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Chapter Text

They had all gathered in the living room: Presley clutching his backpack, the four undead human guardians, the holy cat guardian Kahti and Ja-kals nephew Kimas who was not a guardian but part of the odd family. The amulet he wore these days was the symbol of Horus, just like his uncle.

After Presleys revelation that he and his mother Amanda Carnovan were going to Hawaii in precisely nine days, a discussion broke out - just like the thirteen year old boy expected.

Ja-kal nodded and looked determined: "Then we will go with you- separately- to this Island, keeping a low profile of course." "Even if Scarab is still on the other side of the Western gate and will have no idea where we are, that doesnt mean our other enemies can't find out."

Rath sighed, nodding in agreement with his leader and friend. "Yes, i agree with Ja-kal. We need to be there with you, young prince. Some enemies never rest."

The sorcerer stroked his chin thoughtfully as he continued:

"We will need more than our usual disguises if this is going to work without us being discovered by local constables or agents of the government. That means that I'm going to have to use one of the spells, the appearance illusion, i found and copied from Scarabs study with Kimas help a few months ago. It only lasted eight hours when I tried it but connected to our amulets power sources they should give us 12 hour lasting disguises."

Ja-kal nodded and smiled at the mention of his nephew and how Rath these days considered him to be part of the circle of people they could rely on. The sorcerer had been the most sceptical about Kimas when he first appeared, not without reason of course. But in the end Kimas heart was purer than even Kimas himself thought, so when he found out his father had lied to him for years about his uncle, he helped them defeat Arakh and sent him back to the other side. He had nearly gone with him but managed to get out of the magical scorpion armor tied to his fathers amulet in time.

Nefer-Tina nodded, she had expected to go with Presley and would have accepted nothing less, besides, the thought of going to a tropical island made her grin openly. "I've seen images of those islands, they are a paradise with all sorts of fun activities, like windsurfing, hula dancing and parties. It's not that far from California so it so it should'nt take too long to get there even if we use the Sky-S and bring the Sky-cycle."

Armon smiled along with her, because come on, a beautiful and tranquil Island with a cousine he had'nt tried yet? And keeping an eye on Presley making sure nothing happened to him - or the others. The soldier was a foodie yes but not a fool. He was ready to pack at a moments notice.

Kimas who was now fourteen years and wore his long hair in a pony tail, sighed. " So does this mean im going to stay here and look after Kahti? I mean she is a cool holy cat but not much of a talker."

Ja-kal shook his head. "No, of course not, Kimas, you are going with us."

Rath smirked. "As interesting as it would be to return home to a home littered with takeout boxes and pizza cartons and Osiris knows what else, we simply cannot leave you and Kahti home alone."

Kimas shrugged, trying to look innocent.

Chapter Text

Presley thought about it for a moment then realized something.

"Um, you guys I just realized...the US military could spot you way out there with radar and all the aerial traffic have flight routes. Routes i have no charts over."

Rath sighed, "Then we will have to buy airplane tickets and travel with you on the plane, which means we need to somehow procure passports when we don't even have regular ID papers or even proof of citizenship. We need to come up with birth dates and names to use, names our enemies cannot connect to us."

Ja-kal nodded, "That means we need surnames and social security numbers as well."

Nefer-Tina clapped her hands together, delighted at the very idea of traveling on an actual airplane that would go faster than the Sky-S, "Oh, This is going to be even more fun than i thought and it's going to be undercover just like the agents on tv!"

Armon just shrugged. "Maybe you can just call me Armond. I dont think they'd think any if us would be that obvious, so they would just keep looking. The surname, maybe Jones? Just like Indiana Jones from those movies."

Kimas shrugged. "Just call me Kieth and the same surname as Ja-kal."

Ja-kal looked at Rath thoughtfully, "Rath is there a spell you know that can copy a passport and then add the new information?"

Rath nodded, "Two actually, but I'm going to need an authentic passport to work from. Presley, can you bring your passport and take pictures of your mother's, in case the ones for adults look different? I know it's not permitted by law to do this, but we have little choice, we cannot apply for citizenship or get identity papers without risking capture."

"And you know that your safety and also the world safety depends on us being able to protect you." Ja-kal added.

Presley nodded, "I'll go get it and those photos, better do it today, my mom comes home 5 pm, Nefer-Tina can you drive me there?"

