The sun was setting low behind the sandy dunes to the Far East. Splashes of colour streaked the sky in a kaleidoscopic array. I stood on the balcony of the temple, leaning on the railing, watching as the last warmth of day fell slowly into night. My long black hair was blown out of my face by a slight breeze. I love twilight; it's not to hot, and not to cold. I knew that once the sun was completely gone, it would get extremely cold, even though I did live in the deserts of Egypt. I am a priestess of Bastet, even though I am only 17. Both of my parents are in the service of the gods, my father under Osiris and my mother under Isis, so I felt compelled to follow in their footsteps. I don't resent them for it, serving the gods is a good life. I have a home and food to eat every night; I have nice clothing and the opportunity to learn.
Hearing footsteps on the stairs I turned so I had a view of who was coming up to the balcony. I watched as the head of the main priestess, Acenath, came into view.
"Keket, what are you doing here?" She asked
"oh…nothing.." I said, still gazing into the sky. Acenath came to stand beside me.
"Your parents are coming tomorrow." She stated. I whipped my head around in shock.
"Tomorrow? They're not due for another visit until next week! What could they possibly want? Are they bringing Kiya? Do I need to show my spellwork?" My voice trailed off as I saw the stern look on Acenath's face.
"Firstly," she began, "they have pressing business here that requires them to come earlier. Secondly, I believe they have a divinity meeting and maybe a consultation with the Nobles. Third, they aren't bringing Kiya, and lastly, I believe that they would want to see some of your new spells, you did study them, didn't you?"
My guilty look gave me away.
"Keket!" She reprimanded. "You were supposed to practice last night! Where is your head girl?"
"I was going to practice!... but I was distracted…" I defended
"Keket, Keket" she groaned while shaking her head, "you do realize if they don't see any improvement, they will send you away?"
"I know" I stated miserably, "but I just can't seem to grasp the concept of the basic spell incantations"
"Have you gone for extra help?"
"Almost every night, but still nothing, maybe I'm no good at sorcery, maybe I should just quit"
"Keket," she stated firmly, "you were born with the spirit of Bastet entwined with your soul, you will be an amazing priestess, if you ever paid attention to any of your lessons. I'll be damned before I let someone with as much potential as you have give up." Her stern face broke into a huge smile. "Now, maybe you should go to bed? You have a big day tomorrow."
"Yes Acenath" I said respectfully before bowing slightly and rushing down the stairs. I sped through the great hall with their pillars of alabaster, and golden statues of the gods, past the room to the dining hall, usually crowded and noisy, through the outside hall lit with the moon reflecting on the lily ponds, and into the dormitories.
My roommate looked up in surprise as I crashed into the room. Our room was a decent size with two sleeping mats on a reed floor. A stack of books was placed at the back and thrown across the two writing desks at the back wall. Our window faced the back lily ponds, and the linen curtains were blown about by the soft night wind. I quickly ran to my desk and flipped open my spellbook before hastily trying to cram in last minute spellwork.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" My roommate, Hafsah, questioned worriedly.
"My parents are coming tomorrow!" I cried angrily, "and they expect me to have all my incantations memorized!"
"Really?" Hafsah exclaimed. "I thought they weren't coming till next week."
"Yes well, that was changed, and of course no one thought to tell me." I mumbled under my breath.
"Keket," began Hafsah, "you aren't going to learn them all tonight, and you need your sleep for tomorrow, why don't you go to sleep?" Ah, there was my good old roommate, always the voice of reason.
I sighed "yeah, you're right, but I'll have you know, I won't get to sleep for hours" I got up and crossed the room to my sleeping mat. I sat on the edge and undid my leather sandals before throwing them across the room and slipping under the light linen sheets.
"Goodnight, may Isis watch you and Ra bring you to a new day." Whispered Hafsah, before slipping into her own bed.
I sighed and turned over so I was facing the wall. I waited until I could hear Hafsah's gentle breathing before I let silent tears run down my face. I was scared for tomorrow, scared of failing, scared of letting down my parents, but mostly scared of the fact that they would send me to a new school. What would happen to me there? The temple was all I had ever known, I was raised there, I knew the people there so much that they were almost family. If I was sent away, I would lose all that. "Bastet, help me," I whispered to my patron goddess before my eyelids slipped close and sleep took me over.
The next morning brought a bright clear sunny day. The sunlight woke me up. I lay in bed tense and nervous before deciding that something to eat would do me good. I crawled out of bed and exchanged my dirty linen dress for a nice clean one. I threw on my jewellery and dabbed on a bit of make-up before slipping on my sandals and heading out the door.
