Do not own SC characters. I've decided to change the chapter name. 'Divine Intervention' will be the next chapter.

88888888888888888888888888888888888

Chapter 15: The Guide

'Grrr... Why won't these speechless murmurs leave me alone?!' Sophitia yelled in her head as she scratched it violently with her fingertips due to the frustration; she had been receiving these whispers were becoming more and more common with each days' passing. Each whisper didn't make sense, but they still told Sophitia something she understood, and yet she didn't. Some had even given her dizzy spells; one minute she'd be fine and the next she felt like she would topple over if it hadn't have been for Taki who would catch her if she ever did fall and was always by her side since the start of these murmurs.

There were three things that Sophitia was thankful for; one was that they were coming close to the Egyptian shores so she could finally get rid of this damn curse upon her, the second was that the screeches in her head had stopped since the two she previously had, the third was Taki.

"Maybe you should lie down." Taki suggested softly as she gazed at the troubled woman next to her.

"I'm fine." Sophitia stated plainly as she looked down to the sea's waves as she reflect the sunlight.

"You certainly don't look it." Taki replied in a low, serious voice.

"I'm fine!" Sophitia shouted back but didn't turn to look at her. "I think you should focus more on thinking up an alibi as to where we were when the first mate disappeared." She negotiated as she lowered her head more as if she didn't care as to what Taki might think up.

Taki let out a long sigh and agreed to Sophitia's idea. People were already starting to be suspicious of Sophitia because she always kept her hood up. Taki wasn't sure of how to get out of that one. She ran a hand through her hair as she rolled her neck and heard a few cracks as she closed her eyes. She was unaware that Sophitia was watching idly through the corner of her eye, enjoying the sight as the wind caresses Taki's raven black hair. "I think we have three more days left, lets just hope that they don't get any more suspicious."

"I just want to reach Bastet's temple." Sophitia suddenly stated. "I want this... curse lifted from me."

Taki's gaze softened as she looked at the blonde woman staring aimlessly at the sea. "I know you do, just try to hang in there through the whispers your getting."

"I'll try." Sophitia replied in a soft tone.

Taki looked up from the beautiful woman that anyone would pity and noticed another woman who stood tall and straight at the other end of the ship. Her long, wide-waved hair and the darkest shade of black that even Taki had ever seen and she was from Japan! Her skin was a tanned bronze-like color, and she was covered from neck to toe in a cloak-like robe a darker shade of brown that Sophitia's cloak and kept her hands in the robe's wide pockets. The woman stared back into Taki's gaze in a blank fashion. Taki narrowed her gaze at the woman as she slowly looked away, when Taki looked away from her, she was still able to notice a small smile on the woman's face.

8888888888888888888888888888888888

Since the first mate's disappearance, the men grew more and more restless with each night. They've even become shaken enough that a single man is chosen and forced to patrol the ship's deck each night for any other strange happenings. People could choose to stay on deck for the night at their own risk, one who chose this was Sophitia; it was just something about the moonlight that entranced her, she never really took long looks at it until now. Taki always stayed with her even then, just so that she could keep an eye on her.

Taki would sometimes notice that same woman that she'd saw earlier that day upon the upper deck, staring at the moonlight as well, but not as deeply as Sophitia. The two sat upon the lower deck as the patrolman came by, looking at the both of them briefly. Taki noticed a strange scowl in his eyes, and so thus her eyes narrowed at him in return as he left them. Sophitia didn't notice him, nor did she care if he did come around, all she cared about now was the moon.

Taki noticed that the patrolman came back, but he didn't leave, he just stood there.

"Why do you always keep your hood up? May I ask." He asked, although his 'may I ask' didn't sounded more like a demand. Taki let Sophitia answer, but she remained unmoved. "Answer me woman!" He shouted as he leaned forward so that his voice would have more force.

"What business is it of yours?" Sophitia replied simply as she continued to stare at the moon. The patrolman's face showed rage and frustration.

"It is my business because I believe that you're the one you murdered our beloved first mate!"

"'Beloved'?" Sophitia chuckled, completely missing the threat within the patrolman's voice. Although Taki knew that he was threatening her but didn't care. "Maybe a beloved first mate to pirates." She added.

The patrolman growled as he reached for his dagger tied to his leather belt, but was stopped by a hand. The two looked up to find the woman with the long black hair holding him back.

"I know she didn't murder anyone." Her voice was deep and sultry. "I was here, I watched her that night, she didn't do anything of the sort." She added simply.

"You must've been watching the wrong person; I know she did it." He growled at her as he yanked his arm from her grasp.

"I'm guessing you have proof?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips and shifted the weight on her legs. The patrolman stammered, looking for something to say back; he didn't have anything to stand up to her besides a feeling. He grunted and stomped to one of the upper decks to continue his patrol.

