"Are you as worried about Helene as I am?" Astrid asked Alistair. "I mean, I know she's a smart girl, but choosing the right man has never been something that she's good at. She gets into romances and lets herself become carried away by them, only to be fooled later." She sighed. "We need to get home as quickly as possible so we can stop this."

"I'll try," Alistair assured her. "Believe me, I will. Cause really, I'm as worried about this as you are. But it's not going to happen now, so let's try to enjoy Egypt as much as we can and worry later."

"All right," Astrid nodded. "I agree, although it would be a lot easier if I was still ignorant of everything."

"I know," Alistair sighed. "I know."

They'd arrived the night before and taken up residence at a hotel that full of primarily wealthy British people and others from on the continent. The only native people there were in positions as bellhops or stewards, something Astrid found ridiculous, but there it was.

Klaus and Amy had taken their baths early that morning and having nothing like a daughter engaged to a possibly unstable man to occupy their minds, had taken off to see the pyramids with a promise to meet Alistair and Astrid for lunch.

"So what do you want to do now?" Astrid asked. "Try and go find Klaus and Amy so we can look at some pyramids? Especially the one that that Phoenix guy is stuck in?" She managed to crack a smile and loom behind him menacingly. "And try to avoid the big scary curse of the mummy wizard?"

"I don't believe in curses," Alistair told her firmly. "At least not curses like that, anyway. They're just stories to draw in tourists. However, you're right that the Phoenix's tomb is something I'd like to see. Let's go so we can have our look before it gets too hot out and we're both miserable."

"All right," Astrid agreed. "Let's do that."

When they reached the Phoenix's resting place, they were surprised to find only Klaus and Amy there, and no one else.

"Slow tourist day?" Alistair asked. "I thought this place would be crawling with eager people wanting to have a look."

"When we got here, that was true," Amy agreed. "But then Klaus compelled the guards to keep everyone but us and those we deemed worthy. So we get to see it all at our own pace. Isn't that nice?"

Alistair narrowed his eyes at Klaus. "I disapprove of your methods, but because I know that you're doing this as a favor to me, I'll spare you the lecture and say nothing more than 'Thank you'."

"You're welcome," Klaus smiled and gestured toward the pyramid. "Now would you like to take Astrid and go in first?"

"Yes," Alistair nodded and took Astrid's hand, leading her into the pyramid. He then zapped himself up a torch and Astrid let out a shriek as the light stirred up the seemingly thousands of bats that had been peacefully roosting inside the pyramid.

"Oh, my god!" Astrid cried, clawing at her head. "Are there bats in my hair? Are there bats in my hair?"

"No," Alistair replied, quickly pulling her close against himself as all the bats flew en masse out an opening in the pyramid wall. "They're all gone. You're safe."

"Well, good," Astrid shuddered and held onto him a bit longer. "Cause I really do hate bats."

"Are we interrupting something?" Klaus asked as he approached them. "Cause if so, we can always go to another part of the pyramid and come back later."

"No, we're fine," Alistair promised as he and Astrid pulled apart and she made an effort to straighten her hair. "We had a run-in with some bats, but they're gone now."

"Good," Amy nodded. "Cause I don't like bats either. Now does anyone know where the mummy might be? I wanna see it."

"I like that attitude," Klaus told her. "I wasn't expecting you to say 'Let's go find the mummy' right away. I was expecting you to give a lecture about how we're interfering with Egyptian culture and how this plan is ridiculous and things like that."

"Of course not," Amy told him firmly. "Why would I say that when I want to see the damn mummy as much as any of you?" She picked a hallway and strode off while Klaus and Alistair looked at one another.

"It seems you hit a nerve," Alistair said at last. "You want to go try and catch up with her so she doesn't get lost?"

"Well, it's not like I know where I'm going," Klaus told him.

"But it would be much better if you two got lost together," Alistair explained. "You don't just want her to be alone, do you?"

"Well, no," Klaus shook his head. "But-" He broke off then and burst into laughter. "All right, I can take a hint," he said. "But if you and Astrid want to kiss in privacy, all you have to do is ask."

He strode off then and Alistair gave Astrid a look. "I swear that I meant that he really should look for Amy," he told her. "It had nothing to do with us kissing."

"Well, and why not?" Astrid asked and pushed him up against the pyramid wall, kissing him deeply. After she backed away, she grabbed his hand and began running, pulling him along after her. "Now, we have to go find that mummy. No point in letting Klaus and Amy have all the fun."

"Okay, but slow down, please," Alistair begged. "I'd like to keep my arm in its socket!"

Astrid heard this and slowed down a bit, and soon, they joined Klaus and Amy in the dark room where the mummy was being kept. Alistair zapped up a couple of torches so the room went from dark to dimly lit, and the four of them stood around the coffin, looking at it with reverence.

"What do you say we open it up?" Klaus asked and began pushing at the lid.

