HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

Happy New Years to you all, and I am terribly sorry, once again, for not updating sooner. College really had my hands tied up around finals and everything. I am hoping to get 2 more chapters done and posted before I go back to school on January, 22.

TWO NEW NAMES!! I gave 2 people names in this story. If you remember from the game the dog brothers who work on the farm in Heliopolis, I gave both of them names. The younger brother's name is Manu and the older brother's name (Whom is cursed in the Cursed Palace) is Madu. I know they're weird names but my friend and I agreed they were the best two names out of all the ones we came up with.

NEW WEAPON!! I did another weapon of Osiris in this chapter. From reading this chapter you should be able to tell what it is and what it does. Private Message me if you have any questions in general!

There isn't much more for me to say except Happy New Years and Happy Holidays!! I'll try to update more often...

P.S. - If anyone wants to contact me, look at my profile. There are two ways to contact me if you wish to. .


Key

Of

Eternal

Darkness

-¤-

Book One:

The Weapons of Osiris

Chapter Nine:

Heliopolis

-¤-

The white light slowly fades away to reveal the Abydos Plaza.

"We are back at the Abydos Plaza. In the middle part of Abydos, across the first bridge, there will be a man who will be willing to transport you two to Heliopolis. Find him and make your way to South Beach. I will be waiting for you there, on Sun Shrine Island. Good luck my young adventurers." Imhotep says disappearing.

"Do you think you'll be okay to walk?" Sphinx asks, worry present in his voice and eyes as he approaches the demi-cat.

"I don't know." Isis replies, coughing.

Without waiting for a definite answer, Sphinx walks up his partner. "Get on." He says getting onto his knees.

Isis looks at him and nods. Hopping onto his back, Sphinx stands up and goes over to the stair-well. After climbing up the stairs carefully, he begins walking across the balcony and down the little path past Montu's Monster Shop. Before Sphinx goes down the path towards all the game shops, he stops and rests for a while.

"Am I tiring you?" Isis asks weakly.

"No, not at all. Just rest." Sphinx whispers.

He adjusts her on his back and continues walking down the path and across the first bridge. Sphinx comes to the zip line and stops underneath it.

"Isis…" He asks in a whisper.

Nothing responds to him except light snoring.

'Asleep, go figure.' He thinks, slightly smiling.

After adjusting Isis so that she will not fall off into the electrified water, Sphinx zips down the zip line onto a wooden deck. He walks over to a man who is standing next to a boat.

"Hi. I'm Khonsu, the boat captain." Khonsu says.

"Hello," Sphinx replies softly, "Can you provide transport to Heliopolis?"

"Of course I can. My services include holiday trips of all kinds, at very reasonable prices. I can provide transport to Heliopolis for a mere 25 scarabs." Khonsu answers.

"Can I pay you once we are on the ship?" Sphinx asks motioning to Isis with his head.

"Sure you can. Hop on, I'll set up an area for her to sleep on." He says stepping onto his ship.

Sphinx hops on the ship and walks over to Khonsu.

"All done, just set her down on the blankets and we'll be off." Khonsu says walking over to the steering wheel.

Sphinx looks down to see some blankets laying on the deck. He carefully sets Isis down, and stares at her before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Getting up, he grabs the money pouch and opens it, taking 25 scarabs out.

"Here." Sphinx says holding out his hand containing the 25 scarabs.

"Thank you." Khonsu replies, putting the money in his pocket. "Next stop, Heliopolis!"

Khonsu unties the rope that holds the ship to the dock. He steers the wheel out of Abydos and towards Heliopolis.

-¤-

Femi picks up the Scroll of Osiris that is resting on the table next to her. She opens it to see spells written all over the scroll, but in the center, there is no writing; only a plain circle of the parchment and the spells are written around it. Spells such as foreseeing the fate of the world, slowing down time, and revealing someone's location are only some that can be performed.

"Reveal to me the Princess of Darkness's location." The demi-falcon says while peering into the center of the scroll. The center circle of the scroll swirls gray before revealing the Princess's location. The image shown is of a ship, sailing towards Heliopolis with the Princess aboard.

"Sleep well Princess. Soon you will help us shroud the world in darkness." Femi whispers, glaring at the sleeping form of Isis.

"Femi!" Set shouts bursting into the room.

"What now?" Femi replies, growling.

"We need to accelerate our plans due to Imhotep's interference." Set says walking up to Femi.

"Relax, if any interference occurs in the present that changes the future, the Scroll of Osiris will know." The young demi-falcon replies.

