We had lived here for 70,562 years now. We had no one else. We were isolated and alone. The outside world was a very enticing for a young goddess such as myself. I was the oldest child of the great sun god Ra and the only child of the goddess Mut. Her life ended as mine began. However, my father needed more heirs to the throne in case I was ever unable to take his place one day. And even though I was destined to be the next great ruling god, I was never interested in leading my people. Some of my siblings on the other hand would have given up anything to be the crowned heir. I had my gaze fixed on a more mysterious land. I wanted to know what was outside of our protective barrier of endless sand. I had no idea what my future had in store for me.
Every morning I would climb the obelisk that stood near my own temple to gaze out on the sunrise. The colors of the morning sun filled my eye with endless wonder. What lied beyond the endless desert? Was there other being such as us? Or as strong as us? If there is I want to be stronger than them! My heart yearned to know.
"Bastet!" My father floated down from his solar boat to scolded me like he did whenever he caught me up there. He was just returning with the sun from his nightly endeavors in the underworld. "How many times must I tell you. No one is allowed to venture beyond the desert. It protects us."
"Protects us from what father? I want to know. I want to become stronger than any danger that lies beyond what our eyes can see" I protested. This was my dream. I wanted to make it so we didn't need to hide from whatever the desert what 'protecting' us from. From whatever it is my father fears.
"We're gods. We see all. We know all. And we are the most powerful beings on Earth. Come it is time for your training."
As the new heir to the throne my father was going to ensure that I would be prepared at any time to take his place. This meant extensive training in combat, in politics, in academics. Everything. As were my siblings and our cousin Seshat, daughter of Thoth and Ma'at, but I was always the focus. I was even taught things that the rest weren't. Thoth was training me in something the humans called nen. It was in his lessons I discovered I was something called a manipulator meaning I was able to use my aura to control things, even living object. So I trained using my own beasts. Lions, horses, wolves, even elephants succumbed to my control. I learned how to summon them and use them to my advantage. I thought I was invincible when these new powers were combined with my own natural talents.
We were taught by our family members. Our uncle Thoth and grandfather Khnum taught us different academics like math and history; our grandmother Neith, uncle Sobek, and aunt Serket all trained us in combat; and our aunts Ma'at and Hathor taught us about justice, compassion, love, and other such important qualities in life.
This morning we started with hand-to-hand combat. Each of us were given a short knife to defend ourselves with. We always fought each other. Never killing each other, but broken limbs and deep cuts were to be expected at by the end of the day. My sister Sekhmet was the fiercest of us all, but I was stronger and much smarter than her. She knew this as well, and it infuriated her to no end.
There were many tournaments that we held. Some where for the adults to let out some steam and others were for us younger gods. The rules were simple: the opponent left standing inside the battle rink was the winner. Usually we weren't allowed to use any special abilities till the last round. Brute strength and strategic abilities were our greatest assets in our lives. But when the final round comes along, it gets really interesting, there we can win by any means necessary. We fought each other with our family and other members of the tribe watching. With every one I participated in I wanted to be the winner. I never had any doubt in my mind, I knew exactly how to win. I was oldest, and I had the perfect combination of strength, brains, and skill. I knew how to manipulate the minds of my opponents with my tantalizing words, I knew how to distract my foes, I knew how to use them against themselves, I knew how to seduce them at will. I also had my secret abilities in nen that only Thoth new about.
The first brackets of the tournament were to be chosen at random, and the winners from each match would move on to the next the first round.
I was first matched with my brother Shu. Even though he was very agile and excelled at aerial attacks but I was much stronger and smarter than he was. As expected, he relied on his abilities to jump high and stay in the air for extended periods of time, but what goes up must come down. When he landed I was able to take him by surprise and take the victory. Sekhmet, Anhur, and a village boy Ptah also won their fights to advance to the next round.
