Chapter 1: The Prologue of Bast
Long before life ever came into what is now our universe, cosmic deities gathered to unite their powers that would eventually destroy them and spread the existence of planets and living creatures. Whatever was left of the deities solidified themselves into six stones that each hold energy holding the values of existence: space, reality, power, mind, time, and soul. These stones were called Infinity Stones.
Unfortunately, when not held properly, the stones could unleash destructible energy that can destroy both their users or the people and environments around them. The stones could only be used properly either if the user was powerful enough to hold them or if he used some way to wield the stones without touching them physically, lest he burned to oblivion.
Seeing that the Infinity Stones were far too dangerous, the most powerful but responsible beings in the universe decided that the best way to keep further chaos was to hide the gems from any greedy hands. Those beings handed the gems to six different powerful leaders of six different civilizations or groups that devoted the rest of their lives into ensuring that nobody got their hands on the Infinity Stones for dark purposes.
The first stone, the Space Stone, had the power of opening portals in-between worlds. It was put under the supervision of Odin the king of Asgard, who forged it into a cube called the Tesseract that he hid away in a human church, thinking that the enemies of Asgard would never find it there.
The second stone, the Reality Stone, could turn matter into dark matter. Originally turned into a liquid called the Aether and guarded by dark elves, it had to be locked away in an unknown location during the war opposing Bor from Asgard and Malekith the power-hungry dark elf.
The third stone, the Power Stone, granted the user an unlimited amount of destructive energy capable of killing a planet. It was sealed in an orb and guarded in a temple on the planet of Morag.
The fourth stone, the Mind Stone, could either emit energy blasts for physical attacks or allow the user to control the mind of others. As far as we know, the Mind Stone was said to be under the supervision of a Titan race that kept it in a scepter wielded by its kings.
The fifth stone, the Time Stone, granted the user the capacity to control time. It is currently held in the Eye of Agamotto, an amulet guarded by Earth's mystical sorcerers. The last time I heard about the stone, it had been used by Doctor Strange to keep Dormammu from invading the humans.
And finally, the part you were waiting for. The sixth stone. The Soul Stone. It is the most unpredictable of the six Infinity Stones, for it allows the user to give or take any soul he pleases. The stone had been given to my people's very first king and god, Ra the almighty god of the Sun. He used his grand powers to turn the stone into a glowing rotating disk that became the Eye of Ra, and with it, he created the very first of our people out of the rays that it unleashed. Mortals call us ancient Egyptians, but we preferred to be referred to as Rapharions, because Ra was our godly city's very first pharaoh. As he built our city, he constructed a pyramid temple at the top of his palace, where he rested the Eye of Ra at the very top, allowing it to illuminate the city with endless sunlight and promising a prosperous life for all the immortal lords and ladies and mortal slaves who lived under its light.
Many centuries had passed until the city was finally finished and the mortal world began to worship us. By that time, Ra decided to allow the Eye of Ra to decide on who should take the responsibility of guarding the Eye between his two existing grandsons and heirs to the throne, Osiris and Seth. He held a ceremony and, before the eyes of every citizen, the Eye of Ra shone like the rising sun and let its first ray touch Osiris as its chosen protector. Osiris became the god of the afterlife and the king of the Rapharions, earning the love and respect of all his citizens and the mortals that he led to the heavenly afterlife.
But Seth grew jealous of his brother being favored over him, so he stole the Eye of Ra from the temple one night and used it to rip Osiris' body and souls that he spread all over Egypt. It took years for Osiris' wife, Queen Isis, and the Rapharions to collect the remains of the king, but by the time they did, Osiris returned in time to see Seth unable to wield the Eye's angry sentience that plunged half the city into chaos and destruction. After Osiris defeated Seth in a duel and returned the Eye of Ra back to its place and the city back in one piece, the angry Ra banished Seth into desert parallel prison where not even the sands of time could tell the evil god how long he had been imprisoned.
Tired by what had happened, Ra decided to go into an eternal slumber, but before he did, he casted a spell on the Eye of Ra, ensuring that it would not make the same mistake of confusing king with protector. Centuries passed and Osiris ruled over the Rapharions while Seth was stuck in his prison. The only one allowed to go from visiting Seth to visiting her royal in-laws was Seth's wife, Nephtys the Goddess of mourning. She was Isis' sister, therefore allowing her to spend time in the palace with her while not visiting her husband in his prison.
