The Ink Family Legacy: Generation 5, Chapter 1 Part 2
I wish I was to the part with toddlers already. D: That said, I think the cover pic to this part is going in my 'favorite pics of the legacy' folder. :D
Also, this part is mostly vacation spam with a little plot on the side, as Egypt and China are tied in gorgeousness for me.
Ah, read Part One first!
--- --- --- --- ---
Egypt was as beautiful as promised, the city of Al Simhara nestled along a branch of the Nile.
Their stay in Egypt was scheduled for a week, with the concert on the last day. That meant that they could devote most of their time to exploring the town!
The market was the hub of the town, with various trinkets around to keep them amused.
They found the fountain particularly interesting, considering that they were in the desert and all. Why waste the water?
"I think they just pull it from the river, guys. There's no big mystery."
"Oh come on, there has to be a more interesting explanation than that!"
"I don't think so, Abe."
Meanwhile, Levi and Rhyme were flirting. Getting to travel around the world together was almost like having a honeymoon before the marriage, and it was free!
So, needless to say, while these two were sickeningly in love, the quads were mostly on their own for free time. It was a little strange for them to not have Rhyme paying 100% of her attention to them, but they were glad she was happy.
Abel was busy charming the locals, using his natural charisma to get information about the best things to see around here. Everyone was bound to be at the pyramids - he wanted something off the beaten path.
Noah tried to do the same, but he ended up arguing with the merchants over every little detail.
So he instead busied himself with something a little quieter, if not a little more intrusive.
"Okay, maybe I shouldn't look into open windows. That image is going to be burned into my retina."
...
"Then again, I am still bored..."
Meanwhile, Sparrow was debating the authenticity of the relics in the local tourist shop...
...while Seth tried some of the local food.
Of course, it was a little more difficult than he would have hoped for. He could still eat food, unlike Abel and Noah, but anything with strong spices didn't go down so well.
So in the end, he went with salad. He guessed he should be glad that he could eat at all and not have to carry plasma packs everywhere.
After that, the quads split up for a short while - Noah and Sparrow checked out the gardens on the eastern bank while Abel and Seth explored an abandoned house to the north.
"Hey Noah, look!"
"Guess it likes me, huh?"
"That or the pint of shampoo you use."
Sparrow ignored his slight sarcasm and moved the butterfly to her hand, smiling. "I'm surprised to see them here, actually. You don't usually associate butterflies with the desert."
Noah decided not to point out the fact that it was probably the river being nearby that allowed the butterflies. She seemed to be having fun and he knew better than to ruin it by being a smart ass.
It was weird, but he felt more short tempered here than usual. Maybe it was the heat.
Noah was then distracted by Row up on her toes, trying to reach a few of the plums that were growing nearby.
"Having a bit of trouble there, sis?" he chuckled.
"Hey, just because I'm, ah, the shortest of us doesn't mean I need, ergh, your help!" Row responded, grasping at leaves in vain.
"Whatever you say."
After a few more fruitless seconds (pun intended), Sparrow sighed, "Okay, maybe I need your help after all."
"That's what I thought."
Seth and Abel had their time to bond while they came across the abandoned mansion! It was for sale and nicely furnished, but no one had lived there for years now.
"Wouldn't it be totally awesome if we could all live somewhere like here?" Abel gushed excitedly.
"Definitely."
Seth was glad to be hanging out with Abel - the two of them rarely did anything together without the other two in tow.
Then again, Abel's idea of what was fun was sometimes a little strange.
"Hey Seth, guess what I found over there?"
"A relic? A door to get in?"
"Close..."
"It's dirt! :D"
"...how is dirt close?" Seth blurted out in disbelief.
"Okay, maybe not close. After all, you shouldn't eat a relic."
"You're not going to-"
"Onomnomnom."
"Abel, why do you always do this?" Seth murmured, grimacing.
"For the adrenaline rush, of course! And maybe to gross you out."
"You would."
":D ?"
">:["
"D:"
"Ah, lighten up Seth!" Abel laughed, pulling a face. "Why so serious?"
Definitely a strange idea of fun, but that's just the way Abel was, Seth supposed.
They reconvened shortly after that, in search of a place to escape the midday heat. As luck would have it, there was a pool nearby. There was only one problem...
"Guys..." Sparrow whined. "We can't just hop a fence and jump into someone's pool! We'll get in trouble!"
But Noah, Abel, and Seth were already jumping into the pool while they still had the chance. Row sighed and changed into her swimwear, figuring she might as well at this point...
Then again, clumsy sims and pool edges don't mesh very well together.
"N-no one saw that, right?"
Your secret's safe with us, Sparrow.
It didn't take long for the usual pool shenanigans to start. Abel would splash Noah. Noah would get pissed.