The woman watched him leave with a small smile on her face. She turned back to the two women who just stared at her.

"I-how?-you..." Sophitia stammered with a look of bewilderment on her face.

The woman smiled softly as she leaned forward so she could whisper. "I know what you really did and I'm sure it was an accident, at least at first." Sophitia said nothing as she stared into the woman's, to Taki and Sophitia's surprise, amethyst colored eyes.

"You saw what happened?" Taki asked in surprise.

"I only saw him when he fell to the ground and when you threw him into the sea." She whispered so softly that Taki could barely hear her. "I hear you're trying to reach a temple?" She looked at the both of them with a rather confident look.

"Yes, the temple of Bastet." Sophitia stated.

"Oh? I'm returning to Egypt and my family lives near Bastet's temple. Coincidence eh?" She smiled sweetly. "I could take you there if you wish." The woman lifted herself to full height as she spoke, the same smile on her face.

"Why would we ask you the way when we don't even know your name?" Taki asked suspiciously. The woman placed a hand over her chest and sighed.

"I'm so sorry, heh, my manners... my name is Setsuna. And you?" Taki could clearly recognize her Egyptian features.

"I'm Sophitia, she's Taki." Setsuna seemed to not mind looking at the hooded woman sitting below her, as if it wasn't strange to her. Her gaze turned to Taki who maintained a neutral expression to Setsuna's smile. After the few seconds that Setsuna smiled at Taki, Setsuna suddenly showed a face of slight pain as if she was poked hard with a needle.

"Problem?" Taki asked raising an eyebrow.

Setsuna looked up briefly than down to the floor. "No. It's nothing, just saltwater got into my eye from a small splash of the waves." She spoke plainly. Taki just stared at her.

"You're the only person that could take us to Bastet's temple, so, do you mind?" Sophitia asked in a rather desperate tone that didn't pass unnoticed.

"Of course not." She smiled kindly.

Taki through a look at Sophitia, clearly saying that she didn't trust her. "Sophitia, can I speak with you for a moment?" Sophitia didn't have time to answer; Taki grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the other end of the ship so that Setsuna couldn't hear. "What do you think you're doing? We hardly know this person!" Taki whispered.

Sophitia looked down. "More whispers came into my head while she spoke to us. They are still dim but I can just barely understand their meaning." Sophitia looked up to meet Taki's soft gaze. "They are all telling me to trust her."

Taki just starred at her. "Are you sure these couldn't be just false instincts?"

Sophitia nodded her head. "I'm sure they aren't instincts. The murmurs are really telling me to trust her."

Taki sighed as she rubbed her nape. "Fine." Taki replied plainly. 'But just because you and these whispers trust her, it doesn't mean that I'm going to.'

888888888888888888888888888888888

Spending their last few days on the ship with Setsuna was both good and bad; she told anyone that felt that Sophitia killed the first mate that Sophitia had nothing to do with it. The bad thing was that they were afraid that Setsuna would notice any differences about Sophitia, such as her tail wagging when she watched fish and the bronze-like fur on her arms and her claws. She didn't notice such things now, but to Taki it was only a matter of time before she did.

Finally reaching the shores of Egypt, for Sophitia, the word excitement was an understatement. "How far is her temple from here?" Sophitia asked in an almost desperate tone as she kept her eyes fixed on the port.

"Oh not far, just have to pass through the port and a city that's dedicated to Anubis, then you reach my village." Setsuna informed. She stood next to Sophitia, watching as the ship glided next to the dock. Taki watched as the crew jumped off and tied the ship to the dock. She noticed in the corner of her eye that Sophitia became dizzy again, she caught her before she could fall to the ground.

"Murmurs again?" She whispered into Sophitia's ear. Sophitia nodded. Setsuna looked down at her briefly.

"Perhaps the sea air has finally gotten to her?" She asked Taki in a low, serious voice.

"Of course not!" Sophitia protested as she tried to raise herself using Taki's strength. "I'm Greek, I'm used to the sea air."

Setsuna stayed silent until they reached the inside of the port town. She figured it was better to get off and out of sight as fast as possible so that the men aboard the ship would hopefully forget about them or at least wouldn't bother to look for them.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Getting past the small port town that certainly wasn't as crowded as the Japanese port town, the sun shined brightly so Sophitia tried her dear best to keep herself covered, despite how hot it was.

Taki looked and listened for any signs of trouble between creatures, assassins, bandits, and any of the ship's crew looking for revenge for their fallen bastard of a first mate.

The town wasn't very populated, but was long, all that could be seen were merchants, stone buildings, someone passing by them every so often, and a whole lot of sand and stone roads that were scorching beneath the sun.

They all knew that they had reached the town dedicated to Anubis by the golden statues of Doberman dogs.