I hurried into the dinning hall, ignored the food line and instead grabbed a mango, and headed to where Hafsah was eating her breakfast. I slipped into the seat and Hafsah glanced up.
"Morning!" She exclaimed cheerfully, "how are you feeling?"
"As nervous as if I was facing Ammit himself" I grumbled before taking a bite out of my mango.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine. You're as smart as Thoth and as beautiful as Bastet herself"
"You do realize Bastet was a cat right? You know, fur, whiskers, that's not much of a compliment" I replied sarcastically.
"You know what I mean" She defended. "Anyway, shouldn't you be going? It is almost 10 am"
"What!" I cried, "Why didn't you tell me? I've got to go!" I sprinted put of the dining hall and into the great hall as fast as my legs could carry me. I skidded to a halt when I reached the main chamber of the great hall. I stopped to catch my breath, panting and wheezing, before looking up into the disapproving faces of my parents.
My father, Jahi, stood there, as tall and imposing as ever. He was dressed in traditional priest clothing, with long flowing robes and pendants as designated by rank. My father was high Priest of Osiris, a very honorable profession to be sure. Unfortunately, this prevents me from seeing him aside from select times during the year.
My mom, Kamilah, stood beside him, a vision of beauty to rival the gods. My mother is the high priestess of Isis. I know she worked hard to gain this profession, even though rumors have been spread that she got the job on looks alone. My mother and father were an arranged marriage, in hopes of producing the next generation of powerful sorcerers. I, unfortunately, have let them down in that respect. My mastery of the ancient magic is one of the weakest in the whole temple. The only reason that I can even stay here is the fact that I supposedly have the spirit of Bastet living within me.
"Father, Mother." I greeted respectfully before bowing slightly.
"Keket," my father responded, "how good it is to see you, on time"
His sarcasm bit deep and I flinched slightly, expecting the worst. I looked back to see my mother gently put her hand on my father's arm and glanced at him with a pleading look on her face.
"Jahi, please" She said with a tone of frustration in her voice, before turning to look at me. A smile broke across her face. "Keket" she said lovingly, "you are the image of Isis, tell me, how are you?"
"I'm fine"
"Keeping up with your studies?" She questioned.
"As best I can" I mumbled.
"That's good" She said in her same loving tone. "Would you care to show us some of your best spellwork?"
I shuffled my feet around, pretending to concentrate on the light reflecting off the anklet that I wore. "Actually" I began, "I was wondering if I could wait until next week? You see I was only told of your visit last night and I believe that some more time would…" I broke off watching disapproval colour my father's face.
"It wasn't a request Keket" stated my father, "Now since you seem incapable of deciding on a spell yourself, I will choose one for you. I will start off easy, making sure the basics are covered, show me a basic water spell."
Water spell, water spell, I thought, now was that under the elementals? But wait wasn't a certain element under the spirits? Do I use a god calling? Ummmm…. Nothing was coming to me, oh well here goes nothing. I placed my hands palm up and concentrated. After a couple seconds of envisioning the result of my spell, I began to recite my incantation "جلب الماء إليها ، أو إلى هذه الأرضالأرض والسماء ، والرياح ، والمياه ، واسمع القياد
I stopped as the felt an intense burning in my palms. I looked down and screamed as I saw my palms were on fire. My father instantly leapt forward and a stream of water shot from his own hand, dosing the flames quickly spreading across my hands and arms. My mother was close behind him covering my hands with her own, healing them before the burns got worse. Tears of pain and shame rolled down my face "I…I'm s…soo..sorry" I stammered through my tears, "I don't know what happened"
"Oh honey, it's alright." My mother soothed, wrapping her arms around me and allowing me to cry into her shoulder.
"I know exactly what happened." My father hissed, "you have been neglecting your studies. And it's no wonder, being raised in a temple where they concentrate on looks rather then skill. We should have sent you to an outside school long ago. But no matter, that's where you're headed now."
"No!" I cried, ripping myself out of my mother's arms and standing to face him. "You can't do that! I'll get better I swear! Please just give me a chance!" The tears were now flowing freely down my face.
"A chance!" My father roared, "that's all you've been given in life, chances! And you've failed at every single one of them! You aren't improving on your own, so this school will force you to!"
"Jahi!" My mother broke in, standing to face us both, "we were going to discuss her results together before deciding whether school would be best for her."
"Kamilah…" My father groaned shaking his head, "you can't keep defending her, you saw her performance. Even performing a basic water charm she failed and instead conjured fire. I'm starting to think she doesn't have the spirit of Bastet inside her at all."
