Prologue

Thebes, City of the Living, was the crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti the First; home of Mar-ko, Seti's High Priest and Keeper of the Dead; birthplace of Je-ne, Seti's most beloved daughter. No man was allowed to touch her, for Seti would have them severely punished.

But that did not stop Mar-ko and Je-ne from secretly mfeeting night after night. The High Priest, a former slave captured from the North, was a pale man with hair as yellow as wheat and eyes as blue as the sky. Je-ne found his strange appearance irresistible and he felt the same. Je-ne was a beauty not of this world. Her hair was long and silver, shining like white in the sunlight, her skin was pale and soft like the petals of a lily, and her eyes were a bright red color, almost like blood.

Mar-ko believed she was a goddess bound to mortal flesh and told her he would find away to give her back her immortality so she may rule over Egypt instead of Seti, who seemed to be growing soft. Je-ne agreed and every night they would meet, pouring over tomes and scrolls. Je-ne told Mar-ko that she wanted him at her side for he was her guardian angel and he would be the only one capable of protecting her. He was all too happy to agree.

Je-ne walked down the halls, hardly any light to see by, but she knew where she was going. She was nude, save for intricate designs in kohl and powdery gold painted on her skin for she was to dance for Seti tonight. She walked into the room at the end of the hall she nodded to Mar-ko's followers, who bowed deeply and went to shut the doors. Mar-ko was bent over the desk, looking through a forbidden text that he stole from Seti's private Archive.

"My protector... have the gods finally favored us?" she asked, coming to sit on the desk, smiling when he leaned towards her, drinking in the sight of his goddess eagerly, hand quivering as he reached out to touch her sacredness. "My dear Mar-ko... do not touch... we cannot tonight for I'm painted..."

He sighed and pulled away. He ached to touch her, but to do so with the paint would mean certain death. He turned back to the text and smiled as he showed her.

"It is here... But I have not had time to study it, but I will. Be patient, my goddess, and I shall set you free." He purred and she sighed happily.

Not resisting it any longer, Mar-ko forgot he was not to touch her and touched her shoulders reverently, smearing the kohl and powder.

They jumped when the doors to the room opened with a bang and they could hear Seti speaking with the priests, demanding to know why they were in his private study. Mar-ko quickly hid away as Je-ne attempted to distract the Pharaoh so he may escape and not get caught. She sat like a statue, looking up at Amun-Dei, only turning her head to Seti when he stood before her.

They stared at one another for a while, love and adoration burning in Seti's eyes, but they widened and turned to anger as he snarled in rage, making her jump.

"Who has dared to touch you?" He demanded, startling her even more when he pointed at her shoulders were the smears were.

She said nothing, staring at him as he glared at her, but before he could say or do anything further, his sword was stolen from him and he turned to see Mar-ko standing there, a cold smile on his pale face. But the first strike did not come from him; it came from his own knife, stolen by Je-ne. She stabbed him in the back, a sneer of contempt on her face. He screamed in pain, only for it to fall mute as his sword was forced into his stomach and out his upper back. Je-ne stabbed him once more through the heart as Mar-ko thrust the sword into his back.

They stood there breathing heavily, after the moment of bloodlust had passed, but gasped when they heard the Meiji ramming the doors, that the priests had sealed shut when the Pharaoh had stormed in. How could they have known and arrived so quickly! No one was permitted into this part of the palace! Je-ne thought quickly and turned to Mar-ko.

"Go, flee!"

"No, not without you, my goddess!" He said panicked.

"You must! Only you can bring me back from the dead!" She told him, before he leaned into her, breathing her scent one last time as she gasped at the feel of his warm breath on her face before his priests dragged him off and out of the room through a secret door. They ignored his angry shouts and struggles as they pulled him away.

He was gone just in time for the Meiji to finally make it into the room and gasp as they found their Pharaoh dead and only Je-ne standing there.

"I am no longer his prize!" She drove the blade of the knife she still held into her heart, collapsing dead as the Meiji quickly took her and Seti to be prepared for mummification...

-Later that Night-

Mar-ko stole into her crypt and snatched her body before racing off into the desert, towards Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, Ancient burial place for the Sons of Pharaohs and the final resting place for the wealth of Egypt. Mar-ko and his followers dared the gods by going deep into the city where they took the Book of Anubis from its holy resting place. Je-ne's soul had been sent to the dark underworld and her organs placed in five Sacred Canopic jars.

Mar-ko's followers knelt in a circle around them chanting as he read from the Book of Anubis, watching as a pool of black water rippled and a dark shadow emerged from it, floating over to Je-ne's body and entering it. He smiled as Je-ne was brought back, gasping for air, but before he could complete the ritual, the Meiji stopped them. Mar-ko screamed as Je-ne's soul screeched and dove back into the water where it would be safe in the underworld.

The Meiji took Mar-ko's priests, mummified them and buried them in the walls of Hamunaptra while Mar-ko was sentenced to the Hom-Dai, an ancient and fearsome curse. They cut out his tongue and mummified him like the others, but instead of being buried in the walls, he was placed in a sarcophagus that had his name and protection spells chiselled off. He struggled even though he could not move and screamed when he felt scarabs being dumped onto him.

