Incest/Taboo Pharaoh’s Curse

"I have heard it put like that before by someone I know," Ira said, keeping his amusement to himself, knowing Samuel would have agreed with him.

"Sorry," Carla panted once she returned to their sides. Smiling at Andrew as she snuggled up to him as Ira's wings enveloped them.

The waves of that ancient ocean, that was caught in Yahweh's grasp during the Great Sinking, were loud in their ears as those white capped waves crashed against the stone of that ghostly port town. Alex, Carla, and Anta looked around in wonder at the sight before them.

"Professor, doesn't the architecture seem familiar to you?" Carla asked as she brought up the camcorder.

"Yes, it does seem like we're dealing with a Near Eastern feel to the buildings," Alex spoke as she surveyed the intact buildings.

"Professor, Carla, over here, just look around here," Anta said as she stood over the overturned merchant stall and to the scattered bronze and semiprecious gem strewn items on the ground. "I think we've stumbled upon a genuine Bronze Age port town," she uttered in wonder.

Looking around, seeing the wares still in the state they were in at the time of the sinking. Pondering on what was going through their heads as Alex bent down and plucked a bowl from off the ground. "Phoenician?!" Alex muttered when her eyes fell upon the symbols the Phoenicians used on their pottery.

"Here is some Babylonian jewelry," Anta stated, ignoring the look that was on Ira's face at that moment.

"Some jugs from Assyria," Carla listed out as the smell of the wine it once stored still clung to the air. "And look, I think that's Greek," she spoke, pointing out the artwork that adorned the side of a building.

"Okay, you two, let me hear your hypothesis on what life was like here," Alex spoke in a teacherly voice.

"Well, given the trade they were doing," gesturing to all around her, "I would surmise that these people, whoever they were, were living pretty good given the items I see," Anta responded. Her eyes ran over the glinting metal that littered the ground. Knowing, during that time, the more bronze you had the higher your status was in that society.

"They had an affinity for olive oil," Carla called out to them. Panning the camcorder along the rows of jugs that the Mycenaean Greeks favored when shipping the item over long distances.

"Look over there," Alex pointed out to a spot where a disassembled Hittite Empire chariot sat on the loading dock of one of the piers that jutted out into the ocean that surrounded the continent.

"Are they always like this?" Ira asked low as Alex, Anta, and Carla ran around the village, documenting everything they could lay their hands on. Recounting how he once wanted to be Indiana Jones, now, as he looked out at the town, he could at least fulfill that dream. After all, his high school days were almost up, and he had a feeling that his college years would fly by before he realized it.

"Pretty much," Andrew admitted, scratching his right cheek. "So... you have kids, huh?"

"I do," Ira hummed, never taking his eyes off of Alex and the other two.

"So why aren't you showing off your true form?" Andrew asked, having no trouble seeing it.

"I have many; plus, do you honestly think they would be able to handle my demon?" Ira retorted with a pointed look.

"Good point," Andrew sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Trust me, it will get easier... okay, maybe not easier, more normal as time goes on," Ira offered.

"Has it for you?"

"Hell no," Ira barked out in laughter. "It's been one thing after another in my life, as you can see where it's led me," he said, waving to their surroundings. "If your life is anything like mine or my friend Samuel, it's going to get weirder," Ira stated, lightly patting Andrew on his back when he groaned out loud.

"This Samuel, is he like you?" Andrew asked, peering over at Ira. He could take comfort in knowing he wasn't the only one dealing with this messed up side of reality.

"No, I'm unique; Samuel is a witch and a vampire," Ira said truthfully. Nodding when Andrew gave him a look of 'Really?! Vampires?!' "You should meet him sometime. He's a cool guy."

"I don't know; I think I like where my blood is at the moment," Andrew countered.

"He isn't like that, sure he drinks blood, but he doesn't attack people, at least not without cause," Ira said, defending his friend.

"How did my life come to this?!" Ira could only smile when he heard Andrew's grumble. He, too, remembered what it was like when faced with something he didn't think was real until events moved to propel him into the limelight.

"Hey, just think of it like this; you are one of the only four humans to have stepped foot on this land in eons," Ira said, trying to lighten Andrew's mood.

"Please don't give them a big head; they've already got that. I'm afraid if they get any bigger, they won't let us fly anymore," Andrew bemoaned in a joking manner, to which the three of them shouted out their 'Hey!'

