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aimee-maroux · 1 year

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It's #NationalBirdDay so I want to talk about birds in mythology. There are many stories from ancient Greece about mythological birds and half-bird creatures.

Birds of Ares

The Birds of Ares (Ornithes Areioi in ancient Greek) were a flock of arrow-feathered birds which the god had set to guard his sacred shrine on the Black Sea island of Dia, also called Ares' Island. It had been built by the Amazons, his daughters. The birds were encountered by the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. The heroes raised their shields as a defence against the birds' deadly volleys of arrows and with a clash of shield and spear scared them away.

The Birds of Ares were sometimes identified with the Stymphalian Birds driven off by Herakles (see below).

Griffins

The Griphoi or Griffins is a hybrid creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. They guard a treasure of gold by the border to Hyperborea. Griffins were popular decorations in ancient Greek art, for example the helm of the statue of Athena Piraeus:

Harpies

The Harpyiai or Harpies were depicted as winged women, sometimes with ugly faces, or with the lower bodies of birds. They were the spirits of sudden, dangerous gusts of wind and were sent by the gods to snatch up people and things from the dark earth. A missing person was said to have been snatched by the Harpies.

Hippalektryon

The Hippalektryon, literally "horse-cock" or "horse-rooster" (hippos = horse, alektryôn = cock) is a hybrid creature with the head and sometimes forelegs of a horse and the wings, tail and back-legs of a male chicken. @sigeel drew them most beautifully, tended to by Demeter and Persephone.

Phoenix

This bird is still well-known today through the saying "rising like a Phoenix from the ashes". It was said to resemble an eagle, with feathers partly red and partly golden. The Phoenix flies from Arabia to the Temple of the Sun (Ra) in Heliopolis in Egypt every 500 years to bury its father encased in myrrh. And there only is a father because the Phoenix begets itself. The tale of the Phoenix actually rising from its own ashes is related in a 4th century CE Roman text called "The Phoenix":

...the pyre conceives the new life; Nature takes care that the deathless bird perish not, and calls upon the sun, mindful of his promise, to restore its immortal glory to the world. Straightway the life spirit surges through his scattered limbs; the renovated blood floods his veins. The ashes show signs of life; they begin to move though there is none to move them, and feathers clothe the mass of cinders. He who was but now the sire comes forth from the pyre the son and successor; between life and life lay but that brief space wherein the pyre burned. His first delight is to consecrate his father's spirit by the banks of the Nile and to carry to the land of Aegyptus (Egypt) the burned mass from which he was born.

Sirens

The Seirenes or Sirens were depicted as birds with either the heads or entire upper bodies of women. They are well-known from the Odyssey for their enchanting song.

Lovely Terpsichore, one of the Muses, had borne them [the Sirens] to Akheloos, and at one time they had been handmaids to Demeter's gallant Daughter [Persephone], before she was married, and sung to her in chorus. But now, half human and half bird in form, they spent their time watching for ships from a height that overlooked their excellent harbour; and many a traveller, reduced by them to skin and bones, had forfeited the happiness of reaching home. Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautika 4.892

The shape of the Sirens, a bird with a woman's head, was popular as a vessel for perfumes and cosmetics.

Stymphalian Birds

The Stymphalian Birds were a flock of man-eating birds of prey which lived around Lake Stymphalis in Arkadia on the Peloponnese. Herakles had to deal with them for the sixth of his twelve labours:

Herakles was stumped by the problem of driving the birds out of the woods, but Athena got some bronze noise-makers from Hephaistos and gave them to him, and by shaking these from a mountain adjacent to the lake frightened the birds. Not enduring the racket, they flew up in fear, and in this manner Herakles reached them with his arrows. Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.92

The Stymphalian Birds were sometimes identified with the arrow-shooting Birds of Ares that were encountered by the Argonauts (see above).

According to Pausanias' Description of Greece there was also an old sanctuary of Stymphalian Artemis in Stymphalos and near the roof of her temple the Stymphalian birds had been carved.

Which is your favourite birb story from mythology?

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jahaliel · 2 years

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The Raging of Fire

Isshin!Shura AU turned out in poem-story because i could. love you and your enabling @justawayfan cw: Major Character Death, death of children, ANGST

Blood and shadow, ruin's calling a song that drums in the hearts of men shura shu-ra shu-ra.

It calls like a siren sings of power, and on that day in that world, pushed to raging by an old foolish bird Shura breaks free.

He arrives to see his granddaughter fall - born to war the fire rages, the shadows stretch out and he lays her so gently gently down. Whirls then, the song of steel sparks, sings, comes alive; cutting down an Owl still caught up in gloating.

Shura sees Shura and the world trembles. (Monster sees monster as the city burns.)

