err... who am i?- I know, it was a bit mean but I'm glad you enjoyed it. :P Oh, there are plenty more ouches to come, particularly for Yuja and the Hood. I didn't even think of that while writing it but now that I do, I do see the similarities. I'm glad you're looking forward to it. I've had the images of what will happen in my head since this story came about. XD
Little Miss Bump- Yep, the rescue has begun. Don't worry, he'll be okay and off the altar very soon. Can't say that Yuja or the Hood will be okay though. XD Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Pinkranger888- I'm glad you enjoyed it. Ha-ha I'd be a bit worried if you were smiling at that part. Technically, she is now a combination of both women and more of how that is handled will come once they are all safe. Don't worry, I will. Oh, he'll be very happy his twin is alive. XD
AH! I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! Last week, just after I get over the stomach bug, I get a freakin' cold that knocked me for a loop. Then this week I have a concert on Saturday, pro-level gig with a pro conductor and symphony and in order to prepare for it, Tues I had practice two hours away from home at the hall where we will be singing on Saturday. And I have another tomorrow. Add on to that my normal class schedule and fighting the remnants of the cold and I am ready to go to bed. Seriously, I look like a raccoon. Anyway, I do hope that this chapter was worth the wait.
Chapter Twenty Nine - Meritaten vs. Henuttawy
After leaving John, Fermat, Tin-Tin, and Lady Penelope before the doorway that would lead them to the temple, Evelyn quickly walked back into the atrium of the Royal Palace and headed towards the tunnel she had first gone down her first day in the city. As she approached the dark doorway, she flicked on the flashlight and pointed it towards the ground, lighting up the dirt covered stairs that would lead down to Henuttawy's private tomb.
Her feet echoed in the silence of the tunnel as she quickly walked down the stairs. After a few minutes, she emerged in the large chamber that was Henuttawy's tomb. Or rather, my tomb, she thought as she shown her light around the room, searching for a certain statue of Anubis. She smiled as the light glinted of the golden sai in the statues hands.
She slowly approached the statue and grasped the handle of one of the blades with her right hand. She then gave it and gentle tug and the sai slid free of the statues grip. She flexed her fingers around the handle, a fond smile on her face as she looked down at the golden blade, feeling as if she had been reunited with an old friend.
After transferring the blade to her other hand, she tugged the other free of the statue. She then wiped the dust off the blades on the leg of her flight suit before transferring them both to her left hand. She then flashed her light towards the stairs and quickly walked back to them.
Okay, got my sai, she thought as she walked up the stairs. Now, antechamber of the temple. Do any of the statues have sai? She bit her lip as she thought of the layout of the temple, trying the picture the room in her mind. The statue of Anubis had sai. Hopefully they are still there.
As she emerged back into the atrium of the palace, she heard the Medjai in the room where the tunnel that would lead them to the temple was located, being instructed on what would happen when they reached the temple. She glanced towards the doorway as she flicked off the flashlight and set it down on the floor just outside the tunnel. With any luck they would enter the temple a few minutes after her. Evelyn then began to run out of the place, sai in her hands.
She squinted against the bright sun as she ran through the sand, her feet kicking up clouds of dust behind her as she ran. She began to slow once she was outside the palace gates and jogged into the shadow of the temple. She stopped just outside the large open doors and tightened her grip on the sai.
Evelyn then took a deep breath and stepped through the door into the large entrance chamber of the temple. She glanced around the empty chamber as she walked through it, being careful to make as little noise as possible as she crossed the chamber. As she approached the doorway at the end of the room, she heard movement from within. She quickly moved off to the side of the doorway and glanced into the room.
Two guards had been posted in the room. Their backs were towards her as they looked towards the doorway they were guarding, through which echoed the yells of her family. Evelyn felt her anger at Meritaten and Yuja grow at the sound of their yells and stepped into the statue lined room. She quickly and quietly made her way to where she stood directly behind them.
She quickly cut the throat of the guard on the left. He let out a grunt of pain that caught the attention of his partner. Evelyn stepped behind him as he looked down at his fallen comrade, his expression one of shock and confusion. He then spotted her out of the corner of his eye. He drew his sword and turned to face her just as one of her sai entered his stomach. He let out a pained grunt as she yanked the blade out of his gut.
"That's for capturing my family," she whispered as he fell to the ground beside his comrade. She looked up as she heard someone coming up the stairs on the other side of the doorway. She quickly made her way over to the right side of the room and hid behind the statue of Horus.
She watched from behind the statue as Meritaten entered the room. She spotted the body's of the guards and her brow furrowed in suspicion as she glanced around the room. Evelyn watched as she walked across the room and looked out into the entrance hall. When the women's back was turned, Evelyn stepped out from behind the statue and stood in front of the doorway, glaring at Meritaten's back. As if sensing her gaze, the women stiffed and Evelyn saw her glance towards the statue of Anubis to the left of the door. She turned around and her jaw went slack when her eyes landed on Evelyn.
