Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi owns all the original characters. Any appearance they make in this story is a cameo.
"So when did this museum open?" asked Christine.
"It was only a few months ago," replied Moon Child.
"I can't believe they've already got the big exhibits like Tut's tomb."
"Well, it's not exactly Tut's funerary equipment," said Ana. "One of the rooms has been made to scale of the inside of his tomb. They have painted what little bit there is on the walls and have a vault with a sarcophagus, but it's not his."
Let me guess: History Major, signed Deinera.
The group, Billy, Deinera, Christine, Moon Child, Anastasia, and Nancy (aka Sailors Figment, Icarus, Kamen, Phantasien, Romanov, and Starbuck) were on their way to visit the Tokyo history museum, which was having a special exhibit on King Tutankhamun's tomb. It was mainly Ana's idea, but most of the others had an interest.
"Wow, look at that banner," said Nancy as walked up the steps. Flying overhead, stretched between the huge stone columns, was the banner proclaiming the exhibit. It showed the picture from the back of the golden throne of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhsenamun.
Ana passed out pamphlets to everyone and they made their way through the maze of rooms and halls filled with other artifacts. As they rounded a corner, they saw the line that awaited them.
"We're going to be in line forever," moaned Christine.
I feel like we're in Disney World. Everything is hurry up and wait, signed Deinera as she sat on the floor. She made an airplane out of her pamphlet and then pulled a deck of cards out of her endless pockets and proceeded to play solitaire.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting, they were at the front of the line.
"How many in your party?"
"Six."
The docent turned to a girl standing behind her. She couldn't have been more than nineteen. "This will be the last group for today." Grumblings were heard from the rest of the line.
"Hello. My name is Meritaten; I will be your guide through the exhibit. I am not so much as a tour guide, but I will answer any questions you may have about the objects and I can go further into detail if there is any more that you would like to know." She was dressed in the clothes of the Pharaoh's Great Wife. She wore a linen dress that covered both her top and bottom. Around her neck was a large collar made from lapis lazuli and other stones precious to the ancient Egyptians. She wore a braided wig and the royal headdress of a queen with the vulture and cobra on it, the symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt. "The first few rooms display various objects found in tombs from the Middle Kingdom up to the period of Ptolemy IV, including an actual Sun Bark from the New Kingdom. Whose Bark is unknown. The piece was acquired by the museum in Cairo from the black market. It has been proven to be an actual piece, though the name of the owner has been carved off." She pointed to the places on the Bark where you could see the missing cartouche. Ana and Billy were hanging on her every word. Nancy was admiring the detail on some papyri containing pieces of the Book of the Dead.
"I can read that for you if you like."
For a moment she though it was Meritaten, but it was only Moon Child. "This section describes the twelve different demons that await along the journey to the next life, one for each hour. It says that Pharaoh, now in the form of Osiris…" She stopped reading when she realized that both Meritaten and Nancy were staring at her.
"How can you read that?" asked Nancy with her mouth still hanging open.
Moon Child shrugged and smiled. "I'm just good like that."
They continued to browse through the first room, ooing and awing over statues and paintings.
When are we going to see the tomb? signed Deinera.
"Are you bored already?" asked Billy.
Yes.
Billy shook her head. "Next time we go to Athens and you want to drag us to the Parthenon and the Oracle at Delphi I promise to spend the entire time whining and complaining. Besides," she gestured to a case of ushabti, "Some of these pieces are from the Greco-Roman time peorid."
Deinera flipped Billy off when she turned around.
Meritaten looked at her timepiece. "I'm sorry to hurry you, but the museum will be closing soon. Please follow me to the tomb."
Finally.
They descended the sixteen steps into the corridor leading to tomb. The first room contained a few couches and games like to ones found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Also were a scale model of a war chariot, bows and arrows, and the sarcophagi of some mummified ducks. In the room to the left were examples of the crown jewels of Egypt: the double crown, the crook, and the flail. The crook and flail were made of gold, lapis lazuli, and other semi-precious stones. The walls of both rooms were blank.
"So why did the first two rooms have blank walls and this one is painted?" asked Christine.
"Because there wasn't time in the seventy days after Pharaoh died to finish any more. Normally the Pharaoh expects to live for a number of years, so there is plenty of time to work on his tomb. Tutankhamun died after only ten years on the throne and not much more than the main layout of the tomb was completed."
Everyone wandered apart to look and different places on the wall. Moon Child walked slowly around the room, from the beginning, reading the scriptures and mumbling to herself as she did so.
Meritaten noticed that her pronunciation was perfect. She pulled Moon Child aside. "You must tell me, how you are able to read that."
"How do you know I'm not making it all up?"
"Because I can read the inscriptions. Reading the Book of the Dead is one thing because the Papyrus of Ani is easily available to the general public. Are you an archaeologist? Do you study languages?"
"I promise you, it is only that I am good with languages."
"Um, guys," said Billy from near the sarcophagus, "I hate to interrupt your history lessons, but that man with the leopard skin just moved." She slowly backed towards the door of the tomb.