Shadow and flame burn in eyes that meet and join to accord - a fierce dance, a firestorm that seeds ruin to all the land. As one they stalk out from the rooftops hunting down a black blade to match the red.

They don’t see the child holding his breath, though the younger at least has not yet forgotten him.

There is no pain of loss, no mourning tears for this second foolish grandchild slain by red blade even before he drew breath to argue his old mans choices. One-armed wolf presents the sword, an offering to the demon, a gift to a Lord. And together they hunt vermin within the walls, soldiers tired and running, hunt all who remain as shadows and bloodlust cloud their minds, until only ghosts are left.

In the high mountain a dragon mourns, and the tears mix with the rivers flow, falling down into the lands below. A barrier faint and shimmery of air and light and water surrounds Ashina’s borders; it will not let Shura out, but can be passed by regular humans.

The demons destroy the temples and cleanse the forests of bandits and the streams of their ghosts. They devour a platoon of inner ministry men and red-sword laughs as black-sword pulls them back to life and kills them again and again for their trespass on his land. Smouldering ash is on the breeze throughout Ashina; charred bones and broken dreams. Fire and shadow meet a demon of hatred and swallow him whole

A quiet boy meets a barefoot girl who shares rice and dried persimmons as they flee. Quiet, quiet as only those who are young and hunted can be they head to the borders and seek to be free.

Alas the wolf of shadow seeks them still wishes to keep them always safe in the flame of his soul. Leaving him is not allowed, no-one will abandon him again - he is fierce, he is powerful, he has the tengu pacing by his side treating him as an equal.

They aren’t far from the border can see its misty glow when a red sword cuts through the evening aimed at the boy.

The girl screams, pushes him aside, takes the mortal wound. But that’s alright, a black blade swings in a silence that shrieks and the boy falls down too.

They will not abandon these lands. They will not leave him. They die holding hands, bleeding and burning as the shadows monsters move onwards to where they hear a platoon marching in.

They die steps away from freedom - but in their blood spilled a promise lays. They will not be brought back by black blade that can cut space and dimension and time If they are to die and they will, not even dragon's blood can save them then the land owes them peace and the divine owes them peace

and they will have PEACE.

(At the edge of the lands of Ashina two small corpses lie burned beyond all recognition two young ghosts warn travelers who care to listen turn back and take another road.)

#jah writes fanpoetry #sekiro #sekiro: shadows die twice #shura AU #death cw #child death cw #angst cw #this one is fucking dark #it is meant to make you cry

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aboutanancientenquiry · 2 years

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The Funerary Stela of Taimhotep (73-42 BCE)

Funerary Stela from Saqqara belonging to Taimhotep, wife of Psherenptah, the High Priest of Ptah of Memphis. Reign of Cleopatra VII (51-30 BC)

Repository: London: British Museum

Source: http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/fisher/record.html?id=FISHER_n2003080054

Stela BM 147 has a depiction of Taimhotep worshipping Sokar-Osiris, Apis, Isis, Nephtys, Horus, Anubis and a symbol of the West. The text on the stela is 21 lines long and tells of Taimhotep's life. She was born in the 9th regnal year of Ptolemy XII Auletes; her father was apja Khahapi, a priest of Ptah, Min, Khnum-Ra and Horus, her mother was Herankh, a musician of the Ptah temple. She had a brother, High Priest Pasherienamun I and a sister called Taneferher, who married each other; a further possible brother is the scribe Horemhotep.[7] In the 23rd regnal year, at the age of fourteen (July 25, 58 BCE)[8] she married the High Priest of Ptah, Pasherienptah III, and had three daughters and a son by him. Her children are named on the stela BM 377: the son Imhotep-Pedubast and the daughters Berenike, Herankh (nicknamed Beludje) and Kheredankh.[9] It is known that Kheredankh was not her daughter, as she was born to Pasherienptah seven years before his marriage to Taimhotep, and her name was inscribed on the stela erroneously in place of her actual third daughter Her'an (nicknamed Tapedibast), whose name can be found on another stela of her father (Ash. M. 1971/18).[8]

After the birth of her third daughter she prayed to Imhotep, an Old Kingdom sage who was deified in later centuries, for a son. Her prayers were answered and her son was born in 46 BCE, the 6th regnal year of Cleopatra VII. Taimhotep died four years later.[4][5] On her stela Taimhotep laments her untimely death and asks her husband to enjoy life while he can; this is the longest ancient Egyptian text of this kind. From her husband's two stelas it is known that he survived his wife by only one year.[4] Their son Imhotep-Pedubast became High Priest of Ptah in 39 BCE but died young only nine years later.[10

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taimhotep

#ancient egypt #taimhotep #ptolemaic period #cleopatra philopator #ancient egyptian art

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minister-akaiha · 2 months

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thaiamulets-co · 11 months

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hhorakhty · 1 year

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Timeline

Ancient Egypt: 18th Dynasty, 14th Century B.C.E

1341 B.C.E Prince Atem is born to Pharaoh Akhenamkhanon and Royal Chief Wife Nefertari in Thebes.

1337 B.C.E 4 years old. Atem begins his training in the Temples of Amun and Ra with the persistence of his mother. He meets his aunt for the first time as well as other members of his family from his mother’s side who had entered the priesthood.

