A/N: This is a play on, "Queen Of The Nile." Eeek, I fail at life! I was busy all last week and then I was stuck on writing this chapter. Yes, hate me if you must, and I know this chapter isn't nearly long enough. Sorry:( I can't do replies today, as I have to get off soon because I apparently have to "share the computer." But I shall do them next time, I promise! But a HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed! I will get to you next time!

Every Halliwell Counts

Chapter 23: Queen Of Denial

Paige swatted her hand, causing the orbs surrounding her to fizzle away. Her eyes darted towards the doorway as Brandon's parents walked in with their Book. "Did you find the spell?"

Mrs. Fargo smiled and laid her Book of Shadows upon the island counter top. "It's the same one that Brandon and Pearl used."

Paige ran her finger across words and then signaled to her sisters. "Come on, guys, let's get this over with."

Prue frowned. "What if it backfires?"

"How can this day get any worse?" The witchlighter sighed and grabbed the hands of her remaining sisters.

"Creatress of mankind, we call upon thee! We summon the powers of the Mistress of all deities!" Paige, Prue, and Phoebe's voices rang out in perfect harmony. A whipping wind had begun to funnel around them after the second line of their spell, just as it had done when Brandon and Pearl had cast it. Soon it transformed into a funnel of ancient Egyptian sand and the frangrance of herbs used in mummification rituals permeated the room. The three Charmed Ones were wisked into the air and a golden flash blinded everyone in the room, followed by the creation of a glowing golden pentagram. Before the witches knew it, their clothes began to transform into that of the ancient Egyptian deities that they would soon become.

----

Piper's yellow eyes glowed in the dark of the cave she was standing in. White sanded walls seemed to stretch on forever and it appeared that nobody had been here for thousands of years, naturally. She twitched her nose, moving closer to a rocky wall and running a diamond studded claw across it, causing a nails on a chalkboard sound. She smiled, something wicked that normally the witch would never do. She narrowed her eyes into small slits and stared at everything through the vision of a cat, which was endlessly better than that of a human or even a witch. Piper pursed her lips and slipped down the passageway until she to a blocked off wall. Her hands traveled in front of her and she released a wave of gold, as she'd done in the attic of the Manor. A ripple bounced off the wall, but the persistent witch refused to give in. She aimed and struck the wall again with her new power. She allowed her tongue to grace her lips, as the wall wavered and then vanished, as if it had never been there at all. "That's it," she purred as she gracefully moved forward. She was a mission, a hunt if you will, and she wasn't about to give up now. After she disappeared into the dark of the cave, a whirring sound was heard, and the cave wall reappeared.

----

"Well at least I have a normal head," Phoebe bragged as she stared at her reflection in a hand held mirror. She ran her hand through her extremely dark hair and drew out her leg, glancing down lustfully at her long, slinky, silk gown. She'd transformed into the Egyptian Goddess, Hathor.

Prue gave a loud, angry growl to her younger sister. She'd, unfortunately, taken on Sekhmet and now had a giant lioness head.

Paige, however, had taken on the Goddess that she'd forged a bond with oh so long ago, Bastet. She smiled proudly at her reflection in a floor length mirror. "I think I look good," she admired her dainty claws. "Prue?"

"Quit rubbing it in," Prue growled in response.

"She's just in denial, ignore her," Phoebe grinned as she enjoyed her older sister's anguish.

In a golden flare, much like Prue's astral flare, Pearl appeared. "Are you ready yet?" Her voice was anxious.

"We are," Phoebe sighed as she set aside her mirror. "I think our first goal should be to find the last lost artifacts and get them away from Ra."

"And Sekhmet," Paige added.

"I don't think Sekhmet matters much now," Phoebe pointed to Prue. "She'll have Prue's powers and her vulnerability."

"I think we should try to find Piper," the eldest suggested.

"But we can't..." Phoebe's voice trailed off as she pointed a finger towards Paige and Prue. "You guys are Cat Goddesses now, try to sense her."

"I don't feel anything," the witch with the lioness head turned to the witchlighter.

"It's faint, probably because Bast's powers over the cats and cat women are waning, but I think I have her. She-she appeares to be in a.." The witchlighter paused, closing her eyes and hoping to receive a better mental image. "A came of some sort." Suddenly the hieroglyphics on her clothing began to glow and she vanished.

"Paige?" Phoebe called, her brown eyes growing wide.

----

Paige reappeared in a dark cavern, the hieroglyphs on her clothing illuminating the area for a brief moment, before dying out. "Where the hell..."

"Paige!"

Paige spun around to an all too familiar hissing voice. "Why, hello Piper."

"You're too late."

"Oh, I am?" Paige attempted to squint her eyes, before realizing that things suddenly became a lot clearer, as she had activated Bastet's extra sensory cat vision.

Piper let a low growl errupt from deep within her throat, before reaching behind herself and brandishing her two in one whip. The diamond on the end glimmered as she slashed at her baby sister.

Paige could feel the whiskers on her face tingle as the air molecules around her were disrupted by the lightning fast movement of her sister's whip and gracefully glided to the side, allowing several rocks to come sliding down the side of the wall as the diamond tipped whip smashed into it. Paige quickly reached out and grasped the diamond, yanking the whip and sending a visible ripple through it, ending with Piper and sending her smashing into the opposite cave wall. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that, sis."

Piper's eyes blazed as she heaved herself up and raised her hands, blasting a golden light from her palms.

The whitelighter-witch raised herclaw into the air, the hieroglyphs on her ancient dress blazing, and a golden power flew directly into the center pad of Paige's paw. With a swift hand motion, the power flew out again, zapping Piper across the cave.

A loud thud sounded, as the older witch hit the cave with a thump, and landed on the ground out cold.

Paige took a moment to rest herself. Bast's powers were weak and her battle with Piper hadn't helped. She stepped forward and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the ground beneath her foot glow and then suddenly the cave lit up in a brilliant display of colorful hieroglyphics. Then a cracking sound filled her ears as the cave wall before her seemed to break in two, revealing a massive tomb filled with riches beyond comprehension. She walked forward, gaping at the magnificent sight. Then her eyes landed on a large sarcophagus, a beautiful female imprinted upon it. As the half witch looked further, she noticed a second sarcophogaus, but not nearly as beautiful as the first, with a man. But he looked strange, non-Egyptian, Paige concluded. But why would someone who wasn't Egyptian be buried in an Egyptian tomb? The markings on the second sarcophagus seemed so familiar though. Then it hit her, those were Roman markings! But Rome and Egypt were enemies. Suddenly her eyes lit up as realization sunk in. If a Roman was buried with an Egyptian, this one no doubt royalty, then this is... Paige's breath was caught in her throat for a moment. "This is the lost tomb of Cleopatra!"

TO BE CONTINUED...