Catherine sat down and continued to speak.
"Who is 'this one' you keep speaking about? I mean, if there's a one, it's definitely not m-" Catherine collapsed onto the coffee table mid-scentence.
"Catherine? Are you alright?" Evie asked, shaking her daughters shoulder. She awoke, but her eyes were different. They were brown.
"You have chosen correctly, Neferteri." She began in ancient Egyptian. Evie recoiled. She had never told her about being reincarnated. "You have. I am Ma'at, goddess of justice and order. I have returned to proclaim battle on my enemy, Seth, and to decide once and for all which will reign on earth, order or chaos."
Alex came down the stairs, his friends following him. He stopped.
"Woah! What is wrong with her?" he shouted, and ran toward the living room.
Catherine stiffened, and narrowed her eyes.
"Seth. So we meet again."
"What? I'm not Seth." Alex stepped forward, and grabbed his head. He blinked, and began to stare at Catherine. His eyes were brown too.
"Ma'at, what a pleasure. Once again speaking to pointless humans? I never spoke to them, the fools. To weak and open. Even the pharaoh was hardly better. He just wore a headress, thinking himself better."
Catherine stood up.
"How dare you say that! You insult your own brother you dog! Humans are more precious than we think. They worship us, we provide. It all continues smoothly, and you have to disorder things. Why else do you think I hate you!"
Marcus and his sister were standing, wondering what to do next, when they both shivered and stood taller.
Catherine looked over to her right and smiled.
"Thoth! How I have missed you!" she cried, walking over to Marcus and hugging him. Alex did the same to Mirella.
Aredeth walked over to Rick.
"Have I started something? Do they normally do this?"
Rick shook his head.
"No. I think we just found out who we were looking for."
Evie was now having a heated conversation with Catherine in Egyptian, asking where the battle would be held.
"It will he held two hundred leagues west of Thebes, in the vast desert, where none innocent will be taken, but where Seth will be more accustomed, since he was banished there after he murdered his brother, Osiris…"
Seth glared at Ma'at.
"But, he will still have power over the sands. It will be a challenge for me, but anything is possible with the good that defeated the evil. Twice."
Rick looked surprised.
"Cather-I mean, Ma'at, who or what is the good that will help you?"
"Why, Nefertiri and the lost Med-jai. They were the two to defeat the evil."
Rick looked over at his wife. "She's talking about us, right?" Evie nodded.
"Oh man…"
Then, one by one, each shook their heads as if waking up out of a deep sleep.
"Uh, yeah. What happened about Catherine? She looked different and was speaking some weird language." Marcus asked.
"You don't remember?" Aredeth asked, walking over to his nephew and niece.
Both shook their heads, thinking their uncle had finally lost it.
"So!" Evie raised her voice "Is anyone up for a trip to Egypt?"
*****
The next morning everyone was packed and ready within half an hour, and plans were made last minute, care to the millions of dollars of riches the two owners had brought back from a trip to Egypt twenty years ago.
They left for Egypt on a small commercial airliner (yes, they had them in the 40's, but few) and landed just outside of Cairo. Then, they had a train from Cairo to past day Thebes.
"So what you're trying to tell me is that I am an incarnated goddess, Alex is after my blood, I'm married to Marcus and he's friends with Mirella and she's married to Alex." Catherine asked.
"Yes." Evie answered simply.
"And you are sniffing….?"
"Catherine! I'm your foster mother! You know I would not sniff anything. Aredeth on the other hand I believe has gotten into the rum…" she said, her eyes following the warrior run shakily toward the bathroom.
Rick followed him.
"See? Now don't you feel so much better?" he said, smiling.
"Rick! You know he hasn't drunk that." Evie scolded.
Aredeth walked out of the washroom pale, and wiped his mouth. "Correction, I have tried something like rum, only not-in-that-volume!" he said, stumbling over to a seat.
"Dad, you knew he couldn't hold half a mickey (the flat curved bottles), so why'd you give it to him." Said Alex, carrying a glass bottle of an amber liquid in with him.
"Oh, hello mum! Hehe…um, ten more days until the end of the world, right?"
Evie stood up in front of her son.
"Alex, you know better than to be drinking. You'll end up just like Uncle Jonathan. Drunk and living off your sister."
Alex frowned and tossed the mickey off to his father.
