Warnings: Death. Lots and lots of death. AU. (Skating in under the wire, I know)
Once she had been a Princess. Mukarramma-Mesi. Now, she was merely this golden mask, long since forgotten under the sands of this endless desert. Someday, she would be unearthed, but now, thanks to the ancient rituals of her time, which were supposed to help her spirit pass into the next world, she was bound to this one. She would unleash her fury at this long confinement upon the unfortunate mortals that found her.
Thousands of years later, the sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian Princess Mukarramma-Mesi found its way into the hold of a British frigate as it sailed across the Atlantic. It was a heavily armed cargo ship, carrying mostly supplies and goods to the British outposts in the West Indies, captained by a fool who thought to line his pockets by trading the mummy to the soldiers there instead of delivering it to the British museum, as he'd been commanded. Also on board his vessel were two passengers. Travel by ship was heavily dangerous, for the upstart colonials, in their bid for independence, were taking any ship they could capture, but the young woman, barely out of mourning for her sister, had little choice. Marianne Hale, second (and now only) daughter of the ship's owner, was to marry Lord Daltry, her late sister, Serenity's, fiance, who was stationed in Barbados with his fleet.
Nothing but love for her sister and her father could have convinced Marianne to do such a thing, Raimunde knew. Raimunde had been Marianne's maid for three years, and she knew that while her mistress was a dutiful daughter, she was also a romantic. But what the Fool, nor Raimunde, Marianne, nor Mukarramma-Mesi, nor indeed, anyone aboard the frigate could possibly know, was that two days prior, the Serenity, the ship Marianne's father had commissioned lovingly in his daughter's memory, with a figurehead made in her likeness, was speeding towards them, captured by Black Kael, an American Privateer known for his ruthlessness - and known to all the British to take no prisoners.
Black Kael, however, was in no shape to worry about prisoners, or indeed anything at all. As the Serenity was drawing upon the Lunette, he was lying in his new quarters, unconscious from a blow to the head that he'd suffered in taking the Serenity, having the most peculiar dream.
"Oh, do wake up already," a clear voice tinkled, and he winced at the high tone.
"Go away," he muttered, his eyes still closed.
"Not likely, Captain," he heard Zach say cheerfully. Zacharias Colton was the ship's medic, and if he was sitting up with him, Kael knew his condition must be serious.
"Not you, Zach," Kael explained hoarsely. Damn, but his throat was dry. "The naked wench with the wings."
A hearty laugh came across his quarters, which seemed to be far more luxurious than they should be. "Leave it to Kael to have hallucinations of naked angels."
"They can't see me, you know," the girlish voice spoke again. "No one can but you. And it's not like I chose to appear naked. Apparently it's the fashion statement up there," she whispered. He could swear she rolled her eyes. "But I suggest you get rid of all of them so we can talk, unless you'd like them to think you've gone stark, raving mad." Her voice was quite cheerful, as if she thought she might rather like to see that. He groaned.
"Out," he muttered, deciding to humor the apparition. "All of you, out of here!" The men looked at each other quietly for a moment, and then filed out, looking back at him askance.
"Ah, that's much better," she said. "Now, I can result to parlor tricks to convince you that I'm real, if you like, or you can take me at my word. My name is - or rather was - Serenity Hale. And it appears that the powers that be have decided that I was far too frivolous in my life to become an angel, so they've given you to me. If I can make you into a 'good' man, then I get to go on to heaven. If not - well, then - I don't. You see my dilemma, of course. I appear to have my work cut out for me."
Kael muttered something under his breath about her ancestry. She looked at him, and laughed coldly. "Oh, now that was't very nice. I definitely have my work cut out for me. First, I think we need to get your crew to have a little more faith in you, after that little scene. Let's see - if you follow this course, I promise you'll have everything you could ever want."
Kael looked at her again, making sure he took in the full, lush figure before him as he did so. "Why the hell not?"
In a short time, the Lunette was downed, the Fool was dead, and Black Kael found himself face to face with a petite blonde screeching at him that he had stolen her father's ship. He realized soon what Serenity had meant by 'everything he could ever want'. And he intended to take it.