"That is Ay, a man who was once the Royal Vizier to many of the pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty. After Tutankhamun's death, he crowned himself Pharaoh. Here he is shown performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony on the mummy. The leopard skin means he is of the priesthood and the crown on his head means he is Pharaoh."
At the end of her explanation, Ay smiled and leapt of the wall. "How right you are, my dear. You are just as clever as always. It's been a long time since we last saw each other."
Suddenly Meritaten put her hands together out in front of her and shouted, "GIVE ME BACK MY HUSBAND!" A bolt of energy shot from her hands and stuck Ay. As the other Senshi watched, Meritaten transformed into a Sailor Soldier. "You stole my place in eternity. I swear on Tutankhamun's tomb, the tomb of my husband, that I will make you pay. I am Sailor… Sailor… I am a Sailor Senshi!"
Deinera turned to the others. Didn't see that coming.
The new Sailor Senshi blasted Ay again.
"Um, guys, maybe we should help her," said Ana.
"Right," came five responses.
"Imagination Power, Make-up!"
(Deinera signed it in Greek)
"Le Phantom, make up!"
"Tu Was Du Willst!"
"To Infinity and Beyond!"
"Siren Power, Make-up!"
Meanwhile, Ay was attacking the new Sailor. The leopard skin had jumped off his shoulder and was trying to bite her. She was trying to keep both the leopard and Ay from attacking her.
"Illusion explosion!!" The tomb around Ay began to spin and he became so dizzy he fell down, leaving Meritaten alone.
Hermes Levitation!! Icarus lifted the leopard into the air.
"Scarab hail!!" Meritaten sent a storm of scarab beetles at the leopard and they ate it.
"Gourmet Coffee Blast!" Starbuck's attack washed all the paint off of Ay and they were now looking at the outline of the carving of the priest.
"Intermission!!" Everyone could feel time freeze around them. Ay sat motionless and colorless on the floor. "So wants the honor of putting the blank guy back where he belongs?"
"I do!" said the new Senshi. "Nile flood! Put this usurper back where he belongs!" Ay's colorless form was plastered back on the wall in a torrent of water. It resumed its position as a carving on the tomb wall.
"So, you're a Sailor Senshi," said Sailor Figment as she sat next to Meritaten on the stone sarcophagus.
"I could say the same about you guys." The others gathered around. "My name is actually Ankhsenamun. Meritaten was the name of one of my older sisters. What I said when Ay interrupted was true. I was denied a place in the next world with my husband because I am not pictured on his tomb walls." She gestured around.
"Maybe you were supposed to be in the part that wasn't painted before he died," suggested Romanov.
She shook her head. "No. Nor am I pictured on the walls of Ay's tomb. (I was forced to marry him after Tutankhamun died.) That right was reserved for his first and real wife Tiye. He only married me to get the throne. But by that time he was so old and decrepit that he was only pharaoh for four years." She smiled in disgust. "I don't know why he's back, but I know that I am here to find out what really happened to my husband so that I can join him in the afterlife." She turned to Phantasien. "That's why I asked how you could read hieroglyphics. I thought maybe you were an archaeologist and could help me find information."
Phantasien shook her head. "I'm sorry I can't help you in that way. I can read hieroglyphics because I can read and speak any language. My world, Phantasien, is made of the hopes and dreams of mankind. Therefore, I am able to understand everyone."
Ankhsenamun sighed. "My dream is to be with my husband in the afterlife."
There was a sad and awkward silence.
"Now, about getting you a name..." said Starbuck.
"Sorry about that. I don't know where this whole Sailor Senshi business came from. But when I saw Ay come from the painting on the wall, I suddenly knew what to do. I guess a name wasn't part of the new information." Ankhsenamun smiled slightly.
"How about Sailor Egypt?" suggested Kamen.
She shook her head. "Sounds stupid."
"What is something that has to do with your past life? Maybe something that was important to you? Or someone that was important to you?" said Phantasien. "A game or pet or place or maybe a god or goddess."
"Naming myself after a god or goddess would offend the Aten, the true god," said Ankhsenamun.
"How about Sailor Aten?" suggested Starbuck.
"That would also offend the Aten." She paused for a moment. "Amarna. That is the city dedicated to the Aten where Tutankhamun and I were raised."
Icarus stepped over and tapped her staff on each of Ankhsenamun's shoulders. I dub thee Sailor Amarna.
Everyone gathered around Ankhsenamun outside the museum.
"So how will I find you guys if you ever need me to fight a battle?"
Suddenly a little purple dragon with small orange wings flew in and hovered before Ankhsenamun. "Your Majesty, all you have to do is listen with your imagination. You will know when you are needed and your imagination will transport you to where we are. Your imagination is the key to everything."
"So can I imagine myself in the afterlife with my husband?"
Figgy shook his head. "I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. But don't give up, you will see your husband again."
By the way, the flying coward is Figgy, our 'guardian' dragon.
Figgy stuck his tongue out at Deinera. "I just try to keep myself out of danger by staying away from the fighting."
"Well, if you ever need me, I'll be here at the museum," said Ankhsenamun.
"It's getting late and we all need to get home," said Nancy.
They all waved good-bye and headed in different directions.