AN: HI. I don't know if readers of this fic are still out there but, I HAVE RETURNED. Sorry that I've taken so long. A lot has happened in the last couple years.
You may have noticed a slight change in my writing style. Apologies if this bothers you. I just can't write in past tense anymore, it's really weird. And- sorry that this chapter is so short! I had to pump it out or it was gonna drive me nuts.
Enjoy!
Born of Osiris
Chapter 4: Anubis
"Wheeler? Wheeler?!"
I snap up from my desk. "Huh? I mean— Uhh. Yes." I rub my eye as I attempt to sit up in my seat. Tristan snickers.
"Would you mind sitting up while in class? You're sixteen, not six."
I resist the urge to flip him off and tell him that his brilliant remarks aren't funny.
"What can you tell us about the god Anubis?"
"Anubis?"
We've recently begun our unit on Ancient Egypt in history. And I haven't done any of the reading.
"Yes, Mr. Wheeler," he replies snidely. "The god of mummification. You did read the chapter that was assigned last week, didn't you?"
"He's an asshole," I grumble.
"Pardon, Mr. Wheeler?"
"I mean— Yeah. I know about Anubis."
I feel all eyes on me.
"Ya'know… Son of Osiris… Protector of the Dead… Takes the form of a jackal, yadayadayada…"
He's giving me this look.
"It's his responsibility to lead the souls of kings into the afterlife. Which is, ya'know, kind of a huge deal to the Egyptians. He's important, and he knows it, which is probably why he's got such a big ego. Total prick, if ya ask me."
Johnson lifts an eyebrow.
"Uhh- I mean, I ain't a huge fan, is all."
The class is dead quiet. At first Johnson narrows his eyes in suspicion, but then he gives an affirmative nod. "I see." Clearly, he was not expecting that. "Very good, Mr. Wheeler."
My eyes flit over to Mai Valentine, who's sitting a few seats away from me. We make eye contact for a second before she quickly looks away.
She doesn't even know I exist.
I blow my hair outta my face and sink back into my seat. Fuck Monday's.
"Hey."
I hear Tristan's hushed voice as he bumps me with his elbow. I cast an oblique glance in his direction before whispering back. "What."
"Remember that kid Yugi?"
"Who?"
"Yugi. That little fuckin' nerd that Tea's friends with? Remember?"
Scoff. "What about 'im?"
"He lives above that game shop down the street—"
"So?"
"Well— He and Tea are hangin' out there after school tomorrow. Tea invited me, but I don't wanna go by myself. You wanna come?"
"You must be joking."
"They've been playing this card game called Duel Monsters… Looks like kinda cool…"
This time I actually turn to look at him. "Are you shittin' me? Since when do you play that nerdy shit?"
"Says the guy that likes Star Wars…"
"HEY."
The entire class turns to look in my direction.
"Mr. Wheeler, do you and Mr. Taylor have something to share with the class?"
"N-no. Sorry."
Johnson gives me this look of warning and then proceeds with his lecture.
"Star Wars is not nerdy," I then whisper back to Tristan, spinning my pencil in between my fingers. "Drool Monsters is."
"Duel Monsters."
"Whatever. I am not going to play that stupid children's card game with you or that little fuckin' dweeb."
"Come on, dude. Just try it, you might like it."
"No way. And hang out with Yugi? That kid pisses me off." My mind flashes back to the other day, to the first time I met him. How could such a powerful energy come from that scrawny little runt? How was it possible? "He's weak."
But the box. If there existed even the slightest chance of me getting my hands on it again, this was it.
The bell rings. Tristan gives me this pathetic pouty look.
I groan.
"Fine, fine. I'll go, but just this once."
xxxxxx
"Brother."
I grumble and turn over in my bed. "Fuck off, I'm sleeping."
"Brother, it's me."
"I said fuck off," I reply groggily.
Suddenly my blanket is blown off of me, and I jolt upright. "What the—!"
"Zaphnath!" the same voice booms.
Blink. Blink.
It's him.
"Anubis?!"
A dark-haired dog with long, pointed ears and glowing eyes is perched upon my windowsill. It locks its eyes onto mine like a target, squinting at me before leaping off. As it lands, its morphs into what appears to be a human man.
But he's not human.
He's my asshole, know-it-all brother.
"Nice to see you too."
I narrow my eyes. Of all times to bother me, he picked now? "What do you want?"
"Nothing. It's what you want."
"Huh?"
"Listen to me."
I push myself off the bed and stand up, walking towards my bathroom. "Why should I?"
"There's a way for you to break the curse."
The curse. I stop dead in my tracks and turn around.
"Keep talkin'."
"Another pharaoh is among us."
"Another pharaoh? But—"
"Yes, I know. But it's true."
"How?"
"King Atem. His spirit was locked away in one of the seven Millennium Items."
"Which one?"
"The puzzle. And it is much closer to you than you think."
"I thought those things were locked away a long time ago."
"They were. But not anymore."
"So what has this gotta do with me?"
"Listen closely. Because I don't intend to repeat myself."
