A/N: It's a shorter chapter, but I wanted to get this out there before the next chapter, which will be much longer than usual. Please enjoy none the less.

Of Gods and Heroes

Chapter 6

It was just another day in the household. Three days had passed since Horus's Akuma had attacked. She had managed to get back to her hut before Ammon, or before he came to check on the safety of the work force. So far things seemed pretty normal, except for the Master Shen who seemed rather distracted by the news that Horus had attacked near the temple, with the Pharaoh inside. Though Mazel knew that the Akuma was no god, the Egyptians were taking this as a very serious omen from their gods.

She had even heard rumours that these false gods were attempting to overtake the kingdom, and were sent from an unknown underworld. Tikki had laughed at most of these rumours, explaining to Mazel that this power was just the work of a kwami, though he was one that has turned evil. Mazel understood this completely, for Lucifer was once good himself.

Today, like any other day, she was with Ammon after breakfast. He was showing her around the office, pointing out different parts of the shelves for different types of scrolls. This was a little overwhelming for her. Mazel could speak Egyptian, but she couldn't read it. She barely remembered the basic reading or writing she had learned in her own mother tongue. He was pointing to hieroglyphs symbols that stated where each scroll went and she had no idea what he was talking about.

"M-master Ammon," she stated. She had cut him off. This could earn her a whipping, but she was very concerned what the punishment would have been had she not spoken up at all and messed up later.

He spotted speaking, but looked at her with a confused expression. "Yes? What is it Mazel."

She hunched her shoulders and rubbed her arm nervously. "I…I don't understand. I mean, I understand what you're saying…but I don't know how much help I can be for this part of the job. I…can't read hieroglyphs."

He actually seemed surprised to hear this. She wasn't exactly sure why. She was brought here when she was very young. And in that time she had to learn a new language by pretty much just listening and practising speaking it as she was taught by the other slaves. She hadn't been taught to read the Egyptian writing or write it, because most of the slaves didn't know either.

He had turned away from her, and was looking for something, and was staring at the shelf. She was curious at what he was doing. He had said nothing, and now he was wondering with great wonder what he was doing or thinking. Finally he turned back to her after what seemed like an hour to her. "I can teach you enough to help me organize these."

"W-What?" she gasped.

He nodded. "You're smart, I've seen it. I know I could teach you enough to be able to read what each space is. On the back off all the scrolls, there is the same symbol as where it goes on the shelf."

She went red. No one had ever called her smart before. And certainly no one had ever offered to teach her any sort of skill that would benefit her. If she could learn enough, if she ever managed to pay off her doubt, she could find perhaps a decent honest job in the city. "M-master..."

He shrugged like he had just offered her an extra slice of bread. Like it was nothing. He had to know what kind of offer that was to a lowly slave. "I want you to work for me. I need it to run smoothly, so if taking a day to teach you will help me out better…it wouldn't be a waste of time."

"Master Ammon! That would be incredible. Thank you!" she was lighting up and was smiling at him. No one had shown her such kindness before since she was taken from her parents. His eyes seemed to go wide, and he looked away, and coughed a little.

"It's nearing lunchtime," he stated. "You should head back to the kitchen. I'll make you up a scroll with the symbols. I'll come by your hut after dinner to give you a short lesson."

"Yes!" she continued to glow in excitement. "I-I'll do my best Master Ammon!"

She quickly bowed and turned away from him, and rushed out of the office, disappearing back to the kitchen. That left a very confused Ammon in the office.

He felt Plagg shift out from under his wig and he looked down at Ammon. The kwami was rather amused. "You're going way out of your way to help that girl. You're not doing all this to impress Ladybug are you? Because that is stupid, she doesn't even know who you are."

Ammon growled at Plagg and flicked him in the nose with his fingers. "I am not doing this for Ladybug. I needed an assistant."

Plagg wasn't convinced in the least. In fact, he was more amused than ever. He chuckled at the human boy. "It's alright if you like her. She's got a cute smile."

Ammon told himself that he hadn't noticed. And even though he knew that was a huge lie, he wasn't going to admit it to Plagg, or himself for that matter. Mazel was just a slave girl. She was just a slave. He chanted it over and over again. He needed an assistant. That was it. That was her usefulness. Sure, he was helping her out and she was going to free her sister because of the position he had given her. That still didn't change the fact that she was a slave.

Ammon, fixed his wig, shoving the annoying Kwami back under for safe keeping.

8 8 8

Mazel entered the kitchen, and was greeted immediately by her younger sister. Elisheva embraced her, and Mazel greeted her by returning her hug. When the two departed, she bowed when Akela approached her. Elishiva returned to helping with the cleaning. "How was your training with Master Ammon, Mazel?"

She rose and looked at her superior. "It was great. Master Ammon is going to teach me some very basic hieroglyphs so I can help him in the office better."

Akela's face lit up. "Mazel! That's incredible! That's a skill most peasants don't have, let alone a Hebrew slave."