"I do!" I screamed. "I swear I do! Please I'll get better! Just don't send me away!" My knees gave out beneath me and I fell to the floor. I glanced up, the statues of the gods looked down on me. That seemed to be happening a lot, people looking down on me.
"Oh get up" My father scoffed, "have some pride, you're still a priestess of Bastet, so act like one. Now the train comes tomorrow, I expect you to be packed and on it. You will update us with letters on your progress once a month. The academy has a high reputation, it will be good for you to be in a situation where rules are followed. As you are there, I expect you to be responsible, civil, and polite, you need to represent your country and your culture. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes father" I mumbled.
"Now go" He commanded
I nodded, bowed, and then turned and sprinted out of room. "Keket, please!" I heard my mother call but I ignored her. I ignored all the priestesses, calling out as I ran by. I ignored Acenath, with her worried expression. I ignored Hafsah, who tried to get me to stop. I ignored everyone until I had reached my room. I burst through my door and flung myself onto my sleeping mat. I lay there, tears staining my blankets, only ever feeling happy when at last darkness overtook me.
A gentle nudge of my shoulder shook me awake. Immediately I knew I had slept for too long, as the sun was already high in the sky. I shot up into the startled face of Hafsah.
"I'm sorry," she began, "it's just that the train will be leaving in a few minutes and Acenath said you needed to get going and I didn't want you to be late and there was…"
"It's ok," I interrupted, resting my head on my drawn up knees, "I guess I'll start packing." I whispered to myself.
"It's done," Hafsah said. I glanced up at her confused. "It's just that last night you were kind of out of it, and I didn't want to wake you, so I decided to pack it for you." She gestured toward my bags sitting against the wall beside the door.
"Oh" I said, realization setting in that I wouldn't be sleeping here tonight, "thank you"
"No problem." Hafsah smiled, "now, do you want to get breakfast?"
"No" I replied. I stood up and started to change into my turquoise halter dress my mother had given me, tying gold bands around my forehead and waist. "I think I'm just going to go to the train station, don't want to be late, do I?"
"Oh ok" Hafsah conceded. I slipped on the last of my jewellery and fastened up my leather sandals. I then crossed the room and started picking up my bags, trying to balance them all so I could walk properly. "Here," Hafsah said, crossing the room, "let me help you." She started reaching for some of my bags.
"No, it's alright." I said, jerking away from her. "I'm going to have to carry them all the way to the train station, why not start now?"
"You don't want me to come?" Hafsah said, hurt evident in her eyes.
"Sorry, but I want to do this alone," I said.
"Alright, well I guess this is goodbye, for now." She wrapped her arms around me. After a brief hug, she turned and opened the door for me. "Go on, get," she said jokingly.
I laughed, "Ok ok," I said moving out the door, "I'm gone."
I passed through the temple hallways until I was out on the street. Passing through the labyrinth of market vendors and people trying to sell me things I didn't need, I finally reached the train station. I put my bags down and leaned against one of the pillars, waiting for the train to come. It wasn't until I heard a familiar voice complaining that I moved.
"Ugh, when is this train going to come? I'm dying over here"
I smiled and moved from under the pillar until the owner of the voice came into view. "Temari?" I called.
A sandy blond head whipped around in my direction, before a smile broke across Temari's face. "Keket! What are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for the train," I explained, joining Temari and her brothers. Temari was the oldest, followed by her brother Kankuro, and finally Gaara. Their family is famous, as their father is one of the main advisors to the Pharaoh. Their mother was dead; apparently she died giving birth to Gaara. Their mother wasn't Egyptian, which was probably why Temari and her siblings looked different from the traditional Egyptian style. Although they all had tanned skin, Temari's blond hair and teal eyes stood out in the crowd of black hair and brown eyes. Kankuro could blend in the most, as he had brunette hair and black eyes. Although he did wear the traditional face make-up of the Egyptian Alchemists, which tended to stand out a bit. Gaara's looks were the most unusual, with his shock of blood red hair and sea foam green eyes. Aside from their peculiar looks, they also were incredibly powerful; Temari had the wind spirit entwined with her soul, while Gaara had the sand spirit. Kankuro was an alchemist, although I wasn't sure what he specialized in. Temari's voice brought me back to reality.
"So are you going to Nitesco?" She questioned.
"Yeah," I replied, "I'm being sent there, I kinda need some more help" I mumbled, embarrassed at my failure.
Temari and Kankuro glanced at each other. "Don't worry," Kankuro reassured, "Nitesco is great, you'll learn a lot and be back here in no time, we've been going since we were kids."
