Full Summary: Being the middle child was never easy. Especially when you have a drunk and gambler for an older brother, and a book-loving, clumsy conservative for a younger sister. I was the one who wanted adventure, to explore, and I have. I have been from ancient tombs in China and Japan, to ruins in South America. I speak many languages, and have extensive knowledge in many cultures. Much like my sister, I have always been fascinated with Ancient Egypt and it's culture. My dream has always been to find the City of the Dead. To find a city known as legend, and make it truth. Who knew that I would find love on the way?

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1925, Cairo

Cairo Museum of Antiquities

It's been about five years since I've seen my family. I decided to take a break from exploring so I could visit them. Since I have no idea where Jonathan is, I decided to visit Evie first. Walking towards the back room, where all the texts are kept, I see my sister, Evelyn Carnahan, trying to balance on the ladder as she starts stilt walking down the aisle. I try to contain my laughter as I stand there, but I couldn't contain the shaking of my shoulders. "OHEIUGM! AHHHHHH!" she exclaims, trying to hold on. The ladder crosses the aisle, does an about face and heads back the way it came. My dear sister clings to the top, struggling for balance. The ladder teeters out into the main aisle and picks up speed. Evie screamed as it did a 180, spins into another aisle and finally crashes to a stop at the top of a bookshelf. She held her breath, then sighs heavily.

That's when the bookshelf fell away from her, crashing into the next bookshelf. As she slid down the ladder, sat down and looked up, the domino effect kicks in and one by one, each bookshelf fell. She closes her eyes, and opens them when the noise stops. "Oops." she cringes. I couldn't help it anymore, I busted out laughing. Evie turned to me and sighed irritably, "Really? You couldn't have helped me?"

I grinned as I wiped tears from my eyes, "Nope, I was enjoying the entertainment. I just can't leave you alone can I?"

Before she could retort, the curator came in, "Look at this! Sons of the Messiah! Give me frogs, flies, locusts, anything but this! Compared to you, the other plagues were a joy!"

My sister immediately got up and started gathering books in her arms, "I'm sorry, it was an accident."

"When Ramses destroyed Syria, it was an accident. You are a catastrophe! Why do I put up with you?" he exclaimed.

I turned and glared at him, "You put up with her, because other than me, she can read and write ancient Egyptian, decipher hieroglyphs and hieratic, and she's the only person within a thousand miles, who knows how to properly code and catalogue this library."

"Who needs smart women? I put up with her because your mother and father were our finest patrons, Allah rest their souls. Now straighten up this mess!" he said before storming out.

Evie stands there steaming, so I go over and hug her. "Come on, don't listen to that ass. He's not worth it."

"Language." she scolded, but hugged me tight. "I missed you, Asima." she whispered.

"I missed you too." I pull back.

We hear a noise and quickly turn around. "Hello?" we both called, as I got one of my pistols out. We hear it again, coming from one of the galleries. We walked towards it cautiously, me in front with my pistol raised, but the safety on.

"Abdul? Mohammed? Bob?" Evie calls.

We enter a room filled with many treasures of the Middle Kingdom. It was dark except for flickering torches that were lit on both sides. We hear the noise come from the far side of the room and walk towards it, Evie grabbing an unlit torch on the way.

Walking down the aisle, we look around at a statue of Anubis, another of Horus, which seems to stare at us the entire time. I could sense that Evie was getting scared, so I grab her hand and gave it a squeeze, before letting go. We pass a closed sarcophagus and cases of ancient artifacts, before stopping before an open sarcophagus. Evelyn freezes, swallows hard, and nervously looks around to see who could have opened it, while I keep an eye out. Then she slowly leans forward with the torch, and peers inside.

All the sudden a hideous rotted mummy sits up and screeches at her. Evelyn screams, drops the torch and backs away, scared out of her wits. I just stood there and sighed, holstering my gun because I knew exactly who did it. And then, coming from inside the sarcophagus, we hear someone laughing. Evie's eyes narrow as a foppish cad crawls out from behind the Mummy, laughing his ass off, half drunk.

