A/N: Hey, I know it has been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since I last updated, but there have been many changes in my life and a lot of things going on. My focus wasn't really on my stories, but rather focusing on my human revolution. I am kind of still focused on it, but I suddenly got my love for Egyptian mythology back and got inspired to continue writing this.
I want to give my readers a heads up about some things about my story. I am going to go for more of a realistic theme because to me, just condensing it for you, I personally feel like I won't connect with you guys. And because of my love for Egyptian culture and mythology, I don't want to sugar-coat things for you, I definitely want to educate you on how things were back in Ancient Egypt and what the citizens believed in and how they viewed the gods and goddesses, especially the pharaohs who were believed to be the embodiment of the gods. But don't worry, I won't give you a documentary on Egyptian mythology and culture, this is a fanfiction, I want to keep it entertaining for you guys. However, I have to warn you, because of certain beliefs Ancient Egyptians had, there will be implied rape and incest. This is just to follow the plotline of the story and the mythology of Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses. And also, there will be some scenes that will have to deal with death. I know in the show, in all cases, most of the characters who supposedly died came back, but for this story, I won't be doing that. Just letting you know, if you do not like that kind of thing (rape, incest, and death), you are more than welcomed not to read this or just skip that part. I am just letting you ahead of time so you won't be surprised.
On a side note, did anybody else knew that John Tui, who played Daggeron, played in Battleship? He plays a Navy Officer, got to love a man in a uniform ;D. I had no idea until just recently, which I thought was pretty cool :). Hope to rent it one day.
Summary: Madison Rocca has always been considered the sensible one, the reasonable one who always follows her sister and whatever her teammates do, but when Madison starts having these weird dreams of seeing herself as an Egyptian warrioress in a past life, she begins to learn of a legend that will either bring good or evil to the whole world, and she realizes she has to follow her destiny to become the warrior of Horus. But with Imperious getting help from an old Medjai enemy, will Madison be able to stop their evil plan from ruling over humanity? Then again, the real enemy may be far greater than the priest of Osiris.
Rated: M for violence, language, (possible) gore, sexual references, and implied rape and incest.
Timeline: Between "Dark Wish" and "Koragg's Trail".
I do not own Power Rangers Mystic Force and The Mummy or their characters. They all belong to Rangers Productions and Universal Pictures.
WARNING! DEATH SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER! No Power Ranger will die, but someone in this chapter will die. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Three: Medjai
Madison did not know which one was worse: facing death or having her mentor yell at her. She was going to have to go with the latter. Here she was in the Egyptian temple, sitting on a broken pillar next to Jenji who was in his lamp with his head sticking out of it while Daggeron yelled at her. Madison should have known something like this would have happened, she should have thought it over more like she normally would, but she was so blinded by a determination she never thought she had. And so here she was, flinching at every word Daggeron said and feeling a bitter disappointment in the pit of her stomach at breaking her own promise of upsetting him.
"You went off in the middle of the night to go to Egypt with my morpher and without my permission!" Daggeron yelled. "Do you not realize how much you disrespected me by coming and sneaking into my room to take my morpher? Not only that, but you most likely endangered the lives of the rest of your teammates. Nick, Xander, and Chip are out in the Briarwood Forest fighting off the hidiacs by themselves and who knows what is happening to them right now! Because of your own selfishness and needs, you have put the Mystic Force at risk."
"I'm sorry, Daggeron, I did not mean to disrespect you or endanger the lives of the team, but I just had to come here and fast, I felt this was the only way," Madison tried apologizing. "I am truly sorry for what I have done, I did not mean to disrespect you or hurt the team…"
"But the fact remains that you did!" Daggeron snapped out, interrupting her.
Madison averted her eyes to the floor, trying to blink the tears away.
"And what do you mean you had to? What made you believe you had to come here?"
"It's very complicated…" Madison responded. She was not really sure if she should tell him about her dream and the strange connection she had with the falcon. He was probably not going to listen, anyway.
"Please explain then."
Madison sighed, wondering how she was going to start this without sounding stupid and naïve. "I had a dream where I was in the Egyptian desert, garbed in ancient desert clothing, and there was a falcon flying in the sky," she began. "It sounded in distress. When I asked what was wrong, I heard myself speaking in Ancient Egyptian, and I understood every word of it. Then there was this demon that killed the falcon and he took the sword in my hand. When I woke up, I found the dream sage was burnt and there was a falcon on my windowsill. I looked into its eyes and I think it told me to go to Egypt…"
"So you took my morpher and left because a bird told you to?"
Madison nodded.
"Maddie, how can you be so ignorant?!" Daggeron shouted, making Madison flinch. "Why would you go to Egypt all because some bird told you to? Did you not stop and think that maybe it was Imperious in disguise who told you to come here, so that he could have the chance to eliminate the others and then eliminate you?"
"No, I did not think about that," Madison said with a shake of her head, feeling even more stupid than she felt before. Why did she not think of that before? Because she was too busy thinking about getting something that did not belong to her for some unknown reason.
