Chapter 2: The Arrival of Seth
Pyramids of Giza, present day Egypt
"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to witness the splendor of the pyramid of Giza!"
It seemed to be a normal day for Egypt. European and American tourists were flooding out of the bus and following the tour guide on this hot day of June. After all, who wouldn't be excited to see one of the wonders of the world, this symbol of ancient culture? To think that right now, they were visiting the location of several pharaohs' burials.
"Mommy! Mommy!" A kid was shaking his mother's skirt while his father was taking pictures of the pyramid.
"Now, sweetie, don't interrupt the guide!" She scolded her child.
"But mommy, why's the pointy thing dark?"
The child pointing at the pyramid of Giza caught everyone's attention. As the sun hit the top of the pyramid, the tourists noticed that the tip was suddenly turning black, and like oil in water, it spread down the pyramid. Once it left the now stained pyramid, it hit the sandy grown. A ripple blew all around it, making some of the tourists scream.
"Somebody call the police!" The tour guide shouted. "I think we have a Code Red!"
The wind of sand turned into a violent black twister that only lasted a couple seconds. When it ended, the tourists saw a patch of black sand moving upward, forming a liquid goop that turned into a humanoid shape. The child from earlier hid behind his mother while his mother shielded the latter.
Sunrays made the black sand shine on the body, causing it to brighten... and bring forth a man. It was hard to tell what his natural skin color was because every inch of his skin, even the skin on his eyes, was covered with hieroglyphic tattoos that ranged from a bloody red to a pitch black cut. He was rather muscular and wore a red robe with black motifs of a strange devilish animal barbarically feasting on humans. His feet, bare and scarred, were resting on the burning sand.
The man took a deep breath and opened his eyes, frightening the tourists as they saw that they were wilder than his tattoos: the colors always changed from blood red to pitch black.
"Free at last..." He said. His voice sounded deep and raspy, like he had spent years sucking the last breaths out of every other corpse he ran into. He lifted his head and sneered at the tour group. "Am I ever lucky. I just got freed from my prison, eradicated all the other gods, and I get a human sacrifice!"
They gasped in horror. "Sir, we bear no ill will, but who are you?" The tour guide asked.
The man snorted. "What mortal bears no ill will to me?" He suddenly dissolved back into sand and reappeared before the tour guide. The startled man had no time to scream, for the mysterious one clutched him by the skull and started to combust him, turning him into an armored humanoid with the same head as the animal on his robe. He let go. The animal instantly attacked the nearest tourist, and the next thing you knew, all the tourists were being mercilessly bitten by the beasts and turning into exact replicas. The child's parents tried to make a run for it, but the least they could do is hide their child under the bus. The poor creature, despite his small age, managed to not scream and reveal to the new ignorant army that he was still alive and in one piece as he watched his transformed parents and the other tourists line up and kneel before the mysterious man.
"Hear me well, my new army of the Black Sand! You now serve me, the almighty Seth, and will aid me in my quest! You shall help me retrieve what is rightfully mine, and I guarantee you human feasts when I remake this world into my image!"
The 'army' roared like a pack of vicious animals. "Now go!" Seth barked. "Searched all of Egypt and the rest of the lands! Do not return until you have located Anubis!"
They hollowed and turned into the full-sized animals they now became. As the pack dispersed into different angles and disappeared into the horizons, Seth turned back into a trail of black sand that slithered back into the stained pyramid. Once he made sure that everything was safe, the kid tried off his tears and pushed himself from underneath the bus. He walked over to the open doors and stepped inside, where he found a nice sitting spot near the AC. Once he made sure that nothing was in sight out in the desert, he pulled out a gray cellphone with a golden logo on it and dialed a number. Once the ringing was done, he got an answer. "Agent Hasani? Is something wrong?"
"Big time bad," Hasani shook his head. "Seth is finally back in the world. He just turned a group full of mortals, and my folks, into a set animal headed army."
"Are you sure?" The person on the other end of the line said in a worried tone.