"Yes, lets go right now!" Nefer-Tina excitedly replied and hurried to the garage with Presley in tow, running past Rath who raised his eyebrows in surprise and resisted the impulse to roll his eyes at her dramatic rush. The Hot-Ra would get them there in 15 minutes flat and it was only noon so there was really no need to rush off.

Kimas chuckled at Nefer-Tinas and Raths reactions, he was in addition constantly amused whenever Rath and Nefer-Tina went somewhere in the same vehicle. She wanted to go faster even when there wasn't an emergency and often recklessly, which annoyed the sorcerer more or less every time, and he didn't hesitate to let her and everyone within earshot know that.

In contrast, Rath drove really fast only when there was an emergency. When there wasn't, he followed the traffic rules and speed limits almost to the letter. This often made Nefer-Tina get impatient and claim he was driving too slowly.

Armon and Ja-kal just shrugged but seemed amused as well.

Rath did roll his eyes at the others though but the expression was softened by a small smile. A lot had happened the past year and none of them had lived through it completely unchanged.

"Ahem, might i suggest that you write the names you want to use on a list and I'll make up the birth dates and the rest of it. We are going to need small photographs of ourselves of some standard from a photo booth at the mall or studio."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Nef and Presley returned the others had written down the names and passed the list to the charioteer.

She wrote down her alias and decided to read the list out loud:

"I'm Elisabeth "Beth" Croft and Armon's alias is Armond Jones, Kimas and Ja-kal alias Kieth and Jack Miller and...Rath alias Ray Green?"

Rath shrugged and poured himself a glass of water from a bottle on the coffee table. "It will do, it's not supposed to stand out."

The charioteer chuckled, "At least none of us are pretending to be a married couple."

Armon smirked, "You and Rath could pass for one, the way you go on sometimes. You could be Mr and Mrs Green!"

Rath had just taken a sip of water but sprayed it out, coughing.

"Me and Rath? Oh, very funny Armon!" Nefer-Tina snorted.

The others seemed highly amused.

Ja-kal harkled, "We need to go to the mall and get the photos, Rath could you prepare the amulets today or do you require more time?"

Rath had recovered from the surprise and put down the glass, "I can do it right now, it doesn't take long."

"Oh good, thank you, we have a lot of things to do, and we have to book a flight and rent a bungalow house, so we can have the privacy and space we need for our sarcophagus."

"I can do that with Presleys help later, Ja-kal." The white haired guardian offered.

"Oh, alright. Thank you.

TBC

Chapter Text

A few days later...

After arriving to Honolulu airport and going through the passport inspections without anyone suspecting anything, the group got their luggage and took a rented van to their 2 story bungalow.

When they reached the rented house located in the outskirts of town and disembarked, Rath gave the others a triumphant smile, they had made it!

The shrinking amulet had come in handy as well as a minor object invisibility spell to get everything they needed with them through airport security. The Hot-Ra had been left in San Francisco, it just stood out too much to bring with them to an island.

Instead, they brought four recently updated versions of the sky cycle model, painted in pitch black with stealth mode functions. If anyone had told the airport staff the sporty handbag Nef carried contained such things or that Raths black briefcase contained six sarcophagi, one small pyramid shaped artifact, and some larger workshop items among other things, they would never have believed it.

Nefer-Tina let out a small laugh. "Hah, that was easier than i thought it would be! Come on guys, lets hurry and unload the bags! After we unpack i want to go to the beach!"

Ja-Kal shrugged. "All right then, we have a few hours before Presleys plane lands. But we should go to the beach together to get familiar with this area, just like a mighty flock of lions would a new territory, so wait for the rest of us, Nefer-Tina."

The charioteer looked amused.
"Ja-Kal, i know you like those kinds of expressions but i think you should use them less when we are among people who are not from our time. I think even Rath would agree with me on that one." she glanced over to Rath.

"Hmm? Yes, of course." the sorcerer said, a bit absent-mindedly as he was looking at a map over O'ahu island.

Nefer-Tina chuckled and looked very pleased with herself, the tall magician looked up, raising a brow.

"You just agreed with me without thinking twice about it, hah!"

Rath snorted "I don't always disagree with you..."

"I will try to use fewer expressions like that while we are trying to blend in here." Ja-Kal interjected, interrupting further dialogue about agreeing vs disagreeing between the two since that would probably have cost them at least 15 minutes.

"I can give you some pointers, uncle." Kimas said and fidgeted with his medium sized bag, impatient to get his things inside the rented house.