When Vida, who stood by and let Daggeron shout at his sister, trying to fight the urge to stand up for her due to Daggeron being her mentor, saw that Daggeron's lecture was really upsetting Madison, she finally stood up to him.
"Alright, Daggeron, that is enough!" Vida snapped. "I have tolerated you yelling at my sister like that because you are my mentor and you have a good enough reason for it, but you have gone too far. There is obviously something more to this than you are letting on and you need to listen. Maybe if we listen to her side of the story, we will figure out exactly why she came here."
Daggeron opened his mouth as if to argue back, but he closed it right back when he realized the sense in the pink ranger's words. He was letting his anger turn a deaf ear to what Madison was trying to say, and it just wasn't fair. As a knight, he needed to keep a cool head, but as the rangers' mentor, he needed to show compassion for his students. And today, he just was not doing a good job at both. He just has never been so upset at Madison as he was now.
When Daggeron backed down, Vida turned to her sister. "Maddie, explain to us exactly who and why you were called here," she said.
"I am not sure who called me here, but as I said before, I think it was the falcon who told me to come here. As for why being called here, I…I think I came here to get the chest," Madison said.
"The chest you are holding right now?"
Madison nodded.
"What's in it?"
"A sword…"
"You came all this way to Egypt to get a sword?" Daggeron asked.
"Not exactly, no…"
"Then what reason did you come here for?" Daggeron snapped out.
Madison hesitated, unsure of the answer herself, before finally responding, "I am not entirely sure, I just had a feeling I had to come and get it. My dreams kept on pointing me to this place for some reason, I am not sure what for exactly."
"Okay, Maddie," Daggeron began, "I understand your confusion, but your main focus should be on the Darkness, not these dreams you keep on having."
"Uh, Daggeron…" Jenji tried getting his attention.
"Not now, Jenji!"
"But…"
Daggeron continued on talking to Madison as if he did not hear the cat genie, "These dreams that you keep on having, they don't mean anything. You are letting these dreams slip into reality when you know that this is reality. Our main goal is to stop the forces of Darkness, prevent the Master from rising, and save the world, not chasing after dreams that don't mean anything. Now, put that chest back where it belongs, so that we can go and rescue the boys in time."
"Daggeron!"
"What, Jenji?!"
"I think that is going to be easier said than done," Jenji replied.
Everyone in the room looked at Jenji's small head in confusion until there were the sounds of a bunch of clicking. They all looked toward the entrance of the chamber to see a group of men in black robes and strange markings on their faces with guns in their hands, pointing straight at the Mystic Force. Daggeron knew enough about the human world to know that having a gun pointed at you was a hazard, and he, Vida, and Madison raised their hands up in surrender.
"I am not here," Jenji said as he ducked back down into his lamp.
Daggeron cursed inside his head. Now it looked like they may never get back to the others in time.
Nick, Xander, and Chip had arrived at the scene where the Darkness was coming from, which was a small village that was now in flames. There were no major monsters there, only hidiacs and stexyoids, but the smell of the burning village was almost overwhelming and terrified screams of the villagers could be heard as they tried running for their lives. That sound just put a cold dread in the hearts of the rangers, scared that the whole village was being slaughtered right now.
Nick immediately, as always, took command of the situation. "Chip, you gather all the villagers and get them out of here," he said, "Xander and I will deal with these freaks."
"Got it!"
Chip then ran to help the villagers, rangering up as he did and Nick then turned his attention to Xander. They both gave each other a nod of the head and stepped forward, taking out their morphers.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
1-2-3.
"Magical source, mystic force!"
They had morphed and brought their magic staffs out before charging towards the hidiacs and stexyoids. One of the groups who were harassing the villagers then noticed the red and green ranger behind them and charged towards them. Nick and Xander had their magic staffs in front of them as they ran towards the hidiacs and stexyoids with a fierce determination and the adrenaline running through their veins.
It was not long before the monsters and the two rangers clashed head on. Nick was the first to take a hit. With his sword followed right behind him, he swung it right at the last minute just when the hidiac in front came close enough and slicked the hidiac's stomach. Black blood went flying out of the hidiac's stomach and the hidiac had screeched in pain before falling to the ground dead. Xander had swung his axe down just as one was about to kill him, cutting it from the shoulder down to the waist, and the battle between the two rangers and the evil creatures began.
The rangers kicked and punched, avoided blows and swipes from the hidiacs and their weapons, did flips and swiped at them with their own weapons. It was not until they used their power on their magic staffs that put an end to a fight. A huge explosion came up as the hidiacs were destroyed and all seemed deadly quiet in the village, except for the sound of burning houses.
"Good work, Nick!"
"Those guys were too easy! Let's clean this all up."
They started to clean up with Xander going to pick up fallen objects on the ground while Nick went to put the fire out. Since Madison was not here, Nick had to use his elemental power to put the flames out. He pointed his staff at the houses on fire and started diminishing the fire. Once the fire was out, Nick powered down and went to help Xander pick up wood and fifteen minutes later, Chip came back with the villagers.
"Is anyone hurt?" Nick asked.