"I confirm." Hasani nodded. He looked back at the window with the best view of the pyramid of Giza. "He even made one of Egypt's best landmarks suffer a bad case of laundry stains. Oh, and he just hid back in the pyramid while he sent his new dogs to find Anubis."
"Shit." The other line cussed. "Report immediately back to headquarters. I know it's against the rules, but it looks like we'll have to reach out to the American branch."
Mediansburg, a year ago.
Morning rays of sunlight hit Marion on the face despite the blinds covering her window. A groan escaped her lips as she kicked the sheets off her legs and jumped out of her bed. Her hand grabbed the string to pull up the blinds... and she saw a black jackal running around for no reason in the field. And judging by the Eye of Ra resting on its neck, she assumed that it was Anubis being a morning bird, but in dog form.
She shook her head in amusement and quickly put on some cleaner clothes. You'd think that after all the insane running he did last night before landing in Marion's barn, he'd be oversleeping.
She grabbed her bag and raced down the stairs before making it outside. Anubis was now amusing himself by rolling on the grass as if it were one giant green rug. It was rather intriguing, seeing the jackal dog actually behaving like a dog when in animal form. This caused Marion to play a teasing trick: she put her index and middle finger on her lips and gave a sharp whistle. Anubis instantly brought his head up in annoyance, contrasting Marion giggling.
"I see you're alert," she said. The god looked deadpan at her and walked out of the field.
"You know, my ears are more sensitive when I'm in jackal form." Marion's eyes widened when she saw the canine's mouth open and comprehensible words coming out of it. Guess what, Anubis could talk whenever he was a jackal. "So please, never use that annoying whistle on me unless it's for a dire emergency."
"Sorry." Marion apologized. Anubis inhaled deeply and stood on his hind legs. By the time he exhaled, he morphed back into his human appearance, still dressed in the same clothes Marion had offered him last night. Evidently, he had gotten enough sleep to replenish himself, but he still looked like he relived another traumatic event.
"Anyway, I need to go to town to make some errands. Want to come? I know a nice diner where I mostly go for breakfast," she said.
"Depends on the distance," he said. "If it's a good hour away, I'd need to morph back into a jackal..." He stopped when he saw Marion looking at him in disbelief.
"It's a small town, Anubis. I think you can survive doing a ten minute walk from here." She started making her way to the dirt road. Anubis followed her in his human form.
"I'm sorry for bothering you," he said as they used the road to cross the forest, making the air smell like an aroma of leaves and mud. "It's just that I've never interacted with mortals on the surface. Normally I did my godly duties underground... Since I'm the one who has to deal with dragging the dead weight around." He muttered at the last part.
"Seriously? Your peers were so mean to you, they wouldn't let you talk to mortals?" Marion asked in disbelief. Then again, she felt somewhat honored about the idea of being the first human contact of an ancient Egyptian god.
"Well, there is that, but... how do I explain it?" Anubis gestured his hands as if he were dividing things apart. "See, when Ra brought the gods, or the Rapharions, as we prefer to be called, my... society has viewed the mortals as, well... particular creatures that needed guidance while at the same time must be divided from us and give respect. To put it simply, my 'peers', as you call them, treat yours like insects."
"Charming," Marion said drily. "And I suppose that the ancient civilizations calling you benevolent gods bringing on the seasons, the sun, and the crops... Is it just a way to cover the facts that they're jerks?"
"I'm assuming," Anubis shrugged. "I mean, some of the Rapharions do go once in a while to the mortal world, but it's primarily to spread wrath to the unfaithful or pursuing a mortal that could spread demigod offspring. I only went to the mortal surface once and..." He gave a nervous grin. "You know the plagues."
Marion gawked. "You brought the ten plagues?"
"Not the best time of year to have sympathy for the Hebrew slaves and help Moses free them while Osiris was having the anniversary of my... I mean Seth, cutting Osiris into pieces." He chuckled a bit. "I won't lie, the locust plague was my personal favorite. Horus actually got ten of them chewing off his tunic, he was stuck naked on the main plaza."