Noah would retaliate.
Abel would pout. You'd think he'd learn by now.
After that there were a couple of races...
...and a breath holding contest or two.
Noah was a poor sport when it came to losing, but he could sure gloat, huh?
Finally everyone was cool enough and the sun was low enough for them to leave the pool. The quads wandered over to an oasis that wasn't well marked on the map - a sure sign that it was going to be cool.
Abel was fascinated by the ruins of what was once a magnificent ship.
Seth busied himself with excavating, hoping to find something interesting to draw later. Not that he didn't already have plenty of ideas, but he figured he might as well cram as much inspiration into his brain as he could.
Noah and Sparrow tried their hand at fishing to see if there was anything they could bring to their pond back home.
Sparrow managed to catch an startlingly large frog (was were they eating that made them that big?!)...
...while Noah snagged a baby crocodile.
And while it was probably highly illegal to take a crocodile home, Noah figured they could try anyway. It would make a good story if nothing else!
--- --- --- --- ---
The next few days were much quieter for the quads - it was mostly practice for the concert - so Levi and Rhyme had to find their own entertainment. They had hoped to take the kids to the pyramids, but there was time for that later.
For now, they got to enjoy a quiet evening by the river.
"I think my head's still spinning from how fast things are changing." Rhyme murmured, poking the fire. "Especially when I see people swarming around the quads. I'm used to them just being my baby siblings, not pop stars."
"At least they haven't changed in personality." Levi chuckled. "They're not total divas like that Reese kid."
Rhyme smiled. "You're right. They're level headed kids. I guess I'll always worry about them, though."
"Ah, relax a bit Rhy!"
"They can tackle any challenge that comes to them."
--- --- --- --- ---
Speaking of challenges, it was day five and Abel was trying to get Kira to come with you.
"I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me where it is." she said flatly.
"But I want it to be a surprise!" Abel whined. "I promise it's awesome and inspiring!"
Kira could sense that he would pester her until she gave in - that's how he usually got her to do what he wanted - so she finally sighed.
"You won't take long?"
"I promise."
"Still have your eyes closed?" Abel asked.
"You walk me off a ledge and I'll drag you to hell with me, Ink." Kira muttered.
"So that's a yes." he laughed in response. "Okay, on three then. One, two..."
"Three!"
Kira blinked a few times in shock, her eyes adjusting to the new level of light. Once she saw where she was, she gasped in surprise.
"Holy...where are we?" Kira whispered.
"According to the map, the middle of nowhere." Abel responded brightly. "But one of the shopkeepers downtown told me about this 'Temple of the Sky' and the oasis next to it, so I had to check it out! And then I thought that'd you'd like to see it too."
"This place is really nice. Worth the trek, at least." Kira admitted.
Abel chuckled. "I'm glad you think so."
Abel wanted to say more. "I'm glad I saw it with you."
But for once, he didn't blurt out the words as soon as he thought them.
--- --- --- --- ---
Day six. The concert was tomorrow, and it couldn't come any sooner for Noah. This goddamn heat! Good thing Riverview was temperate...
He was walking to the market to see how long he could sit in the fountain without being yelled at, since the water at the hotel was boiling, when he overheard a suspicious conversation.
"I just feel bad leaving her there..."
"I mean, she is just a girl. Only sixteen." the woman murmured. "Locking her in the Sphinx seems..."
"It is necessary for her to purify herself." the man reassured. "Don't you know she has been dirtying herself with the likes of vampires and fallen ghosts?" He spat the word 'vampire' like it was a curse.
The woman was still uncomfortable. "Was it so bad that we had to bring her all the way from that small town in America?"
The talk of vampires and fallen ghosts were more than enough to attract Noah's attention, but it was the next line that sealed the deal.
"I know that Isis is the only child born with such power in the main family in such a long time, but are these measures really necessary?"
Noah must've made a noise of shock. He didn't notice himself, but they certainly did...
...because they were off and running, in their houses before Noah could gather his wits enough to chase after either of them.
Isis?!
Well, that explained her look when he mentioned Egypt. But locked up in the Sphinx? There's no way that could be true.
But it was best to be sure about these things.
Just breaking into an ancient Egyptian monument, no big deal. Noah had no moral qualms about the whole thing, but finding a way in proved to be a challenge.
"Need some help there, bro?"
Noah didn't turn around. "What are you doing here?"
"We, actually. I brought the whole cavalry!" Abel said. "But you can blame Seth for us being here."
Noah sighed - leave it to Seth's extremely inconsistent future sight to work at a time like this. "Well, you can start by helping me open this door."
Seth wordlessly moved forward, pushed a spot a few feet to the left of Noah -
"I saw this in the vision too." Seth admitted.