"A couple of people are injured, some people say that there are others missing and could be dead, one has been bleeding heavily for the last fifteen minutes and needs to see a healer right away and the village healer is one of the few people that are missing," Chip replied.
"Alright, call Udonna, see what she can do about it," Nick commanded. Chip nodded and then went away, taking out his morpher as he did.
"Where are the others when you need them?" Nick said to himself out loud.
"They must be held back by something," Xander said.
"Whatever it is, I hope it is nothing too dangerous," Nick said before helping the villagers clean up.
Daggeron, Madison, and Vida kept their hands high up in the air as the men kept the guns pointed at them. One of them, who held no gun in his hand and looked like the leader, then stepped forward and pulled the sash that was covering his face down. He glared at all three of the rangers. Despite his angry stare, he looked like a very handsome man.
He looked very young, maybe about Daggeron's age, with an oval-shaped face, pointed chin, and a long, pointed nose. Although he was fully covered, the three mystic rangers could tell he had a good body build with broad shoulders. He had tanned skin and his eyes were a dark brown with wavy black hair that reached to his shoulders. The markings on the man's face did not make him look any less handsome than he already was, but the glare on his face made him look very demanding and scary.
"How dare you step into this sacred temple and destroy it!" the leader snapped with a hint of an accent. "This temple was built in honor of our sky god, and you have defiled it by destroying it, stepping into a forbidden chamber and stealing from it!"
None of the rangers said anything, all of them too afraid to say anything until it was Daggeron who spoke up. "I am sorry that we disrespected you in any way, I will have my pupil take the chest back where it belongs," he said before turning to Madison. "Maddie, go put the chest back."
Madison made to move, but she was stopped by all guns pointing at her.
"Please, let my pupil put the chest back and we'll be on our way," Daggeron said to the leader, in an almost begging tone, feeling scared for Madison's life all of a sudden. "We mean no harm to you."
"You have already harmed us," the leader snapped. "You tried to steal the scimitar of Horus—a weapon made by Horus himself—and for that, you must pay."
The others looked ready to shoot them until Madison stopped them.
"Wait!"
She got up from the pillar she was sitting on and walked towards the leader slowly and cautiously with the chest still in her hands.
"If you should punish anyone, punish me. I was the one who took the sword, it was my idea to come here."
"Madison, don't…"
"No, V, you have to get to the others and help them."
"But, Maddie, the whole team needs to be together," Daggeron said.
"It is the only way," Madison said. She then turned her attention back to the leader and handed him the chest. "I am sorry, it was my idea to take the sword, and I was the only one that stepped into the forbidden chamber. Please, let my sister and friend go, and you can do whatever you want with me."
The leader gave her a strange look. He sensed there was something familiar with this girl, but he couldn't tell why. He found the girl to be courageous and noble, but the act was in vain. His people's law clearly stated to kill all those in sight. He did not have to say so, though, the other girl with the short hair stepped forward.
"I am not going to let you do this on your own, you are my sister and family sticks together," she said to the girl, squeezing the girl's hand. She turned to the leader. "Take me too." She then turned to the man and gave him an expected look. The man looked as if he did not want to do this, but he sighed and stepped forward too.
"And me."
Daggeron did not want to do this, but they were a team and that meant sticking together. He was going to do whatever it takes to make sure all four of them got back to Briarwood safely.
"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Jenji said, poking his head out of the lamp.
Everybody ignored Jenji.
"Very well then," the leader said. "May the gods have mercy on you."
He stepped away from the rangers and lifted his arm, about ready to give the order to kill them when he suddenly stopped. That's when Daggeron started getting an idea in his head.
"On the count of three, I will punch the ticket and we will run as fast as we can to the train to get back to the Briarwood Forest," he whispered to the girls. Madison looked at him with fear in her eyes, not sure if that was such a good idea, especially since she had the chest in her hands. But Daggeron was persistent as he began to count, "One…"
The leader slowly lowered his arm and suddenly realized why the girl with the long hair looked so familiar to him. He's seen her in a painting before, hanging in his grandfather's tent. His father and his grandfather had told him stories about the woman in the painting and in a prophecy of how she was going to rise again and fulfill her destiny as the warrioress of Horus. Could it be that this was the same woman from the prophecy? He had to be sure.
"Two…" Daggeron continued.
Madison could feel her heart beating in her chest, hoping that something would happen. Her prayer was answered because before Daggeron could even get to three, the leader suddenly spoke to her.
"Tell me, woman, are you familiar with the name Meskhenet?"
Madison looked at him in surprise, wondering how was it he knew she was familiar with that name. She told herself it was best to lie because of the little time they have, but she found herself telling the truth.
"Yes, but only in a dream. How did you know of that name?"
Before the leader could even respond, someone behind him had spoken up.
"Adel, her shoulder…"
The leader named Adel looked to where his brother warrior was pointing, which was the girl's left shoulder. The girl was wearing a blue sweatshirt that was now wet and clung onto her skin, and the left sleeve was down to reveal her shoulder and what was on it. Adel's eyes went wide when he saw that the woman was marked.