"What is Anubis the god of?" Sophitia asked as she eyed the statues and figurines of the town's beloved god.

"Mummification... basically." Setsuna spoke plainly. "I think cats are much more honorable than dogs are. Dogs attack enemies without even thinking. Cats think before the act, plus they are swift and nimble, and due to their small height they can hide and fit in any place." Setsuna stated plainly.

"I couldn't agree more." Sophitia sneered at a few of the dogs that stood guard at Anubis' doors to his temple. The dogs stared at her, Taki could tell that they had the urge to run and jump at Sophitia, she was sure they could smell her fur even from their distance.

88888888888888888888888888888888888

Taki was relieved that they made it to Setsuna's village, she was afraid that if they stayed any longer in the town dedicated to Anubis Sophitia would've started hissing and scratching at the dogs of the town.

"Why don't you just point us in the direction of Bastet's temple and you can finally leave for your own home." Taki suggested, hoping that she would agree with it. Setsuna turned and smiled sweetly.

"Oh no, I couldn't do that. My home isn't far from here, besides, Bastet's temple it still a little difficult to find." Setsuna continued to walk in front of them. Taki turned to Sophitia with a look of disappointment while Sophitia just shrugged and followed Setsuna.

Getting to the goddess' temple really wasn't all that difficult; they only had to cross a desert with endless heat which didn't seem to bother Setsuna very much but it nearly killed Sophitia. Taki couldn't imagine how hot it has to be underneath a layer of fur and a cloak. Setsuna still wore the same robe but she didn't have a layer of fur.

"Well this is it." Setsuna informed, only Taki and Sophitia saw nothing but more mountains of sand.

"Um, I don't see anything." Sophitia spoke up with a dry mouth. All Setsuna did was smile in a sort of excited way. The two natives of Egypt watched as Setsuna slowly lay her hands together as if to pray. After a few minutes of doing so Taki already became annoyed.

"What to you think your doing? Is the heat getting to you or someth-" Taki stopped as the earth beneath her began to tremble. She looked up to see a temple slowly form under the sunlight, every detail came into view on the temple as if sand was pouring out of it to make the detail.

Setsuna slowly turned and locked eyes with Taki, a smile on her face. "This temple, as you can see, is a special one." She said as the rumbling stopped and the temple became complete. Golden statues of Egyptian Maus appeared at every corner, golden double doors and concrete walls with ivory vines trailing down them evenly. Sophitia and Taki marveled at the sight.

"Let me show you inside." Setsuna walked ahead of them, up the staircase to the doors and used all her strength to open the golden double doors. When she did, she gestured for them to go ahead of her.

The inside was very beautiful; rather dark in the corners it had a dim light coming from the center of the room. Two large statues were at the other end of the room, one was Bastet, a woman's body with the head of a cat. The second was unknown to them, it was a woman's body with a lioness head. Before them was a platform with a single bridge that led to it.

"This place is beautiful Setsuna." Sophitia spoke as she looked in awe at the interior. 'My murmurs are clear now, did the whispers come from this place? When the temple first showed itself, whispers were in my head that sounded more like muffled echos that slowly sharpened.' Sophitia thought to herself. She slowly turned to Setsuna. "How did you know how to make the temple-"She stopped as she looked at Setsuna, who longer looked like the person they met on the boat.

Taki turned to see why Sophitia stalled, then she realized why. Setsuna now had her cloak off, but even if she had it on, it still wouldn't have changes Taki's expression. Setsuna's face now looked just like Sophitia's; cat-like, her ears were pointy and a little longer than Sophitia's. Her fur was dark brown and her hair seemed to be a little longer. She did indeed have a tail that was fluffier than Sophitia's. Taki could do nothing but stare at Setsuna's vertical-slitted eyes, still having her purple color but with a hint of gold in them. Her hands were on her hips and she smiled cutely, showing her canines.

Her clothes were that of an Egyptian high priestess, wide golden necklace, two thick bracelets on each wrist, belt with a red ruby in the buckle, and white linen clothes that was basically a short top and long skirt.

"Welcome to my mother's temple." She spoke coolly as she smiled warmly.

888888888888888888888888888888888888

Didn't see that one comin' eh? This is the longest one I've ever written, I didn't think that it would get this long. I hope you liked it, and I know I sorta sped through the arrival, but I did what I could.

Setsuna's original name was Amanra, so if you see 'Amanra' anywhere let me know.

To PriestessLennoue: I'm sure I didn't help you much. Lol. You only got two packs? :O You gotta get more than that the next time you go! ;P

ToWitch-Hunter 51: yeah I know it's a little scary... I do what I can, lol.

To Kenshinlink42889: Heh, any place else you would like me to bite the next person? Lol.