"You…! You…!" Evelyn sputtered.

"Drunkard? Fool? Rat-bastard? Please call me something original." Our dear brother, Jonathan said, not noticing me yet.

I pull a cigarette from the mummy's mouth, "Really Jonathan? Have you no respect for the dead?" I sighed.

"Right now, I only wish to join them." he grinned, drunkenly. Evie punches him hard in the chest.

"Well I wish you'd do it sooner rather than later, before you ruin my career the way you've ruined yours." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"My dear, sweet, baby sisters, I'll have you know, that at this moment my career is on a high note." he says before belching. She scrunches her nose in disgust as he falls back and sits on the edge of a tomb.

"High note? Ha! For five years you've been scrounging around Egypt, and what have you to show for it? Nothing." I sigh as they argue. I see things haven't changed.

Jonathan got excited as he searched his jacket, "Oh yes I do! I have something right here!"

My sister groaned, "Oh no, not another worthless trinket, Jonathan, if I bring one more piece of junk to the Curator to try and sell for you -" He pulled out an old, ancient box.

My eyes widened as I took it, "Where did you get this?"

He turned to me, wide-eyed, then smirks, "On a dig, down in Thebes."

I roll my eyes, knowing that he was lying, but go back to studying the box. I instantly start mumbling to myself as I translate the hieratics and hieroglyphs covering it. I feel Jonathan fidgeting in anticipation.

"My whole life I've never found anything. Tell me I've found something." he begged, hope in his eyes. Evie also stands there, anticipation in her eyes as I continue examining the box.

My fingers play with the various little slats on the box, shifting them this way and that way, it's like a puzzle box. Then suddenly, it unfolds itself, almost-mechanically, turning itself into the key. Sitting inside the open key/box is a folded piece of golden papyrus. An ancient map. My eyes widened and I looked up with a smile, "Jonathan?"

"Yes?"

My smile widened, "I think you found something."

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Curator's Office

The Curator sits at his desk, staring through a jeweler's eyepiece at the key/box. Evelyn and Jonathan stand behind me, excitement oozing from them. I stand beside the curator as I pointed out, "See the cartouche there, it's the official royal seal of Seti the First."

"Perhaps." was all he said.

Jonathan leaned in, "Two questions. Who the hell is Seti the First? And was he rich?"

"Really Jon?" I gave him a look.

"He was the last Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, said to be the wealthiest Pharaoh of them all." Evie answered him.

"Alright, good, that's good. I like this fellow, like him very much."

"Greedy bastard," I muttered before turning back to the map. The curator picks it up, examining it closely. "I've already dated it, this map is almost four thousand years old. And the hieratics over here…" I stopped to look at Evie, "It's Hamunaptra."

I notice him freeze, and soon recover, "My dear girl, don't be ridiculous, we are scholars, not treasure hunters. Hamunaptra is a myth."

I raise an eyebrow, "I'm no scholar. I have been on many excavations, as you well know."

"Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?" Jonathan asked.

I roll my eyes, "No, we're talking about the other Hamunaptra, Jon."

Before he could retort, Evie answered him, "Yes. The City of The Dead. Where the early Pharaohs were said to have hidden the wealth of Egypt."

"Right, right, in a big underground treasure chamber. Everybody knows the story. The entire necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand. On Pharaoh's command, a flick of the switch! And the whole place could disappear beneath the dunes." he ranted.

"All we know is that the city mysteriously vanished around 2,134 B.C." I said.

The curator holds the map closer to the fire, "As the Americans would say: it's all fairy tales and hokum."

The map catches on fire and the curator throws it to the floor. Jonathan drops to his knees and quickly puts it out, and lifts it up. The left third of the map is now missing. Jonathan looked pissed as he said, "You burned it! You burned off the part with the lost city!"

