Hi everybody! If there even is anyone XD. Yes, I know what you're thinking. "Izmir and Carol and...ISIS? WTF is she on?" Well, I can explain.

Sometime after reading Ouke no Monshou I was innocently minding my own business when suddenly I was possessed by an unholy demon with a penchant for writing horribly screwed-up crackfics with screwed-up crack pairings for non-existent fandoms.

So if you hate yuri then please read no further because this story has it. Any reviews (if I even get any) are probably going to be flames but I will regret nothing! That being said constructive criticism would be preferable to being fried.

On the other hand if you do happen to have something nice to say then please feel free! :D I would really, really appreciate it.

Just in case anyone is uncertain, this fanfic takes place after Carol travels to ancient Egypt for the third time. In this scenario Ari was successful in her attempt to capture her in chapter 41.

Rated M for torture and sexual assault.

Here goes nothing.

Chapter 1

Pain.

That was the first thing Carol noticed on waking from her unnatural slumber.

Pain everywhere; in her limbs, in her abdomen, in her chest but worst of all in her head. It felt like her skull was being repeatedly smashed against a stone wall. She feared might throw up from the agony.

This was worse than the time Izmir had flogged her, worse than when Memphis had broken her arm, worse even than when she had been bitten by that Egyptian cobra and nearly died.

She couldn't see anything; after she struggled to open her sore eyes there was still nothing but blackness. Nor could she move her arms, which she discovered after she tried to do just that. The only thing she could even hear was a loud obnoxious ringing. She began to panic. Had she lost her sight and hearing forever?

What happened to me?

The last thing she could recall was her and Luca fleeing from those bandits that had ambushed them in the desert. They had attempted to run from them while Unus held them off, but one had managed to get past him and must have caught up with her. She tried to remember what happened after that but there was nothing.

Judging from that and the still severe pain in her head, it appeared that she had been knocked out and probably drugged too. But had Luca been able to rescue her, or had she been captured? Had he even managed to get away himself? She would never forgive herself if he had been hurt or killed trying to protect her. She wasn't worth dying for.

Who was responsible anyway? She knew that now she was Queen of Egypt there must be many people who wished to capture her. To make matters worse, whoever it was clearly didn't care for her physical well-being considering the brutal way she had been caught.

She was only just beginning to regain her senses. The ringing in her ears slowly subsided and she finally began to see some light much to her relief. It appeared she hadn't been permanently damaged after all.

As her vision returned to her, she blearily looked around her surroundings. She was lying in a large hall lit by torches. Judging by the hieroglyphics and artwork on the walls she was still in Egypt at least. The only windows in the room were high above her out of reach, and she could see the starry night sky through them.

This meant that at least several hours or even days must have passed since she fell unconscious as it had been midday last time she remembered. The cold night air drafting in through the windows caused her to shiver slightly and she attempted to wrap her arms around herself in an effort to warm up only to discover to her horror that she still couldn't move them. Looking down, she learned why.

Her wrists were tied down, as were her ankles, to what appeared to be a stone table...or she realized with even more fear, an altar. Looking around the hall again, her suspicions were confirmed. Considering the giant statue of Amun that looked down on her, the shelves on the walls that held jars of incense and statuettes of various gods, and that the hieroglyphics were mainly prayers and hymns, it appeared that the building she was in now was in fact a temple and it wasn't one she had been in before.

This and the fact that they had been ambushed while travelling through Lower Egypt meant that surely the one who had kidnapped her was...

"We meet again, Carol."

Her hard beating hard in her chest, Carol turned around to look at Isis.

It had been a couple of weeks since she had last seen her, storming out of Thebes vowing revenge on her and Memphis but it seemed like far longer. Carol could scarcely recognize her as the lovely and refined young lady who she had once considered a sister. There was nothing but hatred in Isis's eyes now; hatred, fury and contempt.

Yet she was still every bit as beautiful as Carol remembered; her long, shining black hair; her dark mysterious eyes; her slender but curvaceous body, so much more womanly than her own child-like figure.

The shadows cast by both the moonlight and the flickering light from the oil lamp she was carrying only seemed to flatter her beauty more. How could such a cruel woman be so beautiful?

Egyptian cobras are beautiful too though, Carol thought sadly, Beautiful, but deadly.

