#yeah i'm still scannin

[saint-miroir]

Taiho Shichau zo page spread illustrated by Hiroko Kazui-- Animage (12/1997)

[fanfic-she-wrote]

Timeless Love

Kharis is accidentally found with The Scroll of Life by a group of construction workers who are trying to make way for a new road in town. Engerfield calls upon Jessie Banning, a local archeologist and grandaughter to John Banning. Little did she know that her family had met this mummy before and old family secrets begin to unfold as well as an old romance that has lasted throughout the centuries.

Hope you like it! 😁

Chapter 1:

It was the year 2019, the loud roaring engine of an excavator could be heard throughout the once quiet town of Engerfield. There was to be a new road laid out in town to make it easier for residents to pass through. The construction workers thought nothing of it, they were only tearing up an old bog.

Suddenly, a man yelled out waving his hands wildly motioning for the machines to stop.

"What is it, Bill?" The man in the excavator asked, leaning out the side.

"I see something. Over there." He pointed out stepping out into the mud, a couple men following him. Many swears could be heard as they made their way over, their boots getting stuck in the mud making it difficult to walk.

Something was protruding from underneath the mud, but it was hard to make out. The men examined it for a moment trying to decide if it was worth digging up.

"Could be just a root..." One of the other men said. Bill shook his head.

"I ain't sure, but I don't wan' to take any chances." He said, grabbing his shovel and digging, the other men joining in. A few moments later they pulled back with a simutanious gasp. "It's a body!" Bill said, dropping his shovel, horrified at the sight before him. Never in all his years in construction had he come across a human body. A couple animals, but never a human. He felt sick to his stomach. "We better call somebody."

Later that day at the police station, "Yep, that's a mummy alright." A woman with long flowing brown hair said looking up at the police inspector, her blue eyes glistening underneath the flourecent lights.

"What I wanna know is, what is a mummy doing all the way out here?" He asked, scratching his balding head.

"Well there was a recent discovery of Bronze Age mummies in England, but I'm not sure if this would be one of them. I'd have to examine it further. May I have your permission to take this with me to my lab?"

"Of course. We don't have any use for him." The police instructor chuckled.

"Great! I'll have my assistant pick it up." She said, pulling her phone out of her coat pocket.

"By the way, this was found with it." He said, handing her a muddy scroll. Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Perhaps this could be a clue about the mummy." She said, rolling it over in her hand. "It'll take some time to read it though. Maybe with some scannin--" she started, but the inspector interrupted.

"Miss Banning, I'm sorry. All this goes right over my head." He told her. She smiled and nodded.

" I understand. Thanks for letting me know." She said, placing the parchment carefully in a bag.

"Well, you are the only local expert on this sort of thing."

"It's a family thing. My father and grandfather were both archeologists."

"Same with me, except in the police." He said, proudly puffing his chest out.

She shook his hand and said goodbye before turning to leave, leaving the police inspector alone with the mummy. He had been on the police force a great many years and had seen a lot, but something about this mummy truly gave him the creeps.

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"Its almost 10. I think I'm going to head out, Jessie." Banning's assistant, Jack said getting up from his desk and throwing on his jacket. It had been a month since work on the mummy and the scroll started. They found themselves working tirelessly and tonight Jack found himself in need of a break.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." Jessie said not looking up from the computer. Jack stared at her for a moment before walking over and placing his hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I was hoping we could have dinner together. You promised that we would for the past few weeks." He told her, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He had worked with Jessie for the past couple years. It was only until recently that he had gotten the courage to ask her out.

She sighed and looked away from the computer for a moment, taking off her glasses. "I know, but I'm almost finished with the scroll now." Jessie told him.

"Can't it wait another day?" He asked, hoping she would change her mind.

"I'm sorry. I just want to finish this. Maybe tomorrow?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Sure."

"C'mon Jack, don't be like that. You know how important work is to me."

"Yeah, I guess I do." And with that he stormed out without another word.

"Jack!" She called out, but only to an empty office. She placed her head in her hands. Was her work really that important? She had virtually no social life apart from her father and Jack. Maybe for once she could just stop working...but she was so close now. She had to know what was inside the scroll. She took a deep breath and returned to work.

Minutes turned into hours and it was nearly 2 in the morning before she finally made the progress she desired. She held her breath. The scroll was nearly open. Only a few pieces around the edges had fallen off, but other than that it was still in one piece.

"C'mon..." She mumbled to herself as she gently pulled it apart. "C'mon."

Finally, the scroll was completely open revealing it's contents. She gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. "Heiroglyphics!" That meant that the mummy was from Egypt. She turned around and stared at the mummified figure that lay on the table. What was an Egyptian mummy doing in England?