Marion smiled a bit before saying with sympathy: "Seth must have screwed big time to make you hated by everyone."
Anubis looked grimly at the road ahead of them. The forest was now starting to fade away, making way to a larger area. They were now standing on top of a hill giving a good view of a small town. It seemed that from a distance, the place only had like three or five main streets, a maximum of thirty buildings consisting of row houses, a church, a town hall, few large mansions, a schoolhouse, and other things that weren't visible from where they stood. Small figurines were seen moving around, either by foot, by average cars, or even by tractors or horses.
"That... is surprisingly bigger than I expected," Anubis said. "Roughly one tenth of the city of the Rapharions..." He then smiled and started making his way down the hill. "No one would suspect me of being here."
"Why? The small size?" Marion followed.
"That, but also the low amount of deaths," he said. "See, when immortals like the Rapharions get the rare opportunity to go out in the mortal world, they primarily go to places that attracts their divine jobs. For instance, Thoth would probably go to Oxford, Hathor in some strip club in Vegas -I swear, she's a show off- and Horus would probably go to any place with lots of falcons."
"I hear Boston has a lot of those."
"So have I. And as for me... the other Rapharions like to tease about me going to places like New Orleans or maybe any graveyard in Romania..." He gasped in contempt. "Wow. I really have nothing nice to say about home now that I'm in the mortal surface."
"Try toning down the godly dialect, otherwise you'll get yourself noticed." They arrived in Mediansburg. The next five minutes of walking into town were both awkward and amusing for the duo. It was awkward because while Marion kept her usual casual self, Anubis kept his composure stiff. It was like having a stick walk next to a German Shepherd. It then got amusing because Anubis would lose his stiff walk to make a pause and observe with curiosity his surroundings. Everything seemed to be a new discovery for him from the bookstore and thrift shop opening their doors to the random parents bringing their parents to school or the old man running the pharmacist wishing a friendly nice day to the local priest. After reaching Wood Street, they came to face a diner.
"A diner inside an old merchandise train wagon?" Anubis looked at the thing, roughly the size and length of one row house. It still stood on wheels, but they were chained to the ground to prevent it from rolling away. The old thing was painted with brick red paint on the walls and dark green around the window and doorway to make it seem cohesive with the neighborhood. Through the windows, one could see that the owner had done some serious construction to make the inside look like a classic American diner. One end of the wagon had been demolished in order to build an outdoor platform and place tables and chairs for people who wanted to eat outside and have a view of the pleasant street and fountain. "Rather original."
"The Homely Diner," Marion sighed eagerly. "C'mon!" She rushed inside the diner and he followed her. The doorbell dinged as soon as the door popped open and the smell of cooked meat and sizzling soda filled their nostrils.
"Hey, look! If it isn't Romanson!" A chubby bearded man in a dirty orange cooking uniform stepped outside of the kitchen and gave Marion one greasy hug. "How've you been?"
"Swell," Marion grinned while flicking away the grease she got on her shirt.
The man then spotted Anubis. He then gave Marion a teasing arched eyebrow. "My, my, Romanson! When did you find yourself a boyfriend?"
Marion blushed fiercely. "He's not my..."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jack Allen," Anubis smiled and shook the man's hand. "I'm new in town and Marion is just giving me a place to stay while I settle in Mediansburg."
"Catchy." The man smiled back. "Well it's very nice having you in our little corner of America, Jack. I'm Ol' Simon and any new friend of Marion gets on-the-house servings. Would you two like a booth or a normal table?"
"Booth," Marion said.
"Actually, could we go with the bar?" Anubis said at the same time. Before Marion could glare at him, he quickly changed. "Lady's first pick!"
"Booth it is, Simon," Marion said. Ol' Simon gave a small chuckle of amusement and led them to a red colored booth right below a hanged picture of a David Bowie concert poster. As they sat down, the old fellow brought them the menus. "So Jack, what brings you to our small Midwestern home of nobodies?" He asked.
Marion bit her lip.