"Isis?" She had never felt so frightened of anyone in her life. It seemed ironic, how Isis could be so different from the benevolent and caring goddess that she had been named after.

Isis continued, barely acknowledging Carol's fearful addressing of her.

"I heard from Ari that the new Queen of Egypt had been captured and I rushed straight over...That being said, I have never seen anyone who looks less like a queen," she declared, looking Carol up and down with scorn in her expression, setting the lamp down on a nearby table.

"Had some seer told me two years ago that a slave girl like you would be taking my rightful place as Egypt and Memphis's queen, I would have had their tongue cut out for blasphemy."

"That's probably why none of them told you," Carol muttered to herself.

Unfortunately Isis heard her. Her eyes flashed with anger and she struck the girl across the face.

"Do not try to get smart with me, little girl," she snapped. "Do you wish to the share the fate of Princess Mitamun?"

Carol's already pale face paled even more, and she shook her head silently.

"Good girl," Isis said softly yet mockingly. "It seems you are beginning to learn now. It would make things easier for us both if you showed me the respect I am owed. Do not get me wrong however-" her expression became even more malicious "You will die tonight, that is certain. But how quick and pleasant your death is depends mainly on you...and myself."

"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Carol in a small voice, her heart sinking like a stone thrown into the Nile. Isis was going to kill her. She knew that the priestess hated her but a naïve part of her had still hoped she wouldn't go that far.

"What I mean, is why?" Isis cried, her demeanor suddenly changing from cold superiority to one of lamentation, "Why did he choose you, a mere slave and a foreigner over me, his own sister? What is it you have that I do not, that he could not simply take you as a concubine and be happy with that? Just because you are different does not mean you should be queen! Blonde hair does not a goddess make!"

"But he loves me," protested Carol. "We love each other, and it's not only because of how I look but because he loves me for who I am as a person."

Isis laughed humorlessly, her former façade of confidence returning to her as quickly as it left.

"He is infatuated with you, that is all. What other reason could there be? He barely even knows you. He does not know who you are or where you came from. He does not know the truth about you, that you are not a goddess but merely a spoiled little girl from the future, a barbaric and uncivilized society. If he knew the truth about you he would lose all interest. But he knows nothing about you and that is the only reason he cares."

Isis drew dangerously close to Carol, and she whispered in her ear. "I know you better than he does."

"N-no, it's not true!" Carol choked up, tears starting to fall from her big blue eyes. Because for all of the cruelty in Isis's words, she couldn't help but wondering if she had a point. Would Memphis still love her if he knew she wasn't a goddess but only a human?

"It is true!" insisted Isis, her face triumphant at the misery she was causing the poor girl in front of her. "And once you are dead, he will know you are no goddess but the most lowly of humans!"

"Don't you want him to be happy?" sobbed Carol. "If you kill me, he won't be happy! If you loved him you would respect his wishes!"

"Oh, but you don't understand," said Isis, pulling Carol towards herself and cradling her in what could be mistaken as a comforting gesture but they both knew it was anything but.

"It is because I love him that I do this. He doesn't know what is right for him. Yes, he will be heartbroken by your death. He will be resentful towards me because I did not let him have what he wanted. But children also get angry when they are not given what they want...even though it's for their own good. What kind of sister always lets her little brother have his way? Once his heart has healed and he stops mourning he will realize that I am the one he is supposed to be with, the one the gods intended him to be with. He will recognize that his great "love" for you was nothing more than short-lived lust and he will thank me for putting a stop to his foolishness."

"You're delusional," said Carol, eyes dry again as she glared at Isis in utter disbelief at what she was hearing. "You're comparing him to a child. Don't you have any respect for him at all?!"

She shrieked the last part, her voice echoing though the temple. Her voice sounded shrill, babyish and not in the least bit threatening but she didn't care.

She was just so angry at how unfair it was. Isis had been the one who brought her here in the first place! She had begged her to return her, and if only she had then she probably would have had her wish of marrying Memphis. She only had herself to blame for losing him, and now she had to take it out on her!

Even Isis looked shocked at her outburst, for Carol had seldom shown anger towards her before.

Her expression soon hardened again however and Carol knew she was in big trouble.

The priestess seized Carol's hair, pulling her head back so far the girl cried out in pain. She held a knife in her hand; Carol wasn't sure whether she had been carrying it on her the whole time or whether it was a ceremonial blade that was stored near the altar, but it was now being pressed into her throat and drawing blood.