My next fight was with my closest ally, my brother Anhur. He was the second oldest child on Ra. Even though I did not want to fight him, I was determined to be the winner of this tournament like all the others. It was a hard battle for me to win. But I did so nonetheless. I could tell he was holding back, but to be fair, I was as well. I loved my brother and had no desire to harm him in any way. But my blood lust was great. In order to win I needed to knock him out of the battle rink, that way I would cause the least amount of damage to him and still win. My victory was bittersweet, but I soon forgot my brother when I heard who I was to fight next.
My little sister was always trying to one-up me, but to no avail. She was emotional and headstrong, and I knew how to use that to my advantage.
I knew she would try to make the first move so I needed to start at her quickly. The battle would not start until Neith said so. "What's the matter sister?" she looked at me wondering why I was bothering to speak rather than fight. "I know how much you would love to knock me off my feet" I taunted her further. I loved the way she looked when she was mad. It made me stronger.
Then Neith came to the center of the battle rink and shot me a look telling me that I should wait till the battle officially started, but I didn't care this was fun. Toying with my baby sister.
"This is the last fight. Whoever wins this will be the victor of the tournament. There are no rules this round. Win by any means necessary." With that she quickly made her way to the sidelines by Hathor. They both knew that this battle would not be an easy one.
At that I could help the sly smile from escaping my lips. I was going to win; there was no doubt in my mind. I could do whatever I wanted. Meaning I could use the powers I have learned. "Come on Sekhmet. Make the first move. I'll give my poor little sister a head start" I teased her further. And with that she broke out in rage. She transformed herself to her form as a lioness and charged me. But I was quicker and dodged her attack by gracefully jumping and twirling in the air, gently landing on the opposite end of the rink. She turned to face me. Her eyes glowing red with rage. I loved this. Toying with my irrationally headstrong sister. "I'll even let you punch me in the face. A free shot." I leaned forward as if presenting my cheek in her direction. "Come on, baby sister, come and play." My aura rose, I was going to reveal my nen abilities to the rest of the tribe. Next to me the sands began to shift. And from the writhing sands rose my work, An elephant I summoned and now controlled with my nen. There were gasps of amazement and horror. I loved this. My sister looked frightened. She was too afraid of what I created that she backed out of the rink, and lost the battle. I won! I knew I would.
When I cut off my aura and looked around I realized that the attention was not on me or sekhmet or even the elephant I conjured, but instead off in the distance.
What could their focus possibly be on? I thought as I looked at them with a questioning look. As I looked I saw what they were fixed on. Now I heard whispers. "I thought no one could get to us", "The desert is here to protect us from the outside world", "How is this possible?" they all said. There was a person coming towards our village. I turned to look at the expression on my father's face. I found him moving swiftly through the crowd to meet whatever it was that was coming for us. He was not pleased.
As the plume of sand came closer we could see there was two figures - one taller and another smaller one.
"What is it?" I asked Hathor who had moved closer to get a good look at what was approaching.
"Humans" she whispered never taking her eyes off the two.
I didn't know how to feel. I was excited to finally get to know what is beyond the desert, but also afraid. What if they were dangerous? What if they came to attack us? My mind reeled with questions, and all the possible outcomes that these visitors might bring. My thoughts were interrupted by my father's voice.
"Who are you? How have you found this place" His voice echoed against the walls of our temples, the palace and every building the stood in our village. It was a regal voice. The kind of voice that could make all the water in the world stand still and silent.
Those of us who were not tall enough to see over the shoulders of the other members peered through their legs. I weaved my way to the front of the crowd. If I am going to be ruler I would need to know how to deal with such situations. When I got there I could see more clearly what these newcomers looked like.
The larger one was obviously a female of her species. She was wearing a black cloak, but I couldn't see what she wore underneath. The ski that was showing was pale, almost white. And she had paint on her face. It looked like it was once in shapes but now it was smeared against her skin with blue and red. The few stray locks of red hair dangled in front of her face. Her eyes looked panicked and frightened, but there was something about her that was strong.