One visit, however, Osiris decided to give his brother a humiliating reminder of his treason, so he assaulted Nephtys in her sleep, and when she came back to Seth, he was infuriated to see her pregnant from his brother. Seth instantly disintegrated the baby, and as punishment, he destroyed any fetus that was growing in Nephtys' womb, even if they were his children. Miserable, Nephtys swore that she'd sacrifice her life to get her next child. The moment she found out she was yet again pregnant from Seth, she did not return to him and stayed at Isis' domain until she bore her child. Knowing she'd have to return to Seth, Nephtys pleaded Isis to take her son for her. Isis, having already giving birth to her firstborn Horus just recently but not liking how he already reminded her of her husband, gladly accepted and lovingly adopted the child while Nephtys left to meet her death at the hands of Seth.
Osiris was of course unhappy about Isis adopting Seth's son without his permission, but because it was too late to change the motherly love Isis developed on the child, he reluctantly let her keep him and name him Anubis.
Just then, the Eye of Ra shone just like it did when Osiris was chosen to be its protector. Thinking that Horus would be chosen just like his father was, everyone gathered for yet another ceremony, but their excitement disappeared when the light did not shine on the beloved king's firstborn but on the brute that Isis kept holding in her arms. Nobody liked the fact that Seth's son was chosen to protect the Eye of Ra, but what could be done? Osiris instantly lost his connection to the relic as it decided to tether its energy to the small child that was Anubis.
As the years went on and the Rapharions grew in numbers, worshipped by the believers, Anubis became what he is now known as the god of mummification and the souls' guide to Osiris' judgment, but no matter how much he tried to prove his commitment to the city, his duty as a god and the protector of the Eye of Ra, he only received fear from the mortals and hatred from the Rapharions. In the eyes of mortals, he was Death leading them to possible Hell, and to the other Rapharions, he was just Seth's son. It didn't matter to them if Anubis had more compassion and curiosity for mortals and loyalty to the city, they hated him regardless. Only his adopted mother Isis and his teacher Maat genuinely cared for him.
But the Sands of Time have run out, and sensing that Seth would be freed from his prison and go after the Eye of Ra, Isis went against Osiris and ordered Anubis to flee the city with the Eye of Ra to keep it away from his creator's clutches. Unfortunately, by goading Anubis into running away with the Eye of Ra, Isis inadvertently caused the city to be unprotected by Seth's forces. Barely any of the Rapharions have managed to escape the destruction that has followed from what I know. But what is certain is this: Seth won't rest until he finds Anubis and retrieves the Eye of Ra.
Present
"So Anubis has the Eye of Ra?"
"Yes! I mean, come on! I just bothered to give you a lecture on the Infinity Stones, their locations, and the fact that Seth is after the sixth one, and all you can think of is 'Anubis has the Eye of Ra'?"
Frankly Thor wished he hadn't come back to Earth in a time of crisis. After two years of being away from Earth, he and Banner returned to find the Avengers divided in half over taking responsibilities for the Sokovia. Thor had Banner stay with Heimdall, who was guarding the other Asgardians in the spaceship they had just arrived in, because the latter foretold that there was an enemy that Banner did not want to see. And after encountering Secretary Ross forcing the Asgardian king into acknowledging the Sokovia Accords the moment he arrived at the compound, he understood why.
And then the arrival of Bast did not help. The Rapharion had instantly been labeled as a threat and Ross demanded her arrest if she wouldn't agree to the stupid page stack, but Thor was thankful that Vision had managed to convince the annoying Secretary and the other divided Avengers to let Bast speak to Thor so that he could hear her cause. Naturally, Thor was aware that the room they were in had cameras and recordings, but as long as the mortals didn't physically bug them, they'd be fine.
"How long has it been since Seth returned and vanquished your city?" Thor asked Bast.
"Unfortunately right after the Vienna bombing," Bast coughed. "That was a good year ago."
"Seth's been out there for a year? You must be lucky to have survived!"
"Hardly! With the Eye of Ra gone, the Rapharions have lost their supply on ambrosia and nectar as well as their city's protection..." She coughed even more and began to collapse on her chair. Thor caught her before she could fall. "Find Anubis... Keep Seth away from the..." Bast coughed one last time before eventually disintegrating into a pile of sand that dissolved into the air like a ghostly stretching cat that disappeared into oblivion.
Thor sighed and stepped out of the room, running into a waiting Vision in the hallway. "I do hope that is not a way to die among the immortals," Vision said in an apologetic tone.