What Noah wouldn't give to trade powers with Seth. He'd give up seeing ghosts and sensing lies for a bit of that.
For a short minute, the quads stood nervously before the gaping darkness. Who knew what was down there? Seth's vision hadn't gone any further than this.
"Shall we?" Abel said with a slightly nervous smile, taking the first step forward.
Ooooooof course there was fire.
"So...regroup and plan?" Sparrow suggested.
The boys nodded wordlessly.
It took the four of them thinking together, working out a plan on an old scrap of paper. Then Sparrow read off the instructions, telling everyone where to go and what to do.
"Okay Noah, you need to keep your weight on that platform to nox the fire back here..."
"Seth, Abel, you need so swim across these pools and push those statues over the fire there. That should leave us clear for the next step..."
"Then Noah and I will look in these creepy holes until..."
"The key to the staircase appears!"
After a few hours of stumbling around the winding tunnels, activating switches, and avoiding a suspicious looking sarcophagus, the quads finally came to a crumbling rock wall. There seemed to be an odd humming noise coming from the other side...
"Okay, I think whatever Noah's looking for is on the other side of this!" Abel declared, throwing his weight against the door.
"So, no one's going to help me? No, that's cool, it's not like two of you are supernaturally strong vampires or anything...I'll struggle here on my own..."
"We've got faith in you, big brother." Noah replied with a smirk.
Eventually, the stone wall did give way, crumbling away and sending dust into the air.
"Uh...Noah?" Abel called back, his voice unsure. "Dude, I think you should see this."
The four of them crowded into the narrow hallway, their eyes fixed on what was in front of them.
"Isn't that your friend Isis...?" Abel said quietly.
And it did look like her, albeit a little frailer than Noah was used to. So this was the real Isis. He made a step forward to go to her...
...when he realized that they weren't alone.
"What are you doing here?!" Isis yelled, looking more terrifying than Noah had ever seen her. "Get out!!"
"What am I doing here?" Noah spat back. "I'm here because I'm actually worried about you, you idiot! I heard that you were locked up like some kind of animal and decided to see what the hell was going on!"
"You're always like this!" she hissed. "Too nosy, always looking into what you shouldn't! Just get out and leave me here!"
"Leave you here?!"
"Uh, Noah?" Abel said hesitantly.
"What do you mean, leave you here?!"
"Noah." Sparrow pleaded quietly.
"You think I should-"
"Noah!" Abel finally shouted.
"What?!" Noah snapped back, whirling around.
"Who...who are you talking to?"
That's when Noah remembered that while his siblings could see the real Isis, they couldn't see her ghost form. So here he was, some crazy person talking to thin air. Great, like they needed another reason to think he was completely off his rocker.
"You should leave, Noah." Isis repeated, gentler this time. "Tell them that you thought you saw something and decided to leave this place before things get any creepier. It's a simple enough explanation."
"I'm tired of lies!" Noah replied sharply, ignoring his siblings' concerned looks. "Especially from you, Isis. I'm not going to let you get away with this anymore."
"Noah..." she said cautiously, sensing his anger boiling over. "...calm down and think about this rationally. Don't overreact."
"I'm tired of your so called rational! So here's me calling the shots for once."
"Back to your body, ghost."
Abel, Sparrow, and Seth exchanged worried glances behind him. What the hell was going on?
"You're going to regret that." Isis whispered weakly.
Then, like so many ghosts in the past, Isis wavered, fell to the ground...
...and disappeared. Wisps of golden light trailed along the floor and were absorbed back into the real Isis.
As Noah approached her, the light around her was fading and flickering. Before long, her eyes were open, unable to glow...
...and she collapsed to the floor with a dull thud, scattering dust as she did.
"Some way to treat a lady." Isis muttered, struggling to her feet. Noah offered her a hand, but she slapped it away.
Now that Noah had a good look at her, he was startled by the large burn scar over the left half of her face, mostly hidden by her hair. Ghost Isis didn't have a scar like that. When she noticed him staring, she dipped her head so more hair would fall over the mark.
"I hope you're proud of yourself." she snapped weakly. "Banishing my ghost like that. That's the only way I kept from going crazy locked up in this place."
"Isis, what are you doing here?" Noah asked, turning her question on her.
"I was being purified of vampire energy, apparently. That's kind of been thrown out the window now, though." she replied, glancing over at the other two boys.
"Noe..." Abel said quietly. "...er, it's after midnight. The concert is tomorrow night and all..."
"So leave then." Isis interrupted, shooing them. "And then I can get some peace in here."
"No, you're coming with us." Noah replied, grabbing her hand.
Isis sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."
--- --- --- --- ---
Looks like Isis has got some explaining to do...
Luckily, we have Part Three for such things.