"Issues back home," Anubis said with a small sigh. "I mean, I should have seen it coming. With my dad getting incarcerated and my mom committing suicide, my uncle encouraging the rest of the foster family and the neighborhood to hate me... At least my aunt had enough love to encourage me to leave and make my own life."
"Bummer," Ol' Simon said sympathetically. Marion, in the meantime, rested her cheek on her disbelieving fingers. She couldn't believe how the guy easily fell for such a story. "Well, I do hope that Mediansburg can be your ideal sanctuary. If you ever need anything, let me know."
"That's kind of you." Anubis nodded and opened up the menu. "Any personal recommendations? I have quite the carnivorous appetite."
"Come to think of it, isn't it today Tuesday Brunch Day?" Marion looked at the menu herself.
"Yep," Simon said.
"Great, I'll go with my usual scrambled eggs and sausages." Marion closed her menu and handed it back to Ol' Simon. "With regular coffee."
"Got it." Ol' Simon grabbed a notepad from his uniform and started taking notes. "What about you, Jack?"
"Ooh, the Six Layers of Bacon and a glass of orange juice would sound like a great order, please." Anubis slightly licked the corner of his lips.
"I like this guy." Ol' Simon smiled as he gathered the menus. "I'll be back with your orders in a bit." The man left for the kitchen, leaving the two alone at the booth.
"I can't believe how you managed to twist your story enough to make Simon pity you," Marion said quietly. "And seriously, 'Jack Allen'?"
"Immortal thing." Anubis unfolded his napkin and placed it on his lap. "Besides, do you know what my foster brother calls himself? Horace. Hathor? Heather. Sobek is probably the most ridiculous... At one point in the 1940s, he goes to Cairo because he's ticked on the illegal crocodile skin marketing, next thing you know, he comes back home telling everyone..." He slouches on his seat and pretends to flip his hair, making Marion snort a bit. Anubis then spoke in a casual, savvy tone. "'Sup, I'm Sorbet.'"
That did it. Marion cracked up in laughter. Her laughs almost caught the attention of everyone else in the diner, but for them, it was just another Tuesday where somebody lost it whenever he or she heard a funny story.
"Seriously? He calls himself after Italian ice cream?" Marion calmed down and slowed down on the laughter. "Sorry, I shouldn't be laughing..."
"Yeah, I didn't laugh either... well, not in public."
"Why not?"
"Plague number one?"
"Oh." Marion now understood that he meant one of the ten plagues that, guess what, he unleashed. She remembered that the first (and most modernly popular) of the plagues was the one of the Nile River turning into a blood river, depriving the people of any fresh water to drink or to grow their crops.
"Yeah, he owned the Nile River... he wasn't crazy that I stained it with blood?"
"Did you tell him that it was for a 'good cause'?" Marion air-quoted. Anubis tilted his head, his frown clearly saying 'Hello, Seth's kid apologizing wouldn't make a difference'!
A waitress came carrying a tray. For Marion, she placed a purple mug full of steaming coffee, and for Anubis, she put down an orange juice glass. It didn't escape Marion's eyes that the waitress, one of the many she encountered on a weekly basis whenever she came to the Homely Diner, giving the Rapharion a flirty wink accompanied by a smile. Marion felt her cheeks burning until she saw Anubis responding to the waitress' message by giving an ignoring huff and straightening his napkin. The dissatisfied woman left in a rush.
Anubis then moved his hand to the Eye of Ra (yes, he still kept it on top of his shirt) and cautiously nipped at it with his fingers. Microscopic sparks came for five seconds and the man quickly flicked the tiny shard he picked into his drink. Marion watched in awe as the small thing dissolved into golden fluid in the beverage.
"Wow," she said.
"I promise to be discreet," Anubis said. "But Rapharions need to drink a weekly dose Ra's blood..." He saw Marion tense. "It's like the Egyptian version to Asgardian mead and the Greek's nectar and ambrosia, but it acts like a substance to support our metabolism. It doesn't affect the flavor of the food and drinks I feast on, but it will keep me from dissolving..."
"Dissolving?" Marion asked.