"No, it's just common among Rapharions," Thor shook his head.
"At least Bast has given suitable information on the Infinity Stones' capacities and locations. Now all we need to figure out is where the sixth is," Vision said. They walked down the hallway and ended up in the conference room of the compound. The two factions of Avengers were there, including the annoying old man.
"I'm sorry about your comrade," Steve said sincerely as Thor sat down on the nearest empty chair.
"She was dehydrated, starving, and exposed when I found her." Thor shook his head. "Without her normal godly food, she would have died anyway. The only thing that I know is that I have to find Anubis before Seth does."
"But where can he be?" Natasha asked. "It's a big world..."
"And I know who can help me find him." Thor instantly got off his seat until he found Ross giving him a halting hand gesture. "What now?"
"What gives you the right to decide on how to handle the situation?" The man asked sharply. "In case you forgot, the Avengers are now government-handled and thus will follow our demands on how to approach the situation without damage..."
"In my defense, you've already caused damage with the Sokovia Accords and Banner has told me about what you did in Harlem," Thor said firmly. "Besides, Anubis has a bad history of superiors and worshippers hating him despite everything he's done for them. You forcing him to sign your silly papers will anger him. I'm sorry if this does not appeal to you, but I will meet with him with my neutral connections and outside your ridiculous demands." He pushed aside Ross' hand and made his way out. He looked one more time at his old teammates with his one eye. "I'm sorry, but I cannot be a part of divided Avengers. Good-bye."
At least he went out the front door and flew away in a bolt of lightning without messing the lawn, reassuring Tony Stark.
"So how do we find a jackal headed god with an Infinity Stone running around in seven different continents?" Rhodey asked casually.
Mediansburg, a small ignored town in the Midwest, a year ago
She had no idea what the Hell just broke into her barn, but Marion had no intention of waiting to find out. After grabbing her father's old rifle from the broom closest, she went through the back door and cautiously made her way to the barn. The cold wind of this particular April night stung her skin even though she wore a baggy, but comfy sweatshirt.
The moment she got to the door, she pushed it in slow motion in order to avoid getting whatever went inside to be alerted by the door's creek. After a good minute or two of carefully opening the door, she stepped in, her father's rifle in hand. So far she only saw the familiar stuff that never changed since her parents' death. The haystacks, the small woodcarving workshop, the old red tractor... Everything looked normal until she heard a loud horse cry and she saw her family horse, Moonlight, kicking on the pen as if to get out.
"Easy, girl!" Marion quickly calmed down the horse by gently caressing it on the neck. The mare calmed down but kept hitting on the pen's door. Marion opened the small wooden door to see what the mare wanted, and the latter instantly got out and stood behind the girl. Marion, in the meantime, was busy aiming the rifle out of shock at the thing that had managed to get inside the pen, probably frightening the horse.
It was young man, roughly appearing to be five or six years older than her. His skin looked like a rich mix of coffee beans and beach sand that clashed with the bloody scratches he had (oddly enough, his blood was golden instead of red, but that didn't improve things), his raven black hair was all tangled, wet, and messed with twigs and leaves, and whatever remains he had of his white outfit was reduced to rags. His hands and feet were dark and bruised and his nails were sharp but chipped. His striking golden eyes with black pupils looked like he was hopelessly tired and his muscles and chest were heaving up and down while insanely sweating. The only thing that looked...like it wasn't traumatized, was the large necklace that stuck to his collarbones and wielded this giant glowing orange disk with Egyptian falcon wings attached to the sides. The gem literally emitted a glow that made Marion feel like it was a giant eyeball glaring at her.
"I'm sorry..." The man said. "I... didn't see the harm of...resting in the barn... for the evening." He was constantly trying to catch his breath and calm down. Marion took pity and lowered the rifle.
"How long have you been running?" She asked.
"I lost track of time..." He confessed as he tried to sit upstraight. "I don't even know where I am..."
"You're in Mediansburg, the most ignored town in the Midwest of the United States."
He just stared at her, his eyes widening as he digested the information. He was almost going to lose it until Marion quickly grabbed a blanket that was stacked in the woodcarving workshop and brought it back to the man. "Thank you," he said as he covered himself with it, trying to shield as much of his bare skin as he could.
"Look, I don't know who you're running from, but you could definetly use a bath," Marion said. "Luckily for you, I have some leftover soup and some of my dad's old clothes hanging around in the closet."