The smaller figure was a young boy. He looked to be about eight years old or so. Many of his features seemed to match that of the woman whom he tried to hide behind. They must be related I thought to myself. His face was scarred and his tear-blurred eyes were fixed on my father.
"There has been talk of a mysterious desert and those who enter never return. So, when some bad people came for us … I thought it would be the best place for us to disappear to." The woman's voice was soft. She sounded as if she were about to cry.
Thoth stepped forward. "Where do you come from?"
"We live wherever we can afford to live. I used to be apart of a circus, but I had to leave when I became pregnant with my son. We've have never stayed in one place very long since." She looked down at the boy still clutching her hand tightly.
"Who forced you here? What did they want from you? Did they follow you?" Ra's tone quickened as he spoke. He was obviously worried that whoever was after these people had followed them here, thus endangering our tribe.
"No. They would never follow anyone who goes into the desert. They stop at the edge of the sands. They wanted my son. They were going to sell him as slave because I wasn't able to pay them."
I felt bad for them. I looked at my father to see if there was any sign of compassion or sympathy in his face, but he was always very good at concealing any emotions he felt.
"What are your names?" He finally asked.
The woman looked up at him hopefully then answered. "I'm Tashiro and this is my son Hisoka." The boy still had his gaze fixed on my father. My father stared back at him, not blinking.
Is he looking at this boy's soul. What does a child have to hide? What might be in his future that my father finds so interesting?
Ra began to turn around when he said, "Well you are welcome here." He turned to face me. "Bastet!". Now both Tashiro and Hisoka were looking at me with bright smiles on their faces. "Show them to your villa. Bring them to their rooms. I want your servants to dress them for tonight." Then he turned to face the crowd and said, "Then we will hold a feast to celebrate their arrival. They are now to be friends and members of the tribe if they so wish to be." He turned again to face me and our newest members. "This life is not for the faint of heart, however. We will ask you to contribute to the tribe. Are you able?" My father would never put the tribe in danger. He must see something in them that the rest of us cannot.
"Yes. We're performers. Magicians." Tashiro brought her fingers closer to her face and suddenly as card was there in between her index and middle fingers. She threw it passed my father's head and into the talat building behind him. I wanted to know more about them immediately.
On the way to my villa we exchanged questions.
"How old are you?" Tashiro asked me.
"I was born 8,744 years ago." She looked at me with a blank expression, obviously humans do not know of a god's life span or how we age. "But I age much slower than mortals. So, if it makes more sense to you I am about eight years old and in three months I will be nine." I knew she would be confused at first, but if she is going to live with us she will have to learn how we live.
"Ooh, did you hear that Hikosa." She now looked down at her son who looked at the temples we passed and seems to be in amazement. "She's about the same age as you are." He said nothing, but instead looked at me with the same amazement the temples gave him.
"What is it like out there? Are there others like you? Are mortals still ruled by pharaohs?" I couldn't help myself. I wanted to know what the world they came from was like.
"Yes, there are people who are similar to us, but we were always outsiders. As for the pharaohs, no there hasn't been any for quite some time I think." I wanted to ask more, but I contained my excitement.
When we reached my villa my servants were waiting.
"The rooms have been prepared my lady." said my personal servant Neferem.
"Thank you. They will be bathed and dressed for tonight. But I will show them around the villa before we leave." I told my team of servants. They bowed them scurried off to their usual duties.
I lead Hisoka and Tashiro up the stairs to where the rooms where. "Tashiro, this will be your room and the one across the hall will be Hisoka's." I gestured with my hands at the two doors sitting across the hall from each other. "My room is at the end of the hall should you need anything. And in just a few minutes I will show you around the villa and introduce you to its inhabitants. But for now, the servants will bathe and dress you and tend to whatever you need."
"Thank you very much Bastet." She grabbed my hands in hers and smiled at me as a tear fell from her cheek. I simply smiled back at her and waited for them to retire into their new rooms.