"You forget your place, Carol," Isis said quietly, her voice gentle but terrifying at the same time. It was then that she raised the blade.

Carol screamed, sure that Isis would plunge it into her chest and rip her heart out like she had seen happen to the wretched assassin in her first journey to ancient Egypt.

However, she did not.

Instead she brought the knife to the collar of the linen dress Carol wore, and in a single motion cut the entire garment off her. Carol gasped in shock as she attempted to cover herself but was unable to as her arms were still tied.

Isis smirked at Carol's obvious mortification. She walked over to where she had put down the lamp and picked it up again before returning to her side, her merciless eyes running up and down the girl's body.

Carol shuddered under the priestess's intense gaze.

"Isis...w-why are you looking at me like that? What are are playing at?" she asked, her voice shaking in her discomfort. The look that Isis was giving her was not unlike how Mimi would look at a bird she was about to pounce on.

"Perhaps I am simply curious...curious as to why my brother finds you so alluring," said Isis nonchalantly. Reaching out, she began to caress the girl's shoulder, and felt her tremble under her touch.

"Really, I have seen twelve-year olds with more developed figures than you," she commented spitefully, lowering her hand to caress one of Carol's small breasts.

Her eyes widened in shock at her actions. She gasped slightly as Isis's thumb lightly circled her pink nipple.

It was then that Isis dug her nails in her skin, squeezing as hard as she could. Carol gasped again in pain.

"St-stop it, please!" she begged, her eyes watering slightly. "You're hurting me, please Isis..."

Isis humored her, moving her hand away from her breast to trace her thigh instead.

"You do have the most enviable skin, however," she admitted "I could spend my entire life in darkness...but my skin would never be as white and pure looking as yours..." She sighed in longing, looking down at her own beautiful bronze hands.

"I despise it when people have better things than me," she said bitterly, looking at Carol's fearful eyes again, her expression scaring the American girl more than anything else she had done so far.

"I wonder...how that lovely flesh would look if it was burned black, and dark with blood..." She lifted the oil lamp, its light illuminating Carol's terrified face as she realized what Isis was about to do.

"NO, please don't, I beg of you..." she pleaded, struggling desperately against the ropes that bound her and the tears starting up again.

With a sadistic smile, Isis tipped the lamp slightly, letting a small amount of the boiling oil fall onto Carol's bruised breast.

Her scream of agony was like the sweetest music in Isis's ears. She watched in sickening fascination as the girl's skin blistered, its white perfection marred. She waited calmly for Carol's sobs to die down slightly, relishing the sound, while stroking the girl's hair as though to console her.

Carol turned her now red eyes to Isis beseechingly, hoping in vain that she would be shown mercy, but it was not to be. Isis had decided that it was time for her to have another drop of pain, this time pouring it on her flat stomach.

Carol screamed again, being even more vocal.

"Please, no more! Please Isis, I beg you! Please stop! PLEASE!"

Her pleas fell upon unconcerned ears as Isis continued her abhorrent game, gradually pouring more and more of the scorching substance onto Carol's flesh, and the girl's screams grew louder and more desperate. Her screams reached their peak around the sixth drop, at which point she seemed to have stopped appealing to her and, perhaps beginning to lose her mind in her excruciation, began crying out for her family instead.

"Ryan! Rody! Dad! Mom..."

Isis sneered pitilessly. If only her traitorous people could see their so-called goddess now! Screaming for her mother like a pathetic little girl! Growing sick of Carol wailing the names of people who were not her, she struck her again.

"Shut up," Isis said harshly, snatching the girl's throat and gripping it so tightly she choked. "Your father is dead. Your mother isn't here. She is three thousand years away in the future, and you are not with her. You are here with me. You will die here with me. Your heart will be burned on the ceremonial altar and you will perish forever!"

She laughed callously at the despair on Carol's darkening face.

"You will never see your family again!"

With that, she released Carol's throat but before she even had time to regain her breath Isis poured the oil again, this time onto her already bruised and bloodied neck.

She was rewarded with the loudest, most agonized scream yet. Her ears rang from the sound but she did not care. Eager in her desire to cause more pain to Carol she resumed the process.

