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Thierry stood there a bit frazzled with Theo. Hadn't Theo already asked this question a thousand times beforehand? Or was it Eli? Cosy? Well, he was frazzled with the whole lot, honestly. There were many reasons why they- or rather, [i]he [/i]was there, but much of it had been listed as confidential. Most of which, wouldn't sit well under the gaze of a clever child. [b]"Well,"[/b] Thierry started, fumbled a bit with a frown then regained his smile, [b]"We're here to evict Boris Karloff."[/b]

He was only half joking... Of course, he was keeping a lot of information about what was actually happening behind the scenes.

Locked away from his impressionable [i]only [/i]son. He'd be damned if Theo became a Louvre agent as he had. He could never live with himself if something were to happen to Theo because the boy tried so desperately to emulate him. Thierry was definitely respected on the field, but what Theo [i]didn't[/i] see was that Thierry had doubts. Doubts about himself. And no father wants their son to see that side of them.

The unnerved father looked to each child, as if he was a shepherd recounting his flock. He was terrified of something happening to them. Aurélie being obstinate, Theo constantly wanting to work with him, and Cosy? Wanting to play Barbie, [i]Archeologist [/i]edition. Cosy was the least trouble of the lot as she at least wouldn't pester. Though, the lack of pestering felt heavy on his heart when he wasn't being drowned in paperwork. 


And the files? Oh dear. He'd glanced at both sets before and on the way there, to this place normally reserved for the dead. Most of the files... or at least the ones even [i]Sabrina [/i]wasn't allowed to view, spelled a certain amount of disaster if any of the children got out of line. Frankly, he'd never been very good at putting his foot down to certain things. He'd left most of the rearing up to Sabrina and particularly so when it came to the girls. It seemed that no matter what he did these days, Aurélie absolutely hated him. Now, he couldn't be sure if this was the case, but attitude had been had.

He stood there, first silently deep in thought, then mumbled incoherently to himself.

[b]"Dad!"[/b]

[b]"Right."[/b] He wasn't entirely sure which child had spoken, or if it was a figment of his imagination, but it'd snapped him back to a certain sandy reality. Before starting on, he headed over to Cosy and knelt down with a smile, [b]"Here, you'll hold onto these for me, will you?"[/b]

Thierry pulled out a bag of coins he'd set aside just for her. Somewhere along the journey, he'd seen her glistening interest peak each time he pulled some of the foreign money out. He desperately wanted to pick her up and carry her along the sand, but just bending down to her level like that, had put a heavy strain on his knee. Being in this bent position made him feel is age, if not older. He could only imagine how his associate, [i]Mr. Cress[/i], felt.

He steadied himself upright. Cosette's Hello Kitty flashlight was adorably small for his hands, but worked like a pretend Tour Guide's microphone nonetheless. He started walking backwards so he'd still be able to see his family, [b]"And on our left..."[/b] He started while using an exaggerated [i]expert's[/i] voice, [b]"A large pile of [i]bricks[/i]. This is the final resting place of King Khufu."[/b] Despite several eye rolls, he continued, [b]"So how was Giza built? Using a pyramid scheme!"[/b]

Dad jokes had become a bit of a specialty of his. He used all the bad puns and dramatic facial expressions as a way to hold back his true concern for this trip. According to the files, several mummies were alive and well. Should the files be believed? Or was it just drunkard agents that got a little afraid of the darkened resting place of the king?

Only time would tell.

Once they reached a certain point, an Egyptian man was waiting for them. He'd worked with Mr. Andrew in the past. The man's French wasn't very good, but he could speak English at least. They exchanged pleasantries... or rather, argued quietly to each other.

[b]"You brought your kids? Are you [i]insane[/i]?"[/b] The Egyptian mumbled softly.

[b]"You can't really think I wanted to bring them here."[/b] Thierry spat softly back.

[b]"Shall we go find our tents?" [/b] Sabrina questioned Cosy, causing Thierry to turn to face them.

[b]"They can look around the main tourist's section first, if they'd like."[/b] Thierry tried to keep a calm tone to his voice. He didn't want let on that something was wrong. But this suggestion caused Mr. Andrew to squint angrily at him.

What fresh hell was he stepping into this time?

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