he said, still feeling a little unnerved about
the whole thing.
"You hit your
head?" asked Ardeth. It was the first thing that came to him. 'I'm going a
lot on first notions today.' He though wryly.
Rick grinned
humorlessly. "Thanks for the help buddy," he replied, sighing.
"Sorry, I know I'm not dealing well with these...dreams, visions, whatever
the hell they are, I'm still kinda freaked out by it."
"I am,
uh...'freaked' as well," Ardeth said smiling back at him.
"Are you
giving Ardeth a lesson in American slang, Rick?" Evie asked. She emerged
from a door just behind them.
"Hey
sweetheart," he greeted, walking up to kiss her gently. He wrapped his
arms around her, wanting a little reassurance right now. "Evie, I'm not
going crazy am I?" he asked, nuzzling her hair. "I just still can't
believe this is happening to me. You're the one who deals with visions, not
me."
"No darling
you aren't crazy yet." She studied Ardeth. "You look... strange. Are
you all right?"
Ardeth shook his
head. "Ask him, he should be able to tell you." He nodded towards
Rick.
He sighed, looking
down at his wife. "While we were here earlier, Ardeth had some sort of a
vision. He says he saw your assistant Sari, but she was dressed like she was
some sort of princess."
"What?"
Evie asked. "Sari? I never would have thought Sari..." She trailed
off. Ever since she had met the girl, she had felt as if she knew her in some
way or another. Perhaps this was how.
Ardeth shrugged.
"Everyone has had a past life, maybe she was in mine."
Rick frowned.
"Maybe. But if she was, who is she really?" He disentangled himself
from his wife's embrace to walk up to the window, looking out of it pensively.
He stared down at the early morning London traffic as though it would offer up
some answers that he so desperately needed right now.
Evie narrowed her
eyes. Ever since she had seen her past, she had remembered more and more of
whom and what had been around her. The clearest image she had was of a young
girl walking away from her with a small bundle in her arms. This dream had been
with her for a few weeks now, but she hadn't said anything about it. Now that
she thought about the girl, Evie realized how much she resembled Sari
Evie turned to
Rick. "I'll be back in a moment." He nodded and she turned and left.
As she walked, she tried to remember everything about that dream. She rounded a
corner and saw Sari seated looking at a book. Suddenly, there was a flash of
light and she no longer saw the museum. Instead, she was standing in a garden.
Sari was seated a ways in frount of her. She wore a long white dress and her
hair was plaited down her back. She glanced up at Evie and smiled.
"Nefertiti! You are back from the ceremony!"
Evie found herself
nodding. "Yes, I am glad to be home. Tell me Basset how is Djedi?"
"He is better
now, it was only a small case of Nile fever." She smiled again and then
Evie found herself looking at the real Sari.
"Hello Mrs.
O'Connell," said Sari, smiling up at her. "Did you know that your
husband and son are already here at the museum?"
"Oh, yes! Yes
I did." Evie sat down beside of Sari. "How is the cataloging
coming?"
"It's a little
slow right now," she admitted, picking up a listing of all the books she
had sorted through so far and handing it over to her. "I thought I would
start with the books seeing as they were the least damaged before going to
something else. You know, there was the strangest thing? None of the items
belonging to the museum were actually stolen or lost except for one mummy that
was brought back from Egypt just before the break in. I wonder what could have
happened to it?"
"It was
burned," Evie said a little too quickly. This wasn't what had happened to
Imhotep per se, but it was close enough. "It's totally gone now. A shame
really." Evie would never forget the look he had given her before simply
letting go of the ledge.
"Well, at
least now I know what to put down on the report," said Sari, searching
around on the desk for a pen. "Will you be staying around much longer
today or are you just here on a quick visit with Alex?"
"I don't know.
Ardeth might want to look around for a bit. Have you met him?" Evie just
had to see what her reaction would be.
Sari blushed a
little in remembrance of the man. "Yes, I have. He mentioned that he was a
friend of you and your husbands."
Evie nodded, noting
the blush. Then she blurted out, "Would you like to come to dinner
tonight?"
"Oh no, that's
alright. I wouldn't mean to impose or anything," she replied,
hastily.
"No, no, no!
You wouldn't be imposing! I want you to come. After all, I need another girl with
four men around. I've been meaning to ask you anyway." Which was true.
Evie was rather fond of Sari.
"Well, if you
are sure," she said slowly. She really wanted to get to know this man
Ardeth a little better, but was a little scared at the same time. She smiled.
"Then what time should I arrive?"
"Um..."
Evie searched for a time. "Six. I think I can have it ready by then."
She smiled. "I'd better got see if my son has stayed away from everything
breakable. See you at six!"
"I'll see you
then," she replied. "Thank you for inviting me. I'll let you get back
to your family now." And she turned back to her cataloguing.
Evie hurried off to
tell Ardeth and Rick. She found them in a deep discussion about bullets.
"Hello!" She caught their attention after a minute or so. After
giving them a rundown of her vision and the fact that Sari was coming for
dinner, she stopped to see what they thought.
"So Sari was
in your vision too?" asked Rick. "But you said she was called what,
Basset?" He frowned. "Isn't that some kind of a cat god or
something?"
"It's a
derivative of Bast, who was the guardian of the dead and the goddess and
protector of cats." Evie paused. "If you remember Imhotep was
terrified of my cat when he saw her."
Rick nodded at that.
"Well maybe tonight we can get to find out a little more about her. So now
that we know a little bit more as to what's going on, what do you suggest we do
now?"
Evie thought for a
moment. "Well, I'm not needed here today. We should just go home. I need
to cook I suppose."
"Sounds
good," said Rick, leaning down to kiss her briefly. "Come on Alex,
we're heading off back home now."
"But Dad,
can't I stay here a little while longer? Please?"
"No, you
can't. Besides, it'll be dinner time soon and I can always bring you back
tomorrow."
Sulking at the home
part, but appeased by the sound of food, Alex made his way back to his parents.
"I'll make
baked potatoes, your favorite," Evie said smoothing his hair. On their way
out, Evie caught another glimpse of Sari. She was still seated with her book,
but she glanced up briefly and waved. Evie smiled to herself. She had a good
feeling about tonight.
