By that Friday they had made plans to have Presley and Ben have a sleep over at their place. Only a few blocks away was an old abandoned factory, Ben would dare Presley to go in, if he refused then Ben would go in and pretend to get hurt to lure Presley in. Charlotta and Troy would be waiting in the shadows ready to grab Presley.

Charlotta watched with a little concern at how Troy didn't seem uncomfortable with the situation at all. She on the other hand was shaking like a leaf with nervousness over all the things that could go wrong.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this," she whispered.

"It'll be fine, gloves so we won't leave any finger prints, clothes on everything but our eyes and mouth, so there won't be any DNA if he scratches, there's nothing to worry about. Anyways what about all that learning about ancient Egypt stuff that you haven't shut up about for the last month?" Troy asked.

"But-" before she could finish she heard Ben and Presley talking as they both entered the factory. Heart pounding she followed Troy as he silently stepped out as the boys passed them then grabbed Presley from behind while she put a cloth bag over his head so he couldn't see anything. Ben screamed and ran away yelling for help, making it almost to the door before silently returning.

They worked silently, not wanting Presley to recognize their voices, it didn't take long to get his feet and hands bound.

"You're going to regret this Scarab, the mummies will save me and defeat you like always," Presley said defiantly.

Trying to make his voice sound deeper Troy said, "I don't see any mummies around, maybe they weren't following you today and this is just an act to try to get us to let you go."

Presley was silent for a moment then demanded, "Who are you? What freak did Scarab drag through the western gate this time? Voice is wrong for Anubis, too small to be Geb…" he continued to list off names as he tried to work out who they were.

Charlotta backed away several steps still staring at him as he talked, "What's wrong? You know what he's talking about, don't you?" Troy whispered as he walked over to her.

"I- I think we may have just gotten involved in something a lot bigger than just living mummies. In ancient Egypt there were twelve gates you had to pass through in the afterlife, the western gate was the first of them. The names are all Egyptian Gods, and the occasional details about-"

"He's actually seen these things," Troy finished, "And this Scarab thing is apparently powerful enough to drag God's out of the underworld?" for the first time that day he finally started to look a little nervous, "Maybe we should-"

Before he could finish four mummies ran into the building, looking ready to attack, but stopped, looking almost confused by who had kidnapped Presley.

"Release him and you won't be hurt," the mummy in a blue trimmed kilt told them.

"Won't be hurt?" Presley demanded, "What happened to 'let's kick tut", "power of Ra", why not hurt them?"

"Because we're not really going to have a chance against these guys, if we were interested in fighting," Charlotta said as she removed the bag from Presley's head, "Luckily all I want is to know is why there are living mummies running around protecting some random kid? You are like real ancient Egyptians who have sort of been brought back to life, right?"

"Do we look like South American mummies to you?" the one in green asked indignantly.

"Well you never know with some of the makeup effects they have these days. If you are real there are actually two things I want, first to know what's going on," she tried to stay calm, but she couldn't keep all of the excitement out of her voice as she walked a little closer to get a better look at them, any concern she had felt about what Presley had said quickly forgotten as her curiosity took over, "Second I want to know everything about what life in ancient Egypt was like and can you teach me to speak ancient Egyptian? People can read hieroglyphics, but no one knows what the language sounded like. Ben said you have armor that just appears out of nowhere, is that something that just shrinks down and is stored in something you wear or is it really magic?"

"Of course it's really magic," he replied sharply.

"Always so grumpy, and back in those dirty old bandages I see," she said.

"They're not dirty, I wash them regularly, they're just well worn. I-" he stopped, realization flickering across his face a split second before he grabbed the top of the ski mask and roughly pulled it off of her head, "You! You're the little pest from the hospital."

Before she could reply Presley said, "Can we worry about who's who after I'm untied?"

"Of course," she said walking over to untie him, "I'm really sorry about all this, I just really wanted to meet them and didn't know what else to do."

He looked annoyed for a moment as he stood up then grinned, "Hey guys, you know all that boring stuff you try to teach me? You're going to teach it to her instead," he told them, then before they could say anything he started to tell Charlotta each mummy's name and she in turn introduced herself and her brothers.

Once introductions were done the mummies explained why they were there and what had been happening, although Charlotta felt like they had left a lot out and was left with dozens more questions.

Mind racing with questions she finally settle on one that didn't fit in with the ancient Egyptian beliefs about death she knew of and after what she'd just heard they seemed to have gotten a lot right, "I've never heard reincarnation mentioned in anything I've read about ancient Egypt, was that common?" she asked.