Anubis grimaced. "Let's just say the Rapharions were rather dependent on this." He poked at the Eye of Ra. "Let's suppose you were a Rapharion. You live in the city and imitate others by depending on the Eye of Ra to provide you sunlight to brighten your days, earth for the slaves to grow the crops for the feasts, water to drink... Everything you eat and drink in the city is basically ambrosia and nectar created from Ra's blood from the Eye of Ra. Make sense?"
Marion nodded.
"But then suppose you decide to visit another realm or the mortal surface. You're now exposed and out of your garden. Before you leave, you need to bring a portable reserve of Ra's blood so that you can insert it in your food or drink..."
"Basically, if I didn't have the reserve to keep me on at least once a week, I'd start turning into a mummy?"
"A dried up mummy that blows away like desert sand in the middle of a storm." He drank from his cup and began to widen his eyes. "So yummy!"
"House special!" Ol' Simon dropped the plates before them. Marion rubbed her hands in excitement when she saw her scrambled eggs and sausages while Anubis did his best to not drool like a dog as he gave desiring eyes to burger holding six layers of stacked, steaming bacon in between a lettuce leaf and a tomato.
"May I please faint?" He begged. "Or perhaps wolf down on it?"
Ol' Simon chuckled and gave Anubis a pat on the pack. "Man, do I like this guy!"
"Now don't spoil him, Simon," Marion joked. "He'll probably empty your freezer before Thanksgiving!"
"Oh, ha, ha!" Anubis stretched his fingers and grabbed the burger. The humans watched him eat in slow motion, literally taking his time taking a huge bite and chewing it. "God bless the pig that was well raised before turning into those slices of heaven!"
"Marion, I swear, keep bringing this guy every day!" Ol' Simon was begging in excitement. "This is the first time I see somebody enjoying my bacon!"
"Why? Doesn't everyone like this?" Anubis stopped eating his burger.
"It's complicated," Marion said as she went through her scrambled eggs.
"We're a small town, Jack," Ol' Simon said as he pulled over a chair and sat down next to them. "Everyone contributes with the survival of Mediansburg while at the same time gaining what they can manage. Some folks like me and this town manage places like the diner where people gather to eat and I deal with at least a quarter of my customers being either vegetarian or non-Christian. Others go out of town to come back with the necessary technologies that keep the town in touch with the modern. And then there are some who are in charge of making food for us. We have a couple farmers who grow fruits, vegetables, and beans, others who make the frozen goods and drinks, and then there's Marion and the others going hunting..."
"I didn't know you could hunt." Anubis looked at Marion.
"Heh, it's nothing," Marion said sheepishly as she drank from her coffee.
"She's so humble," Ol' Simon shook his head. "Aside from the Longwood Livestock Ranch, most of the meat we get in Mediansburg comes from the hunters who go into the woods. The entire blasted place crawls with wolves, deer, boars..."
"I thought boars were European." Anubis frowned.
"Invasive species from Corsica. And then there's the turkeys. Gosh, Marion's the best at hunting animals on her own with her rifle. The other hunters claim that whenever they see her hunt, she's so silent when she sneaks up on the beasts that they don't see it coming until she shoots the bullet right into through the neck."
"That sounds amazing," Anubis said in impressment. "I wonder if..."
The doorbell dinged and some blonde woman in a dirty overalls and boots got everyone's attention. "People, this is a going on message!" She shouted in her Southern accent.
"Is it the potato field again?" Somebody asked.
"Yeah, it's still completely flooded," the woman shook her head. Disapproving groans came from the clients.
"A flooded field?" Anubis asked.
"Yeah, last week was awfully pouring," Marion said. "Tess there works in the vegetable fields and they just got the potato field all mud filled, it's like a brown pond drowning the crop."
"And the crops take such a long time to make, Tess will have to take another two months to grow another field out of scratch." Ol' Simon shook his head. Anubis said nothing, and before Marion could say anything, he got off his seat and walked up to Farmer Tess.
"Ma'am, I know it's not much of my business, but would it be possible for me to have a look at your potato field?"