The Quest Begins
The Faculty of Archeology…
Frustration was beginning to set in. For several hours, Malone sat in a dark, misty room starting at the piece he acquired. Egyptology was never a real strong suit with him, but hearing the stories made this pursuit an irresistible draw.
"Any luck?" came a voice from a distance.
"I'm clueless. I mean the clues to the location of the next piece lie on this stone, but the characters…I…I can identify the symbols, but they're just random words. It doesn't make any sense," Malone stretched back in his chair.
"Maybe there's a key to deciphering the clues. Something we may have overlooked," a figure came out of the shadows; a raven-haired woman with emerald green eyes. She had a petite figure and was wearing a camouflage tank top and jeans.
Malone just sighed and shook his head. "Well, maybe, but right now, we're still stuck at square one. And the only way we're gonna get our money is if we can provide the other three pieces."
"I wouldn't worry too much just yet. Perhaps a solution will present itself," she assured him.
The Egyptian Museum…
"Wow! This is incredible! I can't believe I'm actually here!" Willow had been bug-eyed ever since they entered Egyptian, much to the amusement of the others.
"Look at her. She's just like a kid in a candy store," Shalimar just chuckled, as Brennen snuck up around behind her and put an arm around her.
"Yeah it's kinda cute," Brennen smiled.
"Can you believe this, Shal?" Willow came running up to them, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, I'm all a tingle," Shalimar shared very little of her enthusiasm.
"Over 3,000 years of Egyptian history in one building! We totally have to check out King Tut's display," Willow was like a giddy schoolgirl.
"Willow, we're not here to sight see," Shalimar grabbed her arm.
"Aw come on, Shal. This is the first time I've ever been here and there's no reason why we can, you know, take in the experience while completing the mission," Willow reasoned. She made a puppy dog face at Shalimar and Brennen.
Shalimar ruffled her hair, "Maybe after. We'll see what Adam says. Right now we have to focus on catching these thieves."
"Yes," Willow said in victory.
"Alright, well according to the security cameras, there were five or six of them. Unfortunately, they knocked out the security system before they could get any accurate description of them," Adam approached the three of them.
"What exactly was the piece they took?" Brennen asked.
"It's quite something. It's a stone piece that was smoothed out and polished. But from I can make out from some of it's missing," Adam explained.
"Missing?" Willow inquired.
"Yeah, as if it was deliberate," Adam added.
"Like a puzzle," Shalimar looked at them all.
Adam nodded.
Willow thought for a moment, "Can I see it?"
"Follow me," Adam ushered them foreword.
Museum lab…
"Wow! Where was this found again?" Willow looked up at Adam and the others.
"Alex said they unearthed it in the Temple of Osiris in Abydos," Adam explained.
Willow sat back and thought for a moment, trying to remember all the books she had studied about Egyptology. "A stone of gold. Tutak, I've heard the name before, but there's very little known about him."
"Tutak was an ambitious man," a voice interrupted.
They all turned to the voice. "Everyone, this is my associate, Alexander DePaulo. Alex I want you to meet my team, Shalimar Fox, Brennen Mulwray, Emma DeLauro, Jesse Kilmartin and Willow Fox."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Alex nodded to them all. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
Willow stood up. "I've to say this place is quite something."
"You have a passion for history?" Alex asked.
"Yeah. It's been a hobby of mine for quite sometime," Willow nodded. "Tutak, I remember hearing a story about him somewhere. There's not much on him, but considering he was cursed, it's not surprising."
"Very good. Originally, the gods smiled upon him. They wanted him to lead the people into some kind of Utopia and unite the world under Egyptian rule," DePaulo added. "According to the myth, they presented him with an extraordinary gift, a mystical stone made of pure gold."
Willow perked up when she heard this, "The Eye of Osiris."
"My, my. You do know your stuff little one. Yes, the myth says that the Eye possessed the power to control the four elements; earth, air, water and fire. Naturally would be considered to be the most powerful weapon of the ancient world."
They all looked at each other, while Alex continued with his story, "He used this weapon to conquer most of Africa and part of Europe. But he became mad with the power bestowed upon him. It was in Temple of Osiris that he proclaimed himself supreme god, more powerful than the god Osiris himself."
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Adam interrupted.
"Indeed. It was then that the gods had no choice but to intervene. Four gods, Osiris, his queen Isis, their son Horus and Ra, appeared before him in the temple and relieved him of the Eye. They executed a horrible punishment on him. They cut out his eyes and tongue and mummified him alive. It was said they destroyed the Eye for fear that someday, it would fall into the wrong hands again."
Adam looked at Alex and the others. "How can we be sure it was destroyed?"
"Well, that's a good question. However, it's just a myth. There's no proof that the Eye even existed," Alex looked at Adam, unsure as to what he was thinking.
"But you might have had the proof right in front of your eyes," Adam held up the photo.
"Even if it did exist, but didn't have the powers the myth talked about, it would be priceless," Willow added.
"Worth breaking into a museum for," Emma jumped in.
"You think these people are after the Eye?" DePaulo asked.
"It would definitely be a possibility," Adam answered.
The Faculty of Archeology…
"This is just so damned frustrating," Malone huffed. "Carmen, I don't know if this will be possible."
"We have to keep trying, our friends are starting to get restless," Carmen replied.
"We have some news from our spy cables. Apparently, DePaulo called in a team to help in the investigation. According to my source, they're led by Adam Kane," Napier walked in interrupting their conversation.
"The Adam Kane? The genetic genius? The father of new mutants," Malone recalled the name from his college days. "If they figure out what we're doing, it could ruin everything."
"Relax Mr. Malone. Try to turn a negative into a positive. If they figure out what we're looking for, it could be turned to our advantage," Napier smirked at Carmen and Malone.
"Your thinking they would try to beat us to the punch, lead us to the Eye," Malone caught his drift.
"Exactly, we're gonna have to keep an eye on our new friends. They could be the key to making our mission a success," Napier smiled and left.
End of Chapter 2