Set takes the scroll from Femi and opens it to see all the spells. One spell stood out from the rest reading:

.:Fate of the World:.

"Darkness was stored in a puzzle of 5. Together, the pieces will unleash a devastating power. The summoner will rule. Everyone will perish." Set says peering at the empty circle in the middle of the scroll.

The circle swirls a gray color before revealing to Set the Fate of the World; a world that is covered in lava and shrouded in darkness.

Smirking, Set closes the scroll, "That's all I need to see." He says handing the scroll to Femi and walks out of the room.

Femi stares after him then opens the scroll, "Darkness was stored in a puzzle of 5. Together, the pieces will unleash a devastating wummoner will rule. Everyone will perish." She says reading the 'Fate of the World' spell.

Again, the once creamy circle of parchment swirls gray before revealing a world covered in lava and darkness. She smirks as her brain assumes it is Set who reigns supreme. The image on the scroll changes to reveal a throne room inside of a castle. The throne, and the person sitting on it, draws closer and closer; the person is not revealed, but left obscured by the shadows.

Then it registers, "It's not Set." Femi whispers staring at the shadowy female figure before closing the scroll, setting it on the table. She walks out of the room to find Set and tell him the news.

-¤-

Set arrived in Anubis's Tower in the great kingdom of Heliopolis. He walked down the stairs and stood in front of Anubis.

"Here is the child." Set said as he threw Isis towards Anubis.

Anubis stood up from his seat and circled Isis to make sure.

"My reward." Set demanded holding out his hand.

"What reward?" Anubis asked knowing perfectly well what he wanted.

"The Key to Eternal Darkness. Where is it?" Set asked through clenched teeth.

"Forget it." Anubis transported Isis to a different location. "Now, you will never find the key."

Set's anger rose as he unleashed his magic on Anubis. The two went head to head in the battle that would determine the fate of Heliopolis.

The dream slowly fades from Isis's mind as she opens her eyes. The gentle sound of the ocean rings in her ears as she hears someone speaking.

"Here we are, Heliopolis at last." Khonsu says as he steers the boat towards the dock.

Sphinx stands at the bow of the ship observing the desert wasteland. Isis slowly sits up to see that she is no longer in Abydos, but in Heliopolis. Khonsu pulls the boat up to the dock, allowing everyone to get off.

"You're awake." Sphinx says happily, facing his partner.

Isis nods her head, coughing as she inhales air. Sphinx walks up to her, placing his hand on her forehead.

"You're warm. Let's get you to Imhotep so he can heal this." Sphinx says helping Isis stand up.

"This was once a great Kingdom. Now, it's no more than a forsaken desert wasteland." Khonsu says staring at the wasteland.

'If this was once a great kingdom, then what happened to it?' Sphinx thinks supporting Isis while helping her off the boat.

"Personally, I think you should have stayed in Abydos. You won't find much here other than sand and vicious monsters."

"We're here to find someone." Sphinx replies.

"Oh, well good luck. Chances are that they are cursed in the Cursed Palace to your left. I'm sailing back to Abydos immediately. Good day!" Khonsu says sailing back to Abydos.

Sphinx goes to help Isis but she interrupts him.

"I can walk on my own thank you." She says standing up straight, hiding any pain that she might be in.

He nods in response but periodically checks on her in case she might need help. The two apprentices walk over to the Cursed Palace to see a dog person sitting on the bench.

"I wonder what he's doing here." Isis asks.

"Lets find out." Sphinx replies walking up to him.

"I've had enough of Heliopolis." The dog person mumbles.

"Who are you? What's happened here?" Sphinx asks, walking up to the him.

"My name's Manu. Welcome to Heliopolis." Manu says looking around the wasteland. "Heliopolis used to be a great place to live, but then Anubis decided to interfere. He cursed my brother, along with everyone else in the Cursed Palace over there…" Manu replies motioning to the Cursed Palace behind him.

'Why does the name 'Anubis' sound so familiar?' Isis asks herself, thinking.

"Anubis?" Sphinx asks questioningly.

"Yes. He made these deadly Eye of Ra Posts appear in every corner of the land…He made the soil barren and infertile; I can't grow anything on the farm…Yes, it's all down to Anubis. I bet he's sitting on his tower looking down on Heliopolis, laughing at all the misery and suffering. Someone should pay him a visit…teach him a lesson." Manu says, rambling on.

"Thank you. Do you know where we can find him?" Isis asks.

"You'll find him in Anubis's Tower over there." He answers, pointing to an opening.

"Thank you." Sphinx says, walking over to the entrance.