Royal Chief Wife Nefertari starts to instruct her son personally on physical combat.

1336 B.C.E 5 years old. Royal Chief Wife Nefertari is murdered during the attack by the Hittites in a remote village a week after Atem’s name day celebration.

A month later. The proposition for the items constructions is put forward by High Priest Akhenaden and his co-conspirators. Pharaoh Akhenamkhanon, unknowingly, approves of the slaughter of the 99 villagers of Kul Elna.

A week later. The creation of the Millennium Items is complete after 7 days and nights. The items are presented to Pharaoh Akhenaden and then distributed to his court.

Three days later. The battle with the Hittites hits a peak, as they attempt to storm Thebes only to be thwarted back by the powers of the Millennium Items. Pharaoh Akhenamkhanon bears the puzzle.

1336 - 1330 B.C.E. 5-11 years old. Atem continues his studies as the successor to the throne. Several attempts on his life are made during this time

6 years old. Atem meets Mahad and Mana for the first time.

His training at the temples continued as it was a request from his late mother, however, the guards around him increased. Mana and Mahad accompany him. He stays at the temples several months out of the year. He starts to learn from the Temples of Isis, Set, Sekhmet, and Sobek.

His combat training is continued with the help of his aunt and a distant relative from Nubia.

An Egyptian Asp is spotted in the royal gardens and attempts to bite the young prince. Mahad takes the bite instead and Atem sucks the poison out of the wound.

7 years old. The search for a bride for Prince Atem is started though not as heavily as the court would like. Pharaoh Akhenamkhanon insists that Prince Atem should marry who he loves. This causes friction between the Pharaoh and the noblemen.

An attempt on Atem’s like is taken during the Festival of Sekhmet. The assassin entered the festivities disguised as a servant to the nobility and royal family during the evening. A drink meant for the consumption of all children present was poisoned when given to Prince Atem. Fortunately, the wielder of the Millennium Necklace foresaw it, and the perpetrator was seized. No children were harmed and security was increased. All food and drink that is to be presented to the royal family since this incident was to be made by staff from the palace.

A later celebration for a member of his father’s court takes place. Atem meets several of his potential brides at the event much to his father’s dissatisfaction. The young prince however doesn’t appear to be bothered meeting his potential brides, even though he does not think of them as such

8 years old. Atem is taught the dances that are performed during important rituals and festivals for the Gods. He is then allowed to perform them for their respected purposes.

Atem is sent to Iunu (Heliopolis) where the cult of Atum and Ra is prevalent. Because of his status as heir to the throne and similar naming to their Gods, Atem is treated with high respect and near blinding devotion. It is the first time that the young prince is treated as a divine being, instead of just a royal.

Learns the rituals for the ashes of the Bennu bird, which he performs with each turn of the seasons.

Is allowed to go to the yearly festival for Wadjet in Per-Wadjet without his father accompanying him. However, the amount of guards have not let up.

Mana and Mahad do not accompany him and are kept in Thebes.

10 years old. Atem is given more duties that were usually reserved for the Pharaoh.

His stays in various temples dwindle as he is kept more in the palace within Thebes.The royal family moved to Inebu-Hedj (Memphis) where it becomes the main capital and permanent home of the royal family.

Atem is sent to Hout-Ka-Ptah (House of the Soul of Ptah) in order to be taught more firmly of his duties as a crown prince. Combat training, literacy, and languages are taught to him during this time on a near daily basis.

Atem meets a younger Seto for the first time.

Rivalry begins sometime after this meeting.

Potential brides for the young prince are sent to the palace in Inebu-Hedj against Pharaoh Akhenamkhanon wishes. However, the pressures of the noble houses and those within his inner court are amounting, as a need for the royal bloodline to continue grows. The Pharaoh’s age makes them concerned.

As Atem has returned from his travels through the various temples across the nomes, he is now seen often by his father’s side.

His responsibilities as successor increases. He is seen taken part in court proceedings to pass judgements against individuals and accompanies his father in royal matters with the leaders of various nomes.

1330 - 1327 B.C.E. 11-13 years. His life as a successor does not become easier. His circle of companions decreases to only to those within the palace walls. Atem experiences loneliness and a need for companionship, however his feelings for his birthright weigh against him.