Later, I waited for them in the main hall and thought to myself. Why did my father order them to live with me and not just have a villa built for them to have? These people were strange and different. There must be something he knows that I do not. Well if they are to be living among us they'll have to learn our language quickly. My thoughts were halted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
"This place is amazing!" exclaimed Hisoka. His face was filled with wonder and amazement. They had obviously never been around such luxuries.
When Tashiro joined us in the main hall I gave them a tour of where they would be living. We walked out of the main hall to start the tour at the stables. There I showed them my horses, Zee and Lotta.
"There will be new horses soon and when they're able to take riders you will choose your first horses." I explained. "Here we don't just own the animals, but they are our companions. We choose them and they choose us. It's a very strong bond."
When we passed by some of the stable boys chatting away in our native language while they tended the horses I told them to inform Ipu to ready the horses and chariots for tonight. They nodded and bowed as we turned to leave for our next destination.
"What is the language you speak here?" asked Tashiro.
"It is an ancient language that only we speak now. If you are to stay here you must learn it. We have the best scholars ever to exist." This was true, Thoth had created the language himself, and there was nothing he couldn't teach.
We continued on to the workshop, the servants quarters, dining hall, kitchen, and livestock pens. Last was the gardens. I loved to sit out there and listen to the birds and the fountain. My cats would join me most of the time, they spent most of their time here or in the kitchen or even in the main building. Not only was the garden full of beautiful flowers, trees, and bushes but it also had medicinal herbs. Not to mention my favorite: catnip. Tashiro seems to love the area as much as I do. She went from flower to flower smelling each one. Hisoka on the other hand played with the some of the kittens that trailed behind their mothers.
When we finished exploring my villa I took them to the main entrance where Ipu was bringing the horses and chariots.
I suspected my father wanted them to be the center of the night conversations. Perhaps he will further question them on their intentions?
"Zee is a lot stronger and more reckless than Lotta so I will take him to the dining hall." I told them as I walked over to the reddish-brown stallion and rubbed his nose. "Ipu will be the Lotta's driver tonight. But there can only be two people on each chariot, shall I take Hisoka?"
"Well I don't see why not. You seem to know what you're doing." Tashiro seemed to trust me a lot even though I only met her a few hours ago.
I stood aside to allow Hisoka to board the chariot first and I would stand behind him. Luckily for me he was about an inch shorter than I was, so I was able to see where to lead Zee.
Even though he tried to hide his nervousness he couldn't stop the sweat the began to form at his hairline."Hold on to the sides. Hold your head and chest up high. You look more confident then." I tried to encourage him."Ready?" He turned just enough for me to see his left eye, and gave a slight nod. Zee snorted loudly as I cracked the reins against his back signaling him to go forward. Hisoka's back pressed up against me from the sudden movement forward, if I were not there he would have fallen right out. I couldn't help but laugh just a little. He immediately straightened up to show me he was confident, even if he was really nervous.
When we arrived at the dining hall most everyone else was already seated. We left the horses in the care Ipu and the other stable boys at the stables which lied just behind the dining hall. The building was lit with torch light. It was loud with meaningless chatter. At least until the people say Tashiro and Hisoka, then everything became whispered.
There were men with long spears standing at the entrance, they were my part of my father's guards. Another man greeted us with a bow, then turned to face the room that lay before us and led us a little further into the hall.
"Lady Bastet." As we entered the eyes around us followed. The only face that smiled was my father's. The whispers grew even quieter now. No one risked angering Ra. But it was not for me, but rather the people just behind me. "Lady Tashiro and Lord Hisoka." They eyes around the room stared questioningly.
Everyone was here. Even my great-grandparents Nun and Nunet. Everyone had been waiting for us.
I turned to them to see that they had no idea what to do. "Come." I beckoned them to follow with my hand. They were to sit at the end of the long table.