"Well, I need a team and a few dozen years to fully examine this town. But who knew Atlantis was connected to so many lands and people," Alex said as she and her students ambled towards them after two hours of crisscrossing the town. Her clothes were dirty, her hair askew, her nails were caked in dust, yet she was totally satisfied. "Although we aren't sure about one of the makers of the ceramic bowls we found, it's not one of the eastern Mediterranean civilizations that I know of. If I had to guess, it has the hallmarks of originating in Italia or what we would now call Italy." Moving her body slightly as her son tried to peer at her backpack. She didn't want him to see how full it was of artifacts. She would never take them from sites, yet if they are, and likely to be, the only four humans to set foot on Atlantis then she saw no reason not to purloin some of the items.

It was mostly the Egyptian artifacts that date to the reign of Setnakhte when the world at that time was going through a very dark time, given how the societies at the time were collapsing due to numerous factors, the chief one being the tin trade being cut off from those who relied on the metal to smelt bronze. While Egypt might have survived the Bronze Age collapse, it was severely weakened. Pondering if Andrew knew of any ruins that still remained that had any mention of Atlantis, all so that they could show the world the myth was real, just like the myth that later turned out to be correct about Troy. "Well, we've had a big day," smiling at the two of them as she stood in front of them, "how about we head back, it might never be night here, yet I'm sore and in need of a long soak," Alex said more for her son than to Ira, hearing Anta's and Carla's 'Mmmhmm' from behind her.

"Why? The two of us are perfectly cheery; whatever could have made the three of you so worn out?" Andrew teased with a coy smile on his lips.

"Don't get smart with me, young man," Alex intoned in a motherly fashion with the look to go along with it.

"Yeah, she's definitely your mother," Ira whispered to Andrew. "If you all would just come together, I'll see that you find your tent safely. After all, we pride ourselves on our safety record here at Air-Ira," he joked as his wings enclosed around them.

"Okay, I wasn't going to say it, but you know some weird people," Carla teased once Ira had left them. To where she couldn't say, nor did she want to know. It was one thing to know that the gods were real. It was entirely another thing to see some metaphysical being in the flesh.

"Hey, I'll trade you," Andrew stated with pleading in his eyes.

"Nah," waving off his statement, "the crown of two lands is sitting right where it belongs," Carla said with a teasing smile.

"Please don't tell me you've been fitting yourself with a fake crown?" Andrew stated, peering over at his mother, who simply looked away.

"What?! A Queen needs to make sure she looks good in her crown," Alex spoke, putting on airs. "I have to say, I look good in it, too." Blowing her son a kiss when Andrew just sighed and shook his head.

"Well, come on, let's go see how that shower works; I want my kiss," Anta cooed in a sultry tone before turning towards the tent and sashaying towards it. Smiling over her shoulder, she didn't need to know where his eyes were looking; she knew they were on her ass. After all, she was of his Royal Harem, and he knew how well she would and could take care of his physical needs. "Oh my God! This bathroom is huge!" Anta's excited voice could be heard as Alex, Carla, and Andrew entered the tent.

"Fuck?!" Alex muttered when they all stood inside of it. Looking around the room, noting it had the markings of her former bathroom before she left her family to follow her dream. Yet the bathroom was at least half a size bigger than her old bathroom. Noting the four sinks all in line together, the same amount of showerheads that sprouted from the right wall at the far end of the room. The lion claw tub that just beckoned to her to climb in and just relax. Of course, there was also a toilet, wondering if they could ask for the tent when they leave. Knowing if they had it whenever they went out on a dig, the months on-site wouldn't be so bad.

"Well, Andrew? What'cha waiting for?" Anta asked, quickly stripping out of her clothes.

"Don't the two of you hog the hot water," Alex mused as she whispered to her son when she turned around to give the two of them privacy. While they might occasionally have a threesome or a foursome, they preferred their own alone time with Andrew.

