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From: Amemshehu
Date: 16 May 2000
Time: 07:52:30
The brush spread dark, twisted colors along the canvas like a breathing entity, adding the accents its owner needed. Durden leaned back for a moment to take in the picture as whole, a picture that depicted the surreal form of Mr. Nothing and a monstrous creature all too familiar to the artist in mortal combat. The details were beginning to show, its viewpoint seeming to project from the floor up to the combatants as they clashed. The dingy apartment was relatively clean, or had been quite recently...a bachelor's pad, in a rather unsettling neighborhood.
"Lovely work, Mr. Durden," came the sudden, female alto voice over his shoulder. As the mortal jumped, startled, his lips were already sprouting a slightly embarassed smile at his self-proclaimed bodyguard since Nothing's disappearance. She had followed him around ever since then, all-too-prepared to face whatever the creature was that threatened himself and then his previous companion...she seemed cool-headed and confident, and very little was impossible for her...except perhaps foresight. "Pardon...you're new to being a Necromancer, I take it?"
"Thanks," replied the artist with a wider smile. "Yeah, just a little bit new." He watched his visitor for a moment as scratched his head with the end of the paintbrush.
As if reading his thoughts, she added, "Nothing should be back in a few days...someone near and dear to me is seeking him as we speak."
"The dude that well...that dude?" asked Durden, as he tapped the image of Nothing. It truly was a realistic depiction, one that could one day find its way to a museum.
"Correct. You have a keener eye than Imhotep."
Trying to repeat the name, the human slurred, "E-mo-tip? Who is that?" "Someone you remind me of...he was a pyramid designer that delved into sculpture and painting. There were several Imhoteps, really," the ghostly figure mused, her greyish green eyes growing distant with memory.
The host smiled slightly and looked her over, pondering and chewing the end of the paintbrush before asking, "What do the things on your skin say?" He motioned toward her woman's bronze skin, where row upon row of shiny black hieroglyphics sparkled.
"They're the story of my mortal life."
"Could you tell it to me?" the man asked eagerly.
The woman paused for a moment, pushing her black braids out of her face before answering, reluctantly, "Certainly...I'll summarize it. I was born in Memphis, the long-time capital. My life was relatively normal until an oracle read the signs of my future and declared that I had the Sight. It's...an aptitude toward magic, really," Mem began, pausing as her companion listened and nodded. "I was brought to the pharaoh, who was Pepy II. Pepy had ascended the throne at the age of 4. He was about 15 when we met--"
"Wow...." blurted the young man, obviously more accustomed to the modern ways of democracy.
"--and he lived for 100 years. Well, I was schooled in the same education as the pharaoh himself. As I was the daughter of a minor noble, this was a dream come true..."
"Breed to last," quipped Durden.
"Females of my time in lower gentry stations were married to rival houses normally. Or even to Syrians and Mesopotamians--"
"Who or what are they?" interrupted the eager human.
"They're people in what is today the Middle East. I suppose their people's blood is now diluted by Turks and Indians," Amemshehu paused to Durden's nod, half-expecting him to add something. When he did not, the Egyptian continued. "But anyway...my position carried an air of awe and respect...even fear. I became what you might consider a wizard." Durden nodded again, the events of the past few days certainly keeping open the concept of magic to him as the wizard continued. "I died before the end of Pepy II's reign...and I've watched over Egypt ever since."
"As a...spirit?" the American asked with a timbre of trepidation.
Nodding, she continued, "As a spirit...among other things. Remember...I'm a wizard. I bore three children...two boys, one girl, in my lifetime--"
"So you're a mother? So...you have sort of been reborn then?" asked the mortal with a faintly incredulous expression.
"No...I bore those children in my mortal lifetime," the mummy corrected.
"Ahh, okay."
"Though I am able to reanimate my corpse," the woman said with a grin.
Durden quirked a brow, "Your...corpse?"
"It's in, as you might say in the vernacular, mint condition. There are ways to preserve the body."
"So... hrrmm its embalmed?" he asked.
"Yes...a special process," replied the sorceress vaguely as she glanced at the nearest clock. "You must be famished."
With a small nod, the living man mumbled, "A bit..."
Amemshehu concentrated for a moment and reached over to the refrigerator handle. She pulled it open, grabbing chicken, bread, lettuce and mayo as she sliced the items into a perfect, deli-style sandwich. With a deft hand, the guest poured a glass of soda and some potato chips onto a plate as she stashed the items back into place and brought the meal to the painter. "Sustenance is excellent for the creative process."
Durden smiled a little and accepted the plate. "You don't have to eat do you?" he surmised.
"Hmm? No, not anymore. I remember the sensation well though...quite pleasant." Her eyes became distant again, as if she was peeking in on the actual events in some other room in her mind.
The host nodded and popped a chip into his mouth. "The way you cook, it certainly is."
"I learned of it once, when I was animated," the cook mentioned with an airy gesture of her hand. "Did you have any questions regarding...all of this? I'm sure this must be quite disconcerting at times."
Durden nodded with concern and took a bite of the sandwich. After chewing and swallowing, he asks, "What happened to your children?"
"Their family line became too large and intertwined with others for me to keep track of. They spread out from Libya to Persia and from Switzerland to Punt. But what I meant to ask was...regarding the fact you're discussing ancient Egypt with ghosts," smirked the ancient.
"Hmm...If i died... could you embalm me, and bring me back like you did to yourself?" he asked, apparently more enthralled with the ghost than with the knowledge of ghosts.
"Oh, hmm...unfortunately, I don't know the spell. I was imbued with the ability by another wizard to battle creatures like the one that attacked you," she murmured as the mortal nodded. "Would you really wish to return?"
Seemingly without hesitation, Durden answered, "I think so...tell me, about Egypt? Did you know the roman empire rulers at all? Or was it before then?"
"Egypt's glory years were long before Rome's ascension," began Amemshehu as the human leaned forward, eating as he watched and listened intently. "Alexander the Great acquired Egypt as a region to the Greek Empire before he died...I knew of him, rather than knew him. Greece fell into its own petty politics and left Egypt largely to the Ptolmeies...a series of Greek rulers that went by the name of Ptolemy. Greece was eventually swallowed up by the Roman Republic, but Egypt wasn't paid much attention to until Julius Caesar's time. I knew Julius and Octavian, his grand-nephew. And Antony. They were juggling toys in my dear friend Cleo's deadly game. Octavian tightened his grip upon Egypt after he defeated Antony and Cleopatra's combined forces. To spite their existence, he killed Cleo's son as well. Egypt was a magnificent place, really...the actions of a few pharaohs could have lasting effects for decades," Mem paused as Durden nodded and took another bite of his sandwich. "Many of the developments that are attributed to later periods' achievements were really accomplished in Egypt...such as plumbing. Even basic surgery. Families of rulers would exist named dynasties...each time one died, the next in line took his or her place. When there were no more dynasties to take each others' places, or when too many families of equal power arose, a civil war would decide the next dynasty...many times, this would cause an intermediate period, which would last for several decades. Such was the way of the predators of nobility, really, and Egypt was always stronger for it until its twilight years..." she paused, the distant expression returning for a moment. "So, what other questions did you have?"