Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Stargate SG-1, Reign, or anything else I reference.
Chapter Sixteen: Darkness and Shadows
(Flashback Begins)
(Paris, France)
(Danny 1)
Danny took a seat as he looked at Queen Mary and Prince/King Francis.
"You wanted to see us?" Prince/King Francis asked.
"Yes. There is something I wanted to talk to you about." Danny said. This topic had slipped his mind because of the show making it seem normal. He did not need Queen Mary or Prince/king Francis in France while King Henry and Queen Catherine were alive to rule. This was not a T.V show where all of the cast had to be in the same place.
"What is it?" Queen Mary asked.
"I want you and Prince/King Francis to go to Scotland and take the throne back from Mary's mother." Danny said.
"Why?" Queen Mary asked. She would do what King Danny wanted but she still wanted an explanation to this decision.
"Italy and England are preparing to launch an invasion against France. I want to make it harder for them to unite. Queen Elizabeth is not going to send as many forces to invade France if she has to worry about an army attacking from Scotland." Danny said.
"When do you want us to leave?" Prince Francis asked.
"Prepare for the end of the week. My Jaffa will take you and whoever you are bringing with you to Scotland." Danny said.
"This is not going to be an easy task." Queen Mary said. As King Daniel had told them when they first met many members of Scotland were changing from Catholic to Protestant. To return home and tell both groups that their religion was outlawed would just have them unite to fight against them.
"Do not worry. The Archduke of Bohemia is going to be sending you soldiers to aid you." Danny said.
"Really?" Prince Francis asked.
"Surprised?" Danny asked acting like he did not know that men that had served King Henry for years were flocking to Louis' banner to see what they would get in return.
"It just did not seem something the man would do. The Archduke is a very staunch Catholic supporter, and they were not Catholic anymore." Prince/King Francis said.
"I have become good friends with his sister, and he would do anything for her." Danny said. After all the Archduke was still under the control of his sister so he could get pretty much anything he wanted from the man.
"Is my mother aware of your plan?" Prince Francis asked.
"Yes, and so is King Henry." Danny said. Under the control of Nish'ta or not King Henry was willing to risk anything to get a hold of England. Sending his son to Scotland to gain an advantage during the war was just another strategy. He had plenty of sons that could rule if something did happen to him.
"Very well." Queen Mary said. She was going to have to tell her ladies that they were going back to Scotland. It had been so long since she had seen her homeland and her family.
"Good. Pack what you want to bring with you." Danny said as he waved the two of them off. He turned to face his newest guest. "I take it you have news?"
"We have found the thieves that woke Imhotep." Qetsiyah said.
"Are they in any danger?" Danny asked.
"They are safe for the moment. We have placed them under a cloaking spell. Imhotep is not going to find them while they are under my cloaking spell." Qetsiayh said as she channeled the power of all the souls in her dimension.
"Tell me where they are, and I will move them out of Egypt while we find the book of Amun-ra." Danny said.
"What are you planning to do with the chief of the Medjai?" Qetsiyah asked.
"I doubt he is going to want me to know where the book is, so I was planning on taking the knowledge from him. If that does not work send him to you so that you can summon up his knowledge." Danny said. He had enough vampire blood. Two victims later and Qetsiyah could know everything he had done since he had said his first word.
"Very well. I also found some witch families in the east." Qetsiyah said.
"That is good to know." Danny said. Whether it was the west or the east he wanted to know the witch families and the types of magic they practiced. Hoenheim and Dante were alchemists, Qetsiyah's descendants used spirit magic, but there was still much to learn about how his people's descendants used their abilities. The Hom Dai was just the newest example of the mystery's awaiting him.
"I found eight families in the east. The Asakuras, The Tsuchimikados, The Keikains, The Yukimuras, and the Summimuras are in Japan. The Yang Family, Tao family, and Xiaolong family are in China." Qetsiyah said.
"Are they Japanese families close to each other?" Danny askedas it would mean less travel time if they were.
"No, they are spread out. The Yukimuras' and Summimuras are in Karasumori, The Asakuras are in Izumo Shimane, and the Tsuchimikados and Keikains are in Kyoto. There are other individuals, but they are spread through the country" Qetsiyah said.
"I will go and share that information with the original when we meet." Danny said as he stood up getting ready to move.
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(Kleak, France)
"Please save our lives." The man named Robert Smith pleaded as he knelt before him.