#[ headcanon. ]

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c-40 · 1 year

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A-T-2 414 Becoming Manuel Göttsching

It's very sad to hear of Manuel Göttsching's death. As far as I know Göttsching didn't release anything in 1982 but he did play on a few records by other artists. In 1981 he'd played guitar on the album Tonwelle by Richard Wahnfried for the Innovative Communication (IC) label. Richard Wahnfried is a pseudonym used by Klaus Schulze and IC is a record label he founded. Klaus Schulze had been a founding member of Ash Ra Temple with Manuel Göttsching and Hartmut Enke in 1970. Manuel Göttsching was the mainstay of Ash Ra Temple and Ashra (a name variation Virgin Records insisted on) and one of the most influential guitarists in Krautrock. Back to 1982 and Klaus Krüger (who had been the drummer for Tangerine Dream in the late 1970s) invites Manuel Göttsching to play guitar on his second IC album Zwischenmischung. Some of the time Manuel Göttsching's guitar doesn't sound like guitar at all, just listen to Quasarsphere from his 1975 album Inventions for Electric Guitar this is few years before Small Hours by John Martyn and it's all electric guitar

Klaus Krüger - Motorik Klaus Krüger was also involved with the NDW scene, Christine Hahn from the band Malaria! plays synths on this album (A-T-2 373)

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Klaus Krüger - Suchen

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Klaus Krüger - Deutschland

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Manuel Göttsching will be remembered not only for his guitar playing but also releasing what some people (quite a lot of people) consider the first electronic dance music album E2-E4

Just as members of British prog bands were moving into the studio to produce up-and-coming new wave acts (A-T-2 075), Krautrock musicians were working with NDW acts. The track Geile Tiere by Geile Tiere was initially released in 1980 and again in 1982, it was mixed by Manuel Göttsching and he is credited as contributing some synthesizer

Geile Tiere - Geile Tiere

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#1982 #manuel göttsching #electronic #ndw #berlin school #berlin #germany #80s music

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tomorrowhittoday · 2 years

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Klaus Schulze, morto a 74 anni

E’ morto a 74 il geniale Klaus Schulze, una delle figure più importanti del kraut rock e non solo. E’ stato membro di Ash Ra Temple, Tangerine Dream e ha collaborato con Lisa Gerrard dei Dead Can Dance. Se ne è andato dopo anni di malattia.

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#ash ra temple #klaus schulze #rip #rip2022 #tangerine dream

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30000songs · 5 years

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#167 - Ash Ra Tempel - Ash Ra Tempel

Unlike the previous entry, which earns being guitarwank, this is basically nothing but guitarwankery, which gradually made me lose more and more patience. I’m not looking forward to the other ones by this guy at the moment, sadly.

30/100

#Ash Ra Temple #Ash Ra #Ashra #30/100 #Deleted #Prog #1971

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tineyearthling · 5 years

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Tracklist: Edgar Froese - NGC 891 Reinhard Lakomy - Orakel Software - Winds Of Time Mick Clarke - Spectro Robert Schröder - The Day After X Ash Ra Temple - Ocean Of Tenderness Vangelis - Blade Runner Blues

#SoundCloud #music #Per Musica Ad Astra #space #kosmische #krautrock #Mix #Spacetrip #cosmic connection #NGC 891 #Edgar Froese - NGC 891 #Reinhard Lakomy - Orakel #Software - Winds Of Time #Mick Clarke - Spectro #Robert Schröder - The Day After X #Ash Ra Temple - Ocean Of Tenderness #Vangelis - Blade Runner Blues

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marshmallow-phd · 3 years

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Book of the Dead

Genre: The Mummy AU

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: After traveling to the fabled city of Hamunaptra, you read from the Book of the Dead and accidentally resurrect an ancient mummy with extraordinary powers and quest for revenge. The only thing to do now is try and convince your less-than-traditional guide to help you save the world.

Part 1 I Part 2

You ran up the smooth stone steps as quickly as your night dress would allow. If only you had had the time to change into something a bit more practical. Unfortunately, the immortal, god-like mummy that was currently lighting the city of Cairo up with the ten plagues of Egypt was exactly willing to pause for you to put on a different outfit.

“Run this by me one more time?” Baekhyun huffed a few stairs behind.

Rolling your eyes, you said again, “We’re going to read the stone with the inscription of the location of the book of the living. Once I translate its location, we’ll head back to Hamunaptra, retrieve it, and send Mr. Bones back to the underworld.”

“You really need to work on the nicknames,” Junmyeon grumbled as he placed a hand on your lower back to urge you upwards at a faster pace.

“Sorry that my sarcastic wit doesn’t work best under pressure.”

“Trust me, it hasn’t been working with or without the pressure.”

You shot the soldier a dirty look, which only led to you tripping over your own feet. Junmyeon caught you before your knees could meet the edge of the last step. Looking up at him, you opened your mouth, whether to say thank you or to release another sharp remark, you weren’t sure. Those stupid brown eyes were scrambling the thought pathways in your brain. But thankfully, one thing was able to connect and bring back your focus.