"No!" Amy pushed his arm away. "Don't do it! You don't know what you could be releasing! Looking at it should be good enough for all of us."

"Fine," Klaus told her through his teeth. "If I can't open it now, I'll open it later. I wonder who I can talk to about buying this thing and bringing it home with us."

"And I will compose my lecture about how silly that sounds so I can read it to you on the trip home," Amy replied. "Does that sound like a plan?"

"Of course it does," Klaus told her. "It's not like you'd give me any room to object."

"To change the subject," Astrid broke in as she caught her husband's eye. "What did this Phoenix do to end up here?"

"Well," Alistair smiled. "It's not really a change of subject, because he got in trouble for stealing antiquities and doing shifty things with them. That, combined with his use of dark magic, made the authorities lock him away here, but just before they buried him alive, he swore that he would rise up again to ruin the lives of those who had had a hand in what happened to him. That's why he's called the Phoenix."

"How could he have been buried alive?" Amy asked. "The coffin is above ground."

"After his death, some unscrupulous people dug him up and put him on display. They were gonna open the coffin and expose him too, but apparently they just weren't brave enough for that. Thus, here he is."

"Now how do you feel about wanting to take him home?" Amy asked Klaus. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No," Klaus shook his head, a smile curving his lips. "That little story just makes me more determined than ever to have it."

"What's going on?" Helene asked as Savannah let her in the house, took her coat, and ushered her to one of the living room couches. She was surprised to see that Vivi and Rosalie were already there with their spouses and the way they looked at her, it was as if they'd been waiting for her. "Hi, everyone," she told them, chuckling nervously because being stared at by a bunch of people who weren't blinking was quite unnerving. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"Well, we just wanted to know if, with your father's skill dealing with time travel, you've talked to him recently," Vivi asked as King squeezed her hand tightly.

"Oh, yes, I have," Helene nodded. "Told him about my engagement. It didn't go as well as I hoped. Now Mom remembers everything and they're not so happy with me." She paused. "Are you wanting to know if my father can get Klaus and Amy to talk to you?"

"Yes," Rosalie nodded. "And our mom. We just want to know if our parents are okay."

"Sounds reasonable to me," Helene shrugged. "I'll see what I can do." She paused and looked at them. "Does one of you have a compact mirror or something that I can use to call them up with? We can crowd into a bathroom, I suppose, but if there are other options, I would prefer to use those."

"There's a mirror by the door," Jonathan told her. "Did you miss it when you came in?"

"Yes, I did," Helene said as she went to examine it. "Okay, everyone. Come crowd around."

When they were all standing in front of the mirror, Helene called up her parents.

"What is it?" Alistair asked when he saw her. "Any more news that you feel you need to tell us? Might as well get it all out now."

"No, I'm not calling for me this time. Where are Klaus and Amy? The girls want to know if their parents are okay."

"Oh, yes, of course!" Alistair said, his tone becoming lighter. "Just a minute. Let me get them. But just so you know, Amy's still a little out of it. She might not remember them. But seeing them could bring some memories back completely."

A few minutes later, Klaus and Amy replaced Alistair and Astrid on the other side of the mirror, with Amy saying immediately after she saw her three daughters, "I've seen all of you before! Who are you? You're not women I have to share Klaus with, are you?"

The girls all looked at one another and tried to decide who should answer Amy's question. Finally, they decided on Vivi, who was more like her mother than either of her sisters.

"Yes, we are women you have to share him with, but not in the way you're presumably thinking," she assured Amy. "We're your daughers. Not his mistresses. I'm Vivi, and the other redheads are my sisters, Rosalie and Savannah."

"Oh, you're my daughters!" Amy nodded. "All right. That makes me feel better." She tried to wrack her brain for any more memories of the girls but nothing was coming yet. But at least the fact that they weren't his mistresses was a start.

"Are you okay?" Rosalie asked. "You're not sick or anything, are you? And will you bring us presents?"

"Your father wants to bring you a mummy," Amy told her. "Does that count as a present?"

"I suppose it's better than nothing," Rosalie sighed and stepped back.

"You seem okay," Savannah said. "That's a good thing. Any idea when you'll be getting back to the present?"

"Oh, I don't know," Amy told her. "But Alistair's figuring something out. I'm sure we'll be back soon. Us and my memory."

"That's all we wanted to know," Vivi told her. "You can go about your business now."

"All right," Amy nodded. "And hopefully next time we talk, I'll remember you."

"Goodbye, girls," Klaus smiled. "I'll see you when you get back. And you'll be happy to know that I remember you better than your mother."

"What?" Amy asked. "How come?"\

Klaus shrugged. "Maybe it's because I'm not magical anymore. Who knows?"

The girls ended communication their parents bickering, thanked Helene for what she had done, and then asked her to stay for a drink so she could tell them more about the baby and what was going on with Malachai.