Minutes later
For someone who looked like he ran through the woods for hours, the man didn't take a long time to wash himself up. After she brought inside her cottage and led him to her parents' old bathroom, she went downstairs to heat up the chicken and lentil soup she purchased from the market earlier today. While she heated up the soup, she listening to the running water upstairs and noticed that the man was mostly muttering to himself. It was probably only four minutes once she heard the water stop running, and by the time she put the bowl full of soup for him on the kitchen's small table five minutes later, he came back downstairs, fully cleaned and dressed in her father's old black yellow plaid shirt, lumberjack jeans, and boots. His hair, though still wet, was brushed enough to make him look like Dev Patel's hot twin. If it weren't for the fact that his necklace on top of the shirt contradicted his now casual look... and the eyes...
"I hope I'm not too... startling," he spoke with concern as he stepped inside the kitchen.
"Well, aside from the trinket on your neck, you look fine," Marion said. "You might want to tuck it in. If it's authentic, you could get it mugged."
"Your concern is appreciating, but a mugger would just burn to a crisp if he touched it." He sat down on the nearest chair. "Besides, keeping it hidden caused my tunic to burn while I was running. The last thing I want is to burn your father's clothes..." He looked around the kitchen before looking back at Marion. "Are you certain your parents won't mind you hosting a complete stranger in the middle of the night?"
"No, they won't..." Marion shook her head silently. She filled up two glasses of water and brought them over to the table. "They won't mind since... they're dead." The young man froze before he could dip his spoon into the warm soup. "My mom should have known better than to beg my dad into taking her to this artisan fest in the big city while the road was icy. Three days later, right on the first day of school after the Christmas holiday, I get accosted by a cop right when classes are over and he tells me that they took a wrong turn and fell into a ravine." She sighed. "Luckily I have a rich friend who managed to pull a few strings so that I could keep living in my home and avoid being drafted in the foster system."
"I'm... sorry," he said. He gulped down his soup the same way a kid was trying to hide his face in guilt when his parents ask him what grade he got on his math test and the kid acts like he caused the apocalypse.
"Are you a superhero or something?" Marion blurted out. "Because with that thing on your neck, you definetly don't look like one of the guys I occasionally run into on the street..."
"Believe me, if you knew who I was, you'd think I was anything but a hero." The man shook his head. "I could try to be as compassionate towards humanity as I want to, but they fear me as much as my comrades hated me."
Marion just stood there, looking at him until she concluded in a deadpan tone: "You had a bad childhood that crushed your confidence, haven't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Hey, I may have suffered from losing my parents a while now, but I can tell when I see someone with severe trauma." She drank from her cup while he finished his soup. Her eyes turned to this framed map of Mediansburg that her parents kept hanging by the window and she pointed a finger at it. "You see that? That's an old relic from my mom's family back when Mediansburg was founded in the pioneers' era. At that time, nobody could figure out on which state in the Midwest the small patch of land would belong to, but eventually it got ignored as the Western expansion continued. With everyone interested in places like Hollywood, Vegas..."
"The big cities," the man nodded.
"Yeah." Marion shrugged as she kept looking at the map. "Mediansburg was still the smallest, most ignored town in the US. Men who dared to go to World War II never returned, the youth that got sick of being farmers never returned... In the end, the town became what it is now. An isolated town for the maximum of fifty people who either want nothing to do with the outside world or just want to live a peaceful life."
The man sighed in relief, the gem on his necklace slightly glowing in secondary action with him. "In that case, I am secured in here."
"Why?" Marion asked. "Are you being hunted down by the government?"
"I should hope not," he said. He put his hand on his necklace's golden trimmings and cautiously showed her the gem on it. "There's a bad person I know who wants to do something bad with this gem called the Eye of Ra. I had to run away from home in order to keep him from getting a hold of it." Marion got interested but still kept her distance. "The Eye of Ra can give life to things, but it can also take it. If Seth... I mean, the bad person I know, gets a hold of it again..."
"Again?" Marion frowned.
"Well it happened once, but that was before I was born!" He said in defense.
"Yeah, you're Anubis aren't you?"
"How did you know?" He froze in his seat. The gem reacted by sending an orange blast at the empty bowl of soup, turning it into an animated bowl that made its own way to the sink without even chipping itself. Marion chuckled at the scene while Anubis covered his mouth in embarrassment.