Finally after the eleventh drop the screams faded into pitiful weeping. Her once flawless skin was now covered in dark red burn marks, decorating her neck, torso and thighs. The priestess admired the effect.

Although she was no longer screaming, Carol's doe-like eyes still continued to plead for mercy when they looked at her. Isis had to laugh. This stupid girl still nursed the hope that she might receive forgiveness, from her? She should show her how ridiculous she was to think that way.

"This lamp still has plenty of oil left," she taunted, holding it in front of Carol's face. "I'm sure all my problems would be solved if I just emptied the rest of it on that pretty face of yours...it would not be so pretty then. I doubt Memphis would want you any more, nor that Hittite prince, nor any of your other gullible admirers."

It was a ghastly threat but Carol's reaction was disappointing. Instead of the further pleas for mercy that Isis was anticipating, she said nothing. She only continued to gaze at Isis with those reproachful blue eyes as though resigned to her fate and waiting to see whether the sentence would be carried out.

What is the point? Carol thought, as she looked into Isis's cruel eyes. It didn't matter what she said or did. Every reaction was the wrong one with Isis. She hates me. She hates me for existing and will make me suffer either way.

Oh why, why, whydoes she have to be so cruel?

If Isis was going to disfigure her then she would certainly not give her the satisfaction of seeing any more of her tears!

Shockingly enough this approach seemed to be somewhat effective. After staring back at Carol for several moments, something in her malevolent expression changed; whether for better or for worse she didn't know. Then to Carol's surprise she dropped the lamp to the floor.

It shattered, the noise echoing through the temple, but Isis didn't appear to care.

She wrapped her arms around Carol in what again appeared to be a gesture of mock consolation, her fingers entwining themselves in her golden hair. But she did not stop there.

Bringing her mouth to the girl's neck, she ran her tongue over the fresh burn mark until her neck was clean of all the oil and blood.

This made the pain even worse for Carol, as the warmth of her tongue only increased the heat in the wound causing it to burn more fiercely than ever. However, to her disturbance she found that the feeling was not entirely unpleasant.

Once she had finished with the neck, Isis moved onto her shoulder, again licking it clean of all the oil. She continued like this with all of the scalded areas of skin on her body.

As she did this Carol remained silent, her mind buzzing with confusion at her actions. What was her game this time?

She winced self-consciously when Isis reached her thigh, her silky hair brushing against her. Noticing Carol's embarrassment, she took a particularly long time with this one. By the time she was finished Carol's thigh was wet from her saliva, goose bumps appearing where she had been touched. All that was left now was her breast, which she had been dreading the most.

She suspected that was why Isis had left it for last. Feeling more humiliated than she had ever had before she closed her eyes, trying to pretend that she was anywhere but where she was now.

Nothing she did could escape Isis's attention and this small action certainly didn't. The priestess snickered, and gripped Carol's chin in her hand.

"What's the matter, Carol?" she cooed at her, her face so close to hers that the girl could feel her breath. "Are you frightened? Do you not enjoy what I'm doing?"

Carol refused to answer her, trying to turn her head away. This did not sit well with Isis, whose nails began to dig into her face. The pain this caused was barely noticeable compared to the agony she was already feeling.

"Cat got your tongue? This is so unlike you, Carol. When I knew you in your own time, you never knew when to be silent!"

She suddenly yanked Carol's hair hard, causing the girl to yelp in spite of herself.

"Now, that is more like it," said Isis, pleased to have invoked a reaction from the girl, "I want to hear more of that from you. Because your anguish is such a lovely sound..."

With that she lowered her head and took Carol's breast in her mouth, greedily sucking on her stinging flesh.

Carol struggled in her arms as she tried to escape from her assaulting mouth, but she had nowhere to move. The feeling was almost too much to bear. She couldn't understand why the priestess was doing this. She was in love with Memphis, hated her, had horribly tortured her, and yet now she was doing things to her that one would usually only do to a lover.

She was going this far just to shame her? She never thought a fellow woman could be so depraved.

Even Isis herself was unsure how they had ended up here. She had not intended on doing anything like this when she apprehended Carol earlier. Her only intention had been to sacrifice her to the gods immediately, the only question being what method of death she would receive...but things had taken a different turn.

All she knew was that she was having more fun tormenting this defenseless girl than she had had in a long time.