So he did. With the specter of her sister watching, he seduced the innocent Marianne until she trembled beneath him, begging him to take her. Serenity shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. He smiled up at her wickedly, as if to say, "It's all your fault."
Nick, first mate and Navigator, prayed to the goddess Juno, hoping that she would guide him to the right stars to lead them into safe waters. Zach inventoried the cargo they picked up from the Lunette, noting with fascination the dirty gold sarcophagus of what appeared to be a beautiful young woman. And James, the ship's cook, flirted with Marianne's maid, never noticing what she slipped into the batch of stew he made for the men.
When he had sated himself on her body, Kael fed Marianne the rich, meaty stew that James delivered personally to the quarters, deciding he would feed himself when she'd had her fill. After three bites, she fell to the floor, and her sister's wails shattered her eardrums.
Mukarramma-Mesi heard the wails of another lost soul, heard the moans of the dying crewmen, and knew that her time to rise had come. Her spirit rose from the brittle bones of her mummy and appeared before the ship's medic, and she smiled.
"You, I will spare," she said, not unkindly, "from the horror I will wreck upon the others."
Her spirit rushed through his heart and he crumpled instantly, but when she rose to the deck, there were few left standing, and those unable to see her - she wondered if she had made a mistake in destroying the one who had been able to see her spirit.
Serenity rose to the clouds and called upon the ancient goddess. "I no longer wish to join the heavens. With Marianne dead, there is nothing left for me to watch over. Help me, I beg of you, and I will belong to you," she begged.
"You know that there is no returning from this path," Juno warned. "Once you pledge yourself to me, you cannot rescind that."
"Give me my vengeance, and I will care not." Serenity's voice was cold, her eyes empty.
"It is yours."
The ship veered suddenly, and Raimunde, rushing to her mistress' side when she realized what she had done, was flung overboard, sucked into the waves below. The reef tore a hole the size of a large cannonball in the hull, below the waterline, and the ship began to sink, rapidly. Within moments, the entire crew was lost.
Mukarramma-Mesi sank into her sarcophagus, trapped once more to the plane of existence she'd so hated, with even less chance of freedom as before, while Serenity and Juno watched from above as the souls of those who'd perished either by poisoning or drowning fled the ship.
"Come, my acolyte. We have much to do." Juno pulled Serenity away before she could witness the departure of Marianne's soul, before she could experience the regret that she could not join it; that regret that her quest for vengeance would surely soon cause her.
Once she had been a Princess. Mukarramma-Mesi. Now, she was merely this golden mask, long since forgotten under the sands of this endless desert. Someday, she would be unearthed, but now, thanks to the ancient rituals of her time, which were supposed to help her spirit pass into the next world, she was bound to this one. She would unleash her fury at this long confinement upon the unfortunate mortals that found her.
Thousands of years later, the sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian Princess Mukarramma-Mesi found its way into the hold of a British frigate as it sailed across the Atlantic. It was a heavily armed cargo ship, carrying mostly supplies and goods to the British outposts in the West Indies, captained by a fool who thought to line his pockets by trading the mummy to the soldiers there instead of delivering it to the British museum, as he'd been commanded. Also on board his vessel were two passengers. Travel by ship was heavily dangerous, for the upstart colonials, in their bid for independence, were taking any ship they could capture, but the young woman, barely out of mourning for her sister, had little choice. Marianne Hale, second (and now only) daughter of the ship's owner, was to marry Lord Daltry, her late sister, Serenity's, fiance, who was stationed in Barbados with his fleet.
Nothing but love for her sister and her father could have convinced Marianne to do such a thing, Raimunde knew. Raimunde had been Marianne's maid for three years, and she knew that while her mistress was a dutiful daughter, she was also a romantic. But what the Fool, nor Raimunde, Marianne, nor Mukarramma-Mesi, nor indeed, anyone aboard the frigate could possibly know, was that two days prior, the Serenity, the ship Marianne's father had commissioned lovingly in his daughter's memory, with a figurehead made in her likeness, was speeding towards them, captured by Black Kael, an American Privateer known for his ruthlessness - and known to all the British to take no prisoners.
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"Oh, do wake up already," a clear voice tinkled, and he winced at the high tone.
"Go away," he muttered, his eyes still closed.