"I wasn't drinking, I was watching Aredeth drink. There is a difference."
Catherine was smirking with her hand over her mouth.
"I am beginning to regret falling onto your doorstep." She laughed. "Where are Mirella and her brother?"
Alex motioned to the car behind them, when they stepped through the door.
"Hi Thoth. Hi Nepthys." She said, waving.
"Oh, I see Mrs. O'Connell's given you the 'you're a reincarnated god, so you're going to fight someone' speech. Hi Ma'at, Hi Seth." Mirella said, leaning on a window.
Evie looked hurt.
"Don't make fun. I'm serious. One of these days you'll be talking to one of you four and bang! You'll think you're a god."
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and by then we'll be old enough to proclaim senility, so we won't be so insane."
*****
Catherine held her head in her hand. No, she didn't think her 'mother' was insane, just…right? She normally had wondered what it would be like to be a god, especially Ma'at. Yes, she had looked through textbooks Evie owned and loved the gods. But Ma'at stuck out somehow. She was simple, sometimes unrecognized next to Osiris and Isis, but without her, the world would be chaos. If she had never existed, souls would never pass on to heaven, hearts wouldn't have anything to be weighed against. Then came Thoth. He stuck out too. With no writing, the world would never have permanent records of Egypt. And the best was that they were married. Her two favorites meant to be together. What a coincidence. And this thing about Marcus being Thoth…she didn't mind that as much as if Alex was. Marcus was…well, all things she liked. Sometimes hyper, sometimes not. Tall, dark, mysterious…someone to sweep her off her feet and carry her away to some far off country…
No! No Catherine, snap back to reality! You know that will never happen, so don't even imply it. Still…being a goddess might be interesting. What might it be like? You would be immortal and live forever (but if what Evie says is correct, only if you're not killed by another god.). You would have power over something, but not everything. You would be an important part of a puzzle. Catherine wondered if she actually was a god.
*****
The train pulled to a stop, by special order of Rick O'Connell and a few fifty-pound bills. Everyone who wanted or had to walked off with their luggage and stared out before them. The hot sun glared down onto the shimmering sand. Nothing was before them, the train pulling away behind them. Most thought they were insane.
*****
"Who is 'this one' you keep speaking about? I mean, if there's a one, it's definitely not m-" Catherine collapsed onto the coffee table mid-scentence.
"Catherine? Are you alright?" Evie asked, shaking her daughters shoulder. She awoke, but her eyes were different. They were brown.
"You have chosen correctly, Neferteri." She began in ancient Egyptian. Evie recoiled. She had never told her about being reincarnated. "You have. I am Ma'at, goddess of justice and order. I have returned to proclaim battle on my enemy, Seth, and to decide once and for all which will reign on earth, order or chaos."
Alex came down the stairs, his friends following him. He stopped.
"Woah! What is wrong with her?" he shouted, and ran toward the living room.
Catherine stiffened, and narrowed her eyes.
"Seth. So we meet again."
"What? I'm not Seth." Alex stepped forward, and grabbed his head. He blinked, and began to stare at Catherine. His eyes were brown too.
"Ma'at, what a pleasure. Once again speaking to pointless humans? I never spoke to them, the fools. To weak and open. Even the pharaoh was hardly better. He just wore a headress, thinking himself better."
Catherine stood up.
"How dare you say that! You insult your own brother you dog! Humans are more precious than we think. They worship us, we provide. It all continues smoothly, and you have to disorder things. Why else do you think I hate you!"
Marcus and his sister were standing, wondering what to do next, when they both shivered and stood taller.
Catherine looked over to her right and smiled.
"Thoth! How I have missed you!" she cried, walking over to Marcus and hugging him. Alex did the same to Mirella.
Aredeth walked over to Rick.
"Have I started something? Do they normally do this?"
Rick shook his head.
"No. I think we just found out who we were looking for."
Evie was now having a heated conversation with Catherine in Egyptian, asking where the battle would be held.
"It will he held two hundred leagues west of Thebes, in the vast desert, where none innocent will be taken, but where Seth will be more accustomed, since he was banished there after he murdered his brother, Osiris…"
Seth glared at Ma'at.
"But, he will still have power over the sands. It will be a challenge for me, but anything is possible with the good that defeated the evil. Twice."
Rick looked surprised.