"Do you see anything that something nice and hard would enjoy slipping into?" Anta asked as she spread her ass cheeks apart, causing her womanhood to spread and open. Peering over her shoulder, noting how Andrew was frozen as his eyes couldn't look away from her sex. "You know, you can't shower if you're just transfixed on the sight before you," she purred wantonly. "You want this hot little body of mine, don't you, baby?" Anta taunted as she teased him while walking backwards into the shower area. Given the space of it and how far back the ankle-high wall was, there was no need for a barrier to keep the water out from the rest of the bathroom. Seeing how his eyes wouldn't leave her 32A breasts as she fondled them while he fumbled in his haste to undress.

A sultry, lustful, hungry smile was on her lips as her back rested against the wall with her legs spread. Her right index finger beckoned to him while her left index and middle fingers skimmed through the little landing strip she shaved into her pubic hair before they left New York before spreading out as they traveled southward. Spreading her labia, telling Andrew she wanted her prize.

Her nails scraped along his scalp as she smiled down at him as Andrew kissed along the naked portions of her mons Venus. Her back arched; a light moan floated on the steam as Andrew sucked gently on her labia while his tongue was teasing her vulva at the same time. His hair weaved through her fingers when she felt his touch dancing along the back of her thigh, causing her to lift her leg, giving Andrew better access to her mound, feeling her cheeks heat when his hand found its rest on her ass.

Her breasts jostled as she screamed out in bliss after ten minutes of him keeping her on edge with his tongue. Her fingers tightened around tufts of his hair. Her body quaked as one of the largest climaxes she's ever had raced through her body. Only the whites of her eyes could be seen as her eyelids spasmed. Anta knew if it wasn't for Andrew keeping her upright, she would be sprawled out along the floor of the shower, flapping around in euphoria.

"That's it, Andrew, eat that pussy?!" Anta growled in want as she ground her cunt along Andrew's lips. Knowing she was due another orgasm, as was the bet, and she meant to get it, too. Watching how Andrew laid down on the shower floor, assuming it was to give his knees a break.

"Your seat awaits m'lady," Andrew uttered in a sinful tone with a toothy smile on his lips. Seeing the ravenous hunger in Anta's eyes as she stared down at him as her lower lip dragged along her teeth.

"Oh, Andrew!" Anta moaned out. Her left hand rested against the top of Andrew's head while her hips rocked on his lips. Grinding her hot, wet mound along them, loving how their velvety touch felt on her womanhood as she did.

"You like that, baby, don't you?" Anta cooed down at Andrew when she reached behind her toying with his already hard cock. Feeling his pre-cum coating her palm as she lightly stroked Andrew's ten and a half inch cock. "I know you do, Andy," she uttered in a loving tone as she gazed down at him. Feeling her heart fluttering as those blue-green eyes of his peered up at her. Knowing as weird as saying she was a part of his Royal Harem in her mind was, that sort of didn't matter to her since, at that moment, she knew she commanded his mind. She also knew he enjoyed being with her since he didn't put up a fuss when she called herself his wife, given how in ancient times the Royal Harem were the Pharaoh's wives. While she knew the Pharaoh never shared his women with anyone, like Andrew did with his father, they weren't in 3500 BC anymore, and Andrew is Pharaoh, as weird as that was to say to herself, he could do whatever he wanted.

Taking hold of his cock, lifting her body slightly as she ran his crown through her wet labia. Feeling how they were humming due to the way Andrew always made her pussy hum whenever he tasted her little peach. Moaning softly as her sex engulfed his mushroom top as she started to slide down his pole. Feeling it just stretching her out like it always did. Filling her up like no one else ever could, touching her in the deepest parts of her sex. Knowing Abasi, her mind stilled as she thought back to her former boyfriend as she continued to ride her current one. Yes, Anta did think of Andrew as her boyfriend even though she hasn't said as such to him. Measuring the two beside one another, recounting how Abasi had a controlling streak in him while Andrew didn't. Remembering how Abasi just took what he wanted from her and Andrew didn't. Andrew knew he didn't have to; she would willingly give him her body anytime he asked. Leaning down, feeling the steam of their shower coating her skin as she did. Hearing how her sex glided along his pole as she rode that cock of his hard.

Loving the feel of his hands on her ass as it bounced on Andrew's lap as her lips tore at his. Rocking her hips faster as she felt her core on the verge of her climax. Feeling his arms wrapping around her as Andrew held her through the throes of her orgasm. Biting her lip as her right cheek pressed against the wall of the shower stall. Loving the way her ass felt when Andrew pounded her from behind. Whimpering when his hands took hold of her breasts and began to fondle them like he always did when he was behind her. She loved it when he did. It told her Andrew loved the feel of her body and couldn't get enough of it. Anta planned on keeping it that way. There was no way some new woman was going to take her place as one of Andrew's favorites.