"No, it was almost unheard of," Ja-Kal replied.

"Does that mean Rapses body was damaged or destroyed? That was the main reason for mummification, so the spirit could recognize and return to the body, right?" she asked. At the uncomfortable looks on the mummies faces she guessed she had just brought something up they didn't like to talk about.

That guess was confirmed when Presley said, "Wait a minute, I mean I know he was murdered, but you guys never told me his body was destroyed. It was, wasn't it? That's why his sarcophagus was empty?"

All four mummies were silent for a long moment until Ja-kal sadly said, "Yes, we were too late to save your life and failed to even protect your body."

"Come on guys, don't look so sad, I knew he was murdered, having his body destroyed isn't as bad as being murdered," Presley said.

"Actually in ancient Egypt it was believed that if the soul couldn't recognize it's body then the soul itself could be left to wander or even be completely destroyed. That's why I assumed something had to have happened to Rapses body for his spirit to have ended up in you," Charlotta explained.

"Oh wow, guys is that true?" Presley asked.

"Yes, the little pest seems to know a little," Rath replied.

"Well don't feel bad about what happened to Rapses, his spirit is okay. I know you did everything you could to save him. If his spirit is aware of whats going on, then he knows you did everything you could to save him too and he'd tell you it wasn't your fault. If the few memories I have of his life are right then it was his fault that he got killed, he already didn't trust Scarab, but then he followed him out to the middle of nowhere without telling anyone. It wasn't your fault that he died, it was his fault that all of you died and never got to see your families again. If you blame yourselves for his death then that's just one more way he hurt you and he doesn't want to hurt you," Presley told them, nearly in tears at the end.

"It's alright my prince," Ja-kal said kneeling in front of Presley and hugging him, "We'll try not to blame ourselves for what happened to you, but you also must not blame yourself. Your father trusted Scarab, you cannot be blamed for doing the same. At that time your feelings of distrust towards him were just that, feelings with no evidence to suggest they were accurate."

"Is he okay?" Charlotta quietly asked the other mummies.

"He will be, Rapses' spirit influences Presley's behavior at times when something that was particularly emotional for Rapses comes up," Rath explained.

"We knew he had gained some of Rapses memories, but we didn't know the details or how Rapses ended up alone with Scarab," Nefer-Tina said.

"I'm so sorry I brought it up, I'll save any other questions for when he's not around," Charlotta told them.

"Don't be sorry, I'm glad you brought it up. They shouldn't have to feel guilty for something that wasn't their fault. I hadn't thought about the fact that they wouldn't know why Rapses was with Scarab," Presley said as he and Ja-kal joined the others, "So what do we do now?"

"We can't take her to where we live," Ja-kal said.

"I could look for a memory erasing spell," Rath suggested.

"You will not, I risked going to jail so I could talk to you guys and learn about ancient Egypt. Anyways we've been planning this since the night I saw you at the hospital, if you erase several hours of my memory then I'd still come after Presley again. So unless you can replace the memories you erase with false ones to fill all those weeks, I'd still know something was up and I'd be able figure it out eventually since I have copies of a tape the government guy made while he was examining you," she told him.

"She makes a good point, even if you could find a spell to make her forget this, her desire to know of our world is as relentless as a starving lion that has finally found its prey. She would find us again," Ja-kal said.

"Why don't we go back to my place? I can order the boys pizza and put on a movie to keep them entertained and then we can talk," Charlotta suggested.

"Can we get garlic cheesy bread too?" Armon asked.

"Sure," Charlotta said then asked, "Wait, you can eat?"

"He never stops," Nefer-Tina replied.

"But you're mummies, you know, no internal organs, how can you eat?"

"It's magic," Rath replied simply.

"Do you have to eat or do you just eat because you can?" Charlotta asked.

"Depends on who you ask," Nefer-Tina said, "Armon would tell you we have to eat, the rest of us will feel hungry some times, but it never gets bad or affects us in any other way if we don't eat."

"Okay, no more questions or we're never going to get out of here," Troy said.

– –

Nearly an hour later Presley and Ben were distracted in front of the TV with a movie and pizza, while Charlotta and the mummies sat at the kitchen table to eat and talk.