"If I was to say to you, 'I am a stranger traveling from the east, seeking that which is lost,' what would you say?" he asked.
Madison recognized the words of this saying as she heard it before when she was a little girl and knew the answer to his question: "I would say, 'I am a stranger traveling from the west, it is I whom you seek.'"
It was then that the men behind the leader had suddenly gasped and lowered their weapons, talking amongst themselves in hushed tones and pointing at Madison. The rangers all looked at each other strangely, wondering if there was something the blue ranger said wrong.
"What did you do?" Vida asked her sister in a whisper.
"I don't know, I just answered the guy's question."
"And since when have you gotten a tattoo?"
It was Daggeron who asked that question this time. He was shocked when he saw the tattoo on Madison's shoulder that he suddenly just noticed when one of the men pointed to her naked shoulder. He had never thought that Madison would get a tattoo, she just seemed too reserved to even get one.
"It is a very long and complicated story…" Madison answered him.
"Do you know the meaning of that mark?" Adel suddenly asked her.
"No, it appeared on me one day a long time ago…"
Adel looked at her cautiously as if trying to see if she was trying to trick him, but he saw the honesty in the woman's eyes. Then again, some women, especially in history, such as the evil witch Anck-su-namun, were very good at lying and deceiving men. He had to make sure she was telling the truth. "Tie them up," he commanded his men.
Four men then came up to the rangers, three with ropes in their hand and one with none.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Vida cried as the men began tying the rangers' wrists in front of them. The fourth man had taken Jenji's lamp out of Daggeron's hands and then the ranger's morphers. Daggeron began cursing inside his head as he realized that it may be a while before they could get home. He hoped that the others were able to handle themselves for a little while longer. In the meantime, he began to think of ways of trying to escape while having no morpher and without using magic against these strange mortals.
"Where are you taking us?"
"To my people where the elders will decide your fate," Adel answered.
"Decide our fate? Oh, that's it, I'm outta here!" Jenji cried before disappearing out of the fourth man's hands.
"So much for his help," Vida said irritably.
The fourth man looked at Adel in surprise, but the latter just shrugged. "He was not important. Bring the marked one to me."
The one who tied Madison up hauled her up and brought her to his leader. Adel then grabbed Madison by the arm, keeping a firm grip on it as if to prevent her from trying to run away. As if she was going to leave her teammates behind with these guys when it was obvious that she seemed valuable to them. If she left, then Daggeron and Vida's life would not be worth keeping, from what she could tell from these guys.
"Yallah! Nimshay!"
Adel and his men then started walking out of the temple with their three prisoners.
"Wait, you can't take us!" Vida cried. "We have to get back to our friends, they could be in grave danger…"
"Everyone always says that," Adel responded indifferently as he continued leading them out.
"No, we are serious! Tell them, Maddie!"
"My sister is telling the truth, we are Power Rangers," Madison said. "We are protectors of a city called Briarwood, and we have to protect the world from evil witches and wizards. Our friends are out there fighting the Darkness right now and they could be in trouble…"
"There are things far worse than evil witches and wizards."
"Oh, really? And what would you know what is worse than the Darkness?"
It was Daggeron who spoke up this time, and there was an edge in his tone. He was annoyed, but also offended by this ignorant man's lack of concern for the fate of the world. Adel must have noticed the tone in Daggeron's voice, for he spun around, taking Madison with him and nearly tripping her in the process, making Daggeron even angrier. If this man hurt Madison, he would not hesitate to kill him. No one should treat a lady in that way!
"Let me tell you something, outsider, my grandfather had spent his entire life trying to protect humanity from evil creatures like Imhotep and had to take down Anubis' army!" Adel snapped at Daggeron. At the word 'Imhotep,' Madison looked at him in surprise, wondering if he was talking about the same Imhotep from her dreams. "Me and my father before me have been guarding these sacred tombs and temples ever since manhood, to protect this world from evil, powerful gods and creatures. This Darkness you speak of is nothing compared to what me and my people had to fight against to protect our world."
Daggeron could feel his ire towards this man increase, but he said nothing more as the leader turned around and continued walking out of the temple and into the blazing sun where another group of desert people were waiting for them, saddled on beautiful steeds, and other steeds tied up to the palm trees. Adel dragged Madison to a black steed and took out a black piece of cloth.
"What is going to happen to me and my friends?" Madison asked. She could feel her heart beat in fear at the thought of possibly killed or worse.
"That will depend on how well you do on your test," was Adel's answer.
"Test? Test for what?"
"To see if you are really the warrioress of Horus."
Madison stared at him in confusion, wondering what in heaven's name this man was talking about, but she did not have time to dwell on it. Before she could even ask what he was going on about, Adel had turned her around and placed the black cloth over her eyes and tied it at the back of her head, using it as a blindfold. The others did this to Vida and Daggeron as well before they placed them on the horses.
Vida was side saddling with one of the men while Madison was with Adel; Daggeron, on the other hand, was riding by himself with his ropes tied to the reins and he had to hold onto them tightly to prevent himself from falling off. He hoped that Jenji would warn the others and they would be able to save them in time.
