Etched in His Heart
(The Second Day in Egypt pt 2)
Disclaimer: still not owning sg-1
A/N: Ok, so i said i was going to skip the actual visit TO the pyramids... well i LIED haha no i didn't lie i was... mistaken, well really i wasn't sure but i got this BRILLIANT ok maybe not brilliant, but good idea haha i'll shut up now, so here's a new chapter. Yes i know what you're thinking; IT'S ABOUT FREAKING TIME!! well forgive me for writer's block on this particular fiction haha. Enjoy :)
"If you'll follow me, this way everyone. Stay together." the voice of their tour guide echoed through the thin passageway they were walking through. They traveled up stairs, for what seemed like ages. "Follow me, don't get left behind." Tiffany mocks finally completely annoyed by the man's speeches. How many times did this guy have to remind them to stick together? Daniel bumps her with his elbow. "What?!" she defends. He simply laughs unsure what to say. "Come ON Daniel. You and I both know you could give me this tour by yourself. And i think it'd be WAY more interesting." He pulls out and unfolds a piece of paper.
"What's that?" Tiffany asks watching intently, trying to see what was on the paper, but failing due to her height dis-advantage. "It's a map of the Pyramid" he says smiling and pulling it down for her to more comfortably see it. A set of rooms and corridors were drawn roughly inside the triangular shape of the Pyramid on the paper. "Here's where we came in right?" she asks pointing to where one of the corridors meets the edge of the triagle. "Yeah. And I'm... guessing we're about, here now" he says pointing halfway down a corridor stemming from the one they entered. "We're headed for the Grand Gallery." she states.
Daniel looks down at her then up at the crowd of people, making sure they hadn't fallen behind, but at the same time weren't going to run into anyone. "No" he corrects looking around as the group stops. "We're in the Grand Gallery." She strays from his side to look at a nearby wall. "Tiffany" he calls. "What? It's not like i'm running away Daniel, relax. How much trouble could I possibly get us into?" she asks smirking. He furrows his brow at her, arms crossed.
"Daniel, have a little faith!" she says acting shocked at his accusation. "What's this writing on the wall." She asks pointing at a few names and engravings. "It certainly doesn't look egyptian... at all." "It's not. Looks more like the result of a few disrespectful tourists." he observes. "Feel free to walk about the room, but don't stray from the group." the guide warns. "If he says that one more time. I swear." Daniel chuckles lightly, knowing she probably wasn't kidding.
"T" he says taking out the map again. She looks back at him, her attention off the wall and on the piece of paper he holds in his hands. "To the left, down that corridor, is the Queen's Chamber." Daniel pauses as the group starts to travel down the corridor to the Queen's Chamber. "This, particular chamber, lies in the middle of the pyramid." he says as they enter behind the rest of the ten or fifteen people.
"See that wall over there?." he asks pointing to a wall with an angular doorway type structure. "Egyptologists believe that the Queen's chamber was intended as a serdab," "A What?" she asks letting her eyes wander the room. "Uh, it's a structure found in several other Egyptian pyramids. It's an ancient Egyptian tomb structure that served as a chamber for the Ka statue of a deceased individual. That niche would have contained that statue." he clarifies rather quickly.
"The Egyptians believed the statue was a "back up" vessel for the Ka of the Pharaoh if the mummified body was destroyed right?" Tiffany asks as their annoying tour guide turns everyone around to head back into the Grand Gallery. "Yes. Similarly the, shafts in this room allowed the Pharoah's spirit to rise up to the heavens." Daniel's grin was now a full smile. Tiffany couldn't help but notice, his eyes were shining with fascination and wonder. So Passionate. she thinks as he continues to speak.
"Though it is, fascinating The true purpose of the chamber, is still uncertain." They follow their guide and mob of tourists into a room with a single sarchophagus. Empty but filled with a presence. The presence of History, she understood completely what got Daniel so excited at times like these. Even if her father may not. "King's Chamber?" she asks. Daniel nods and walks to the empty tomb. He looks down into it, and she walks to stand beside her friend.
"Looks like some sort of granite." she observes. "Yes, this particular sarchophagus was carved out of a single block of Red Aswan granite." the tour guide states overhearing their conversation. Tiffany looks up at Daniel "Be polite" his sweet eyes tell her. "Really?" she asks sounding interested. "Yes. And it's also too large to fit through the passageway we just came from. Which suggests that it was placed here during construction, and carved out after." he smiles.
Tiffany looks to Daniel once again and then down into the tomb. "Be, careful. Control your child!" the guide yells behind them and walks away. "Suggests that it was put here, and carved after?" she asks "Who does this guy think he is? a Historian?" "You're right. Chances are they did place the granite inside the Pyramid during the time it was built, however they most likely had workers carving it while they worked, not after." He says awknowledging her annoyance at the tour guide's knowledge, or lack thereof.
"You said this pyramid was made for Khufu." "Ya" Daniel answers quickly "Are you sure old Khuf ever made it in here? I mean, it's empty and there's no sign of a lid." She says making her first of many observations. Daniel laughs at her short hand version of the Pharoah's name. "And look, this thing can't be big enough for a medium sized man. Either the Egyptians were all midgets or they'd have had to put him in with his knees bent." She says pointing and moving her arm along the short length of the tomb.
"Last I checked, they weren't too keened on mummifying their dead in the kneeling position." "True." He smiles. "No one's sure if this sarchophagus was ever intended to house a body, based on what you just pointed out." Daniel and Tiffany turn toward where the tour guide stood, all the rest of the tourists eyes glued to him. "And these shafts are thought to be the way that the Pharoah's 'spirit' would escape from the pyramid."
"Escape? he makes it sound like this place was a jail." Tiffany whispers, and leans toward Daniel folding her arms. "And what's with the quotey fingers?" She asks as they observe the guide before them. Daniel stood with his hands in his pockets. He simply shrugs his answer and tilts his head bemused.
A/N: hope you enjoyed, and i hope i haven't lost any readers, i'm really sorry it took so long to get this out. I shall punish myself. I'll write more soon! cause now i know what i'm doing again haha.