Forgotten (2018 Open Novella Contest/LoT Fanfic)

Chapter 6: History

Jasmine had shifted back into her disguise and whisked the criminals out of the tomb, the latter of which was more difficult than she had anticipated. It didn't help that her refusing to tell them what she had seen had only made them want to stay longer, but she managed to pull them out of the tomb. Jasmine didn't say another word until she and the criminals joined Nate and Jax on the jump ship, and were on their way to the Waverider.

"What happened to you?" Nate asked, looking at a frazzled Jasmine. Just one look at her told him that something wasn't right. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

The teenager sighed, not really wanting to talk about it but knowing that she should.

"Well that might be because I actually kinda did," she admitted, looking over at him. "It's a long story and I don't even understand it, but basically I had a nice chat with Nitocris." Nate had cut her off before she continued.

"Wait wait wait. You're telling me you talked with the ghost of the ruler of the 6th dynasty of Egypt?" he exclaimed, raising an eyebrow at her. She nodded.

"You really expect us to believe that?" Mick grunted, to which Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Well it's not like the craziest thing you've ever heard," she pointed out, to which they all agreed. "But of course it's more complicated than that." She proceeded to explain to the 4 men everything that Nitocris had said, from shapeshifters to protecting the totem to calling Jasmine the Chosen One. Leonard and Mick quickly lost interest because they found the goods they stole more exciting than Jasmine's problems, and Jax had to focus on driving the jump ship. Nate, on the other hand, seemed really excited and expressed his willingness to help her if she needed it. Jasmine was relieved that someone on the team decided to not be a pain in her ass, but she was unable to dwell on that thought for long because they had arrived.  

While the boys all headed to the bridge, Jasmine headed into Rip's office.

"Hey Rip," she said, sitting down in a chair. He jumped in his seat—he was so concentrated on his work that he didn't even notice her walk in.

"Hello, Ms. Robinson," Rip said, recomposing himself and looking over at her.

"Please, it's Jasmine," she insisted politely. Instead of making her feel respected, the whole "Ms. Robinson" thing just made her feel uncomfortable.

"Alright, Jasmine. What can I help you with?"

"Well to start off, I wanted to see what you know about this," she stated, setting the totem on his desk.

"So they were able to retrieve it," Rip stated, clearly relieved. Jasmine shook her head.

"Yes, but not alone. I went with them," she stated. "But guess what I encountered on our little journey, or more specifically, who?"

"Nitocris," Rip responded quietly, shocking Jasmine. "I figured that she would appear to you sooner or later."

"Hold on," Jasmine demanded, her eyes narrowing. "You knew that the ghost of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh was going to show up and you didn't think to warn me?" she exclaimed, starting to get pissed off. 

"To be honest, she was the last thing on my mind. My objective was to find your totem so you can use your powers to their full strength."

"But how in the world did 'my' totem end up in Ancient Egypt on a different Earth, with a dead Egyptian protecting it?" she asked, quickly becoming more and more irritated.

"I'm afraid I don't know the whole story," Rip said with a sigh. "But I believe that Nate might be able to help you. If anyone knows about the origins of this totem, it's going to be him."

Although she suspected that Rip knew more than he was letting on, she nodded, picked up the totem, and headed over to the library. Nate spent the majority of his time in there, so she wasn't surprised when she found him sitting at the desk. Nate heard someone walk in and was surprised to see that it was Jasmine.

"Hey Jasmine! What's up?" he asked with a smile. Once again, Jasmine was pleasantly surprised by his friendliness.

"Rip told me that you might be able to tell me a little more about the origins of this," she responded, gently setting the totem on the desk and taking a seat beside him.

"Well you came to the right guy," he said excitedly. "I was just researching it and according to Gideon's database, its origin can be traced back to the 6th dynasty of Egypt, which matches up with what you said about seeing Nitocris," he explained, Jasmine nodding in response.

"What do you know about the 6th dynasty of Egypt?" he asked, surprising her.

"Besides Nitocris? Not much," she admitted, shaking her head.

"No worries," he stated. "I just didn't want to explain things that you already knew. So basically the 6th dynasty of Egypt is well known for constant warfare with nearby peoples. Nitocris' son was the general of the army, and legend says he prayed for the Gods to create for him a special weapon that would help Egypt win the war. It's been said that this so-called special weapon actually was sent by the Gods to the Egyptian people. It was a golden necklace, of which the bearer would have extraordinary power. However, there was a catch—there was only one person who the totem would work for. As you can imagine, the general went around his empire, searching for his 'Chosen One'. Unfortunately for him, this person was never found, and the necklace was buried with his mother when she died."

"So what you're saying is that I'm the one that the Gods supposedly chose to wear this?" she asked remembering what Nitocris said to her. She was completely shocked. "Why?"

"I'm not sure Jaz", Nate admitted, his face falling slightly. "The only lead that I've been able to find is that the prophecy Rip mentioned dates back to the same time period..."

"...Meaning that the two really could be connected, which is why we got the totem," Jasmine finished, finally catching on.

"Exactly. Now try it on," he said, and she reluctantly picked up the totem and clasped it around her neck, the weight of it slightly more than she anticipated. But the first thing that she felt when she put it on was peace. Power. Control.

She felt like she finally had a grasp on her abilities, or at least a firmer one. 

"Thank you Nate!" she said before running off to Amaya, not giving the historian the chance to tell her that the totem was suddenly glowing, but he waved it off.

"Anytime!"

A/N: I apologize for the historical inaccuracies in this chapter and throughout the story. They only exist because they are necessary to the plot.