"My turn," Carla spoke the moment Andrew unleashed his load into Anta's pussy. She knew Anta had stopped taking her birth control after the grand opening in New York. Pinching her right nipple, feeling her right 36B breast jiggle as she did. Her brown eyes zeroed in on his slick cock as it was still coated in Anta's cream as he eased out of her friend.

"What're you waiting for then?" Andrew asked with a smirk on his lips.

Smiling seductively at Andrew when he said that as she stepped into the shower area. Seeing Andrew's cum running down Anta's thighs as she moved off to another showerhead. Carla wasn't one to balk at sucking one of their juices from Andrew's cock. In fact, she loved doing it.

Carla's wails filled the room as Andrew thrusted his rod deep into her heat. As he held her right thigh in his hand while her back was pressed against the wall. Working her hips in time with his thrusts to get his cock as deep as she could take it. She wasn't like Anta or Alex, who had no trouble accommodating Andrew's manhood. No, her limit was nine inches; however, those nine inches were very blissful to her. Biting her lip, watching how Andrew and Anta kissed once her shower was done. Before she too felt his cum flooding her womb.

"You're Queen, my Pharaoh, needs you," Alex purred in ancient Egyptian as she sauntered into the shower area. Placing a kiss on the back of her son's left shoulder and led him out of the shower stall to allow Carla privacy, as limited as it was as she showered. "You remember the second night after we had sex in my apartment in Cairo?" she asked as she led her son by the hand towards the sinks.

"Yeah."

"I want a repeat," Alex said, her ass slid onto the counter. Knowing fucking all three of them in one go wasn't anything new to her son, so she knew he still had more left in his tank for his mother. Spreading her legs as her son stepped forward, seeing how his eyes dipped low to the little heart she shaved into her pubic hair. Feeling her face heating when her son's eyes glanced up at her. "What? I think it's cute," she said in a small, cute voice as her hands worked to get him hard again. Again, due to their activities it wasn't a hard task to do. "You're Queen needs this back in me," Alex uttered in a husky tone as she softly massaged her son's tool. "You like that, don't you baby?" she asked, running her son's head through her labia, watching how his eyes fluttered as she teased his sensitive organ. Her right hand ran up her son's chest before slipping around his neck coming to rest on the back of it. Her thumb brushed lightly through her son's dark red hair which he had inherited from her. "I think we should put it in, don't you?" Alex purred, to which Andrew vehemently nodded.

Andrew was tossing in his sleep as his mind sent him back into the past. However, this wasn't like the other times his past lives had come to the forefront of his mind. No. Not this time. This time he felt fear burning through him. Why? Andrew couldn't say. All he could say was he and his men were racing with all haste from something that had descended from the Heavens and was currently raining havoc upon the city behind him. It was like no city Andrew had ever seen, in modern or ancient times. It was so unlike the Kush, that adopted ancient Egyptian culture, yet he could sense there was a tie to ancient Egypt. What that was, he couldn't say. All he knew was in his dream, he needed to flee as fast as he could. Looking down, seeing his past self pulling his hand away from his stomach and seeing the amount of blood on it. His head snapped to the left and right of him as whatever it was, was taking out his men with ease. It felt like it was toying with them.

Jolting awake, his chest heaved like mad. His hand ran down his face as the image of his past self was cut down with ease by something that looked like an idol he knew of.

"Andy, what's wrong? Oh, my, God, you're shaking?!" Alex spoke in a worrying tone as she laid her left arm along her son's shoulders as she pulled Andrew in to her. She's never seen her son so shaken before, and it frightened her to no end. Seeing how Anta and Carla quickly roused from their sleep when they noted Andrew's state of mind.

"Andy, tell me, what happened?" Anta cooed in a sweet, caring voice as she took hold of his right hand.

"We're here; you just get it off your chest," Carla said in a loving tone as she took hold of his left hand, brushing her thumb along the back of his hand.

"I don't even understand what I saw," Andrew mumbled.

"Then take it one step at a time, honey," Alex uttered in a motherly tone as she rubbed his left shoulder. "Can you tell us what it was about?"

