Mummy Game 008

March 1922. Cairo. [9/6/2013 11:33:50 PM] Kate: Felix Cray has spent the entire night awake reciting poetry at the Countess, who has slept through all of it without a sound. [9/6/2013 11:36:21 PM] Kate: Eventually, sometime around sunrise, she stirs a bit. [9/6/2013 11:36:25 PM] Felix: ((The power of POETRY.)) [9/6/2013 11:38:25 PM] Kate: Then she hugs Felix a bit, assuming he's still holding her. [9/6/2013 11:38:30 PM] Felix: He is! [9/6/2013 11:38:34 PM] Felix: Sleep well? [9/6/2013 11:39:24 PM] Kate: Countess: I had the most interesting dreams. [9/6/2013 11:39:38 PM] Felix: Well, tell me about them. [9/6/2013 11:43:59 PM] Kate: Countess: I can't remember what happened, but there were trees, a clearing in the woods, and then a storm on a mountaintop, waves crashing in the ocean below. [9/6/2013 11:45:57 PM] Felix: Good. [9/6/2013 11:46:05 PM] Felix: You needed some sleep. [9/6/2013 11:47:03 PM] Kate: They're images from the poetry, of course. [9/6/2013 11:47:10 PM] Kate: Countess: It was very nice. [9/6/2013 11:47:42 PM] Felix: Well, you know, I do a lot of reading. [9/6/2013 11:49:00 PM] Kate: She opens her eyes and looks at Felix. "Reading?" [9/6/2013 11:51:53 PM] Felix: Yeah. A lot of reading. Kipling. Emerson. Yeats. [9/6/2013 11:52:48 PM] Kate: Countess: Did you read while I slept? [9/6/2013 11:53:04 PM] Felix: I also have an excellent memory. [9/6/2013 11:55:01 PM] Kate: Countess: .. I don't understand. [9/6/2013 11:55:17 PM] Felix: I read some of them, remembered the rest. [9/6/2013 11:56:44 PM] Kate: Countess: You read to me while I was asleep. [9/6/2013 11:57:04 PM] Felix: Yes. [9/6/2013 11:59:50 PM] Kate: Countess: ... you did not sleep. [12:00:13 AM] Felix: Felix shrugs. "You needed it more." [12:01:27 AM] Kate: Countess: ... you are much kinder than one would reasonably expect. [12:01:57 AM] Felix: Maybe I just didn't want to get punched again. [12:03:22 AM] Kate: Countess: I still owed you a favor for that. [12:04:13 AM] Felix: Oh, right. I had forgotten about that. [12:05:09 AM] Kate: Countess: And now I owe you two. [12:10:18 AM] Felix: Your health was suffering. Can't have you falling over exhausted when we get to the excavation. [12:11:38 AM] Kate: Countess: Still. It was... kind. [12:12:31 AM] Felix: Felix smiles. "Well, dont' tell anyone I'm not a mercenary monster, okay?" [12:13:00 AM] Kate: She nods, solemnly. "I will not." [12:18:31 AM] Felix: Do you feel better, though? [12:22:22 AM] Kate: Countess: I feel much better. ... you should rest, we will not be in the city until tonight. [12:23:45 AM] Felix: ....that's a good idea. [12:24:15 AM] Felix: Felix yawns. [12:29:30 AM] Felix: Felix settles back. "I'll get a few hours of sleep." [12:33:41 AM] Kate: She nods. "I won't disturb you." [12:35:22 AM] Felix: If you need to, do so. [12:35:28 AM] Felix: Felix gets some sleep! [12:37:46 AM] Kate: Felix falls asleep quickly, having rapidly gotten past the horrible "So tired you can't sleep" stage. [12:40:16 AM] Kate: When he wakes up he's in an entirely different place, on a much less comfortable bed, with a different woman-- the Egyptian girl from before, still grey-eyed and wearing a wig. This time, though, he still seems to be himself; there's no jarring transition from 2d to 3d from the addition of a second eye. [12:40:39 AM] Felix: Felix looks at his hands! [12:42:01 AM] Kate: They're his own hands. [12:42:19 AM] Felix: Felix looks at the woman. "Who are you? [12:43:13 AM] Kate: She laughs. "A pretty thing to say to me." [12:43:53 AM] Felix: Humor me.  Tell me who you are? [12:44:46 AM] Kate: Woman: ... well. Last night you called me beautiful. [12:46:01 AM] Felix: You are.  Who am I? [12:47:42 AM] Kate: Woman: ... is something wrong? I don't understand. [12:48:12 AM] Felix: I had a bad dream.  I dreamt I was someone else, somewhere else.  I want to make sure I'm not dreaming anymore. [12:49:52 AM] Kate: She hugs him tightly; he can smell the perfume of the wig, subtly spicy. [12:50:46 AM] Kate: Woman: It's all right. You are still you, Ramses. Perhaps you are dreaming of the future. Tell me about the dreams, Sese. [12:52:01 AM] Felix: ... well.  I was on a boat.  A boat driven by machines.  