Evelyn cocked an eyebrow and twirled the sai in her hands. "Cat got your tongue, Meritaten?"
"Impossible," the other women breathed out.
Evelyn scoffed and shook her head. "You seriously can believe that, seeing as we are both here once again. Along with your boyfriend, friend, whatever the hell he is."
Meritaten stopped gaping at her and clenched her jaw. Her eyes flickered down to the sai in Evelyn's hand and a small smirk formed on the women's lips. She then walked over to the statue of Anubis and pulled the sai free of its grip, never once removing her gaze from Evelyn. "You couldn't beat me three thousand years ago. What makes you think you can now?"
"Unlike you, I have managed to learn something by being reborn," Evelyn replied as the two women began to slowly close the gap between them. "You thought my family was my weakness, but you couldn't be more wrong. They give me strength, and I have enough strength to beat you and Yuja."
Meritaten growled, raised her sai and rushed towards Evelyn, closing the gap between blades net with a loud 'clang' as each women tried to find a hole in the others defense. Evelyn attached Meritaten above her head and pushed the women to where she was leaning backwards as she fought.
Meritaten let out a grunt as she pushed Evelyn back and swung at her chest. Evelyn bent backwards to avoid the blow but the sai managed to nick her on her right hip. Evelyn yelped as the blade sliced through her skin and stepped back, lowering her blades to her sides. Meritaten did the same across from her as the two women began to circle each other.
"I see you never learned to be more flexible, Henuttawy," Meritaten sneered.
Evelyn glared at her for a moment before rushed forward. The golden blades met once more with a 'clang'. Meritaten pushed her away before attacking herself. Clang after clang echoed through the room for several moments as the blades met in quick succession, each of them fighting to gain the upper hand in the fight.
Meritaten swung towards Evelyn's head, only for them to meet thin air as the reincarnated princess dropped into the splits. She bit her lip and swung her right leg around, knocking Meritaten's feet out from under her, causing her to fall back and land hard on her back. Evelyn pushed herself up and stood with her sai in attack position as she glared at Meritaten.
"Actually, I am quite a bit more flexible in this life," Evelyn informed her with a smirk. Meritaten glared at her, pushing herself to her feet. "Unlike you, I was reborn as a cheerleader. Nine years of gymnastics training makes me plenty more flexible."
"You and your family will still die!" Meritaten shouted as she ran towards Evelyn. Evelyn ducked out of the path of the blades and sliced Meritaten stomach as she moved. As the elder women let out a pained yell and dropped the sai to press her hands to the cut on her stomach. Evelyn went around behind her and kicked her in the back, propelling the women through the doorway and into the temple. Evelyn heard her yell as she watched her fall of the edge of the stairs. A loud splash reached her ears a few seconds later.
Evelyn stood still, panting. After three thousand years and being killed twice by the women, she had finally beaten her. Evelyn gripped her sai tightly as she walked through the doorway and stood at the edge of the stairs, looking down at Meritaten motionless body in the water below. The fight between the two women was finally over.
She lifted her gaze and scanned the room, taking in all the faces gaping at her. She twirled the sai in her hands and smiled softly as she saw the look of disbelief on the Hoods face and the murderous expression on Yuja's. Her eyes flickered to the knife held tightly in his hand and to Gordon chained to the alter behind him. The man's time left on Earth was numbered.
"Henuttawy," he growled.
Evelyn's smiled turned into a smirk. "In the flesh."
"Impossible," she heard the Hood mutter as she began to slowly make her way down the stairs.
"You sound just like her," Evelyn motioned towards Meritaten's body. "What? You thought that that he was the only one that could be resurrected? Or did you think that the tablet was the only copy of the spell in existence? "
"Enough!" Yuja shouted as she reached the bottom of the stairs. He turned towards the still motionless guards behind the alter and pointed towards Evelyn. "Destroy her!"
As the guards began to run around the altar towards Evelyn, who stood in an attack position, waiting for them to come to her, a shout echoed through the chamber from behind the statue of Anubis.
"ATTACK!"
From behind the statue of Anubis, Medjai came pouring out from both sides. They had their swords out and immediately headed towards the guards. Several of the guards continued on towards Evelyn while the majority ran towards the Medjai. As the Medjai, Lady Penelope, Narmer and the guards clashed around the room, Tin-Tin and Fermat headed over to where Scott, Virgil, and Kyleigh were trying to keep the fight away from Jeff and Alan on the floor.
Tin-Tin knelt on the floor beside Alan and brushed back his damp bangs with a sad smile, vaguely aware of Jeff watching her. Fermat handed the laser cutter to Scott as he too knelt down. Scott turned up the power and cut through the sword of the guard that had come towards them.