"Fear."

"What do you mean fear?" Anta asked, confused.

"I don't know; that's all I could sense..."

"Start from the beginning," Carla spoke, eager to help Andrew come to terms with what he saw.

"Do you know the place you were racing from?" Anta asked the three of them, tried to determine where in the ancient past he was talking about. Yet it wasn't a place she knew about, nor did it appear to her that her Professor knew either, given the curious look on Alex's face. Seeing Andrew shaking his head not voicing his answer.

"Baka." The name left Andrew's lips, a name she, Alex, and Carla knew very well given their fields of study.

"Andrew?!" Alex sat up straighter when her son whispered that name. "Why did you say, Baka?"

"I haven't a clue; the name is just rattling around in my head?!" Andrew hissed in annoyance as he ruffled his hair with his hands.

"Okay, but what do you know of Baka?" Alex asked, wondering if they could shed light on that mysterious Pharaoh.

"Not a whole lot; I just know how he died," Andrew muttered, his hand instinctively went to his stomach. Remembering how his body was just obliterated without much hassle from whatever it was that killed him in his past life. However, he was unwilling to voice the name of the land that was whispered softly in his mind. Clutching tightly to Anta's hand, knowing how much she wanted to find Punt. Yet if that thing was still there, there was no way in hell they were going anywhere near it.

"Andy, you're scaring me," Anta whispered when she felt how tight his grip had gotten.

"I am scared," Andrew whispered as he peered up at Anta.

"Tell us, tell us what has you frightened?" Carla asked, scooting closer to him. All three sat there listening intently to Andrew as he detailed what he saw in his dream, including what had killed him. Wondering if this was what Bast meant when she told him no Pharaoh had ever returned from Punt alive. Pondering if this was why she warned him not to go anywhere near it, knowing that thing was still protecting it. Peering over at Carla, who was typing hurriedly with her thumb as she held it in her right hand while her left wouldn't let go of his own. "Do any of these look familiar to you?" Carla inquired as she held her phone before her eyes when she did a quick Google search of near-east deities.

"That one?!" Andrew hastily said as he pointed at the image of Ba'al.

"Are you sure, honey?" Alex asked, knowing just who Ba'al was. She wondered what a Canaanite god would be doing in Egypt. She knew Canaanites were living in Egypt at the time, mostly in the delta region where many believe the Hyksos arose from or had help from the local Canaanite populace when they invaded.

"Yeah, I'm so not going to forget that face, Mom," Andrew uttered, blowing out a breath, trying to calm himself from what his mind had shown him. Feeling his mother's hot breath flowing through his hair as she placed a kiss on the side of his head.

"Shh, don't you worry about a thing, baby; whatever it was, it was just a dream, okay?" Alex spoke in a sweet, caring, motherly voice as she squeezed her son into her. "Why don't we try to head back to bed? Tomorrow is going to be a very long day, and we're going to need our rest."

"It's going to be okay, Andy; it was just a dream," Anta said in a loving voice as she gave comfort to her boyfriend.

"Don't you worry, Andy, we'll keep those bad dreams away," Carla uttered in a protective voice as she pressed her breasts into his left side as she snuggled up to him.

Andrew was standing at the foot of the left pyramid, his eyes just couldn't look away from the one across from him as his mother, Anta, and Carla surveyed the interior of the monument. Listening to their voices as they spoke in scientific terms as they took detailed notes.

"Morning, Andrew," Ira greeted as he shimmered into view. "I see Professor Sanders and the others are already hard at work." Ira's red burgundy eyes studied Andrew, turning his head to the right wondering why his gaze was so intently focused on that pyramid in particular when it appeared to him that Andrew didn't hear his greeting. Stepping back when he lightly touched Andrew's shoulder as Andrew jumped in startlement. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, that's my fault," Andrew cut in, ruffling his hair, wondering why he just couldn't take his eyes off of it.

"Can I ask, what has you so transfixed on that one pyramid?" Ira asked, sensing something was deeply troubling him. While he was omniscient in his realm, the tent he had created for Andrew and his cohorts was the only place he couldn't see into. He thought that would be a little too... creepy if he was spying on another couples' private moments.

"Wish I knew," Andrew replied, blowing out a breath.