Devices that harness fire and steam to propel the boat down the river. [12:52:59 AM] Felix: One of the people on the boat was killed, a sacrifice to Set. [12:55:02 AM] Kate: Woman: ... who would do such a thing? It's mad. [12:55:35 AM] Felix: No one understood it. The parchment stuffed in his mouth.... [12:55:37 AM] Felix: Felix describes it. [12:57:06 AM] Kate: Woman: ... it is clearly part of a spell, Sese, and a dark one at that. One part of a soul for Set. Where are the other parts? [12:59:01 AM] Felix: We only found the one in the dream. There was a woman... a companion of this man I was, and she acted as if under a spell herself, she had nightmares, and walked in her sleep, and might have killed the man in the first place, though she had no memory of it. [1:00:12 AM] Kate: Woman: Then she is mad, or under some evil influence. Not *all* followers of Set are as... amenable... as I am, Sese. [1:02:00 AM] Felix: What of this spell? What would happen when Set has the souls he needs? [1:02:18 AM] Kate: Woman: Set does not *need* souls. [1:02:36 AM] Kate: Woman: Besides, a ka is only a fifth of a soul. By itself it is nothing. [1:03:02 AM] Felix: Why would it be in my dream them? Why would someone do it? [1:03:12 AM] Kate: Woman: What of the heart, the shadow? What of the name and the selfness? [1:04:15 AM] Kate: Woman: Without these things a person cannot be, and without these the ka, that which separates life from death, is nothing. ... do you think your woman tore the ka from the dead man? [1:05:00 AM] Felix: I don't know. I'm not a priest... I don't understand these things as you do. [1:06:43 AM] Kate: Woman: You *are* a priest. In title if not in reality. On papyrus, your titles must stretch from here to Cairo. [1:09:32 AM] Felix: ...it couldn't have just been a dream, it's all so clear in my head. [1:09:51 AM] Kate: Woman: Sometimes I wonder how I dare touch you. [1:11:05 AM] Felix: Felix looks for a window and goes over to look out of it! [1:12:33 AM] Kate: There is a window, with no glass. Felix finds himself a floor up, looking out over the city. Somehow, he knows it's Thebes. [1:12:47 AM | Edited 1:14:29 AM] Kate: Waset, the City of the Sceptre. [1:14:25 AM] Felix: Have you ever had a dream that wasn't a dream? [1:14:49 AM] Kate: She nods. "Many times." [1:15:27 AM] Felix: Tell me. [1:16:32 AM] Kate: Woman: I dreamed of you before I met you. [1:18:28 AM] Felix: Did you? What did you see? [1:20:48 AM] Kate: Woman: I saw you in battle, leading a company of men over a hill against some adversary or other. [1:23:03 AM] Felix: Felix 's head is pretty much spinning, trying to figure out ways to take advantage of this episode to get information. [1:23:05 AM] Kate: Woman: Slicing through men with a great heavy sword. [1:23:30 AM] Kate: Woman: It was terrifying; you were so covered in blood I thought you were a monster. [1:23:56 AM] Felix: Sometimes you have to make yourself a monster. [1:24:39 AM] Felix: Did you tell anyone about this vision? [1:25:09 AM] Kate: She shrugs. "Why should I? I never know what they mean until it's too late." [1:26:48 AM] Kate: Woman: That's why I was afraid of you at first. [1:28:49 AM] Felix: I see. Are you still afraid of me? [1:29:47 AM] Kate: Woman: ... a little sometimes. [1:30:15 AM] Kate: Woman: It is difficult to know you could call a man to cut off my head at any time, or worse. [1:31:02 AM] Kate: Woman: You could order them to erase my name forever, or... other things. [1:31:24 AM] Felix: I would not do that. [1:32:06 AM] Kate: Woman: It would be worse if you became pharaoh. ... it may be disloyal, but I am glad you are not first in line, Sese. [1:34:19 AM] Felix: It isn't disloyal. You are anything but disloyal. [1:34:39 AM] Kate: She smiles a sad little smile. "Only selfish." [1:35:29 AM] Kate: Woman: For all my power, I am still only a slave. [1:39:38 AM] Felix: Felix turns to her. "In my dream... they are traveling down the river to dig up graves." [1:40:22 AM] Kate: Woman: ... then it *cannot* be a foretelling dream, Sese. You would never commit such a crime, it would be an affront to the gods and to the dead. [1:41:14 AM] Kate: Woman: You will never stoop to grave robbery. That, I will not believe. [1:42:42 AM] Kate: She puts a hand on Felix's face. "I know you will marry someday, and soon. Promise me you will not forget me then, even if she is beautiful and leads an army of her own." [1:43:39 AM] Felix: Tell me your name and I'll carve it onto my heart and never forget. [1:45:04 AM] Kate: Woman: There is not enough room on a man's heart for so many letters! [1:46:00 AM] Kate: Woman: Surely there is not. I would like you to write it for me, on a piece of papyrus, so that I can see it. [1:46:45 AM] Felix: All right. [1:47:15 AM] Felix: Felix looks for a pen and papyrus. [1:48:41 AM] Kate: She