The Hood moved around the alter and stalked towards the group in the corner, flinging aside any Medjai that approached him. Tin-Tin glanced up from where she knelt beside Alan and Jeff and spotted him. She slowly pushed herself to her feet before reaching up and clutching her necklace with both hands. Her eyes pupils turned to cat slits and her iris's golden in color. The Hood was stopped in his tracks and seemed to be pushing against an invisible wall as he tried to make his way towards them.
"Ah, I see your powers have grown stronger," the Hood sneered as he continued to push, straining to put his foot forward. "But that will not stop me from killing the Tracy's. The sins of the family must be paid for."
She clutched the pendant tighter and the Hood's foot was pushed back. "Not while I am still breathing will you touch them."
On the other side of the room, Evelyn was fighting off the few guards that had come after her. She ducked the sword of the second to last guard that had attacked her and then sliced the man's stomach, sending him to his knees, pressing his hands to the wound in attempt to keep himself from bleeding to death. When she straitened up, she heard an grunt of pain behind her. She turned around to see the guard fall to the ground, having been hit in the head with the Book of Amun Ra that was currently in John's hands.
"Thanks John," she said breathlessly, giving him a small smile as he held the Book towards her. She moved both her sai into her left hand and took the Book from him with her right while leading them back towards the stairs and away from the fighting Medjai.
Evelyn glanced towards the corner their family was in and saw Tin-Tin clutching her necklace as she fought to keep the Hood away from them. John followed her gaze to where she was looking and his blue eyes widened as he watched the Hood fight to take a step forward. Evelyn then looked down at the cover of the Book of Amun Ra and a smile formed on her face as her eyes landed on an incantation that would help them.
"Rasheem hatu Kashka! Hootash im Ahmenophus!" she read. From the chamber at the top of the stairs, an loud 'Boom' reached her ears. The sound went unnoticed by the rest of the room as the Medjai continued to fight the guards. She glanced up towards the top of the stairs to see ten place guards, in two straight lines, march through the door and begin to make their way down the stairs.
John looked up and saw the mummies march in and glanced at his sister. "What did you do?" he asked as they walked into the chamber and came to a stop before them, waiting for their orders.
"Just got us some help," she replied, flashing a grin towards her brother before looking towards the guards. "Destroy the one known as 'The Hood.'"
At her order, the mummies began to make their way towards the Hood. As if he had understood that his name had been involved in the statement, he turned away from Tin-Tin and spotted the walking corpses that had their sights set on him. His eyes turned blood red and one of the mummies went flying into the nearest statue.
It stood up a few moments later and along with its fellows, opened the mouths farther and humanly possible, and roared. The Hood's eyes returned to normal and the man paled. All his powers had done was piss them off. They raised their weapons as they stalked towards him. He began to run around the other side of the altar, avoiding the various fights that were still in progress and made for the stairs.
"Evie!"
Evelyn removed her eyes from the running Hood and glanced over at John. Her older brother had gone a few shade paler and when she followed his gaze, she understood why. Yuja had gone back to reading from the tablet and was once more raising the knife above Gordon. Evelyn's eyes widened. From the chamber at the top of the stairs, screams of terror flouted into the chamber along with the 'swish' of blades through the air. Then silence.
Evelyn tossed open the cover of the Book of Amun Ra and quickly flipped through the pages, heading straight to where she knew the incantation was. She stopped at the page she was looking for and began to read. "Kadeesh mal! Kadeesh mal!"
Yuja froze and turned towards her, lowering the knife to his side. Evelyn glanced towards him as she shouted the last of the incantation. "Pared oos! PARED OOS!!"
From the top of the stairs, wind blew into the room, distracting the guards for a few seconds but long enough for the Medjai to defeat the last of them. The sound of a creaking whip and the doorway at the top of the stairs was filled with an glowing blue fog. From the fog emerged the ghostly image of an chariot drawn by four horses. In the chariot stood the figure of a man with the head of a dog.
"Anubis," Evelyn gasped as the chariot charged down the stairs and headed straight for Yuja. A look for horror appeared on the man's face as the chariot approached him where he stood beside the altar. The chariot ran through him and the altar. Yuja screamed as the image on Anubis connected with him and tore away an ghostly form of Yuja being dragged behind the chariot, trying to escape as they turned around and headed back up the stairs.
Yuja ran after them a few paces but stopped when the chariot reached the blue fog. The fog dissipated and the chariot was gone. Yuja then slowly turned towards Evelyn and John, fury burning in his dark eyes.
John's blue eyes widened as Yuja began to walk towards them. "I thought it was going to kill him."
"Did I ever specifically say it would kill him? No," Evelyn shook her head. She handed the Book over to John, who looked at her incredulously. "I just made him killable."
With that, she transferred one of her sai to her left hand the hurled the blade towards Yuja.