She flicked her tongue over Carol's nipple, feeling it harden and hearing the girl whimper- whether it was in pain, pleasure or embarrassment she did not know. Still, she found the thought of Carol unwillingly experiencing pleasure from what she was inflicting on her amusing and somewhat inviting.

Encouraged, she continued to tease her breast with her mouth and tongue while cupping her other breast in her hand, inciting further whimpers from the girl. She then decided to go even further.

Moving her other hand from Carol's hair, she began to massage her inner thigh instead. Carol's breath hitched at this new action, and she gazed at Isis in fearful anticipation at what was going to happen next. Surely she wasn't going to...?

Her fears were confirmed when Isis pressed her hand between her legs, against her sex.

"Ah!" she gasped, attempting once again to wriggle away from her, without success.

"Hmm, still dry," Isis commented as she pressed her hand harder against her "That just won't do."

She rubbed her finger against Carol's clitoris, causing the girl to start her mewling again, only in an entirely different way now.

"Ah, Isis! St-stop..."

She definitely wasn't crying out in pain this time. Isis still found her reaction immensely satisfying however. She continued to caress the girl's most intimate area while enjoying the sweet sounds of protest coming out of her silly little mouth.

She felt some moisture on her fingers, Carol's body apparently reacting to her touch despite her objections. Feeling victorious, she slipped a finger into her tight, wet opening.

Carol gasped again, her cheeks burning crimson at this unwanted intrusion. Never in her life had she ever been this intimate with anyone. In fact, other than the kisses that she'd shared with Jimmy and then with Memphis, she never really had any sexual experience at all. To suddenly be subjected to this treatment against her will was a humiliating experience, even when it was by someone of her own gender.

She flinched as Isis thrust her finger deeper into her, sliding it in and out of her. Though it wasn't painful as such, it wasn't comfortable either. She pleaded again, struggling to form the words.

"Please...stop..don't do th-ah!"

Isis had added another digit. Carol attempted once more to wriggle away from her, to get them out of her but they moved with her, stretching apart inside of her.

She shuddered at the sensation, her expression feverish and her dazed blue eyes meeting Isis's golden black ones. She couldn't deny it now; she was certainly feeling something other than pain and fear, and she was ashamed to even think it.

As though reading her thoughts Isis smiled serenely at her, her eyes completely soulless. She felt her scrape her nail along her inner wall and arched her back, a moan of unwanted pleasure escaping from her.

Isis laughed, what would have been a charming sound had Carol not known how inhuman she was, and she softly stroked Carol's cheek.

"Do you really want me to stop, little Carol?" she asked, her tone playful but with an undertone of menace.

"Yes...yes...I-" she began, but then Isis brushed against a particularly sensitive spot inside her and she immediately threw her head back and cried in sheer pleasure as her juices drenched Isis's hand.

She looked smug.

"What was that you were saying, Carol?" she asked in a saccharine tone. "My, it appears you really are a lustful little thing. A harlot such as yourself is hardly suitable to be queen of Egypt...Never mind, you won't be for much longer..."

Carol tried defend herself against her vile words, but couldn't speak properly between her enraptured moans.

Isis chuckled darkly. She suddenly withdrew her fingers from Carol, and the girl blinked in surprise. She looked fearfully at Isis, half-relieved she was no longer being violated but scared of what the evil princess was planning on doing to her next. Was she going to murder her now?

"Oh don't look so disappointed, little girl," Isis said not very reassuringly when she saw Carol's fright.

"I haven't finished with you yet...and I am sure you will love what I have planned for you..."

Carol's heart seemed to stop beating at that. No, what could she possibly want to do to me now...?

Licking her fingers, Isis made her way over to the shelf that held the statuettes. Carol did not let her eyes leave her, her heartbeat increasing rapidly as she wondered what the Egyptian princess was scheming.

Standing before the gods and goddesses, she was sure Isis could have been one herself. Even as she watched the priestess coldly dictate her fate, she was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and she was still painfully aware of the unresolved ache between her legs.

She didn't know what Isis was up to. She appeared to be browsing as she looked at the figures of the deities that were displayed there. Eventually she chose one and, with a self-satisfied smirk, began to make her way back to her side.

Then with icy terror Carol realized what her next ordeal was going to be.

But she can't!...She's a priestess, and this would be sacrilege of the worst kind...