After writing down the last ingredient on her shopping list of what Armon told her he would need to prepare a traditional Egyptian meal, Charlotta asked, "What about the labyrinth? Well that's what they call it today, it was supposed to have been this huge temple with so many rooms and hallways that a person could get lost in it. At least one person who claimed to have seen it said it was near a pyramid, but no one has ever been able to find it and some believe it never existed, was it real?"

"That sounds like the temple and library of Isis, goddess of magic, healing and protection," Rath replied, "There was a copy of every scroll ever written about healing, history and magic kept there, not something you'd want your enemies getting a hold of. For that reason there was a protection spell on it, if Egypt ever came under foreign rule the temple would disappear below the sands, only an Egyptian wizard could raise it again."

"Do you think all those scrolls would have survived this long?" Charlotta asked an excited edge to her voice.

"They were magically protected, they should be in the same condition as they were the day they were written," he replied, then added, "I am not raising it for you."

"Not even months or years from now once you realize you guys can trust me? I assume you'd have to be there, so it would mean you guys getting to go home to Egypt for a while. You can always rebury it when I'm done looking around," Charlotta told him.

"You can't simply look around, only wizards and sorceresses are allowed inside," Rath told her.

"Well then teach me magic before we go," Charlotta countered.

"It would be too hard, you're too old, training always started in childhood because it was so much harder and sometimes impossible for an adult to learn," Rath told her.

"I managed to graduate from high school while working two jobs and raising my brothers, I'm use to doing things the harder way. If it means someday having access to records of Egyptian history that no one else, not even you guys can tell me, then I'll learn, I don't care how hard it is," Charlotta told him, even as a child she had always taken being told something wasn't possible as a dare to prove she could do it and it certainly wasn't something she had ever outgrown.

One look at the determination on Charlotta's face and Ja-kal said,"I have a feeling you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you just agree. Better to agree and have her fail than to argue the matter."

"Or I just don't waste my time, say no and she gives up," Rath countered.

"Trust me Rath, when a women gets that look of determination, you're better off just letting her have her way," Ja-Kal told him.

"Fine, it would be nice to have a student who wants to learn. We'll see how long you last, which probably won't be long, not only is it harder for an adult to learn, having no pyramids here will make it harder as well."

"Thank you. What do pyramids have to do with magic though?" Charlotta asked.

"It's unbelievable the things the modern world has forgotten. They magnify and focus Ra's energy into the ground where it's more easily tapped into. The pharaoh's who built the pyramids were permitted to be buried in them as reward for having them built, it would shorten their journey to the afterlife, but that was not their original use," Rath explained.

Charlotta grinned, "That's amazing. You're right though, so much has been lost from your time."

"What about you?" Nefer-Tina asked, "You mentioned you had to start raising your brothers when you were only a child yourself?"

"Yes, at least in this time I was considered a child, it made it a nightmare trying to get custody of my brothers. Our mom died of cancer when I was fourteen. Then when I had just turned seventeen, I found out not only had I been accepted to the college I really wanted to attend, I had also won a scholarship that would cover most of the cost to attend. We were going to celebrate, dad wanted to make a special dinner, I was going to get the food, but I was on the phone talking to my grandparents and telling them the news and it was taking longer than I had planned so dad went to the store instead. It was raining and a person coming towards him was on their phone and drifted into his lane, he swerved to avoid them, but slid off the road and down a hill. He survived a few hours, so we got to say goodbye," Charlotta explained, fighting back tears at the memories, at least until Nefer-Tina reached out to rest her hand over Charlotta's and gave it a gentle squeeze which instantly pulled her from the painful memories. Nefer-Tina's skin was cool, barely warmer than the temperature of the room around them, no doubt due to the lack of blood flow to warm it. Giving Nefer-Tina a grateful glance she continued, "Our grandparent's health wasn't good enough to be raising twelve and seven year old boys. They took them in temporarily until I could get custody of the boys so they wouldn't end up separated and in a foster home or orphanage. Dad was a doctor at the hospital and I had spent a lot of time volunteering there and already knew a lot of the basic stuff, so with all the connections dad had had there it wasn't hard to get a job. Already being established there I started taking nursing courses at the local college and was gradually moving up the ranks at the hospital."

"Ben has mentioned to Presley that you recently stopped working at the hospital, was that because of your run in with Rath there?" Ja-kal asked.

"Yes, but it's a good thing. I guess there's no harm in telling you four," she said then explained everything that had happened after the government men had taken Rath away, then added, "Don't tell anyone, even the boys, I could lose the money and get into a lot of trouble if anyone else finds out."

"You're secret is safe with us," Ja-kal assured her.