Mazel nodded in excitement. "It will only be able to help organize the scrolls, but I know I can learn."

Mazel immediately notices other slaves that were stealing glances at her. When she looked their way, they glanced away as if they were trying to not get caught. This surprised her, and she frowned. Akela noticed this as well, and glared at the girls. "Get back to work!" she barked.

The girls jumped but they remained returned away and continued on with their work. Akela grabbed Mazel's arm, and pulled her down so she was at eye level as Akela who was much shorter than Mazel. She began to whisper in her ear. "You have a great position now. There will be gossip, and jealous sweeping around. Pay the others no mind. Just continue working hard."

Mazel's eyes were wide, and when she was released by Akela she nodded. She didn't expect there to be gossip about her. Why would there be? She was a house slave. Sometimes house slaves were given bigger jobs within the house. "Now, go help chop some of the onions," Akela ordered Mazel.

Mazel nodded, and moved over to the counter where the clay bowl was, filled with onions just waiting to be chopped for the evening stew. Mazel dipped the onions in the bowl of water and placed them on the counter. She picked up the sharpened copper knife and began to chop. As she chopped them, she heard the other house slaves around her talking, and she felt her heart rate quicken when she heard her name mentioned. She tried to pretend that she couldn't hear them, but she could.

"Can you believe he chose her? She's just a child. And she doesn't work that hard."

"Please, you don't honestly believe that he chose her because she's a hard worker do you?"

"Oh, no, I don't think she's working all that hard. After all, laying on your back all morning is hardly what I'd call work."

Mazel's hands began to tremble. She tried to focus on chopping the onions, but she was having such a hard time concentrating. Their words stung. They couldn't possibly believe that she was having relations with Ammon...could they? They had been house slaves a lot longer than her. They knew him better than she did. And she knew already that Ammon didn't seem to show any interest in the fairer sex. She tightened her eyes as she heard them continue to speak about her like she was invisible.

"She also got saved by Chat Noir the day before she was hired by Master Ammon."

"That was her? You want to bet she gave him some favors in exchange for a better position."

"The little vixen sure gets around, doesn't she?"

Mazel wanted to turn to the girls and yell at them. She wanted to run away. She wanted to quit. She wanted to just stop being the center of attention. She hadn't done anything out of the ordinary to earn this position. She was asked. She wasn't doing this for a better life. She was doing this so that Elisheva could have a better life.

She tried to hum to herself, trying to drown out their hurtful words. She hummed a lullaby that her mother use to sing to her. She concentrated on the sweet voice that rocked her to sleep every night. The gentle kind voice that protected her from all the wrongs and evils of the world. Once she felt like her emotions were free from potentially spilling over, she continued to chop he onions away. She would continue to work hard, and be the skilled worker she knew she was.

Once dinner was done, she was relieved to return home. She helped her sister change into her lion cloth, and she did the same, hanging their dresses up for the next day. Elisheva had been especially tired, having had a nightmare the night before, so Mazel put her to bed on her sleeping mat on the hut floor. Mazel pulled up the thin linen blanket they owned up over her sister. It was warm, and they did not need blankets. Though poor Elisheva had been attracting the cat's attention especially. So Mazel put the blanket up over her to protect her from any of the cats that entered their hut during the night.

While the cats were still wandering the streets in the hundreds, they were taking to the Nile now, attracted to the aquatic animals that littered the shoreline. Small fish, insects, frogs and snails. These were attracting the cats in great numbers. Though Mazel wouldn't such things out loud, she was relieved that the crocodiles had found a new source of easy prey, which had helped with the large number of cats that were plaguing them.

Mazel felt tired herself, but she knew that Ammon would be arriving anytime now. She carefully too out a slice of bread she had been saving and brought it to the window sill. She lifted up the lion cloth, and released Tikki from the little pouch. Tikki found the slice of bread, and began to eat it hungrily.

Mazel sighed and leaned against the window sill. Tikki looked at her as she ate her slice of bread. "I'm worried about what the other slaves are saying about me, Tikki."

Tikki shook her head. "It's like Akela said. Pay them no mind, and continue to do your best."

"I don't want to be gossiped about though…" Mazel stated. "I've done nothing wrong."

"You're right, you haven't," Tikki explained. "And even Akela knows that. I can tell."

Mazel nodded, turning to look out to the house from her window. She would see Ammon coming from the house from this window easily. It would give Tikki enough time to find a place to hide. "Tikki, about this Akuma…is it normal for one to hide this long?"

"It's not unheard of…it's just really uncommon," Tikki stated as she finished the last bite of her bread. "I can't sense where its hiding, but I can tell that it is going to strike soon. Within a few days. So be prepared."

Mazel smiled at the little kwami, and playfully rubbed Tikki's head. "Thanks for always being here for me."

Tikki giggled. "You're welcome."

A/N: So last chapter wasn't exactly filler like I stated…but this one is for sure. I'm going to be updating again by no later by Thursday. It's a pretty cool chapter too, so I hope you will all enjoy it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Thank you for all the continued support.