Udonna paced back and forth from where she was standing in Rootcore, worried about Daggeron and the girls. It has been 30 minutes since Daggeron and Vida left to go get Madison and Jenji and still they have not arrived back yet. She was beginning to wonder why it was taking them so long to get back and started to worry that maybe they were in danger. Clare watched her from where she was sitting in front of the crystal ball. She had been watching the boys, seeing how they were doing at the battle and saw that they were doing fine, but there was still no sign of Daggeron, Madison, Vida, or Jenji.
"What is holding them up? They should have been back by now," Udonna said.
"You don't think they were captured by bandits, do you?" Clare asked her. "I have heard stories of Egypt where people visit the temples and they meet those bandits on the way and are never heard from again."
This saying did not help Udonna not worry about Daggeron and the girls at all; in fact, it just made her worry about them more. She then stopped pacing and went up to the crystal ball. She stared at it for a few minutes, trying to call Daggeron, but the crystal ball did not even show anything.
"Daggeron, can you hear me?"
Still, no answer. Udonna sighed. "There is something wrong, I can feel it."
It was then that the crystal ball made a noise. Udonna thought it might have been Daggeron and quickly rushed over to it, but was disappointed when Chip's face appeared instead. "Udonna, we need some help out here, there are a lot of people who are injured, and the others have not returned yet," he said.
"Don't worry, I'll be there soon."
Chip's face then disappeared, and Udonna was getting ready to leave when there came a noise from above. Looking up at the ceiling, both Udonna and Clare saw a small flash of bright light and the mystic lamp came flying down, and the women realized it was Jenji. Clare managed to catch the lamp before it came crashing down to the ground with a catching spell and it was brought into her hands.
"Jenji, what in mystics name are you doing here?" Clare asked. "You are supposed to be with Daggeron!"
"That is the problem," Jenji said as he poked his head out of the lamp, "Daggeron and the girls are in trouble."
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Udonna asked.
"Well, Daggeron was lecturing Maddie when these desert people came. A bunch of questions came up when they suddenly started tying Daggeron, Maddie, and V up, saying something about deciding their fate."
"Decide their fate? Oh no, this is not good." Udonna then started running out of Rootcore.
"Where are you going?" Clare yelled after her.
"To the other rangers! I have to help them and let them know that their teammates are in danger," Udonna responded.
She then ran out of Rootcore and sprinted to the village, running as fast as she could go to get to the rangers. When she arrived at the village, she was out of breath and holding onto a tree for support, clutching at her side. She breathed in and out deeply, trying to catch her breath and when she finally did, she looked around her surroundings.
The village that was once on fire was badly damaged. Many houses were now burnt to the ground while some were in charcoal and others were not so damaged. Blood—both black and red—stained the grass and dirt, and there were crops that were now ruined. There was a large amount of people in one area, most of them lying down and others going around these people, helping them. Udonna realized that it must be the ward where all the injured were.
She noticed that the other villagers who were able were trying to help rebuild the damage that was done and among these people were Nick and Xander. She ran up to them, calling out their names.
When the two men realized who it was that was calling them, they stopped what they were doing and sprinted to Udonna. "Udonna, have Daggeron, Maddie, and V come back yet?" Xander asked.
"No, only Jenji came back."
"What? What do you mean only Jenji came back?"
"I am afraid that Daggeron and the girls are in grave danger," Udonna said. "Jenji came back, saying that there were these desert people who came and kidnapped them. He also said that they were going to decide their fate."
Xander and Nick's eyes went wide, their fear for their friends' safety palpable. "What do we do?" Xander asked. "We can't just leave the village like this, there are a lot of people who need our help here."
"You are right, one of you rangers will have to stay here to help the villagers," Udonna said.
"I will stay," Xander volunteered first. "There is a lot of baggage to carry around, and I think the job would be done a lot quicker if I stayed."
"Very well. Nick, you and Chip will go to Egypt to help the others," Udonna ordered gently, but urgently.
Nick nodded and ran to go find Chip. He eventually found Chip in the ward, and he noticed that he was sitting next to an elfling who was bleeding heavily from a wound on his chest. From the pale look on the child's face and the way he looked up at Chip with a glazed, hopeful look in his eyes as Chip held his hand, Nick realized that the elfling was dying and kept a good distance away out of respect. He decided to give Chip some time, it looked as if the elfling did not have enough time left. Nick wondered where the elfling's family was. Chip, meanwhile, was struggling to control his emotions as the dying elfling was lying right next to him where he was sitting, trying to appear strong.
"Where will I go when I die?" the elfling asked Chip.
"You are not going to die," Chip replied, his voice cracking a bit.
"What's going to happen to me then?"
"You are going to a better place, a place that you can call home where you will get to see your family again and be happy and not have to worry about the Darkness or any other evil creatures."
Nick was someone who did not really let his emotions get carried away, unless you really pushed him, (and most of the time, he let his anger get the best of him because Koragg always liked to push him beyond his limits) but he could feel his eyes prickling with tears and he had to look away from the scene, though that didn't stop him from hearing the conversation.