"Isis...please don't..." she begged for what surely must have been hundredth time, now meaning it more than she ever had.

Isis ignored her, holding the idol in her hands to the light as she addressed the deities.

"Great Gods and Goddesses of Egypt, please accept this blood offering from an untainted maiden..."

Carol's eyes widened in horror at her words, her fear confirmed, and she thrashed desperately against her bonds while screaming at the top of her lungs for help.

Isis snickered at her naivety. She should have figured out by now that no one would save her. Everyone in the temple worked for her, after all. It was about time she gave up and accepted her fate.

Laying her hand on Carol's thigh, Isis placed the figurine at her still wet entrance.

"I would stay still if I were you," she advised her, as the girl continued to struggle without success, "Otherwise this may tear your insides...not that it matters to me, of course."

Without making any attempt to be gentle, she shoved the figure inside her. To her satisfaction she found that her virgin body resisted the intrusion and pushed it harder, forcing it in as far as it would go.

Carol's eyes filled with tears of pain as she tried to accommodate it. She felt like she was being impaled and judging by the blood that was now seeping out of her that might not have been far from the truth.

She screamed when Isis twisted it, feeling it scrape against her and sure that she was being ripped inside.

"Please...please take it out," she wept, her thighs stained red, "It hurts so much..."

Isis laughed at her pain. She gave the idol another hard shove, inciting another agonized shriek from Carol as it hit against her cervix. Keeping it there for a minute, she then slowly pulled it out. She barely had time to feel the relief from its absence before Isis thrust it in again, causing her to cry again.

It didn't hurt quite as much this time however, her body having adjusted more to its size. With the blood and fluids dripping out of her lubricating it, the priestess repeated this action over and over, until Carol was once again trying to keep herself from moaning. The pain was still there but she found that the pleasure was beginning to overrule it and it sickened her that she could possibly get such a feeling from an act as awful as this.

After a while she could feel her climax approaching and tried to fight it, hoping that she could retain what little was left of her pride. Noticing this from the girl's panting and rising temperature, Isis smirked. Caressing Carol's hair, she murmured to her.

"Do not fight it, Carol. Instead, embrace it. After all, this is the last good thing you will ever feel..."

Not even this reminder of her impending death was able to stop her pleasure. It was only increased when Isis took her breast in her mouth again, her teeth grazing her sensitive nipple.

Writhing in a combination of pain and ecstasy she finally succumbed, her orgasm hitting her like a tidal wave that washed away all of her agony and left her only with the feeling of euphoria, her senses tingling with it. It seemed bizarre that such a heavenly sensation could arise from this hellish ordeal, and for a moment she forgot entirely about the danger she was in as she wished for this bliss to last forever.

Isis released Carol's breast and gazed down at her captive with amusement as she withdrew the figure from her. She was still panting from her climax, her snow white chest heaving and her skin damp with sweat. Her beautiful blue eyes looked at her but did not appear to see her, taking on a glazed appearance.

Witnessing Carol in this state was causing Isis herself to feel a strange longing that she had not felt before. Sure that she had gone too far to stop now anyway, she pondered over what she should do to her victim next...but there came a sudden interruption.

"Your Majesty! There is an emergency outside-oh!"

Jumping in shock, Isis turned to look at the speaker. It was one of the temple's priestesses in training, a girl who must have been only a couple of years younger than Carol. Eyes lingering on the bloodstained idol in Isis' hand and the blood still oozing out of Carol, she looked absolutely horror-struck.

"Yes? What emergency?" Isis asked her, as though there were nothing out of the ordinary about the situation.

The serving girl swallowed nervously, looking like she was considering running out of the room again without saying anything but then forced herself to continue.

"Bandits are trying to attack the temple...the guards are dealing with them but the priestesses are also panicking and I was told to inform you..."

Isis looked furious for a second but then her expression calmed.

"Very well. I will go out to address the situation as soon as I can."

Still nervous, the serving girl remained where she was as though unsure what to do.

"Um...should I go and tell them that you are on your way? Your Majesty?"

"Do as you wish," replied Isis, her voice disinterested as she turned away to return the still-bloody statuette to the shelf that she had taken it from.

Looking immensely relieved, the girl began to head for the door clearly desperate to get out.

