Disclaimer: Of the characters I can claim only very few of them as my own - namely Rebecca. I do not make any claim on the characters featuring in "The Mummy".
Chapter 7 - Ambitions of Power
The present:
Rebecca stared into Ardeth's eyes, remembering those days she had spent fleeing within Hamunaptra. She remembered what she'd lost - her innocence - and she also remembered what she'd found - power. She remembered the voices that she'd heard, made so much clearer by her distress and pain. They had been the voices of the dead - of those buried within Hamunaptra. Her mind had been, in it's distress, so powerful that it had even woken Imohtep from his uneasy slumber of thousands of years, making him, once again, aware of the outside world. She'd heard those voices, learnt from them, and, when she'd finally managed to leave, she'd continued learning. The voices from the dead didn't trouble her now - as her power grew, as she studied and learnt and found that even ancient accounts of magic had some truth in them - she'd learnt how to block them again. Her uneasy childhood, filled with voices, and fear, and lack of understanding, was finally over. But it had cost her so much.
She released her grasp on Ardeth's chin, and stepped backwards, circling around as he tried to struggle to his feet. Eventually he managed to, and stood there, swaying, as she completed her circle and returned to stand in front of him. "How did you do it?" he asked softly, referring to his sword that she had shattered.
She shrugged, smiling wryly. "Magic". Ardeth frowned, and Rebecca's expression darkened in turn. Her left hand came up, casually sweeping her hair away from her face. "Your people can do magic, so why not me?"
Ardeth shook his head. Magic was not exactly what his people could do. There were some - generally the Elders of the tribes, who were able to see into the future somewhat - soothsayers, he'd heard them called, when the rumours whispered around the streets of Cairo. And a few of them could speak to the dead. That, however wasn't magic. He had only ever heard of the Creature itself possessing such powers as this, and he didn't think that this girl's circumstances had been the same.
Rebecca shrugged again. "It's amazing what you can find out, if you look hard enough". She dragged her fingers through her hair again, sleeve falling down around her wrist far enough for Ardeth to see a scar that ran down her arm. The scar he had put there with his sword. Her hand dropped then, toying with a pendant that hung around her neck. It looked Egyptian, as far as Ardeth could tell, some kind of stone trapped in a casing of dark gold, slender filaments twisting together, carefully worked to resemble snakes. The pendant hung on a fine chain around her neck. The stone inside shimmered in the sunshine pouring in from fractured roof, fiery sparks dancing within the glowing dark blue stone. Catching Ardeth's eye, Rebecca dropped her hand with a rueful smile.
"Why are we here?" Ardeth stalled for time, hoping to regain some of the strength that had been leeched from him by whatever drug he'd been given.
Rebecca smiled again, glancing around. "Why, don't you like it here?" She laughed, not giving him time to answer, and gestured around. "This is a very special place. Can't you feel it?" She could, the echoes of the dead, the whispers of power were very strong here. She lifted her hand again, caressing the pendant that hung around her throat. "At midday, when the sun is high, and the time is right, you are going to help me."
"Help you how?" Even as Ardeth questioned, some part of his mind noted that it was at least 24 hours since he had been in Cairo, as he'd met Jaylar a short time after midday.
"By dying." Rebecca's long, slender fingers brushed against the knife belted around her waist. "You die, and I become a god."
"A god." Ardeth shook his head, seeing, not for the first time, the spark of madness within the girl's captivating eyes. Eyes which now sparkled with laughter, shining in the sunlight. A smile once again parted Rebecca's lips, a smile which faded as noise echoed from out in the hallway adjoining the room She took two steps forwards, and then stopped, barely an arms length away from Ardeth, a satisfied smile once again twisting her lips.
Ardeth turned, looking for what she could see. Backing towards him was a man. A man whose back Ardeth recognised, having seen it often, usually whilst running away.