"Will you come with me?" the elfling asked.
"I am afraid I can't," Chip responded.
"Why not?"
"There are still some things I gotta get done here, but I will come there soon."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Here, Nick thought it was best to intervene and get Chip out of there. As much as he felt as if he should let Chip stay with the child to comfort him til he passed on, they both needed to help their teammates who were in danger and stuck in the Egyptian desert. Not a moment should be wasted, Nick thought.
"Chip, come on, we have to go, there is an emergency," he said.
The look in the elfling's eye was enough to make Nick almost cry, but he continued to hold them back. The child looked so scared of being alone. "Please don't leave me," the elfling cried.
"I promise I won't, I'll be right here," Chip said.
Nick wondered if he was going to have to drag Chip away from the scene, but he was thankful when one of the nurses coaxed the elfling to let go of Chip's hand and gently pushed Chip away. Chip approached Nick, his eyes glazed and averted to the ground.
The red ranger knew that look, it was look he saw on his friends, his teammates, and even on himself when they felt as if they had failed. Each and every ranger has had that certain feeling of failure whenever someone in the midst of battle ended up hurt. Though all of them had told themselves time and time again that there was nothing that could be done, they still felt as if they failed as protectors of the world. Everyone counted on them to protect them, but they couldn't even save that one person. It made all the rangers feel like failures and that they weren't worthy to be the heroes of Briarwood. Chip had it more than others since he took his job as a power ranger (and a knight) seriously, and it was obvious he was having that feeling again.
"Hey, he will be alright," Nick tried to reassure the happy-go-lucky yellow ranger.
"I know, I just wish there was something…" Chip paused here as if not knowing how to finish his sentence, but he did not have to. Nick knew exactly what he was going to say.
"There was nothing you could do."
Chip only nodded before changing the subject. "What is the emergency?" he asked.
"Madison, Vida, and Daggeron are in danger, we have to help them."
Nick then signaled the yellow ranger to follow him, and they started running back to Rootcore. Trying to get his mind off of the dying elfling and trying to focus on his friends who were in danger, Chip said,
"What are we going to do? Daggeron, Madison, and Vida are all the way in Egypt and I haven't even mastered the teleporting spell!"
"You haven't, but I have," Nick responded.
"You have?"
"Yeah, I was practicing it at home."
"But we are not even sure where they are since they are captured."
"There should be a book of locator spells back at Rootcore, but we must hurry. Who knows what might happen to them if we don't."
Nick was not one to admit fear. Even when he conquered his fear over Catastros, he never confined in his friends about it, he only told Udonna. He just hated to admit fear to people because he wanted to show to people that he was brave and feared nothing, but right now, he was scared for his friends' safety and worried about what might happen to them if they were too late. He tried not to think about it, though, and not show his fear by trying to remain cool, calm, and collected. He just hoped that they were not too late.
Madison did not know how long she, Daggeron, and Vida had been on this trip, but it must have been hours they were on this trip. There was no light that she could see from below her blindfold and it was getting very chilly and she would shiver each time a cold blast of wind came through. Not only that, but her hip joint was really starting to hurt, side-saddling was something she would not recommend to women if they ever wanted to ride a horse, it was painful and uncomfortable. She didn't know how women in the earlier decades were able to pull it off.
Her captor seemed very kind, though, for he did not grip her around the waist so tightly that he would cut a circulation like stexyoids and hidiacs and other Imperious' minions usually do whenever she fought with them. His grip was gentle, but also very firm. It was almost as if he was holding onto something that was fragile.
Another gust of cold wind blew and Madison shivered again.
"You have never been to Egypt before, have you?" her captor suddenly asked.
"No, this is my first time ever being in Egypt," Madison answered. She felt weird at having to talk to someone while blindfolded, kind of felt as if she was on a blind date if the ropes tied around her wrists weren't there or traveling in the middle of a desert.
"Yet you somehow knew about the hidden passage in order to get to the scimitar of Horus?" When Madison did not respond, her captor changed the subject, "So you and your friends are power rangers?"
"Yes," Madison said, her tone sounding guarded.
"What group?"
"What?"
"What group are you part of? Mighty Morphin? Ninja Storm? Dino Thunder?"
There was a pause here as Madison hesitated to tell the man about her secret identity, Udonna always stressed out how important it was to keep their secret identity as a power ranger a secret, but she blurted the secret out earlier, so what was the point in trying to keep it hidden?
"We are the Mystic Force."
"So you are a sorceress?" the man asked.
Madison turned to where she thought the man was, her eyes widening in surprise, though the man couldn't really see because of the blindfold. "How did you know…?" Madison asked.
"That you were a sorceress?" the man interrupted, finishing for her. "My people are not just in one place at one time, we are everywhere around the world, even in America."
"How did you hear about us?" Madison asked.
"We sometimes get news from the outside world. About four months ago, we heard news from Briarwood that there was a new team of power rangers, protecting the citizens from what your mentor called the Darkness. From my guess by looking at you and the pink lines in your sister's vest, you are the blue ranger," the man said.