“The stone!”

A large black stone taller than you and wider than your forearm sat to the right of the staircase, a block of polished wood at the base keeping it upright and away from the wall. You ripped out of Junmyeon’s grasp and scrambled for the stone. Your eyes scanned the hieroglyphics. A few feet away, Baekhyun was half bent over in an effort to regulate his breathing.

“Can you do that a little quieter?” you gritted between your teeth as your fingers slid over the etched surface of the stone.

“It wasn’t that many stairs,” Sehun said.

“Sorry, not all of us are as athletic as the muscled up soldiers over here.” Baekhyun hooked a thumb towards Junmyeon, who was hardly paying attention as he stared out the open balcony. Baekhyun and Sehun joined him, the former then gulped. “You might want to hurry up over there.”

“Patience is a virtue,” you sang.

“Not right now it isn’t,” Junmyeon mumbled grimly.

That was when you heard it.

Hundreds of voices chanting in unison.

“Imhotep. Imhotep. Imhotep. Imhotep.” Over and over in monotone sounds, growing closer and louder.

Oh, shit.

“I hate to agree, but yes, faster would be better,” Professor Bey urged.

His power was growing. Fast. You buckled down, translating the pictures into the ancient language and then again into your own tongue.

“They’ve become his slaves,” Ardeth said with more morbidness than you previously thought possible.

“A side effect of the boils and sores, I’m sure,” Baekhyun said, not helping. Another plague down. The final one, if your counting was correct.

Block them out. You needed to block all of them out. “Alright, so according to the Bembridge scholars, the gold book of Amun-Ra is located in the statue of Anubis.”

“But we found the black book there instead,” said one of the Americans.

Baekhyun moved to your side. “So, they were wrong?”

“Obviously.” Arrogant men who thought you didn’t have enough experience to join their society. “They mixed up where they were buried. So if that was where the black book was located….”

A crash. The front doors of the museum must have been breached.

“I got it! The golden book is located inside the statue of Horus!” You slapped the rock with your hand in victory. “Take that, Bembridge bastards!”

“Alright then, let’s run!” Baekhyun took your hand and hurried you down the hall while the others stayed close at your heels. Down the stairs and through a back corridor, you were able to make it to the car while avoiding the mind controlled citizens. Safety be damned, you all piled on one another into the topless car as Baekhyun turned over the engine and gunned it. Hordes of the poor men chasing you poured out of the doors of the museum and managed to keep up with the four wheeled vehicle that now raced through the dirt streets in the dark. Junmyeon remained on the trunk of the car, reloading his gun and punching anyone who was able to get close enough.

“Those are innocent people!” you yelled over all the noise.

“Yeah, well, right now, it’s us or them!” Junmyeon kicked one off but lost his balance in the meantime. He nearly fell into the crowd before you were able to grab his arm and yank him down. “Thanks,” he muttered mere inches from your face before clearing his throat and righting himself. On his other side, Sehun was fighting along with Ardeth to keep you all from being overrun. Imhotep must have been able to give the controlled men advanced abilities. An unfortunate event.

But right when you thought that you might be able to get away, several men climbed onto one of the Americans and they all fell from the car, lost in the crowd. Without thinking, the other yelled and then jumped after his friend. And then he was gone, too.

“Crap.”

“Rest in peace, old chaps,” Baekhyun murmured, looking over his shoulder. And then crashed the car.

“Baekhyun!” you shouted angrily. Junmyeon hoisted you out of the car, not wasting a moment, but the six of you were trapped. The mind controlled men were coming at you from all three streets. You were blocked in against one of the walls of the city.

“It's the creature,” Professor Bey whispered. You frowned, unable to see past the ones that surrounded the group. Then you saw him.

Imhotep.

“He’s fully regenerated.”

Not a single spec of mummified skin remained. He’d gotten to the Americans.

Stepping closer as the crowd pushed in, he started speaking in the ancient language, lapdog Beni right behind.

“Come with me, my princess,” Beni translated with a false sense of superiority. “It is time to make you mine. Forever.”

You scoffed. “For all eternity. Idiot.”

Imhotep spoke again, this time with his hand outstretched.

“Take my hand and I shall spare your friends.”

You looked around for any chance of escape. There was none. “Just wonderful.” You turned to Junmyeon, who was slowly putting himself between you and the mummy. “Any good ideas?”

His face was twisted and his eyes darted from left to right. “I’m thinking. I’m thinking.”

“Good. Keep thinking and think of something fast. Because if he turns me into a mummy, you’re the first one I’m coming after.”