"It's for the best, I'm sure. Many men have wasted their lives in the foolish pursuit of Hamunaptra, no one has ever found it, most have never returned." he said. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion as he said that. He was hiding something, and I'm sure it had something to do with Hamunaptra. He seemed nervous when we told him what this was a map of.

"You killed my map." Jonathan said devastated.

"I'm sure it was a fake, anyway, I'm surprised at both of you, to be so fooled." he told Evie and I, before trying to take the box. I quickly snatch it up, giving him a suspicious look.

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Cairo Prison

Gallows Courtyard

As the warden lead us to the visiting area, I walk ahead of Evie and Jonathan, as they argued behind me. "You told us you found it on a dig in Thebes!" Evie exclaimed.

Jonathan shrugged, "I was mistaken."

"You lied to me!"

I turn my head to her, "He lies to everybody, what makes us so special?"

"We're his sisters!" she exclaimed.

"I knew he was lying in the beginning. As for you, that just makes you more gullible." I shrugged with a smirk.

She turned back to Jonathan with a huff, "You stole it from a drunk at the local Cabah?!"

"Picked his pocket, actually." he smiled.

I just chuckled and tuned them out as we were ushered into the room. My sister turned to the warden, "And what is he in prison for?" she asked, curious.

"I did not know, so when I heard you were coming, I asked him that myself." he said. I hated the man. He was a disgusting pig.

"And what did he say?" I asked.

"He said... he was just looking for a good time."

I snorted and shook my head, crossing my arms, "He must have had a wonderful time if he ended up here." I say sarcasm dripping from my tone.

I turn as I hear the internal cell door open, and see four guards drag a man in chains to us. They shoved him against the bars. I closely examine him. From the looks of it, he's been here awhile; his face is half hidden by long hair, a scraggly beard and many new bruises. Evie looks disgusted as she looks at him, "But he's just a filthy criminal?"

Jonathan and I both cringed, "Way to go, Evie." I said giving her a slight glare.

The man gave first Evie, then I a once over, before looking at Jon. "So who are the broads?"

"Broad?!" my sister exclaimed, outraged.

I just look at them, then back at the man and shrug, "Been called worse." I see a slight smirk on his face, before he wipes it off his face.

Jon pushes me forward slightly as he says, "They're both my sisters, actually."

"Yeah? Well, … I'm sure they're not a total loss." he said looking at me. I smirked as my sister just stood there stunned, with anger in her eyes.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the warden head towards the door. "I'll be back in a moment."

"I tremble in anticipation," both the man and I say, sarcastically. We looked at each other, amused, until he was clubbed in the head. He gave the guard a nasty look before looking at us again.

I step closer, "We found your puzzle box and have come to ask you about it."

"No." he said flatly.

"No?" Evie said in disbelief.

"No … You came to ask me about Hamunaptra."

I watched in amusement as Evie and Jon quickly look around, making sure the guards aren't listening. We step closer as Evie tried to play coy, "How do you know the box pertains to Hamunaptra?"

He looked at her as if she grew a second head, "Because that's where I found it. I was there."

She looked stunned.

Jon was suspicious as he took a step closer, "How do we know that's not a load of pig swallow?"

The man looked at Jon, and then narrowed his eyes in recognition, "Hey … Do I know you?"

"Um, well, you see …" Jon trailed off as the man decks him in the jaw, knocking him out cold. The guard again clubs him and he gives said guard another dirty look.

I look down at Jon then back at him with an eyebrow raised as I step over my unconscious brother, "You were actually at Hamunaptra?"

"I just decked your brother."

"Well," I shrug, "I know my brother."

I saw a flicker of a smile appears on his face, "Yeah, I was there."

"You swear?" I said, taking a step closer.

He smirked, "Every damn day."

"No she means - -" Evie argued.

"- I know what she means." He looked at me, "I was there, alright. Seti's place. The City Of The Dead."

