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Namesake	By : lotusbalm Category: M through R > Mummy, The (All) > Mummy, The (All) Views: 5763 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mummy series and do not make any profit off of this.

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TITLE: Namesake

AUTHOR: Tiri Lotus

RATING: T (I will put up a note for individual chapters rated 'M' when the time arises.)

DISCLAIMER: Sadly, none of The Mummy franchise belongs to me. I'm just dusting off ancient papyrus scrolls and having me a fun old time writing all over them with metallic Sharpies… Juuuuust kidding. I make no money off of this and no infringement is intended!

SUMMARY: Evelyn Nefertiri O'Connell, nicknamed "Tiri," is the great granddaughter of Evelyn and Rick O'Connell. Tiri was born the same evening that her great grandmother passed away and is almost the spitting image of her. This is the story of the modern day O'Connell getting wrapped up in her family's legacy of curses, treasure seeking, and hokum adventures.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This being a work of fiction, and more pointedly a fanfiction, I have taken liberties with certain historical events and people. Take for example the fact that I have chosen to replace the 't' in Nefertiti to an 'r' to make the name Nefertiri. I did this so that my original character, whose name is Evelyn Nefertiri O'Connell, would not be confused with her great grandmother and also so that she didn't have to suffer the cruel fate of being called "Titi." I'm sure I'll change lots of things up and will botch historical accuracy time and time again—but it's all for the sake of fanfic fun ;D

Hope you enjoy!

A special thanks goes out to my beta The Whisper for her amazing editing skills! Thank you so much for catching the little mistakes which, once vanquished, make a huge improvement! And a big thanks for questioning some of my decisions in my storyline and making me think hard. No, really, I mean it. You asked some amazing questions and in response I wrote out a whole storyline of my fic that had been lurking around in the murky depths of my mind but hadn't been written down. That was an amazing writing exercise and I thank you for that :-)

Chapter 1

Present day London, England

The O'Connell Estate

The dappled morning sunlight filtered through the crisp London air and into the upper levels of the O'Connell family residence. Glancing off the cream walls of a well worn study, the rays of light illuminated priceless artifacts of varying ages.

This particular morning was Tiri O'Connell's eighteenth birthday, and she expected, as she did every year, to hear a harrowing tale of one of her great-grandparents' adventures in Egypt. She sat opposite of her grandfather at his austere mahogany desk, which was stacked with a messy array of precariously balanced tomes, scrolls and the odd knick-knack or intriguing pendant. Her grandfather, Alex O'Connell, though grayed and worn with age, had the gleam of a childlike excitement in his eyes and voice. His enthusiasm was infectious and he never disappointed in the telling.

"…And that, my dear Tiri, is how your great grandmum got back at that ancient concubine Anck-Su-Namun and royally kicked. Her. Arse."

Tiri laughed at her grandfather's crass language. It seemed with every passing year Grandpa Alex's profanity increased, and Tiri loved him for it. "I wish I could have met her," Tiri said yearningly. "She sounds like she was great fun to be around."

Her grandfather's triumphant grin softened. "She was one of the most amazing, brave, brilliant and beautiful women I have ever known." Leaning slightly forward he considered the chips on the Senet board, an ancient Egyptian game, that lay piled high on top of the precious disarray cluttering his desk. He frowned as he realized Tiri had just won the game as she swept her last piece off of the board. "These traits were obviously passed through the family line," he muttered.

Tiri gave a winning smile and shrugged. "It's only a game of luck. Just looks like today was my lucky day."

"It's a game of luck and skill," he said with a chuckle. "Much like life. One must know when good luck is in one's favor and seize it! You've got that same cleverness as your great-grandmother. She knew when to seize luck as well." Tiri's smile turned a bit bashful and she watched her grandfather study her. "You remind me of her so much," he said after a lengthy pause. "The family resemblance is uncanny. It's almost as if I'm looking into a photograph. Apart from your eyes of course. My mother's were a deep brown, as I recall. Very dark indeed when she was put out with Dad, which was most of the time."

The exotic, tilted-almond shape of her smiling gaze was framed by most becoming thick, dark eyelashes. The shocking contrast between her black pupils and light hazel irises was quite breathtaking. The amusement in her gaze increased as her grandfather continued speaking.

"I should also point out that she also didn't have that newfangled streak of turquoise in her hair," he said with a chuckle.

The aforementioned streak of of turquoise coquettishly peaked out from within Tiri's mass of wavy caramel-colored hair as she shook her head in mock dismay. "I'll have you know I'm making a statement Grandpa Alex!" She protested with a huff, the impish smile on her face conveying she was a good sport about her grandfather's teasing.

"Oh? And what would that statement be? Bohemian Rhapsody?"

"Yes, Grandpa. I'm just a poor boy from a poor family." She waved her hand over the board as her grandfather laughed heartily. "Shall I clear this away now you've been thoroughly beaten by an eighteen year old?"

Alex folded his arms across his chest and raised a single grey eyebrow. "Fine. But promise me we'll play again soon, best of three and all that."