Junmyeon’s eyes snapped to you, wide with shock. “No!” But you were out of arm’s reach before he could stop you. He pulled a gun and pointed it at Imhotep, ready to fire. Sehun and Ardeth both managed to stop him.

“He has to take me to Hamunaptra,” you explained. “In order to perform the ritual.” With your eyes, you tried to add in the rest. Follow us there, get the book, and I’ll read it.

“She’s got a point,” Sehun said. “If we live today, we can fight tomorrow.”

Junmyeon hesitated, then lowered his gun. You held his gaze, trying to let him know silently what you were feeling in this moment. That you were glad to have met him. And you wished the two of you had more time.

“We’ll see each other again,” he promised.

With an arm around your shoulders, Imhotep led you away. The sound of Junmyeon saying your name reached your ears and you almost ran back to him.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Baekhyun yelled. Running up next to you, Beni tossed the octagonal key to the books in the air. Well, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Gripping your arm tighter, Imhotep gave out one final order. “Kill them all!”

“No!” You fought and kicked and tugged to get away. “Let go of me! Junmyeon! Baekhyun!” It was no use. As you looked back behind you, all you could see was the crowd closing in on them.

You traveled for what felt like hours in the sandstorm of Imhotep. When you were finally deposited onto the sand, rolling in it from the momentum and getting it everywhere, you managed to open your eyes and see where he had decided to stop. You were right outside of the city of the dead. You were back.

A loud buzzing noise caught your attention. Looking up into the sky, you saw an old fashioned pedal plane carrying more people than it was built for. You smile. “Mr. Kim.”

After walking a few paces ahead, Imhotep raised his arms and called up a sandstorm so large, it blocked out the sky. Forming into a face, it ruched at the tiny plane. And then the storm swallowed it whole.

“No!”

The sandstorm dissipated and the plane was no longer visible. Imhotep smirked then walked towards the city. You had no choice but to follow.

You were going to die.

That didn’t stop you from following the mummy down into the depths of the temple, your glare switching from Imhotep’s back to Beni, who walked beside you.

“Your face will stay like that,” Beni warned. How childish.

“And nasty little boys like yourself always get their comeuppance,” you shot back.

Beni stopped in his tracks. “They do?”

You smirked. How stupid. You did believe that he would get his own form of punishment for helping the ancient priest - you just hoped that it was sooner rather than later.

Down in the main chamber of the temple, a loud noise stopped Imhotep mid chant. Taking one of the sacred jars, he emptied the ash-like substance into his hand and then blew on it, letting the particles drift through the air. Then he spoke out a spell and mummified bodies ripped themselves free from their walled-in prisons, leaving behind deep human-shaped impressions among the hieroglyphics.

“Kill them and wake the others,” Imhotep ordered. Turning back to you and Beni, he nodded at the latter, who then forced you down onto the stone slab next to a pit that at first you thought was water, but the liquid was too thick and too black, like ink. You were too focused on the substance to notice Imhotep’s hand coming near your face. He spoke a single word and your vision went black.

It could have only been a minute that you were out, but it was enough time for your wrists and ankles to be tied down and the sacred jars to be lined up against your side. Seeing a strange lump out of the corner of your left eye, you turned.

Then screamed.

The mummified body of who could only have been Anck-Su-Namun was lying right next to you, ready to be revived. You fought and tugged at your restraints, desperate to get away, to put distance between you and the woman who killed the pharaoh. One by one, the resurrected priests circled the slab, fell to their knees, and began chanting as they bowed. Imhotep stepped up, the black book in his hands. He caressed the side of the mummy’s face lovingly. Despite the reality of the situation, a small part of you couldn’t help but be in awe of his devotion. All of this, for his love.

That didn’t mean you wanted to help.

“Junmyeon! Baekhyun! Sehun!” One of them. Any of them! Please, just let one of them get in here with the book!

From the pit, the inky substance rose, formless, shapeless as it drifted through the air, over you and settled into the body. Imhotep finished the enchantment and the mummy came to life with a shrieking gasp. It turned and looked at you with knowing eyes. The scream of pure terror was ripped from your throat.

No, no, no, no!

Appearing on the other side of you, Imhotep said one last time that with your death, Anck-Su-Namun would live. He raised a dagger with both hands and let it hover over your heart for just a beat.

“I found the book of Amun-Ra! I found it, cousin!”

Standing at the top of the large stone staircase, Baekhyun waved a giant book of gold over his head, the proudest grin shining from his face, visible even from this distance.

Imhotep hesitated, lowering the dagger.

“Fantastic, now shut up and help me off of here!” you shouted back. “You have to open the book! Open it!”

Like in a trance, Imhotep walked around the slab, placing the dagger down next to Anck-Su-Namun, and continued towards the stairs.

“I can’t open it! It needs the key!”

“His robes!” You motioned towards Imhotep with your head. “It’s in his robes!”

