The Book of Thoth

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Asad stared at her, stunned once again. "Ho-lee shit." After a second or three more of staring, he reached out and shook her hand. "Asad Salid. Professional arms dealer and collector of small artifacts." He smiled brightly, gently kissing the top of her hand. "Always knew you'd marry up, my friend," he added, looking at Daniel. "What brings the newlyweds out to the middle of dangerous territory?"
(( Found a picture that somewhat resembles what I imagine Asad to look like. Want me to post it? ))
 
((Go ahead!))

Amelia smiled as the man let go of her hand. "Our honeymoon, if you can believe it," she said with a cheeky grin, as she cast another glance around the mansion and its artifacts, relaxing a bit. "You see, I'm an archaeologist, just got my Master's. I've always wanted to come here and Daniel here is the adventurous type so it seemed like the obvious place to go," she explained. "Much more exciting than a trip to the beach, if you ask me."
 
"Archeologist? My kind of lady. Although my experience is more hands on than just bookwork and digging up old bones." Asad looked up at Daniel, then back at her. "Adventurous isn't the word I would use to describe him. Crazy is more like it. He tell you about the time-"
Daniel cut him off quickly, cheeks a bit red, by saying, "No, I haven't. And as fun as trading stories is, we came here wondering if you could fly us to Egypt. Missed our plane, and if we don't get a ride tonight, she's going to miss her interview."
Asad immediately went back to a borderline paranoid state. "Son of a bitch, man, it's not like it's easy to fly out of the country. Especially not with Tamir's people around. You know my history with that psycho motherfucker, Danny."
(( Attached picture, just with longer hair, obviously. And the play-by is John Abraham, a Bollywood actor. Always feel weird when I don't credit the people I use as play-bys. ))
 

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((Nah I know exactly what you mean, I always try to give credit too))

"I know we're asking for a lot," Amelia cut in, "but we had nowhere else to go and this isn't exactly the kind of country you want to get stuck in as I'm sure you're fully aware of. We wouldn't be here if we had any other option." And that, Amelia thought to herself, was the complete truth. They truly had nowhere else to go. "And," Amelia added as an afterthought, "on the flight there you can tell me all about the story that Daniel doesn't want me to hear."
 
(( It just seems considerate. You are kinda stealing their face, so. ))
Asad sighed. "Fine. Only because I still owe you for Panama." Then he paused, looked at Amelia, and added, "And because of her." It was fairly easy to assume that he wasn't much of a stubborn person, and that this was how most arguments went.
"Thanks, Asad." Daniel grinned widely, knowing that they were going to get the plane ride. "We need to get to Luxor." He nodded at Amelia. "She wants to see the Valley of the Kings."
 
((Hahah yeah exactly, I do the same when I reference photos for drawing))

Amelia smiled, relieved that he would take them. Her shoulders sagged in relief and she smiled gratefully at Asad. "I can't thank you enough," she said to the man. "I'm trying to see if I can get an expedition going around that area," she said by way of explanation, not entirely lying, just omitting the important parts.
 
(( You can draw people? I can barely do stick figures. And swords. ))
Asad nodded, crossing his arms and shifting his weight from foot to foot. "G-get your stuff loaded in the Cessna, I'll, um, I'll be out there i-in a minute." With that, the man turned and jogged out of the room in a fairly abrupt and awkward fashion.
Danny nodded, then looked at her. "He has a lucky charm. Won't fly without it." He crossed his arms, lifting a single eyebrow. "Swear the man's weirder than I am, sometimes."
 
((Haha I can barely draw people. I almost always have to reference a photo))

"Yeah, who know someone could be weird than you," she jabbed. "He seems like a man you can trust though, and that's what matters." Actually, that was only partially true. What matters is that this man can take them into Egypt without being detected by Tamir. But the trust thing. That mattered too.

Amelia closed her eyes and tilted her head back as a sudden wave of exhaustion took her. It was as if all of the adrenaline just drained out of her after all of the action from before and when she realized she and Daniel had successfully secured safe passage out of this country. She pulled her hand away from Daniel's as she realized she had never actually let go and moved them to rub at her temples. "God," she mumbled, "I can't believe everything that's happened tonight."
 
He chuckled softly. "Need me to carry you out to the plane, too?" Thing was, Daniel wasn't really joking. The day's events had taken its toll, and Amelia looked exhausted. Of course, he wasn't feeling too hot either. That reminded him of his stomach.
Shit, how long's it been since I last ate?
Daniel looked at her, then voiced the gist of that question. "You hungry?"
 
Amelia laughed a little at Daniel's comment. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass on the offer, but I definitely wouldn't say no to some food," she said to him. She knew that she wouldn't feel as tired once she had something in her stomach other than the ground beef and bread she'd had for breakfast more than twelve hours ago.
 
He walked into the kitchen, then shouted, "We're going to rob the fridge real fast!" In a much quieter tone, Daniel looked at Amelia, smiled, and said, "He'll hear me. Man's got superhuman ears, I swear." With that, he pulled the door open and looked around inside. "What do you want? Just a snack?" he asked, still bent over.
 