His other partners Simon Martins and Joseph Moore were doing something similar. They had been picked up by an Al'kesh last night and spent the last night in a prison cell he created a few miles away from the village. He wanted to be sure that they were cloaked from Imhotep before bringing them here. The Englishmen were now telling him the story of how this mess had begun. They had been peasants in a simple tavern when a strange man had come to them offering to buy them a drink and told them a story of vast treasure waiting to be taken. They had set camp in the abandoned village during the night and during the day walked through the tomb searching for the fourth day they found a secret passage that led to some. In that room they found a crate. They opened it and found the black book of the dead.
"Who read the words in the book?" Danny asked as he looked at them. One of them had to be a witch to cast a spell.
"The Egyptian did something to us and we could speak the words even if we did not know what we were reading." Simon said.
"None of you thought that was weird or tried to run?" Danny asked just to be certain.
"It was like how we found the book. Once we knew the words we just had to speak them aloud. It was if we could not stop ourselves." Robert said.
"Alright. Give me the book and I will save your lives." Danny said.
"We will do anything." Joseph Moore said.
"You will be safe here until this is over." Danny promised them. Depending on how annoying this task was would tell him how harsh he was going to punish these fools whether they were tricked or not.
"How much treasure did you guys take from Hammunaptra?" Danny asked. He was going to check their gold to make sure that there was no curse on it that would ruin their lives when they returned home. The life of peasants was hard enough without an Egyptian curse following them.
0-0-0-0-0-0
(Khmunu, Egypt)
Danny walked through the abandoned ruins. The ancient city of Khmunu had been in the middle of Upper and Lower Egypt. There was only one man who lived here now, and he knew the direction he needed to go. He was racing against the clock so he did not let the sight distract him as it would normally. He could take his time exploring the history of this place after all of this was done.
"I know that you are in there." Danny said standing in front of one of the houses that looked like it was abandoned. Other people may have been fooled but he knew better. Above the house was a barrier that had Egyptian writing on it. He did not know the specifics of what the images meant but it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to ancient Egyptian magic. He wondered what would happen if he threw something passed the barrier?
"Who has come here?" Baniti asked
"Bianti my name is Daniel and I have come to bargain with you." Danny said as he walked up to the hut while avoiding the trap.
"I know of you. You are the one that robbed the pyramid in Giza." Bianti said.
"I like to think of it as freeing ancient treasures being hoarded by corpses." Danny said. There was too much knowledge that had been forgotten because people decided they wanted to take it with them to the afterlife. He knew why the show had to be the way it was but for the actual world to render its history to myth and the ramblings of crazy people was something that he did not want to accept.
"What have you come for?" Bianti asked while reaching behind his back to draw a weapon out of its sheath.
"I have come for information. I want you to tell me about the traps in Hammunaptra. I also want you to tell me where to find the book of Amun-Ra." Danny said. He had found out that The Book of The Dead in his possession gave him the ability to raise and control the dead. To kill something written by it he would need its opposite.
"I assume you learned of it from the men you tortured?" Bianti asked. 'I had hoped his younger brothers would have killed themselves before they told their captor anything, but it looked like it was not to be.'
"Let's just say I asked them some questions." Danny answered.
"Why would I do anything to help you with what you have admitted?" Bianti asked.
"Because you do not wish for Imhotep to bring death and destruction down upon the world." Danny said. He wanted to see if he and the medjai could work together for a bit.
"You know of that as well?" Bianti asked.
"I have friends that keep me informed of such things." Danny said while wishing that they were in front of a fire so that he could shift the colors while an ominous wind blew around them. It would have made a fine match with the night sky around them and the stars above.
"I am not going to tell you anything." Bianti said.
"You sound rather brave from inside the house. Why don't you come out and say that to my face?" Danny asked. The moment that he did he would place him in a forcefield and take him to the Al'kesh that was flying above the city. He could then extract the man's memories to learn everything he needed about Hammunaptra and the Medjai.
"Why don't you come in then?" Bianti asked.
"Because I am not sure if the moment I step across the threshold of your house that I won't be burned alive." Danny said. "I would prefer that you would come to me."
"I am good right where I am. All you need is to make a gesture of trust." Bianti said.
'There is no way that I am going to do that.' Danny thought. He only had so many days to exist, and he was not going to risk it because he wanted to make an old man feel better. Since they were at an impasse he used telekinesis to pull the man out of his house. He saw the barrier around the house flash, but nothing happened. Probably because it was Bianti that walked across the barrier.