Carol watched her go, having begun to recover from the stupor that Isis' actions had placed her in. She too was relieved that the girl had not been punished for her act of interloping. Perhaps Isis was finally beginning to calm down. She could hope.

Then her hopes were dashed when she saw what the princess was doing.

She had put the idol back in its place and taken one of the clay jars of incense. However as it turned out when she emptied it onto the floor, the jar didn't actually contain incense. What it did contain was an Egyptian cobra, uncoiling itself and hissing in anger. It looked at Isis with expectant eyes as though waiting for some kind of order.

It got one. Without a word Isis pointed to the retreating servant.

In a flash the cobra was hot on her heels. Carol cried out a warning to the girl but by then it was too late. The serpent struck, sinking it's fangs into the unfortunate girl's ankle. She shrieked in pain and fright as she collapsed to the ground and the snake lunged again, this time going for her face.

It did not end there, the cobra attacking again and again until Carol lost count. Her own screams of horror almost drowned out the serving girls screams of agony. She looked to Isis to see that she once again had that sadistic smile, enjoying the torment that both girls were suffering because of her.

How she had ever thought that Isis was good person, only the goddess Isis herself could know.

After what seemed like forever but could only have been a couple of minutes Isis appeared to grow bored of this latest entertainment. Strangely enough the snake seemed to share her sentiment as it stopped attacking and slithered its way back to her, leaving the girl in an unrecognisably mangled heap on the ground. When the cobra reached her she picked it up without fear and placed it back in the pot it came from.

As though there had been no interruption she returned to Carol's side.

Her fear of Isis had increased tenfold if such a thing was possible, for it had become apparent at this point that not only was she entirely heartless but that her supernatural powers were even stronger than she thought. It was the only explanation for what she had just witnessed.

Trembling, she mustered up the courage to speak to her.

"W-why did you do that?" she asked her tearfully, "She d-didn't do anything to you; sh-she was only following orders..."

"No she was not. I myself specifically ordered that I not be interrupted for any reason yet she didn't even knock before coming in, and saw too much. I have no need for a servant who disobeys me," said Isis coldly. She looked towards the temple door, frowning slightly.

"Still, this is bad news. Those bandits must be stopped by all means and the priestesses need to get a hold of themselves. This situation clearly cannot be rectified without me. I had better go."

She looked back at Carol, a radiant smile on her face that completely contrasted with her character.

"As for you Carol, because you have entertained me so much tonight I have decided to be merciful."

Surprised at this statement, Carol hardly dared to hope. Which was just as well when Isis continued.

"I will let you choose how you will sacrificed. You can think about that while I am gone!" Leaning over, she kissed her on the forehead.

"I will be back soon, so don't get too comfortable."

With that she turned away and strode out of the hall, leaving Carol with no one but the dying serving girl for company.

She was twitching and whimpering pitifully in pain and appeared to have lost all of awareness of her surroundings. Carol wished she could cover her ears so she didn't have to listen to the horrible sound of her death. Surely she couldn't have much longer left to live; most people would perish within the hour just from receiving one bite.

Sure enough after a few minutes the girl had gone still and there was silence. Carol was alone once more.

She broke down then, hyperventilating because of how hard she was sobbing. She had never felt so alone in her life. She could feel nothing but despair now, and shame.

It was only a matter of time before Isis returned and then she would die. Even the "merciful" offer that Isis had given her did little to comfort her as she couldn't think of a painless death.

And she didn't want to be killed at all. She wanted to see Memphis again. She had not even been able to complete the wedding ceremony before that lion had snatched her away.

Her family and friends would never see her again either if she died here. They would spend the rest of their lives not knowing what had happened to her, not knowing that she had died three thousand years before they even existed...

Help me...Please, someone save me! Goddess Isis, please hear my prayer...

But then again, even if she was rescued her life would be forever ruined. Although she longed to see him, she doubted she would be able to look Memphis in the face any more after what Isis had done to her. How would he react if he knew? Would he be more furious with Isis or with her?

It didn't matter anyway. He would never know. Isis would be sure to keep the truth from him. Perhaps he would get over her disappearance and marry Isis anyway, and she would get her wish. She felt nauseous at the very thought.

It would have been better if I never came here. Why did she bring me here if she didn't want me here?

She continued to pray, but by now she didn't even know what she was praying for.

Yup, I'm going to hell.