"Promise Grandpa," Tiri replied with a grin as she pushed her chair away from the desk and rose to her feet. Stretching briefly, Tiri raised her arms above her head and in one movement plucked the silk drawstring bag the game pieces were kept in from its position atop a pile of books. She swept the pieces into the rescued bag, and folded the wooden board away into itself with all the practiced grace of someone who played out-of-favor ancient Egyptian games often. After glancing about the room, she eventually found the game's vacant resting place on a nearby shelf between two piles of yellowing papyrus scrolls and moved to return it to its rightful position.

"Just look at you, old girl," Alex remarked, regarding her from across the room. "Where did those years go? Weren't you sitting on my knee wearing your little pinafore and pigtails just yesterday?"

"Oh, old girl now am I?" Tiri laughed, selecting a scroll from the shelf to fiddle with and turning to face her grandfather before blowing the dust off its crisp surface and into the cool air. "If I'm old, then you're positively ancient!"

"I know what ancient truly is Tiri, and I can assure you I am not it," her grandfather replied matter-of-factly.

Tiri turned away from him and placed the scroll back on the shelf with its dusty brethren, a small, bemused smile settling on her face. Sometimes she really got the feeling Grandpa Alex truly believed in the hokum tales about curses and dusty mummies that he told her about each year. She had noticed that his insistence about the existence of curses and magic had dramatically increased after her Grandma Lin had passed away five years ago. Her then seventy-nine year old grandfather had come out of retirement to start digs again. Tiri had often privately wondered what it was he was so adamantly looking for these past five years, but certainly wasn't game enough to ask. The tale he would spin her would be just as exaggerated as those he recounted of her great-grandparents.

As it was, Grandpa Alex graciously offered to host her eighteenth birthday at the O'Connell estate, and had asked her upon her arrival at the family home last night to meet him in his study this morning, for a round of Senet, her and her grandfather's particular favorite Egyptian board game, and a chat before all her guests began to arrive. For as long as she could remember, his study always held an air of magic about it for her. Her natural curiosity had always led her to poking about the room, drinking in the sight of old trinkets and jewelery of the ancients and wondering about the symbols upon them.

Making her way back across the room Tiri retook the seat across from her grandfather. Yet after her teasing about his advanced age Alex now seemed to be staring off into space. His hands were linked under his chin and elbows rested on the dark polished surface of his desk, while his mind was undoubtedly lost in a time unknown to her. But, it was mere seconds before the mood that he was under lifted and he gave her a quick, broad smile. "Hah, but then again maybe I am an old fuddy-duddy. Look at me, slipping off into space like an old man. Hrrumph."

Tiri giggled and settled more comfortably in her seat. "Please, Grandpa. You're as quick as a whip and just as fit as father - who, in case you cannot recall, is 30 years younger than you!" And it was true; her grandfather had the physique of a man active his whole life. His skin was dark and leathery from repeated years of getting sun damage in the desert heat, and he had the knotted muscles of a man who was extremely athletic in his prime but, with the sands of time and age, those muscles had sunken in.

"You've always known how to win your Grandpa over, Tiri," he beamed merrily. "Have I ever told you that you're my favorite grandchild?"

Tiri rolled her eyes. "I'm your only grandchild."

"But you're worth more than ten fat grandbabies plus my two playboy sons combined. Speaking of playboy sons, how is your father? Did he ring you to tell you when he'll be arriving today?"

"Yes," she said with a nod. "He said he'll be here around noon to help set up the party."

From the frown on his face it was abundantly clear that her grandfather didn't approve of the lifestyles his twin sons, her father Bradley and his brother William, had adopted. Curiously, Grandpa Alex often alluded to them having Uncle Jonathon Syndrome, but it was never fully explained to Tiri what this condition involved. It seemed to Tiri, and everyone else for that matter, that her father and uncle did not have the ability to properly balance the family fortune between business and pleasure. As such, Brad and Will O'Connell were the proud owners of many businesses of ill-repute, financed largely by their uncanny knack for counting cards. A knack which, they maintained, was inherited. Nightclubs, casinos and betting rings across the globe were managed by the two men, and they hopped from bed to bed, and woman to woman, as they globe-trotted around the world with a care for no-one but themselves.

Her father, as one could imagine, constantly came into contact with very interesting individuals who climbed the high rungs of the social ladder. Tiri herself had been the result of her father accidentally knocking up a famous Parisian fashion model named Michèle Arceneau. Word in the maid's quarters was that Dad and Uncle Will had both gotten vasectomies shortly after seeing Tiri's red and wrinkled little body being birthed with the help of the Jaws of Life—that, and Tiri's mum's constant bemoaning thereafter about her stretch marks. Her mum still wouldn't let the whole stretch marks thing go.

Since her parents were too busy leading their own self absorbed lives, Tiri had spent her youth with Grandpa Alex and Grandma Lin, before boarding at a prestigious all girls private school in London. The streak of turquoise in her hair was a symbol of freedom to finally be graduated and rid of the severe school restrictions that she had been bound under most of her young life.