With Imhotep coming closer, Baekhyun took off down the hallway that had led him here. Out of the shadows the opposite way, Junmyeon jumped out, swinging a large golden sword at the priests. Sehun wasn’t far behind with a sword of his own. Toegher, the two of them cut the mummies into pieces. With everyone distracted, you worked at the ropes around your wrists that had loosened in your many struggles, freeing the right one first and then moving onto your ankles. Only the left wrist was left to be freed, but this one was choosing to be difficult.

“Are you alright?” Junmyeon asked as he took down another priest.

“For the most part,” you answered, jangling your hand. Junmyeon lifted the sword to cut it free but suddenly fell from view. The upper bodies of the priests had grabbed hold of him and were holding him down so another could get close enough to drop the giant rock it was carrying onto his head. “Junmyeon!”

Junmyeon struggled to reach the sword he had dropped. Sehun was too busy with his own fight to notice his cousin needed help. You tried for the weapon yourself but it was too far out of reach. A disembodied hand was crawling with its fingers across the floor. When it wrapped its palm around the hilt of the sword, Junmyeon managed to grab the arm and swing at the mummy holding the stone, taking its legs out from under it. It fell backwards, squishing itself comically. He took care of the others and freed himself. He cut the bindings from your wrist and helped you off the slab. “Better late than never, right?”

“We’ll reevaluate that later.”

Baekhyun emerged from a side corridor. Oh, thank goodness. As if he were reading the Sunday paper, he studied the front of the book. “Cousin, I found an inscription here. Rash- Rasheem oola… kashka!”

A pair of doors burst open and out marched mummified soldiers with shields and spears.

“Oh, wonderful.” At least you weren’t the only one who mucked up by reading out loud.

Two by two, they came out until there were ten now facing you, Junmyeon, and Sehun.

“This just keeps getting better and better,” Sehun muttered angrily.

“Baekhyun, do something,” you begged.

“Me?” Baekhyun squeaked as he backed up against a pillar.

“Yes, you! You raised them! You can control them!”

“You’re joking, right?”

The soldiers marched on, coming in closer. You weren’t armed and you doubted Junmyeon and Sehun could hold all of them off. “Finish the inscription on the cover, you idiot!”

“Oh! Right!” Baekhyun scrambled to hide behind the pillar.

Focused on the enemy in front of you, the one that had just been resurrected had been left forgotten.

Anck-Su-Namun snatched you away from behind just as the mummified soldiers pounced. You managed to get out of her grip and were now playing a rather unfun game of tag while she chased you with the ceremonial dagger, keen on killing you herself so she could be fully revived.

“Baekhyun, hurry up, please!”

“I can’t figure out this last symbol!”

“What does it look like!” You ran around the pillars and figures, lucky that you still had all of your ligaments to move quickly with. But Anck-Su-Namun had caught on and cut you off from around a corner, clutching your neck as you fought to keep the dagger away from your heart.

“Its… its, uh… a bird!” Baekhyun started flapping an arm in a wing-like motion. “No! A stork!”

You pushed the air past your throat to give him the answer. “Ahmenophus!”

“Ah! That makes sense!” He read over the sentence again before yelling, “Hootash im ahmenophus!”

With a kick to her brittle rips, you managed to break free from Anck-Su-Namun right as the mummy soldiers froze. Right on time, too, as it seemed both Junmyeon and Sehun were about to be impaled. You ran to Baekhyuun and ripped the book out of his hands. “Give that to me!” Turning back to the one who had tried to kill you, you said, “Fa-kooshka, Anck-Su-Namum!”

The soldiers didn’t move as Anck-Su-Namun stalked closer.

“Oh, fine!” You motioned for Baekhyun, who very smugly repeated the order. The soldiers backed off Junmyeon and Sehun, going for their new prey as Imhotep tried to stop them with his own shouting. It didn’t work. He watched in horror as, for the second time, his love was taken from him. All you saw was the soldiers surrounding her, then stabbing. She shrieked in pain and then was once again… silent

Imhotep roared in anger. He swept up sand as he turned on you and Baekhyun, vowing death to you both. Junmyeon ran up from behind and cut off one of his arms, getting his attention instead. The robes slipped from Imhotep’s body as he picked up the severed arm and reattached it, stepping determinedly in Junmyeon’s direction.

The robes.

The key!

You hurried forward, eyes never leaving Imhotep in case he remembered what he had left behind. It took a moment of searching the folds of black, tattered fabric, but eventually you found the key. “Keep him busy!” you told Junmyeon.

“Yeah, no problem,” was grunted back to you.

Inserting the key, you twisted it three times until the claws clicked open. You flipped through the heavy slabs, eyes constantly on the search for the right inscription. There was so much here. So much knowledge, so much history, you were getting distracted.