Rath and Ja-Kal exchanged a mildly amused look, remembering his time spent in this modern world had added quite a few colorful words to his vocabulary as well.

Armon's stomach made a gurgling sound and the young warrior patted it. "Hey, I think we should get familiar with some dinner soon!"

Rath smirked. "Really? I always try to keep an impersonal relationship with my dinner."

The young warrior laughed.
"Thats just because you started to eat fake meat, you should try a real hamburger again sometime."

The sorcerer made a face at that, "Ugh, no thanks."

Nefer-Tina took two bags and headed for the door a little impatiently.

Ja- Kal took his bag and hurried past her to unlock the door as the other three gathered more bags and followed.

"We should put the sarcophagi in the basement but our belongings in the bedrooms and make it look like we truly use those rooms." Their leader informed when they got inside and looked around. There was a small bedroom to the right.

"Those beds look comfortable, too bad we dont get to sleep in them." Kimas muttered loud enough for Nefer-Tina to hear.

"Hey we can take short naps in them at least."

"Though it would be great if we didn't have the sarcophagi standing up, then we could put mattresses and pillows in them." she added with a longing sigh. She really missed the comfort of a soft matress and a fluffy pillow or two.

"That would indeed be more comfortable, though i wager that you and Armon would end up pillow fighting with Kimas." Rath commented dryly with a humorous glint in his eyes.

"You and Ja-Kal could join in and have some fun you know, you two spent the past days mostly planning and going over everything ."

"No thanks, that's not exactly my cup of tea." he declined.

"You should try other things, like windsurfing and wave surfing. I think that you would like that more than you think." The charioteer suggested, looking up at him expectantly.

Rath shrugged. "I could try one of those activities i suppose."

"Great! And i promise to not laugh when -I mean if- you fall into the water right away." She said, because she really wanted some company out there on the sea. Ra knew Ja-kal would be practically glued to Presley and Kimas side the next few days, whenever he could.

Armon would try it once maybe, or so he had said the day before, but he was mainly interested in swimming and hanging out on the beach when he wasn't on his shift.

Besides, maybe she could teach Rath proper windsurfing. She had nothing against him reading books or scrolls or researching magic spells but felt that it would do him good to do more outdoor activities.

Rath snorted. "Oh i believe i can, what's that expression again - "get the hang of it"?

Nefer-Tina pffted. "At least you are getting the hang of modern slang.

The sorcerer rolled his eyes at that but smiled.

"Hey, maybe we should go to Hawaii every year from now on, if even Rath can't stay cranky here." Kimas joked, then looked overly innocent as the tall man gave him a pointed look. "What?"

Rath just sighed dramatically and strode onward. He heard Nef giggle and bit back another smile. He loved her laugh and the way she giggled. Not that he would openly admit it to anyone though. Oh no.

The charioteer smiled. She really liked his smile and found it ironic that he had absolutely no clue how much his smile could effect people.

A little under an hour and forty minutes later they had unpacked and put things in practical order and changed into more apropriate clothes.

Nefer-Tina had already put on a white t-shirt and daisy duke shorts over a dark red bikini and waited outside for the others as she put on a pair of sandals.

Kimas was also done in record time, dessed in dark bermuda shorts and a faded blue t-shirt, he joined her putting on a pair of flip flops.

As the tree men left the house Nefer-Tina looked them over.
"I wondered what took you so long, but it looks like time well spent." she teased, smirking.

Armon had blue bermuda shorts and a white t-shirt, Ja-Kal had khaki linen shorts and a buttoned up short sleeved blue shirt. Rath had put on a pair of dark shades, green bermuda shorts and pulled on a white shirt as he walked.

She focused her attention on Rath for a brief moment longer. He looked best with his natural color instead of the ashen blue.

Armon, who was often more perceptive than he let on in her opinion, seemed to notice her paying extra attention to the sorcerer, but said nothing about it. He just smiled as if he was thinking of a private joke and she quickly looked away from Rath.

"Thank you, I think we will blend in nicely. And your attire looks perfect." Rath replied with emphasis on the last word, looking more relaxed than he usually did.

Ja-Kal smiled and he too seemed more relaxed. "Thanks, you look nice as well, Nefer-Tina."

"You look ready to eat ice cream on the beach, its a nice look." Armon joked.

Kimas just shrugged at the adults.
"You look alright, can we go now? I want to go get ice-cream."

"Thanks guys. Now come on, lets go!"
The charioteer said and started toward the beach area.

TBC.