Isis follows her partner, coughing along the way.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Sphinx asks looking over his shoulder.

"Yes, thank you." Isis replies keeping up.

They jump into the water, swimming to the entrance. Once they were inside, they find a surprise waiting for them at the top of the wall.

"Sphinx, Isis, there you are!" Horus says peering down at his partners.

"Horus!" Both shout in unison.

"I knew that we would meet again. As you can see, I heroically managed to survive in Uruk." Horus continues.

Sphinx and Isis can only snicker at his comment.

"Well, I won't bore you with the details. You got lucky in Uruk and by rights that blade should be mine!"

"I don't think so." Sphinx replies angrily.

"You would never have found it without my help!"

"And you would have never gotten halfway to it if it wasn't for Sphinx!" Isis replies angrily.

"Yet again, you two credit yourselves with greater skill than you posses. You can't get up here; you don't have the power to jump high enough!" Horus says mainly to Sphinx.

"Yes I can." Isis says somewhat smirking, trying to suppress a cough.

"I wasn't talking to you." Horus replies very rudely.

"Don't you dare talk to her like that!" Sphinx says, his anger rising.

Horus smirks as he finally figures out his enemies weakness. "Your weakness is pathetic. I found Imhotep in the temple on Sun Shrine Island. That crazy old fool told me he was looking for you two. As you can see, you can't even get inside! I will solve the problem that Anubis has created by myself, despite what Imhotep says. See you around!" Horus then disappears inside the tower.

The build-up of anger inside Isis snaps. She summons her staff, and sets the box next to her on fire. The fire burns the box to ashes.

"You may want to calm down now." Sphinx says trying his best to calm his partner down.

"You think I can calm down just like that after what he said!" Isis replies between coughs.

"I did." Sphinx replies, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Lets just get out of here and find Imhotep." Isis says in a soft voice, trying not to cough.

Sphinx nods and both apprentices exit Anubis's Tower, making their way back to the Cursed Palace.

"What are we going to do about the Deadly Eye of Ra posts?" Isis asks.

"Well, I was kind of hoping your anger would just take them down, like it took down that box." Sphinx replies jokingly.

"Don't push it." Isis answers back, growling.

She summons her staff again and sends an explosive spell at all the posts. All six posts get knocked down, creating an easy path around the area. Sphinx and Isis walk up to the Farm entrance and walk through the farm to the back end.

Sphinx jumps up the small cliff and turns around, "Let me help." He says, holding out his hand.

"Thanks." Isis replies taking his hand.

Isis arrives at the top and the two apprentices turn to find themselves at a pair of boulders blocking their path.

Isis sends another explosive spell at the boulders causing them to vanish, opening a path to South Beach.

"Lets go." Sphinx whispers before he walks through the tunnel with Isis behind him.

At the end of the tunnel, the two apprentices arrive at South Beach. They walk further towards the ocean and stop to look around.

"There it is…Sun Shrine Island." Sphinx says, pointing to the temple island.

"Lets go." Isis says walking into the water.

"But, aren't you afraid of water?" He asks.

Isis sighs, "No, I quickly got over that natural fear." She says not making eye contact.

"What happened?" Sphinx asks worriedly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Isis turns her head slightly away from him as she remembers and incident of when she was caught. "Back when I was a child, I used to steal things for a living…"

--Flashback--

Isis snuck into a restaurant from a window on the top floor. She stealthily made her way down into the kitchen and stayed near the ceiling on top of the metal racks. When the cooks weren't looking, Isis reached down to grab the food that was just lying on the counter. Unfortunately, a man happened to notice two small hands reaching for the food and quickly snatched them; pulling Isis to the floor. She laid there, staring up at all the angry cooks.

The cooks reached down and grabbed a part of her body; ankles and wrists. They walk out of the restaurant and down a path that leads to the canals. Isis struggled in their grasps, trying to break free.

"Let me go!" Isis shouts.

Her shouts were heard by several people. They came outside to see what was happening; and saw four cooks carrying the "thief". They filed out of the house, following the cooks to the canals.

"Maybe this will teach you a lesson." A cook said as all four of them threw the young demi-cat into the canal waters.

Being as she was a cat, Isis did not know how to swim. She flailed her arms hoping someone would come to her rescue.

Everyone who was present at this incident laughed as they went back to their respectful places…all except one. This one person stayed at the edge of the canal, waiting for the young demi-cat to surface. Once all the people were gone, the person took off their shoes, ready to jump in the water after her. But before they jumped in, the young demi-cat surfaced, making her way to the edge.