"Professor?! Look! The cartouche of Pharaoh Userkaf?!" Anta said excitedly.

"Who?" Ira asked softly.

"The first Pharaoh of the fifth dynasty," Andrew answered without conscious thought.

"Can you show me how it's written?" Ira asked, knowing if he was going to be Alyda's student; he wanted to earn the title of teacher's pet. Which as you can imagine brought a smile to his lips at the lewd things that were dancing in his mind at what she would be having him do to her. Things Ira was more than willing to do to her.

"You have a pen or paper?" Andrew asked, peering over at Ira.

Ira kept his amusement from his face as Andrew waved the yellow legal pad through the air, just to insure himself that it was indeed real. Along with clicking the pen's top several times. Watching how Andrew's hand moved across the pad while his eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the monument before him. Tilting his head to the side when Andrew's hand kept moving as his eyes remained focused on the pyramid. It reminded Ira of what automatic writing looked like as Andrew flipped the page and continued on. Ira just watched on, mystified as Andrew was working on his twelfth page. That was until he heard Andrew's voice on the air.

"What the hell have I been doing?!" Andrew muttered low as he peered down at the hieratic writing. Flipping to the front of the pad, seeing pages filled with his handwriting in a dead language before he came to the first page. "Here, that's how you write his name," he stated, pointing to the hieroglyphics he had printed.

"I see," Ira muttered, unable to read a word of it. "And the rest of it?"

"I haven't a clue," Andrew lied when he stared down at the hieratic symbols for the word Punt. Pondering if that was the land he had seen in his dream and why now, of all times, he would be so transfixed on the myth.

"Andrew, you have to come see this?!" Alex said excitedly from the top step that led into the interior of the pyramid. Her breasts bounced wildly beneath her shirt as she quickly descended the stairs. She ignored how Ira's eyes were following how they bounced, however, given the look she had seen on her son's face. The leer Ira was giving her didn't matter to her when she noted the troubled look in her son's eyes. "Baby, what's wrong?" Alex asked in a worried tone when she reached his side, hearing Carla and Anta bounding down the stairs. Looking down when her son held out the pad to her. Her eyes glanced up to Andrew, noting the hieratic script her son had written.

"See if you can make sense of this," Andrew intoned when his own mind wouldn't give him the answers he sought.

"Professor? What are..." Anta's voice died away as her eyes read the script as she peered over Alex's right arm as Carla mirrored her on the other side of Alex.

"Punt?!" Anta gasped, her eyes cutting to Andrew.

"But I thought Punt was a myth?!" Carla mused, yet not taking her eyes off the paper as Alex turned the page.

"What's a Punt?" Ira asked, confused.

"Mythical land, written on many tomb walls detailing the trade the two countries had at the time," Alex muttered in a teacherly voice, never taking her eyes off her son's writing. Her eyes flickered up, seeing how uneasy her son was before she went back to reading his text. "Andrew, just how did you know all this?"

"I haven't a fucking clue, one minute I was writing out Userkaf's name for him," pointing to the right of him where Ira stood, "then the next thing I know, I'm looking at that?!" Andrew spoke in an agitated tone as he gestured to the pad in his mother's hands.

"We'll talk more about this over lunch, okay? I promise we will get to the bottom of this," Alex said in a firm tone, one of determination to help her son as much as she could, given what she had seen in Andrew's eyes. Seeing Anta and Carla nodding along as she pressed the pad to her chest. She was going to keep it with her until they all could sit down and go over everything together. Looking up when someone uttered the word 'Father.'

"Yes, Anael, what is it?" Ira asked, turning and peering up at his daughter.

"Mother wishes to speak with you," Anael said, her gold-ruby eyes gazed at only one person -- her father.

"I'll be back; I'm very eager to hear your thoughts on these two pyramids when I return," Ira stated, peering over at Alex, who nodded in understanding. Unfurling his six wings, seeing how Anael's eyes quivered as he took to the air and hovered a foot away from his daughter. Who wasted no time in filling his outstretched arms. Lightly stroking Anael's hair as she rubbed her left cheek against his chest. Her smile of happiness stretched from ear to ear as Ira's wings folded around her, and in a blink of an eye they were gone.

"Since we're alone, why don't we go to the tent and fix us a meal and go over this," Alex said, lightly patting the pad. Feeling the impressions of her son's writing beneath the pads of her fingers.