Save Junmyeon! You told yourself. Stay focused and save Junmyeon!

“Hurry!” Baekhyun urged.

You growled back, “You’re not helping!”

Imhotep now had Junmyeon by the throat, feet off the ground and face turning purple. You were running out of time!

There! “I have it! Kadeesh mal! Kadeesh mal! Pared oos! Pared oos!”

A wind from nowhere kicked up through the air. From the top of the staircase, a ghostly horse-drawn carriage came sailing in, down the stairs and straight for him.

Horrified and knowing exactly what was headed his way, Imhotep dropped Junmyeon and tried to run. But the carriage was faster.

It barreled through him, taking with it a translucent outline of himself, rounding the room before trotting back up the staircase and through the purplish wormhole that it had come from. Imhotep chased after it as if he could steal what was stolen from him back. But that was impossible.

Junmyeon picked up his dropped sword and scrambled to you, weapon high for the next round of the fight. “I thought you said that would kill him.”

Imhotep stomped forward, eyes fixed on your group. So focused on his target that he never saw Sehun come in from behind and stab his own sword through Imhotep’s back.

You smirked. “He’s mortal now.”

He stared down at the blade that was protruding from his stomach. Staggering, his eyes were round from shock, little by little the light of life fading. His feet shuffled closer to the pit’s edge until he finally fell in and sunk beneath the surface. As he faded from view, his skin disintegrated until he was back in the form that you first found him. Words echoed around as he gave one last message. Handing the book back to Baekhyun, you translated it for the others.

“Death… is only the beginning.”

“Thank god that’s over,” Baekhyun sighed.

You squeezed his shoulder, thankful to whomever that he was alive. That you all were. “We should get out of here.”

“Where’s Beni?” Sehun asked as he surveyed the room. Oh, right. You’d nearly forgotten about him.

“Probably halfway back to Cairo with a bag full of gold,” Junmyeon said bitterly.

Then, suddenly, the walls began to tremble, sand fell in falls from the ceiling

“Time to go!” Junmyeon grabbed your hand and headed for the exit. Baekhyun, who was leading in front, slipped on a pile of sand as he crossed one of the bridges. You watched in horror as the book flew from his hands and into the water, sinking beyond retrieval.

“You lost the book! How could you lose the book!”

“Oh, come on!” All three yelled at you. Nothing could be done. The Book of Amun-Ra was lost. You’d cry about it later.

Navigating the halls, sand and walls were falling all around you, seeking to trap you in. Junmyeon led the group through a giant room filled with gold. Baekhyun whimpered at all the treasure he was able to take with him, but at least he kept running.

“Wait for me! Wait for me!”

As you left the hall of gold, you turned to see Beni running after you. The ceiling above was slowly lowering. If he didn’t pick it up, he’d be trapped forever. A small opening barely big enough for a human was starting to sink beneath the floor. Baekhyun made it through. Sehun made it through. You made it through.

Junmyeon came in last, sliding across the sand and then flipping over, his hand reaching out towards Beni, who was still a good ten or fifteen feet away. “Come on, come on, come on!” Hate him or not, Junmyeon would try to help. But Beni didn’t make it and the opening disappeared. Junmyeon sighed. Then shrugged. “Bye-bye, Beni.”

He jumped up to his feet and rejoined the group.

Finally outside, the columns and temples were also falling, causing you all to zig-zag all around the city as it crumbled to the ground. The sand beneath your feet shook. You made it out of the city’s boundary. When you were far enough out of the blast zone, you stopped and watched as what was once a great archeological find sink into the sand, never to be seen again.

Baekhyun screamed out of nowhere. You panicked, thinking Imhotep wasn’t truly dead. But then you saw the shadow. And then the camel. And then the man riding it.

“Ardeth!” You were so happy to see him alive! You had been so worried about getting out yourself, you hadn’t been able to ask the others what had happened to him.

“Thank you for that heart attack,” Baekhyun scolded as he rubbed his chest. He would be fine. If the wine and women hadn’t killed him yet, you were sure he would live through this.

Ardeth bowed his head. “From me and my people, you have earned our respect and gratitude.”

Baekhyun chuckled, waving it off with false modesty. “Well… it was nothing.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sehun muttered as he spat dirt from his mouth.

Ardeth grinned then clicked his tongue to urge the camel on.

Shaking his head, Baekhyun turned back to the flat surface that used to be Hamunaptra. “Wonderful. We go home empty-handed. Again.”

Junmyeon looked down at you and with the softest expression, disagreed. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Heat bloomed on your cheeks as his meaning sunk in. Sehun understood as well, rolling his eyes and turning away. Cupping your jaw with his fingers, Junmyeon leaned in and kissed you deeply, pulling you in closer.

Yes, he was right. You were truly walking away with the adventure of a lifetime.

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