"What did you find?" I said as Evie said, "What did you see?"

"I found sand." He glanced at Evie, "I saw death."

The warden walks in, so I lean in to make sure he can't hear us. "Could you tell me how to get there? The exact location."

"Want to know?"

Unknowingly, I lean closer, "Yes."

"Really want to know?"

"Yes." I said, getting slightly irritated as I leaned forward more.

He leaned forward and kissed me full on the mouth. After a minute, he leaned back slightly and said, "Then get me the hell outta here." I stand there, slightly stunned yet amused, as a guard clubs him. His face bounces off the bars again, but before he can react the guards grab him, yank him away from the bars and drag him out of the room.

Getting over her shock, Evie turns to the warden, "Where are they taking him?"

"To be hanged." he said nonchalantly. Seeing her shocked face, he smiled, "Apparently, he had a very good time." I looked disgustedly at his green teeth.

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Gallows Courtyard

We follow the warden to the balcony overlooking the courtyard, where I see them putting a noose around the man's neck. The warden turned to us, "No women allowed."

I pull out my gun and put it to his head, "Say that again, and I'll put a bullet in your head." I glared at him.

Evie quickly grabbed my arm, "Stop, Asima!" She turned to the warden and said primly, "I am an English woman."

The warden looked confused at this, but shrugs and sits down. My sister sits down beside him as I lean against the railing, staring at the man. He looks up, sensing my stare, and we just looked at one another until I hear my sister say, "I will give you one hundred pounds to spare his life." I sigh; it's going to take a lot more than a hundred.

"I would pay one hundred pounds just to see him hang."

"Two hundred pounds."

He ignored her and waved his hand, "Proceed!"

"Three hundred pounds!"

I saw hope in the man's eyes, as they tightened the noose. The hangman turned to him, "Any last requests, pig?"

I didn't hear his reply, but by the way the hangman grabbed the lever to the trapdoor, it probably wasn't good. "Five hundred pounds!" my sister yelled, desperate.

"And what else?" I saw the warden lecherously place his hand on my sister's leg.

I point my gun at him again, "Unless you want to die, do not touch my sister. Got it?" Evie quickly shoved his hand off. Angry, he turns and waves the hangman, who pulls the lever.

"No!" my sister and I yelled.

The rope jerks taught, yet he continues thrashing about. He's still alive. The warden noticed too, "His neck did not break! Good! Now we watch him strangle to death." he said gleefully.

Discreetly, I pull a throwing knife from the pack on my leg and turn to the warden, "He knows the location of Hamunaptra."

His head snapped to me, "You lie."

"You really going to take that chance?" I stared him down.

"Are you saying this filthy godless son of a pig knows where to find The City Of The Dead? Truly?" he said skeptically, but with a hint of greed in his eyes.

Evie cut in, "Yes and if you cut him down, we will give you ten percent."

"Fifty percent."

"Twenty." my sister countered.

"Forty."

She hesitates, but when I see the man starting to turn purple, I turn to the warden, "Twenty-five percent, and no more."

"Deal." he smiled. I smiled and turned back to the man. Before the warden could order him to be cut down, I threw my knife, cutting through the rope, before embedding in the post.

All the guards, including the warden, looked at me shocked. I shrug my shoulders innocently, "I picked up a few things." I smirked. I looked over the railing and see the man staring at me. I give a mock salute before yelling at the guards, "And I want my knife back, or else there will be hell to pay!" I turn around and walk away with my sister following, leaving the stunned men far behind.

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Well, there is the first chapter! I took off the Character Profile, because I was just introducing the character. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you Chels, bookfreak25, Lily Ann Cullen, and Brunette for the reviews of this story. Especially you Brunette for giving great constructive criticism. I'm working on the second chapter now, but I expect it to be done either later tonight or tomorrow, after I get home from school. By the way, outfit for Asima is on my profile above my outfits for my Vampire Diaries Fan Fiction.

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- Seraphis88