"Well let me see," she giggled as she leaned on the chair, "you hide yourself in my horse's pen, you burned a tunic, you wear an Egyptian necklace with a gem that you call the Eye of Ra, and you quickly caught yourself when you called the bad person 'Seth'. And knowing from my mom's bedtime stories, Anubis was the son of Seth and since you had a traumatic childhood, it was probably because nobody liked you for being his kid."
"Yeah." Anubis grumbled as he slouched on the chair. "Story of my life."
"But if you're related to the guy who wants to steal the Eye of Ra," Marion said as she brought her glass to the sink where the sentient bowl was having a bubble bath, "doesn't he know that you have it?"
"I should hope not." Anubis snapped a finger at the bowl, returning it back into being inanimate under Marion's thankful eye. "Seth was imprisoned after he tried to use the Eye to rule upon my home. It was Isis who raised me after my mother Nephtys abandoned me to avoid dealing with my father. I never met him, but I'm assuming he probably heard the rumors. Anubis, god of mummification and chosen protector of the Eye of Ra, hated by everyone except his adopted mother Isis because he is the son of Seth the god of deserts and chaos."
"That's unfair," Marion said in pity. She dried the dishes and put them back in the cabinets. When she turned, she saw that Anubis was looking drowsy. "Look, you're far away from Seth, and like you said, you're safe here in Mediansburg. Feel free to stay as long as necessary."
"Thank you..." Anubis nodded until he saw her poking his nose with a daring, but firm finger.
"But let me make it clear, Anubis!" She said sharply. "I got two conditions that you need to follow. First, as long as you are my guest and in my house in my town, you follow orders, and second, don't use your powers unless it's for dire emergencies! I don't want the Avengers or the government to start harassing me because I have a god for a guest! OK?"
"I have understood your terms and I promise to keep my caution and powers in check... if you promise to not touch the Eye of Ra." Anubis gently pushed her finger away and used his to point at his amulet.
"Hey, I'm not your housekeeper!" Marion warned. "I'm not going to polish it for you. You're a big boy... Wait, how old are you?"
"Old enough to know that twenty-first century women hate oppression imposed by the male species so I'm going to be a very nice puppy?" He said sheepishly.
"Uh." Marion nodded in approval while Anubis got off his chair and gently pushed it back in place like he was afraid to break it into pieces. "You know, for a god who doesn't get much respect and makes his epic arrival in this century, you're actually decent."
"I guess." Anubis shrugged. "I mean... I'm really content with your hospitality, but I don't deserve this..."
"Well you could always sleep in the barn rather than a nice warm bed..." Marion rolled her eyes.
"Never mind, I deserve it!" Anubis followed her like an automaton out of the kitchen and back up the stairs leading in the bedroom areas.
"You can sleep in my parents' room, but..."
"OK, I know I'm a god, but that doesn't mean I'm a ravisher!" He shocked her by guessing what she was going to say. "And honestly, you should watch out. People could be culturally offended or think you're discriminatory!"
"Sorry." Marion lowered her head. "I'm... new at this."
"I get it," Anubis admitted before going back to seriousness. "But seriously, never touch the Eye of Ra!" He pointed a finger at it. "It takes extremely great power to wield it, but if a mortal or a completely week individual touches it directly with nothing to protect the flesh, it's a one way ticket to death." He bit his lip. "The amount of daring mortals I've seen crazy enough to try stealing it burned to such a crisp, their souls even got burned..."
"How does a soul burn? I thought souls were like... spiritual?" Marion waved her hands above her heart.
"It's just a way of saying that even I, the mummification god and the protector of the Eye, can't collect the souls." Anubis shook his head right when Marion opened the door to his temporary bedroom. "Their souls are instantly erased from existence. They're damned before I can even bring them to the final judgment. It's like they never even existed."
Marion's eyes looked at him with pure sympathy. "How could the other gods hate you so much for being Seth's kid, they'd leash you with such a curse of protecting the Eye?"
"They didn't want to. The Eye of Ra chose me for the job." He sighed and went inside the room. "I thank you again for your generosity."
"Sure. I'll... see you in the morning." Marion gently closed the door, leaving him to get some sleep. She didn't stay long to check if he was sleeping, but judging how she heard what sounded like mutt snores, she assumed that he finally got some sleep. She herself went to her bedroom and rushed to her bunk bed, but before she fell asleep, she grabbed the framed picture that rested on the nightstand. It was a picture of her, as a child, with her parents on Independence Day years ago.
"Mom, Dad," she prayed. "If you believe in chances, than please beg the Lord that Anubis will get a better chance at life."
