I stumbled back into reality. For a moment, I was confused. Who in Nu’s name was I? Sekhmet? Rowan? But the face of old bastard Geb and his cronies reminded me pretty quickly what was going on. He looked at me expectantly.

“Well, boy?” He smiled. I understood now that it was fake. “What did you see?”

“Violet,” I responded. My head still hurt, as if a dozen carts pulled by donkeys were marching through.

“And?” Fucking afterworld, is this a pop quiz? I sure am not going to tell you everything.

“She is in the cave. Looking for something. To pour her essence in.”

His grin was unbearable. “I see. Our work is done here.” He looked towards ‘Tea Man’. “You did a wonderful job, my son Osiris.”

‘Tea Man’ bowed. “Yes, Father.” With these words, he literally went poof, transforming into a mist that slowly dissipated. The others followed his example, albeit less misty.

“Our work is done here. I will take my practitioners with me, as well.”

No! They were supposed to lead us to the Capital! I panic slightly. Violet is finally free from the grasp of her family. She stumbled away from the terrace, ignoring me, ignoring everybody else. Into the darkness. I know she would return eventually. She just had a shit show and needed some time to cool off. I noticed Acacia and Sorrel standing at the edge of the terrace. They bow deeply to Geb. He nods, then vaporizes. It is here when I first noticed that he used a magical item reminiscent of the one I saw in Violet's memories. Had the other deities been using such a thing to teleport away as well? After all, they had trouble following Violet around with her arbitrary blips. The twins looked at each other, then look at me. They wear a pained expression. But ultimately, they need to heed the words of their master. Taking out an artifact themselves, they crushed it, causing them to dissipate into thin air as well. There was only me left on the terrace. Voices from the inn suddenly penetrated through the door. It seemed they got rid of their barrier when they left. But right now, I did not feel the urge to return to the world I knew. In fact, I did not feel the urge for anything at all. I was exhausted. The pain was slowly subsiding and eventually was replaced by utter confusion. It’s not like I never thought of the possibility that Violet took care of me because she had an altruistic nature. But I’d always push that to the back of my mind. After all, she did watch out for me. Take care of me. Now I had proof that she indeed just needed my body as a vessel to harness her powers.

“How much did you really see?” I heard Seth’s voice from behind me. By Nu, this guy was still here! As I turned around, I noticed he was standing pretty close to me. He was scrutinizing me, unsure whether I had been lying or speaking the truth.

“I saw you cry,” I said cheekily. The only thing missing was me sticking out my tongue and running away. But Seth did not feel like kidding around. He grabbed me by the collar of my robe.

“Now listen here, Mister Funny Boy. The only reason I haven’t cut you to pieces yet is that you are pivotal in keeping Sister’s powers in check. So you better start treating me with respect.”

“My name is Rowan, not ‘Funny Boy’.” Yes, I held no respect for my own life.

“I don’t care. Now spill the beans or I will spill your guts.”

Since I was not keen on having my guts decorating the terrace, I began to talk, explaining to him how much I had indeed seen. How Violet suffered. How she always thought kindly of him. How her train of thought evaporated when she transformed. He listened intently, nodding now and then. Eventually, he smiled evilly.

“She believes in you a lot, boy.” He finally let me down. “I had asked her to intercept Brother’s spell by letting you see more of her past. Just enough to show what you are dealing with. She actually went even further and beyond, though it is highly debatable whether she wanted to go that far back.”

“What is this all about anyway? Why did they want to show me that Violet”, I see Seth wrinkle his face in displeasure and correct myself, “that Sekhmet only uses me as a tool?”

“Power. It’s all about power. Always has been. If they weaken the bond with you, Sister will eventually become unstable again. And they will have a legitimate reason to trap her again.”

I frowned. Regardless of whether I was just an ‘artifact’ or not, the cave was no right place to be. And the countless sacrifices made to keep her there was a monstrosity. “But haven’t they been trying to do that already? What about you? You sent your Vegetables after us.”

He gave me a questioning look again, but it seemed he slowly got used to my way of describing things. “To get to you before the others do. But you put up such a good fight, all I could do is play my part as the son of Geb.” He paused and sighed. I felt how his hostile gaze slowly dissipated. He had a very gentle demeanor, not unlike Sorrel. Beneath his ever agitated persona, he probably was a very nice and caring deity – something that I had the luxury of getting to know many years later. But alas, Seth preferred to hide behind his frown, making him look as if he would thrust his blade into you if you just dared to say “hi.”

“Sekhmet is smart,” he continued. “She only uses her blade when it is indispensable. Make people see she is doing good. Help them. Father has no reason to hunt her down at the moment. And he dislikes this. I am not sure yet what, but something is going on behind the scenes. And when that time comes, I would like to have Sister fully capable at my side.” He looked at me, grinning a little. “And maybe you, if you can prove yourself to be worthy.”

Seth tossed a wooden amulet into my hands. It was in the shape of a sha, a canine type of creature. Or how I’d like to call it: a hideous dog. It had a long, leathery tail with a sharp scaley tip. Its canine face was slim, like sighthounds. I scrutinized the amulet. It fit perfectly within the palm of my hand and was crafted out of dark wood. At the back of the sha, there was an eyelet. “The sha will detect unusual amounts of Ashura energy. Make sure to carry it with you at all times. I will know if it reacts. This way, I can hopefully intervene before Father does.” Nodding, I took the leather string that I had stowed away as an extra and made a makeshift necklace out of the amulet. Seth watched me finish before saying, “I leave you now. Make sure to maintain your low profile. Maybe come all the way down to my domain.” And with that, he disappeared – without an artifact.

I continued to sit alone on the terrace. I was contemplating on matters with my young brain. I contemplated so hard that I began feeling tired. I checked my pockets, but it seemed Violet had run off with all of our coins. A bed was so close, yet so far! Cursing my fate, I was about to go and search her, when suddenly, right in front of the terrace, Sorrel and Acacia popped up. Surprisingly, they didn’t wear their usual practitioner garbs.

“We made it!” She exclaimed happily. Sorrel had a relieved expression on his face upon seeing me.

“Why hello there, Rowan!”

You won’t believe how happy I was to see them. I didn’t bother to question how and why they returned. I was just so glad to see them, I began to cry. Sorrel laughed sheepishly and opened his arms wide to hug me. “Now, now,” he said. “We were only gone for a few moments, and you already missed us this much?” He petted my hair.

“Whatever happens, this was the right decision,” I heard Acacia whisper almost inaudibly to her brother. She then proceeded to hug me as well. We remained entangled, like a family that was lost but had found each other again, for quite a while. Actually, we only stopped hugging when Violet reappeared from the shadows again. She didn’t say anything upon seeing the three of us. No emotion. It felt as if the bond we had was broken in a way. But in truth, she just was incredibly exhausted.

We managed to snatch a few beds in the sleeping hall of the inn. Little did I know it would be a long while before I ever slept in a bed again.