gets up and runs to fetch writing materials. For a moment they seem utterly foreign, and then the fibrous scroll-thing, fresh and clean, looks normal. [1:50:54 AM] Kate: Woman: There. Write it for me, I want to see it. It is very like magic. [1:51:51 AM] Felix: Say it aloud. [1:52:09 AM] Kate: Woman: Taia. [1:52:23 AM] Kate: Felix knows how to write it. [1:52:28 AM] Felix: Then he writes it! [1:52:49 AM] Kate: It *is* a long word--five hieroglyphs. [1:53:09 AM] Kate: Taia stares at it. "And that is me, on paper?" [1:53:39 AM] Felix: Paper can't hold all of you. But it is your name. [1:54:31 AM] Kate: Taia: ... only one-fifth, but that is enough. Do you ever think the scribes have too much power, Sese? They write what is, but what if they write lies? [1:56:05 AM] Felix: As you said, it is a kind of magic. With a lie, they can change the way we are seen in the future. [1:58:18 AM] Kate: Taia: Then you must forbid them from doing so. [1:59:20 AM] Kate: Taia: ... or make them do it. If they wrote the name of a slave and changed the name of her owner... [1:59:57 AM] Felix: Felix eyes her. [2:01:13 AM] Kate: Taia: ... yes, I know. It would be wrong. But I have had to do worse things to get here. And I would wish to be yours. [2:01:55 AM] Felix: Your... current owner would see the lie. [2:04:46 AM] Kate: Taia: .... I know. Why does she not simply *give* me to you? [2:07:40 AM] Felix: I don't know. She can be very cruel. [2:08:26 AM] Kate: Taia: I will endure it, and her husband too. [2:09:38 AM] Kate: Taia: His hands like dead worms. [2:09:48 AM] Kate: Taia: Cold fingers. [2:10:14 AM] Felix: Felix frowns. "Cold?" [2:12:28 AM] Kate: Taia: Cold, and unpleasant. I think he has no heart. [2:13:28 AM] Felix: ...that sounds about right. [2:14:32 AM] Kate: Taia: He has sold his ib away, and it leaves his hands cold. Still, I do as he says; if I did not I would not be permitted the freedom I have, to come and go as I please in the palace. [2:15:46 AM] Felix: ...Perhaps the scribes could be made to do something. [2:16:15 AM] Kate: Taia: There is nothing I would not do to be with you, Sese. Nothing. [2:17:51 AM] Felix: We have to be careful, though. [2:18:20 AM] Kate: She nods. "We will be careful." [2:18:25 AM] Kate: Felix wakes up. [2:19:17 AM] Kate: He's back in the boat to Luxor, with the Countess--freshly coiffed and dressed, is sitting on the bed next to him, quietly. [2:19:30 AM] Felix: ...how long did I sleep? [2:20:46 AM] Kate: Countess: About four hours. [2:20:57 AM] Felix: I saw things. [2:21:13 AM] Kate: She drops the book on the table next to the bed. "What did you see?" [2:21:35 AM] Felix: ... his name was Ramses. Her name was Taia. [2:22:24 AM] Kate: Countess: Ramses and Taia. Taia and Ramses. ... they do not sound familiar. [2:22:45 AM] Kate: They sound familiar to Felix. It's almost like it was part of a book he read a long time ago, and now he's starting to remember how it went. [2:24:12 AM] Kate: Countess: Who were they, and why are they haunting us? [2:25:16 AM] Felix: He was important somehow. Like a prince. She spoke of him being in line to be Pharoah, but not first in line. She was a slave. His sister's slave, I think. [2:27:22 AM] Felix: Their affair was... I don't know if it was illicit, but perhaps frowned upon. [2:28:01 AM] Kate: She picks up her cigarette-holder, and then puts it back down. "Frowned-upon? ... she was a peasant and he was royalty. It would be frowned-upon if he cared, yes." [2:28:19 AM] Felix: I think they were in love. [2:29:04 AM] Felix: She spoke of souls being in five parts. [2:30:34 AM] Kate: Countess: That seems unnecessarily complex. [2:33:12 AM] Kate: Countess: Perhaps we should ask the Driscolls about it. [2:34:44 AM] Felix: Good idea. [2:34:51 AM] Felix: It's strange. I'm remembering rmore and more. [2:35:10 AM] Felix: Like I read a book and I'm remembering it. [2:35:59 AM] Kate: Countess: .... and I only have nightmares of things that never happened. [2:39:36 AM] Felix: I don't know what's going on. We need to find out what we can about this Ramses. [2:39:53 AM] Kate: She nods. [2:40:39 AM] Kate: Countess: ... I am not sure what you did to help me sleep, Felix, I am only sure that it.... helped. Perhaps more than you know. [2:40:47 AM] Kate: Countess: I feel I am myself again. [2:47:26 AM] Felix: I'm glad, Yelena. I dno't know what I did either. [2:48:05 AM] Kate: She smiles, and leans over to kiss him. [2:49:10 AM] Felix: He kisses her back! [2:49:22 AM] Kate: And there we stop for the night!