"Not likely, Captain," he heard Zach say cheerfully. Zacharias Colton was the ship's medic, and if he was sitting up with him, Kael knew his condition must be serious.
"Not you, Zach," Kael explained hoarsely. Damn, but his throat was dry. "The naked wench with the wings."
A hearty laugh came across his quarters, which seemed to be far more luxurious than they should be. "Leave it to Kael to have hallucinations of naked angels."
"They can't see me, you know," the girlish voice spoke again. "No one can but you. And it's not like I chose to appear naked. Apparently it's the fashion statement up there," she whispered. He could swear she rolled her eyes. "But I suggest you get rid of all of them so we can talk, unless you'd like them to think you've gone stark, raving mad." Her voice was quite cheerful, as if she thought she might rather like to see that. He groaned.
"Out," he muttered, deciding to humor the apparition. "All of you, out of here!" The men looked at each other quietly for a moment, and then filed out, looking back at him askance.
"Ah, that's much better," she said. "Now, I can result to parlor tricks to convince you that I'm real, if you like, or you can take me at my word. My name is - or rather was - Serenity Hale. And it appears that the powers that be have decided that I was far too frivolous in my life to become an angel, so they've given you to me. If I can make you into a 'good' man, then I get to go on to heaven. If not - well, then - I don't. You see my dilemma, of course. I appear to have my work cut out for me."
Kael muttered something under his breath about her ancestry. She looked at him, and laughed coldly. "Oh, now that was't very nice. I definitely have my work cut out for me. First, I think we need to get your crew to have a little more faith in you, after that little scene. Let's see - if you follow this course, I promise you'll have everything you could ever want."
Kael looked at her again, making sure he took in the full, lush figure before him as he did so. "Why the hell not?"
In a short time, the Lunette was downed, the Fool was dead, and Black Kael found himself face to face with a petite blonde screeching at him that he had stolen her father's ship. He realized soon what Serenity had meant by 'everything he could ever want'. And he intended to take it.
So he did. With the specter of her sister watching, he seduced the innocent Marianne until she trembled beneath him, begging him to take her. Serenity shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. He smiled up at her wickedly, as if to say, "It's all your fault."
Nick, first mate and Navigator, prayed to the goddess Juno, hoping that she would guide him to the right stars to lead them into safe waters. Zach inventoried the cargo they picked up from the Lunette, noting with fascination the dirty gold sarcophagus of what appeared to be a beautiful young woman. And James, the ship's cook, flirted with Marianne's maid, never noticing what she slipped into the batch of stew he made for the men.
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Mukarramma-Mesi heard the wails of another lost soul, heard the moans of the dying crewmen, and knew that her time to rise had come. Her spirit rose from the brittle bones of her mummy and appeared before the ship's medic, and she smiled.
"You, I will spare," she said, not unkindly, "from the horror I will wreck upon the others."
Her spirit rushed through his heart and he crumpled instantly, but when she rose to the deck, there were few left standing, and those unable to see her - she wondered if she had made a mistake in destroying the one who had been able to see her spirit.
Serenity rose to the clouds and called upon the ancient goddess. "I no longer wish to join the heavens. With Marianne dead, there is nothing left for me to watch over. Help me, I beg of you, and I will belong to you," she begged.
"You know that there is no returning from this path," Juno warned. "Once you pledge yourself to me, you cannot rescind that."
"Give me my vengeance, and I will care not." Serenity's voice was cold, her eyes empty.
"It is yours."
The ship veered suddenly, and Raimunde, rushing to her mistress' side when she realized what she had done, was flung overboard, sucked into the waves below. The reef tore a hole the size of a large cannonball in the hull, below the waterline, and the ship began to sink, rapidly. Within moments, the entire crew was lost.
Mukarramma-Mesi sank into her sarcophagus, trapped once more to the plane of existence she'd so hated, with even less chance of freedom as before, while Serenity and Juno watched from above as the souls of those who'd perished either by poisoning or drowning fled the ship.
"Come, my acolyte. We have much to do." Juno pulled Serenity away before she could witness the departure of Marianne's soul, before she could experience the regret that she could not join it; that regret that her quest for vengeance would surely soon cause her.
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