Andrew sat at the table as his mother, Anta, and Carla dissected his words line by line as they enjoyed their meal. He was having chili with Texas toast while the three of them were enjoying their favorite Arabic meal that Andrew couldn't possibly pronounce. Looking down at his bowl, debating with himself if this was the best chili he's ever had or if it was second to his stepmother's chili. Which, to his mind, was out of this world, yet he wasn't about to voice that with his mother sitting across from him.

"See, here it is again," Anta stated, pointing to the pad, her finger tapping the hieratic symbol for Punt.

"Andrew, are you saying Punt is or was real?" Alex asked, glancing up from the pad as her fork hung in the air.

"Yes." Was Andrew's only answer before he took a bite of his toast.

"Then why can't anyone find traces of it?" Carla asked, not to accuse him of lying but to access his memories of a time they knew very little about.

"Told you in the store. It's cursed," Andrew stated truthfully.

"What do you mean it's cursed?" Alex asked in a disbelieving tone. While yes, her son has shown her things that she once thought couldn't be real, yet the idea of a curse was just something her scientific mind couldn't accept.

"I don't fucking know, Mom, I just know it's cursed, not why it's cursed," Andrew muttered down into his bowl.

"Andrew, do you think we can find Punt?" Anta asked, keeping her excitement from her voice.

"You're going to be the death of me, you know that?" Andrew teased as he pointed his chili-covered fork at her.

"I will not," Anta uttered with blushing cheeks before taking a bite of her meal that lined her own fork.

"Andrew, I know this must be very troubling for you right now, and I'm not trying to demean it in any way, but can't we find the labyrinth?" Carla asked with hope in her voice.

"Do you mean the Great Labyrinth?" Alex asked, perking up at the news.

"Mmmhmm," Carla nodded. "Andy knows where it's located."

"It's dangerous," Andrew retorted, not voicing he was already going there with Ira.

"Honey," dabbing the corners of her cheeks before continuing, "every dig we go on is dangerous," Alex said in a scholarly voice. "What could be so dangerous that has you worried."

"Oh, you know, poison darts, pitfalls, the roof collapsing in on us," Andrew said, listing off traps that were within the labyrinth.

"Yet, don't you have the knowledge to keep us out of harm's way?" Alex asked, fighting back her smile as Andrew tilted his head back and groaned loudly. "So then, you shouldn't have a problem in leading us through that maze, now would you?"

"Do you have any idea what you're asking?" Andrew bemoaned.

"I do. I'm asking that you lead us three on a quest to find the labyrinth," Alex said, smiling impishly at her son. Chuckling to herself when Andrew's forehead hit the table and the 'Ow' that followed afterwards. "Just think of it, baby, you, me, Anta, and Carla all together rediscovering history. Won't it be fun?!" Smiling at Anta and Carla when Andrew just groaned once again. "So Andrew, do enlighten us where the labyrinth lies," Alex mused, noting how she was about done with her lunch.

"South of the pyramid of Amenemhet III at Hawara," Andrew sighed.

"Really?" Alex perked up at the news. She knew of the ground radar survey that the Belgian-Egyptian expedition team had done and how Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, had stopped all communications with the team. She knew many of her colleagues were just as frustrated as the team was when the good doctor tried to keep the results hidden. When the team went ahead and published the findings on their own, Alex knew many of her counterparts poured over the results, as did she. So she knew of what appeared to be standing walls on the printout. However, it was too obscure to truly tell if it was natural or manmade. "Andrew, you're not messing with us, are you?"

Andrew leaned back when three pairs of hard eyes gazed at him. Feeling their eyes burning into his hide. "Why would I do that?" Andrew asked, knowing they would rip his jewels off if he was messing with them about some ancient Egyptian site.

"It would be very hurtful to the women in your life if you were just messing with our field of study," Alex uttered in a little pout.

"You wouldn't do that to us, would you, Andy?" Carla asked, batting her soft brown eyes at him.

"No, of course not," Andrew scoffed at the accusation.

"Good. Then you won't have a problem with taking us there," Anta stated with a devious grin. The three of them giggled away when Andrew just dropped his head.