This person helped Isis out of the water and kneeled beside her.

"Thank you." Isis said softly, while shivering.

"No problem child. I'm Nailah." Nailah replied, introducing herself.

"Isis."

"So you're the thief that's causing trouble around the city."

Isis could only look away from her at that statement.

"Don't worry child. You can come stay with me." Nailah said smiling.

"You really mean it?" Isis asks in disbelief.

Nailah nodded and stood up. "Follow me." She walks over to the Sequence Shop and opened the door for her.

Isis smiled as she followed Nailah into the store.

(The night the cooks threw Isis into the Canal waters, was the same night that Isis and Nailah met. Throughout the years, Isis has stayed with Nailah at the Sequence Shop; learning right from wrong. Crime has greatly decreased over those years…until something happened that caused Isis to leave Nailah, and revert back to her old habits.)

--End Flashback--

"…Whenever I was caught, the towns' people would throw me into the canals hoping to never see me again. Through those experiences, I overcame a cat's natural fear of water and learned how to swim." Isis answers still not making eye contact.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you couldn't have done anything to prevent it." And with that Isis dives underwater, swimming towards the island.

Sphinx sighs and follows Isis towards the island. Once he surfaces, he sees Isis sitting on the stone steps, waiting for him.

"Aren't you coming in?" He asks, kneeling next to her.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid to face Imhotep after the jail incident. I probably embarrassed him and degraded the Mayors' trust in him."

"I'm sure you didn't."

"I'm sure I did."

"Lets go inside." Sphinx says as rain starts falling from the sky.

Isis gets up and walks inside with Sphinx behind her.

Once inside, they see Imhotep mediating. Imhotep stops when he acknowledges his apprentices presence.

"Sphinx! Isis! It is good to see you again! You both have faced many deadly dangers and challenges and it is clear to me that you two are no longer inexperienced apprentices." Imhotep says walking up to them.

Isis gives Sphinx a look saying, 'We-were-inexperienced-apprentices?'

Sphinx shrugs and looks back at his master.

"Ahh…I see that you now have the Shield of Osiris, what a perfect companion for the Blade of Osiris. Wielding these is a fine achievement indeed, for they will serve you well in your up-coming adventures." Imhotep says to Sphinx. He then faces Isis. "The Staff of Osiris that I gave you has healing abilities, you are able to heal wounds…and that sickness of yours." He says as Isis coughs again.

Isis nods allowing her master to continue with his speech.

"Horus has already been here, but he would not wait for you. His impatience is equal to your enthusiasm." Imhotep says disappearing.

"We know, we met up with him in Anubis's Tower." The two apprentices say in unison, looking around to where their master has disappeared to.

"I must caution you about Horus. Something about him has changed --" Imhotep begins but gets interrupted.

" -- and it wasn't for the better." His apprentices finish for him.

"Yes. Anyways, it seems that you've been busy on your voyage;" Imhotep says appearing on a higher ledge.

'You have no idea.' Sphinx thinks.

"That Canopic Vase is a most interesting artifact." He continues making the Canopic Vase come to him. "It has been many years since I have seen one like this…but I might still be able to help release the soul that is trapped inside…" He says examining the vase.

Sphinx and Isis walk up the ramp and stand beside Imhotep.

"Who's soul is inside?" Isis asks.

Imhotep ignores her question. "I see a place far to the north, inside a castle in the land of inferno…"

"The Land of Uruk." Sphinx and Isis both whisper to each other.

"Aha! I see the Prince of Luxor…Tutankhamen. His body lies within the Castle of Uruk!" Imhotep says, his eyes closed.

"Ouch. I feel sorry for him." Isis says to herself.

"Once revived, he could be very useful; nobody has ever managed to get inside. I have an ominous feeling about events there." Imhotep continues, opening his eyes.

"But, master, no living thing can travel beyond the fierce protection of the castle." Sphinx says pointing out the obvious.

"Which is why we will need to send a magical entity." Imhotep says to him.

"Like what?" Isis asks.

Imhotep looks around the room, "This basket is perfect. Nobody will suspect a thing." Imhotep raises his hands and conjures some magic. "By the power of Osiris, instill this basket with the illusion of life!"

The spell hits the lifeless basket causing him to come to life. Bas-Ket turns around and walks up to Imhotep.

"I want you to go to the Castle of Uruk, find Prince Tutankhamen, and give him this Canopic Vase which contains a fragment of his soul." Imhotep says handing Bas-Ket the Canopic Vase.

Bas-Ket stores the vase and transports himself to the Castle of Uruk.


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