"Yes."
There was a pause before Madison spoke up again.
"What are your people, anyway?"
"I do not think I have to tell you," was the man's response. "If you truly are the warrioress of Horus, I wouldn't even have to give you a hint to tell you who we are."
Madison actually already knew who these strange desert people were, but she did not want to give away that she somehow knew who these people were. She really did not want to be a warrioress for any god, she rather just be Madison Rocca, the blue mystic ranger, the one who always followed the others. She had enough on her plate as it is, like trying to keep her identity a secret, going to work and helping her sister pay the bills on their house, and trying to protect the world from evil; plus, she was just not born to be anything greater—heroic wise— than a power ranger. The only person who was meant to do great things was Nick, he was the most amazing wizard in the whole team. He was stubborn, no doubt about that, but his never give up motto was what kept the team going. He was strong and fierce in fighting while Madison was just…well…Madison.
She was meant to be the blue ranger—the follower—and nothing more.
It was then that Madison heard a noise from up ahead. It sounded a good distance away, but from what Madison could tell, it sounded as if it was…children? They had children out in the middle of the desert? The sound of childish laughter could be heard and children running around in the sand as they got closer then there was the cry of a woman and many other voices came after that. Madison couldn't quite understand what was being said since it was all in Arabic, but from what she could tell by the way the people around her were talking, they were very happy to see her captors here. 'They must have family here,' Madison thought.
Suddenly, the talking got very quiet and then Madison could hear the people talking in hushed tones instead of the loud and robust tone they were talking in earlier. Madison assumed that they must have spotted not only their captors, but also she, Daggeron, and Vida.
The horse she was riding suddenly came to a halt and she felt her captor move and get off the horse and then she felt herself being lifted and being put on solid ground. She wondered if the other desert men were doing the same to Vida and Daggeron and hoped that they were okay.
When Adel and his men arrived at the hideout, or home as many of his people like to call it, they were greeted by many excited children and woman who looked happy to see their husbands, fathers, or brothers alive, but they immediately stopped and started to talk in hushed tones when they saw the strangers they brought with them. They were curious to know why Adel would bring outsiders to their hideout when it was very well known that no outsiders were allowed to be brought to their hideout, unless in certain circumstances.
Very few people of the outside world knew of their location, and it was only those whom Adel's people trusted. Their location was around tall mountains that kept their small village hidden well. Their small village consisted of homes made out of bricks and a one-story stable made out of stone where they usually kept the sheep and horses. There was also a well where the animals were currently at, grazing in a large area of grass. On the other side of the village where it looked like a little courtyard with a bunch of dummies (that looked completely torn), that was the training area. It was where they trained all the young men until they reach manhood to teach them the ways of their people.
Adel had stopped in front of the councilors' tent and then nodded to his men behind him, signaling them to let their prisoners down. Adel had dismounted before helping the marked one down. Ordering his men to watch the other two, he then went up to the councilors' tent's entrance where they were guarded by two men on each side.
"Adel, why have you brought these strangers here? You know our laws state—" one of the guards began.
"I am very well aware of what our laws state," Adel interrupted, "but there has been a sign by one of our gods, Horus."
"What sign?"
Adel then turned the marked one sideways to the right and pulled down the sleeve of her sweatshirt to reveal the mark on her shoulder. At the sight of the mark, the guard's eyes widened. "Wait here," he said before disappearing behind the flap entrance of the tent.
Madison, meanwhile, was shaking with fear. She had no idea what was going on or where these guys were taking her or even if Vida and Daggeron were right behind her. What if these guys were sending her to her death? If they were, she hoped the others were on their way here right now to rescue her and Vida and Daggeron in time.
Adel sensed the marked one's nervousness as he could hear her hallow breathing and feel her shaking. Feeling sympathy for her, as he knew she probably thought she was going to die, he tried to reassure her.
"You have nothing to fear, you will be presented to the council and then they will decide if you truly are the reincarnation of Meskhenet."
"And if I am not?"
Adel did not answer, not because he didn't want to, but because he felt like he didn't need to. Even though his people had a reputation for being brutal when it comes to their victims, they were not that cruel. If this woman was not the reincarnated warrioress of Horus, they would not kill her or her friends, she was marked and, therefore, considered one of them. Adel had no doubt in his mind, though, that this woman was the reincarnation of his own ancestor.
The guard then reappeared from inside the tent and said, "You may enter."
Adel then went into the tent, pulling the marked one in with him. Inside the tent were about two middle-aged men, two elderly women, and one elderly man whom were known as the councilors of the village where they sat on silk cushions. There was the smell of incense in the air and a rug that covered the sandy ground, and the elders all sat next to each other in a semi-circle, cross-legged.
All these people were chosen to be on the council for their wisdom and their brave or good deeds not only in the battlefield, but for their people and the world. But it was the elder man, who sat in the middle, that stood out the most out of the rest of them to Adel: Adel Bay's grandfather, Ardeth Bay.