"A snack works. I don't want to take too much. The man is already flying us in his plane, I think it'd be best to not take all of his food on top of that," she commented lightly, feeling her mood lift at the thought of some food. She leaned against one of the counters as Daniel rifled through the fridge and smiled.
 
Daniel dug in the fridge for a moment longer, then stopped abruptly. "Cookies!" he said, pulling out a bag of the baked treats. The grin spread across his face was huge. Sweets, especially things involving chocolate, were his favorite foods, and he hadn't expected to find such things in the fridge. "You want one?" he asked, opening the bag, and taking a cookie. "Might not seem like it, but we could use the sugar. Helps keep the body going." As a dessert lover, he typically had an argument for why sweets were good at that moment, no matter the situation.
 
Amelia refrained from making a comment. When she said "a snack" she hadn't meant.. She sighed as she shook her head and grabbed some of the cookies. She didn't have much of a sweet tooth but here and there sweets were nice. "Might as well," she said with a shrug. "Cookies aren't exactly the most common in this part of the world." Even though cookies weren't the most filling, she already felt better having something in her stomach. "The first thing we do when we get to Luxor is go to a nice street vendor that can sell us some real food," she said. And by "real food" Amelia meant meat. Chicken, steak, beef, lamb, it didn't matter. To Amelia, it wasn't a meal if it didn't have meat in it.
 
Daniel chuckled, nodding. "Alright, yeah. I have some cash. Better to not leave a credit trail and give Tamir more clues." Hell, he might not even know where they were going. They might have actually lost him. That line of thought was foolishly optimistic, though, and Daniel knew it. Taking a large bite out of the cookie, he looked at her. "Should take 'bout six hours, give or take. Take off here, probably refuel somewhere in Qatar, then land in Luxor. We'll be there by morning."
 
"Good," Amelia commented. "The faster we get there, the better." She lowered her voice and leaned a little bit closer to Daniel. Asad seemed like an honest guy but she doubted the man would be willing to do this if he even got an inkling as to why they were headed towards Luxor. "I doubt Tamir is going to give up, but right now he and his men are too busy searching the roads and cities trying to find us and until he finds a lead or hint as to where we went, we'll have at least a few days' head start over him. Maybe more, but we're not going to be able to avoid him for long."
 
Daniel nodded, taking a couple more cookies. He could understand her concern, and he shared it. Tamir would find them, one way or another. What made him nervous wasn't that fact, it was that he might not try to kill them. Or stop them at all, really. Tamir might let them find all of the clues, solve all the puzzles, dodge all the traps. Then take the book right when they thought they were safe. Probably just a bit of really specific paranoia on Daniel's part, but he couldn't deny the fear. "A few days will be enough time, Amelia. We'll be onto the next location by then."
(( Got an idea. Next clue references an artifact? One they do a bit of research on, find it's in the Cairo museum, then they have to break in to find it. ))
 
((That'd be really cool. What if Tamir finally catches up with them at the museum, plans a heist of his own of sorts and there's a bit of a face off?))

Amelia grabbed some more cookies and nibbled on them as she thought. She sure hoped a few days would be enough time. The Valley of the Kings covered a large area and housed the tombs of both nobles and royals. "I've been thinking," she started slowly, looking around to see if Asad was nearby and leaning in closer to Daniel anyways, "there are a lot of tombs in the Valley, and Neferkaptah's has never been found, but I think I know where we need to start. Tomb KV5 is where Ramesses' children were buried. One of his sons, Khaemweset, was believed to have found the book in Neferkaptah's tomb. There isn't much that hasn't been stolen from the tomb, but it's one of the largest that we know of and we may just find some place that hasn't been robbed yet, and even if it has, I think the hieroglyphics on the walls may give us a hint for something that could tell us where it is," Amelia rambled on. This was a habit of hers to sort through the thoughts that went through her mind and organize them into something that resembled sense. "And," she added, "I can get a hold of a buddy of mine from college. We can actually get authorization so we don't have to sneak in. Tomb KV5, that is. We're on our own if we find Neferkaptah's tomb or explore anywhere else in the Valley."
 
(( That sounds perfect. :D ))
Oh, that's lovely. "I ever tell you how much I love climbing around in the graves of dead guys?" Daniel remarked sarcastically, smiling and popping the last bit of the cookie in his mouth. Combine that with the hot sun, and it was going to be an interesting few days. For him, at least. "So, this buddy of yours. Is he a friend, or a is he a friend?"
 
Amelia laughed as Daniel complained about having to go to the tomb. "Isn't that what you signed up for when you chose this career?" she pointed out. "And even then, hot and sweaty places are practically the norm for this." Although, Amelia recalled him mentioning that he was from Canada. Amelia herself loved the heat, growing up in Arizona. She doesn't think she'd last a day in any place that cold.

At Daniel's next question, Amelia leaned back slightly and her shoulders straightened as she realized just how close she had leaned into the man when they were speaking before. "I don't see how that's any of your business," she snapped, but felt slightly guilty after and smiled slightly (and a bit awkwardly) in an attempt to diffuse the tension. "You won't have to worry about me cheating on you, if that's what you're asking, oh husband of mine," She joked.
 
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