Once again, Andrew McCain was thrown back into his memories. The sound of the horses' tails swishing resounded in his mind as they pulled his chariot through the main lane of the city he was in, a city that he knew was the capital of Punt. Why he was seeing Punt, he had no idea. Hearing the battalion of men behind him as they marched in pace with his chariot. Their bronze breastplates gleamed in the sun as they traveled along that avenue. Seeing the palace of the Queen of Punt looming before him.

Peering around him as the chariot bounced and jostled, Andrew could hear the inhabitants of the city speaking in ancient Egyptian. Pondering on how intertwined the two kingdoms truly were. Looking about, arching an eyebrow at the wares, the spices, and the odd items he's never seen or heard about that lined the stalls as he passed. Glancing down at his chest, feeling how different Baka's body felt from his own. He didn't feel that divine spark like he felt in his own self. Knowing it was the reason why he was so easily dispatched by whatever he had seen the night before. His head snapped up when something boomed; the concussion of the sound shook the very ground beneath him, causing his horses to rear up in fright. Bringing up his arm, using his forearm to shield his eyes as whatever it was impacted in the very center of the palace complex.

Turning his head as the chunks of stone that were blasted out from the impact came in like speeding wrecking balls, destroying the stalls, the houses, animals, and the people, along with his own soldiers. Wheeling his chariot around, flicking the reins urging the horses to go faster, which wasn't necessary given their fright. They were all the more willing to race all the way back to Buhen , even if it meant dying from exhaustion to do it. He knew what was coming. He could feel it in his bones even if Baka couldn't at the time.

Andrew gasped as his eyes shot open. The blue ring of light played along his eyes. Lifting his hand, seeing his ankh ring burning in its purple light as he lifted his hand from his mother's bare back, causing her to snuggle closer to him as he just laid there pondering on what to do. Peering down his chest, noting how Anta was rubbing her cheek against his stomach in her sleep as she rested on his stomach, then glancing over at Carla, her pink nipple taunting him to pluck at it in her slumber. Laying his head back onto the pillow, his life could be worse; who doesn't love having three hot, soft, vivacious women resting on you? Wondering if the Pharaohs of the past ever slept like this with their Queens and Royal Harem, or was he starting a new trend for the future dynasties.

Two days later...

Andrew stood staring up at the pyramid that had held his attention for far too long for his liking. Ever since the dreams had started, he's had this nagging suspicion that the pyramid that loomed over him held some key to what he had been seeing. Hearing his mother, Carla, and Anta speaking to Ira as they detailed their findings to him as they walked around the first pyramid that greeted them. Blowing out a breath, lifting his leg, the ground rumbled and shook as Andrew placed his foot on the first step.

"Andrew, what are you doing?!" Alex called out, trying to stay upright through the shaking.

"Freeing the people of Punt." Why he said that, he had no clue, nor why he had said it in the first place, it just came out.

"What do you mean freeing the people of Punt?" Anta asked as she ambled over to the stairs that led to the pyramid's interior. Staring up at Andrew as that same glow surrounded his body as he continued his climb. Swallowing hard as she watched how his Nemes[40] just shimmered into existence as that gold and blue striped cloth, covering the whole crown and back of the head and nape of the neck, as her eyes ran down the lappets, two large flaps which hung down behind the ears and in front of both shoulders, shone in the Atlantean sun.

"As Pharaoh, it's my duty to save those that are left after the attack by Ba'al," Andrew spoke in an alien voice.

"Where have I heard that name before?" Ira mused to himself as he stroked his chin.

"But why you? Why can't some other Pharaoh do that?" Alex asked as she approached the pyramid on unsteady legs. She had no wish for her son to put himself in danger as it sounded like he was preparing to do.

"This is the only way left to enter the land of Punt. There is no longer a means to reach it in the mortal world," Andrew spoke in that same alien tone as he continued to climb.

Alex and Anta looked at one another and nodded. They were not about to allow Andrew to go off alone in this. They both peered into the gap between them when Carla filled the space. Their legs quickly carried them up the stairs, only to see Ira's shadow flowing over them as he flew to the top of the pyramid. Their eyes crested the last step only to see Andrew walking down the middle of the entrance.

Rushing past Ira as the pyramid was no longer shaking but humming and growing in intensity the longer the seconds passed. Ignoring how the hieroglyphics were being illuminated by what they had no clue as Andrew walked deeper into that ancient monument.​