They sealed his sarcophagus and locked it in a second one before burying him at the base of Anubis, God of the Dead. Even though they knew Anubis would keep watch over Mar-ko for all eternity, they still felt it best to keep an eye on this land to make sure no one ever discovered him and set him free...

-3000 years later; Hamunaptra-

The air was dry, but the sun was blazing hot. He knelt at the wall with four hundred other men. They were facing down a band of thieves that had snuck up on them all. He glanced to his right, glaring at the blonde 'boy' beside him. He cursed the fools for not noticing the stranger amongst them. He was even more annoyed as to why she was here.

"Anna, you're nuts for coming out here..." He growled under his breath, glancing at the men shifting nervously around him.

"Aww... so mean, after all the fun we had?" she cooed, discretely touching his crotch.

He winced and focused forward, growling to himself. He hated himself for getting so drunk that he would sleep with, in the first place, a woman and secondly, Anna Kyoyama of all women. The girl thought after their one-night stand that he wanted her; hell the only reason he even got it up was because she sort of looked like a boy and was flat chested as hell. Not that he would say that to her face, least he wake up with his balls in one of set of her claws and his tongue in the other.

The captain looked at the advancing bandits, his eyes bulging, and took off on the only horse, abandoning his men to die out here at the hands of those bloodthirsty cutthroats. Hao, Anna and a few other stared in shock before Anna turned to him and grinned.

"Looks like someone got promoted, Captain Akira Hao..." she mocked as he growled.

"Hold your positions!" He bellowed over the roar of the bandits. "Steady! You with me Anna?"

"Of course, no one's getting my treasure, but me!" she said, though Hao could tell she was wavering. A coward at heart, she only ever threw herself into fights she knew she could win.

She was a treasure hunter, not a fighter and he wasn't all that shocked when she threw her gun at the man to her right and took off running. He sighed as he looked back at the bandits and gave the command to fire and in less than 3 seconds flat chaos ensued. His men and the bandits shot at will, killing whoever was in their way, be it friend or foe, as some took the chance to run into the desert as the others were driven back.

He snarled as he ditched his guns, the useless things having run out of bullets and with the madness surrounding him he couldn't reload. Good thing he had the foresight to bring his sword with him. The blade was made from a rare stone and could cut through just about anything. He fought off the bandits as he caught up with Anna, who dove into a door way and was waving at him to hurry up. He grunted and took off trying to catch up, but when a few bandits with guns showed up, Anna began to close the door.

"Anna! Anna; you don't dare- Anna open the door!" He yelled having crashed into it, but quickly took off again. He ran deeper into the ruins of Hamunaptra, trying to get away from the bandits, but ended up in a dead end.

'Oh what irony... I'm going to die before the God of the Dead...' He thought bitterly as he turned to face the bandits that had him surrounded. Dropping his prized weapon off to the side, he closed his eyes to await his fate. He'd rather not see his death, it'd save him some face in the afterlife.

He heard the clicks of the guns, bracing for it all, when suddenly the sand beneath his feet began to shift and tumble, the bandits took off screaming in Arabic, their horses wild and panicked as Hao scrambled to get away from the sand. He rolled away, snatching up his sword thinking it was quicksand, but gasped as he sat staring at it as a face appeared. It looked like it was screaming in pain. Freaked out by it, he got up and took off into the desert. He'd take his chances with the bandits than whatever was there.

As he jogged away, seeing as there was no one left alive or any animals to use as transport, he vaguely wondered if he'd be able to find the nearest nomadic tribe or maybe a town before he died out here. Suddenly he felt as if someone was watching him. Looking back he saw on a ridge, people on horses. He stared for a moment before taking off again. The people on the ridge watched the whole thing with passive faces.

"Do we let him go?" one asked.

"Yes. Let the desert claim his body. As long as the creature remains undiscovered; we have nothing to worry about." said the leader as the others nodded in silence...

-Night time; somewhere in Cairo-

It was dark, the window cracked open to let in a cool breeze. The figure on the bed shifted restlessly, moaning and trembling. They could hear it...

"I'm coming... I'm coming... I'll find you... I'll find you... Death is only the beginning..."

Someone was whispering on the wind and sweat poured down their body as the voice got louder and louder until it was screaming in their mind causing them to bolt up with a scream of their own. Scrambling from the bed, they ran out of their room. Blindly down the dark hall, fleeing the shifting shadows, and into a study, setting the fire in the fireplace and bringing light to the shadows that chased them. Seeing nothing was there, they quickly grabbed the pillow and blanket from the sofa and laid before the fire, watching the dancing shadows until sleep claimed them once more...

Star: And so, it begins...

Rye: We are now picking on Hao, again! And in case you haven't figured it out, this is Ottawa! *hugs Star* She changed her screenname, but it's still my partner in crime.

Hao: why the hell are we being dragged into this shit again?