"Die." Bianti said as he tried to stab him.
"And you wonder why I did not trust you." Danny said as he used his powers to activate the gauntlet he was wearing and trap Bianti in a barrier. "Dima send down the transportation rings." Good thing he had other duplicates doing his other tasks because this looked like it could take a while.
"They are on their way my king." Dima said.
"Take him to laboratory five and set up the equipment." Danny said the moment that rings brought them to the ship.
The Jaffa placed Bianti onto the hover-table and started moving him.
"Dima take the Al'kesh into space." Danny commanded. He did not know how far the Medjai witches could reach or see but he was going to make it as hard as possible for them to reach him. If they treid to rescue their chief, they were going to have a very hard if not impossible problem of how to get back home.
0-0-0-0-0-0
(Hammunaptra, Egypt)
"What do you think is in there?" Danny asked looking around the ancient city. Binati's memories had described the tomb being full of monsters and traps. The problem was that descriptions of them had been rather vague given the medjai rules. They had been tasked with making sure no one entered the tomb, so they had not bothered exploring what traps their ancestors had placed inside. Not to mention all the other traps the ancient pharaohs had put in them when they ruled over the place.
"Do you want my honest opinion?" Qetsiyah asked looking at him.
"Yes." Danny said. He had to go in there to find The Book of Amun-Ra. It's not like the truth could make this quest more difficult. He kenw it would just be another story the original would tell his Jaffa.
"I think inside the tomb are nightmares that should have been lost to time." Qetsiyah said.
"At least I will have something to look forward to." Danny said looking at the tomb. The abandoned city gave him a terrible feeling. It was like standing around a meteor storm. You could feel the tension rising as heavy rocks crashed around you, but you were unsure of where to move to safety.
"Is this about your museum?" Qetsiyah asked.
"I will admit that the original will probably take what is in there and pace them in one of them." Danny said as he looked at the statue of Anubis. It was only the top of the statue as the rest of it was buried underneath the ground and into the pyramid. At the feet of the statue is where Imhotep's sarcophagus should be. It was hard to say if that was still true given he was somehow freed from it when he was locked inside and unable to escape it when he was alive.
"After you have found what you have come for you should bury this place beneath the sand." Qetsiyah said.
"That is going to take time." Danny said as he took a seat on a broken statue and looked at the hieroglyphs carved upon them. His Jaffa would be arriving soon and then they would explore the inside of the pyramid. He could use the time to think upon things.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"We are here to save this world from a monster. The divine will of Nirtti will protect us. Let's us march forward see what is waiting inside." Danny said looking at the twenty Jaffa that were waiting for his order to march. All of his group including himself were wearing environmental suits for protection. Usually, it was only worn when they were working in space but given the traps that could be inside, he figured they would be necessary. The equipment would also allow him to conserve power while inside.
"For the glory of Nirtti!" The Jaffa shouted as they slammed their staff weapons upon the sand.
"You really know how to motivate them." Qetsiyah said.
"I have had lots of practice." Danny said as the Jaffa turned around and walked in front of him.
"Which way should we go my king?" Raios asked the moment they came upon a hallway that had three doors.
"I will check." Danny said as he used his suit's x ray vision to look deeper into the pyramid. "It's this way." They then moved down on the passage to the left. The one in the left led to a pit of filled with spikes. The one in the middle led to a dead end with arrows waiting to be launched at intruders. The one on the left was the only one to continue.
"What kind of creatures are these?" Igdu asked looking at the walls.
"Let's see." Danny said looking at the images. The suit also allowed them to flip through multiple frequencies and still retain colors as if their eyes were not being covered.
"This is amazing." Danny said as he walked through the pyramid and looked at the images that were carved upon the walls.
"What do these images mean?" Raios asked as he walked behind him.
"I have no idea." Danny said pausing as he looked at the image of the monsters that were carved on to the stone. "Jaffa move back." He could feel the unsettling feeling he felt earlier rising again.
"My king?" Jarra said as she looked at the stone that began to glow.
"Something is happening." Danny said as the creature on the wall became solid. The creature looked to be an alligator, but it was covered in golden armor. "I was not expecting this." The monster that was before them was radiating the same feeling as the lands around them. Its beady red eyes held malice in them and it looked like it wanted to take a bit out of them with its sharp teeth.