"Yeah, the teachers are all great," Temari continued, "And the dorms are awesome, which house do you think you'll be in?"
"House?" I questioned, "What do you mean?"
"There are four houses you get put in," Temari explained, "Aqua, Terra, Aeris, and Ignis. I'm in Aeris, Kankuro's in Terra, and Gaara's in Ignis.
"Oh, well I'm not sure, I guess I'll have to…"
"Train's coming" Gaara interrupted.
We all turned to look at where the train was supposed to arrive. Sure enough a sleek and modern looking train pulled up to the platform. Nervousness gripped my stomach as I ran back to where I had left my bags. Balancing my bags across my body I went to catch up with Temari.
"So where do we go?" I questioned.
"Oh we're at the front," She explained, "all academy students are first-class, there's a special conductor up there, just hand him your ticket and he'll show you where to go, do you want to sit with us?"
I considered this for a bit but then decided I'd better learn how to get around by myself. "No thanks," I replied, "I'm just going to read so I'll sit by myself."
Temari shrugged, "suit yourself, we'll be at the very last compartment on the right if you change your mind."
Temari walked off to find her brothers. I walked to where Temari had directed me. The conductor there looked up and smiled as I handed him my ticket, there was something weird about him, but who was I to judge?
"Welcome to Nitesco! First year at the academy?" He questioned.
I nodded, still a little creeped out by him.
"Excellent, you'll love it there"
"So I hear," I replied managing a small smile.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what species are you?" He questioned.
"Oh human or I guess a sorceress," I answered
"Great, you'll fit right in." he smiled warmly, "go on in, and have fun!"
"Ummm, alright" I said, quickly moving into the academy part of the train. I looked around at the many kids all crowding the hallway and sitting in different compartments. Great, I thought, everyone has groups of friends; I'm so not going to fit in here. I went and found an empty compartment and sat down. The train started moving as I gazed out the window, watching my home country of Egypt speed by. During the ride all I could think of was how I was going to make friends. I didn't want to follow Temari and her brothers around all the time, and besides, I didn't think Gaara liked me too much. Actually I don't think he likes anyone.
The train made a few more stops on the way to the Academy, passing through Syria and Turkey. Each time more students would get on, making the train even more crowded. It was late in the afternoon when the train made one of its final stops in Greece. I was prepared to just ignore this stop as I had the last couple, but that plan was shot as I heard a soft voice call from the doorway of my compartment.
"Um, excuse me, is this compartment full?"
I looked up and saw a girl about my age standing in the doorway. The girl was obviously Greek, with her olive complexion, she also had long auburn hair and eyes that were emerald green. "No," I replied, giving her a small smile, "you can join me if you want."
"Thank you. My name is Kalonice, by the way." She said while putting her suitcase into the over head rack, before sitting across from me.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Keket. I'm from Egypt."
"I'm from Greece, obviously" She replied.
"I can tell. You do look very Greek." I realized that I had forgotten to ask a very important question, "Oh, if you don't mind me asking, what race are you?" I questioned.
"Oh, I'm a demi-goddess" She replied. My eyes widened with shock. I had never met anything close to a god before, even a demi one. Thoughts of how my parents would react crossed my mind and I had to stifle a laugh.
She looked at me concerned, "what's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, I was just thinking about how my parents would act if they found out the first person I met here was a demi-goddess." I replied, trying not to laugh.
"Why's that?" She asked confused.
I thought about how I would tell her, not wanting her to think my family was weird. After a couple seconds I just decided to tell her the truth. I leaned forward slightly. "Well you see, I'm a human, but I have the spirit of a cat inside me. I was a priestess at the Bastet shrine. My mother is a priestess of Isis, and my father is a priest of Osiris. Since I was blessed with the spirit of Bastet in me I can read spells out of my spell book. Also, since my parents are priests they would adore you, worship you even, just because you're a demi-goddess."
She looked at me shocked before replying, "oh, that's…weird."
I laughed internally when she said this, "I know it is. I think it's kind of weird too. Then again my parents would be scolding me for not getting on my knees and bowing to you right now too," an idea quickly crossed my mind, "excuse me a moment."
I reached into my carry on bag and pulled out a pen and paper. Well, I thought, my father did say he wanted updates on what is going on.
"Um, what are you doing?" Kalonice asked as I started writing
""Writing a letter to my mom and dad. They'll freak when they find out I met a demi-goddess." I replied.
Dear Father and Mother,
The trip has started out well, I met up with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara on the platform. I boarded the train and met the conductor…