Grandpa Alex's voice broke into her thoughts, "And your mother, when does she arrive?"

"She said she'd be here in the early afternoon. Why's that?"

"Oh my girl, it's not an O'Connell family reunion until those two are put into a room together. I think we should egg them on to duke it out. I'd put one hundred pounds on Michèle that she knocks the snot out of him!"

"Grandpa Alex!"

"Models are vicious, vicious creatures," Grandpa Alex said in delight. "You never know, she might knock some sense into the lad." Sobering slightly, he reached out and clasped her hand in his own. "Back to the topic at hand – you, my dear. I asked you here this morning, not so that I could be soundly thrashed at Senet, but because I have a gift for you. I wanted to give it to you before the guests arrive." With the vigor of a man half his age, Alex released her hand and sprung from his seat, striding toward the shelf on which she had previously placed the Egyptian game set. Once there, he knelt in front of the wall cabinet, displaced various boxes and belongings and revealed a small safe of which she had no knowledge until this moment.

Alex turned the knob of the safe back, then forth, then back again, seemingly muttering the long remembered combination as he did so, and then gave the little door a punch. The safe swung open and he carefully extracted what seemed to be a long, thin stone tablet. Tiri stood as her grandfather nudged the safe door closed and approached her, craning her neck while attempting to get a better look at the object. Alex ran his weathered fingers over the stone centerpiece and pressed down, as something unlatched with a sharp click. The stone tablet opened as easily as the cover of a book, and Tiri could only gape in surprise as a regal necklace of unknown ancient Egyptian origin was presented to her.

Alex's eyes twinkled, "Close your mouth dear girl, it's very unladylike. This, is an Egyptian Usekh Collar. Pharaohs, royalty, and occasionally priests would wear them. This one in particular, was Princess Nefertiri's. It was written that there was no other woman in Egypt equal to her beauty. As it happens, your great grandmum was quite fond of her, and this necklace has been part of her estate for some time. I've been holding on to it to give to you on your eighteenth birthday. What do you think of it, my girl?"

Tiri lifted her hand to the intricately strung collar held by her grandfather, which shone gold in the sunlight streaming through the window. Inlaid with coral, it glittered with lapis lazuli and turquoise gemstones. Her fingers ghosted over it, as though she were too afraid to touch such a precious thing. "It's… incredible. This is really for me?"

"Absolutely! You, at least, are an O'Connell that can appreciate the value of ancient artifacts. Your father and uncle…I don't know what happened with them. The tomb digging gene must have skipped a generation. But I see my wise old mum in you so much. Sometimes it doesn't feel like a coincidence that you are her namesake." Her grandfather trailed off as he undid the clasp of the wide necklace and moved behind her to put it around her neck. "There we are," he said as he fastened it. "Now turn round and let's have a look, there's a mirror around here somewhere... ah here we go."

She did as he said and was met with her mirror image. Her grandfather was holding up an ancient hand mirror, still strung with cobwebs from whichever corner of the study he had hastily grabbed it from. The top of the necklace rested snugly at the base of her neck and then branched out into golden teardrops and colorful precious gems, which spread out in a fan across her collarbone, shoulders and back. The necklace was heavy in a comforting sort of way; like a soothing hand on her shoulder.

Or rather, exactly like a soothing hand on her shoulder.

A woman slightly shorter and curvier than her with brown eyes, but other than that distinctly the same, suddenly appeared in the mirror at her side with a hand resting on Tiri's shoulder. Her great grandmother, Evelyn O'Connell, smiled at her warmly and nodded her head in approval. Tiri blinked and the image was gone.

"What just—" She cut her own question off and grabbed the mirror out of her grandfather's hand, peering hard into her own reflection and willing the apparition to appear again.

"What is it, my girl? Not the latest style?" Grandpa Alex asked in concern.

"No, no! It's not that at all! It just… well I—I swore I just saw Evelyn O'Connell… I mean, er, Great Grandmum!"

Her grandfather visibly relaxed. "Yes, as I said you do bare an eerie resemblance to my ol'Mum. Seeing you in this collar brings back memories of Mum in her glory days when everyday was a new adventure just waiting to happen," Alex set the stone tablet atop his disheveled desk, and was silent for a moment before adding, "You can keep the hand mirror too if you like, that was hers as well. I remember her using it when I was a boy."

Tiri shook her head in an attempt to clear it, suddenly feeling a bit dazed. Perhaps the stress of the impending O'Connell family reunion was getting to her. "Thank you for the gifts, Grandpa," she said, as she wrapped her grandfather in a hug. "They're wonderful."

"Oh you are very welcome, my dear girl," he said with affection, squeezing her tight. "Now go get ready for your big day. Rumor has it, you've a lot of surprises in store for you this evening. Wear your new necklace," he smiled. "It'll bring you luck. It's ancient, you know."

Author's Note: Feedback is so very much appreciated! :)
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