Ardeth Bay was chosen as the main elder because of not only his wisdom, but his strength and bravery as well. Having once been a man of youth and vigor, he was the chieftain of his tribe before he became an elderly and then a councilor. He was strong and wise as both a leader and a fighter and was never the one to give up. Even when he and his men were facing nothing but death and hopelessness when about to be slaughtered by the death god Anubis' army, he stood his ground and all his men stood along with him. He was everything a Medjai should be: brave, loyal, wise, and trustworthy; he was also everything Adel hoped he was.
Adel approached his grandfather, bringing the marked one with him and having her get on her knees in front of the councilors. Adel then bowed in respect before straightening and waited for his grandfather to speak up.
"Adel, you have caused quite a stir by bringing these outsiders into our hideout," Ardeth said gently, but firmly. "One of the guards say that one of the outsiders has the mark, is this true?"
"Yes, it is true, she was caught stealing from Horus' secret tomb, made by Seti I himself."
"What did she steal?"
"The scimitar of Horus."
All of the elders gasped in shock and started whispering among each other, except for Ardeth who remained passive. "How could she have known about the passage to the secret tomb?" one of the other councilors demanded. "That tomb was not even recorded in history and no professors or archeologists know about the tomb. Seti I made sure that that tomb was to be sealed and never found. What is this outsider's occupation?"
"She is a warrior, one of the power rangers from the mystic force," Adel responded. "She claims to have known one of us in a dream: the great warrioress Meskhenet."
Some of the councilors started whispering among to each other at this, except for Ardeth who was staring at Adel and the outsider intensely.
"Let us see the face of this marked one," Ardeth said.
Adel nodded and then pulled the blindfold off.
Madison blinked in surprise when she felt the blindfold being removed, and squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. It did not take long to adjust because from what it looked like, it was about an hour away from sunset. Once she finally adjusted to the brightness, she looked up and the first thing she noticed was that she was in a tent and surrounded by more desert people. All of them were staring at her with an intense, curious look that made her feel uncomfortable. The one in the middle was a man who looked at least as old as her great-grandfather, and he had eyes that were filled with strength and wisdom.
When she looked up, most of the people had gasped and started talking to each other in their native tongue, making Madison confused and wondered if there was something on her face that made them freak out. She noticed that the elderly man in the middle, who she guessed was the head leader or something like that, and an elder woman next to him did not join in the others conversations, but they seemed quite shocked. For what reason, though, Madison did not know.
"Tell me, outsider, what is your name?" the elderly man said.
"Madison, Madison Rocca," Madison said. "Please, you must understand, my friends and I meant no harm to you and your people, I just had to come here. I am not exactly sure why, but our friends are in danger and we must—"
"Do you know who we are?" It was the elderly man who interrupted her.
Madison, not really understanding why he was asking her that question, looked at him with a confused look. "What?"
"Do you know who we are?" the elderly man repeated.
"I'm afraid I don't understand your question…"
She was not really sure why he was asking her that, but seeing the markings on the man's face and the clothing he was garbed in, she knew right away who these people were, but she did not say anything. She did not want to admit that she knew who they were so as to not delay their stay here any further, and she just wanted to go back to her regular life. She completely regretted ever thinking she needed to come here to solve the mystery of her dreams. Daggeron was right, she needed to focus on the Darkness, which was more important and now her friends were probably suffering because of her stupid decision to come here.
The elderly man looked at her long and hard and could tell that she was trying to hide something. He could see the familiarity within her eyes when she looked at him and the other councilors and his grandson, but did not say anything as he saw the fear in her eyes. It was like she was afraid of the outcome of what would happen if she told him who they were.
"I think you do," he said. "You know who we are, but you just don't want to say it because you are afraid of the outcome of it. I can see it in your eyes. I know you have enough on your plate, Madison Rocca, but if you answer my question correctly, then I can tell you, we will go through this progress much quicker and get back to Briarwood in time to protect the citizens from danger."
Madison sighed inwardly, seeing that she had no choice, but to answer the man's question. If it got her out of this place and back to Briarwood quicker, then so be it.
"You are the Medjai, you were once the trusted bodyguards to the Egyptian royal family and now you are protectors of their pyramids and tombs."
If Madison was to say that everyone's reaction after answering the man's question was complete and utter shock, it would be an understatement.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Really sorry about that, lol! I will try to upload the next chapter as soon as I can, but my biology lecture class is really kicking my ass and I need to focus on getting a really good grade in that class because getting good grades in just the lab is not enough. Gotta love the college life! (says sarcastically)
Very sorry if Nick seemed a bit OOCish, I will try not to make him that way again. I just thought that Nick seemed like one of those people who seemed very calm and collected when it comes to certain situations since he is the leader, but he never really is when he is battling Koragg :P, as we all know this. And if you noticed in the show, he rarely ever admitted his fears. I think in the "Hunter" episode, he was afraid of his friends' safety, but he just would not admit it, he would just tell them to leave him so as to not endanger them. But that is just my perspective, it has been a while since I last saw Power Rangers Mystic Force.
Feel free to leave a review or a critique, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Coming up: Chapter Four: The Test