"Cather-I mean, Ma'at, who or what is the good that will help you?"
"Why, Nefertiri and the lost Med-jai. They were the two to defeat the evil."
Rick looked over at his wife. "She's talking about us, right?" Evie nodded.
"Oh man…"
Then, one by one, each shook their heads as if waking up out of a deep sleep.
"Uh, yeah. What happened about Catherine? She looked different and was speaking some weird language." Marcus asked.
"You don't remember?" Aredeth asked, walking over to his nephew and niece.
Both shook their heads, thinking their uncle had finally lost it.
"So!" Evie raised her voice "Is anyone up for a trip to Egypt?"
*****
The next morning everyone was packed and ready within half an hour, and plans were made last minute, care to the millions of dollars of riches the two owners had brought back from a trip to Egypt twenty years ago.
They left for Egypt on a small commercial airliner (yes, they had them in the 40's, but few) and landed just outside of Cairo. Then, they had a train from Cairo to past day Thebes.
"So what you're trying to tell me is that I am an incarnated goddess, Alex is after my blood, I'm married to Marcus and he's friends with Mirella and she's married to Alex." Catherine asked.
"Yes." Evie answered simply.
"And you are sniffing….?"
"Catherine! I'm your foster mother! You know I would not sniff anything. Aredeth on the other hand I believe has gotten into the rum…" she said, her eyes following the warrior run shakily toward the bathroom.
Rick followed him.
"See? Now don't you feel so much better?" he said, smiling.
"Rick! You know he hasn't drunk that." Evie scolded.
Aredeth walked out of the washroom pale, and wiped his mouth. "Correction, I have tried something like rum, only not-in-that-volume!" he said, stumbling over to a seat.
"Dad, you knew he couldn't hold half a mickey (the flat curved bottles), so why'd you give it to him." Said Alex, carrying a glass bottle of an amber liquid in with him.
"Oh, hello mum! Hehe…um, ten more days until the end of the world, right?"
Evie stood up in front of her son.
"Alex, you know better than to be drinking. You'll end up just like Uncle Jonathan. Drunk and living off your sister."
Alex frowned and tossed the mickey off to his father.
"I wasn't drinking, I was watching Aredeth drink. There is a difference."
Catherine was smirking with her hand over her mouth.
"I am beginning to regret falling onto your doorstep." She laughed. "Where are Mirella and her brother?"
Alex motioned to the car behind them, when they stepped through the door.
"Hi Thoth. Hi Nepthys." She said, waving.
"Oh, I see Mrs. O'Connell's given you the 'you're a reincarnated god, so you're going to fight someone' speech. Hi Ma'at, Hi Seth." Mirella said, leaning on a window.
Evie looked hurt.
"Don't make fun. I'm serious. One of these days you'll be talking to one of you four and bang! You'll think you're a god."
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and by then we'll be old enough to proclaim senility, so we won't be so insane."
*****
Catherine held her head in her hand. No, she didn't think her 'mother' was insane, just…right? She normally had wondered what it would be like to be a god, especially Ma'at. Yes, she had looked through textbooks Evie owned and loved the gods. But Ma'at stuck out somehow. She was simple, sometimes unrecognized next to Osiris and Isis, but without her, the world would be chaos. If she had never existed, souls would never pass on to heaven, hearts wouldn't have anything to be weighed against. Then came Thoth. He stuck out too. With no writing, the world would never have permanent records of Egypt. And the best was that they were married. Her two favorites meant to be together. What a coincidence. And this thing about Marcus being Thoth…she didn't mind that as much as if Alex was. Marcus was…well, all things she liked. Sometimes hyper, sometimes not. Tall, dark, mysterious…someone to sweep her off her feet and carry her away to some far off country…
No! No Catherine, snap back to reality! You know that will never happen, so don't even imply it. Still…being a goddess might be interesting. What might it be like? You would be immortal and live forever (but if what Evie says is correct, only if you're not killed by another god.). You would have power over something, but not everything. You would be an important part of a puzzle. Catherine wondered if she actually was a god.
*****
The train pulled to a stop, by special order of Rick O'Connell and a few fifty-pound bills. Everyone who wanted or had to walked off with their luggage and stared out before them. The hot sun glared down onto the shimmering sand. Nothing was before them, the train pulling away behind them. Most thought they were insane.
*****