"Gggrrrr." The creature growled at him.
"We can protect you, my king." Igdu said.
"This is not a good space for that." Danny said not to mention he had no idea of the ability of this creature. It was too much of an unknown. Those claws could have poison, its voice could be deadly, its eyes could see through the dark and its body could move through the shadows. It would be best to deal with this thing as quickly as possible. He raised the pistol that was attached to his hip. A beam was fired at it and the creature blew up into shadows before it could get any closer.
"This is what I was talking about. Ancient monsters that should have been destroyed and forgotten." Qetsiyah said.
"Now that I think about it the scrolls that I found in Giza talked about ancient pharaohs that would turn their people into monsters." Danny said. No wonder people put so much stock in the rumors of the Spear of Osiris if this is what they dealt with in those times.
"And this creature is one of them?" Qetsiyah asked.
"I believe so. I also wonder how those villagers from England managed their way through here." Danny said wondering what else was waiting inside to wake up and attack them on their adventure.
"My king." Jarra said as she looked down at the ground.
"I see it." Danny said as he looked down at the glowing circle. He could also see the sparks of fire that were beginning to grow. "Activate your barriers and increase the force of gravity on your mag-boots." He watched as the suits projected barriers around him and the Jaffa that protected them while an inferno of fire formed around them. It swirled and surged as it reached up to the ceiling. When it was finished, he looked up to see not even scorch marks were left behind on the rocks. It was impressive as the suits registered the heat to reach 2500 degrees Fahrenheit (1370 degrees Celsius).
"Thank you for saving us my king." Raios said.
"It was no big deal. Let us move forward." Danny said looking at the walls if there would be any more creatures coming from it. As they got closer to the treasure there would probably be more dangerous traps waiting for them.
"Get in position. I want you to blast them to pieces before they can even form." Danny said looking at the two statues above them. The one on the left was that of a panther that stood as if she was a person. She held blades in both of her hands. The one on the right was that of a mummy. It had a cloak and mask on. It had two blades stretching down its arms and was connected by two bands.
"It is not working." Igdu said.
"Fine. I want you to form two groups and support me and a duplicate as we fight." Danny said. He had hoped that he would be able to refrain from using his power, but it seemed as if it was not to be.
"AAAHHHH." The monsters growled as they appeared before him.
"Let's finish this fast." Danny said as he looked at the female panther and drew out the blade of Telchak.
"Alright." His duplicate responded as he conjured two swords and faced the mummy that was walking towards him.
"This will not take long." Danny said as he used a combination of super speed to move around the female panther. It tried to keep up as he darted in and out of its eyesight but failed. "You should have let them destroy you." As their blades clashed his cut through hers quickly leaving her defenseless for another chop to the head that turned her to dust.
"That took you a while." The duplicate boasted as it stood among the dust of his foe.
"You say that but all you did was hold the creature and let the Jaffa shoot at it." Danny said before he absorbed the creature and sheathed the sword of Telchak.
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"We are near the end." Danny said as he looked at the room ahead of them. The chamber held the treasure of all the kings since the time of Sargon.
"I can feel something is about to happen." Qetsiyah said.
"Things seemed to be going too easy." Danny said.
The doors shut and two magic circles appeared. One on the ground and one on the ceiling.
"It seems that they intend to drown us since we made it this far." Igdu said.
"Not so simple. Look up." Danny said as he looked at the circle. He felt the electric power rising. It seemed that once the chamber was filled, they were to be electrified to death. Whoever came up with this was certainly a cruel Pharoah. Probably be good friends with Thomas Edison.
"Can we get passed this room?" Jarra asked.
"It is no problem." Danny said as he caused the treasure chamber's walls to become intangible. "Hurry up everyone."
"What you have come for is straight above." Qetsiyah said as she pointed to the book that was resting upon the pillar.
"Great." Danny said while focused upon the treasure and scrolls around them. Maybe some of them would explain what these creatures were and how they were made.
0-0-0-0-0-0
(Flashback End)
"That is what I have been going through." Danny 1 said to the group.
"Wow." Danny said as he thought over what happened. "What was in the scrolls?" If they went to all that trouble to protect something even more than the Spear of Osiris it had to be something important.
"I was still translating when we received the call." Danny 1 said.
"I wish to go next." Danny 2 said.
"Very well." Danny said waving his hand.