When we reached my father, he smiled. "We've saved you seats." He motioned with his hand at the three empty seats sitting to his right. Tashiro sat closest to my father, then Hisoka, and then me. Once we were settled my father turned to face the rest of the room. "We're here to celebrate the coming of our new friends. Surely many of you are questioning my decision to let them stay and live among us. I have looked into their pasts and their futures, and I have seen them live in peace among us." We all knew that he had the power of foresight so what he says must have some truth to it. Ra continued, "I have seen many things in their futures, both bright and dark, but this is true for every member of this tribe. We all have bright and dark parts of our lives. They are to be treated as any other member of this tribe. They will learn our ways, they will train alongside us, and they will also contribute to the community." I looked around to see the expressions on the others face's. Some of the members seemed sceptical.
"And what do they have to offer us?" It was Neith who spoke. She has always been protective over the tribe. She would lay down her life for the well-being of it's people.
In response, Ra simply looked to Tashiro. She stood and presented a deck of cards. "Magic" she replied.
However, my grandmother was not convinced. "Thoth and Ma'at are the best magicians in the world. In fact, they invented the art."
Tashiro simply smiled a very sly looking smile. "That may be so, but I have perfected it." Now she was walking towards the great goddess of war. "As I understand it you are Neith, the goddess of war and hunting. You must be very skilled to have earned yourself such a title." Tashiro walked towards her shuffling her cards, taunting my grandmother at the same time. "You see I don't just use my cards for tricks." She continued. "They're also my weapons. Would you like a demonstration?" I could tell Neith was surprised, but I also knew that she would not back down from a challenge.
How could simple playing cards be used as a weapon? Especially against one of the greatest warriors ever to live.
"Fine." My grandmother finally said after wagering the possibilities
Tashiro smiled devilishly. "Then I want you to pick a card, and show it to Sobek sitting next to you" She held out her hand with the deck and waited for Neith to grab a card. Neith complied. "Now both of you remember that card and then Neith put it back in the deck." As soon as Neith slipped the card on top of the deck. Tashiro shuffled. It was actually quite amazing, the way she threw the cards in the air and then catch them in a perfect deck. Looks of amazement were shared around the table. Then Tashiro continued " Not only do i use my cards for magic, but they're also my weapons. Now I want to you to dodge my cards, if you can" Neith was our best warrior there was no way she would be defeated by simple cards. I looked at Hisoka to see if he showed any concern for his mother. Instead I was surprised to find the same sly smirk that his mother had painted across his face.
Nervous looks were exchanged all around the table. What is she planning? I wondered. I looked at Thoth to see if he gave any concern for the way his magic was being used, but I was surprised to find that he wasn't even watching. In fact, he sat there with his arms crossed and his head down, but he was smiling. Now what are you planning? I thought.
I went back to watching Tashiro and Neith. Tashiro fanned out her cards and threw them in Neiths direction. The cards, to our surprise, made the same sound that our swords made when they were struck hard against a limestone wall. Now all the playing cards were firmly embedded in the stone doors. Looking to the origin of the card, we saw Tashiro still shuffling her cards. Then I looked at Neith. Beads of sweat came down her forehead and dripped into a fresh cut on her cheek. My jaw dropped. She had been cut by one of the cards.
"Now, since Neith looks to be in a state of shock, Sobek do you remember the card she drew?" He nodded slowly. I think he hoped he would not end up like his mother. "Good, then would you be so kind to find the card that struck her in the face, it would be the only one with a bit of her blood on it." Everyone held their breath as Sobek got up to find the card she described. Then he grabbed it and spoke "It was the joker". He held up the card to show the crowd. There was blood on the corner.
Tashiro gave a bow as the hall exploded with applause. As she headed back to her seat I saw that that she was still smiling. Had she enjoyed showing off?
Then Ra spoke "See. I believe our guests will serve as any other member of the tribe. Now let us feast!"
Everyone was still in shock and amazement. Our greatest warrior was cut by a playing card! Of all things.
Who were these people? Ooh well. I thought. It matters not anymore, they are on our side. But I still couldn't help but wonder if there were other people just like them. The thought frightened me, so I casted it away and focused on the food, drink, and conversation.