(A/N: -yawns- My sister tells me the most creative time of day is dawn, but I beg to differ! It's five am, and I can barely see straight, let alone type. But I really wanted to get this chapter up, and I can't sleep anyway so I dragged my carcass down to the computer to give y'all something to read. Say thank you, Athtor)

Disclaimer: Some of it's Amelia's, ok? Don't sue me.

Chapter Four: Cliff Hanger

Roughly a week had passed since Avia's dream in the temple. After sitting in on all of her lessons with Siete, Arimsa had finally relented and agreed that she could continue them unsupervised. Siete found it endlessly amusing that Avia listened to her brother and no one else, but stopped voicing such feelings aloud after she informed him that informality was a two way street; and she fully intended to abuse him if he continued to make fun of her.

Avia was not learning nearly as fast as she would have liked, but Siete assured her she was making excellent progress. Avia still found it strange how she had resented him one minute and befriended him the next, but chose not to dwell on it. She had found him to be unlike most of the other privileged people she had met; he joked and teased like a normal person, and let her tease him as well. He even made time to visit Arimsa, who still didn't like the idea, and kept him informed of their activities. Arimsa would even grudgingly admit that he could tolerate Siete, but such admissions would usually trail off into dire threats about what would happen should Avia return even one second late. By this time, neither Avia nor Siete paid any mind to such remarks.

Avia had shared her dream of the Goddess with Arimsa, and neither of the two could puzzle it out. It had seemed too realistic to Avia to be a dream, but it was also unheard of for a mere servant to receive visions from a god. Arimsa offered to ask the other servants if they had heard the legend of the Dratia Irisia, which left Avia to check the book of myths she had recruited for her reading lessons. However, she and Siete were drawing near to the end of the book, and there had been no mention of the Daughters of Isis yet. Finally, out of desperation, Avia brought up the subject with her teacher.

"Uh, Siete, have you ever heard of a legend about the Daughters of Isis?" she asked during one of their breaks. They had finished the book about myths, and Siete had brought up a pineapple to celebrate.

"You mean the Dratia Irisia? I think I may have heard something…let me see. Daughters of Isis….Daughters of Isis…now I've got it. The Dratia Irisia is an order of women, mostly in the Mediterranean area, who claim to be the daughters of the goddess Isis. I never would have believed the story, but I actually met two of them, in completely different areas of the region, and they said exactly the same thing. I believe some towns look to them as prophetesses, but for the most part they're independent of any strict dwelling like that. According to the ones I spoke to, they wander around trying to eliminate "darkness" from the world." Siete shook his head. "Wasted effort really. This world is so entrenched in darkness, if we got rid of it all, there'd be nothing left."

Avia gulped in spite of herself. "What kind of darkness, exactly?"

"You know, demons and such."

"Oh. Demons and such. Of course." Avia burst out laughing. "Siete, I was serious! Really, what do they do?"

"I wasn't kidding, seriously, they kill things that should have died years ago."

Avia frowned up at him, but could see no trace of amusement in his eyes. "you're not kidding, are you?" she asked quietly.

"No, I'm not. That's really what they do. I think I heard the legend once… supposedly, after Osiris was brought back to life and Horus became ruler of Egypt, Seth was furious and sought revenge. Since he believed that it was Isis who had led to his downfall- and it was, I suppose-, he began to work against her. If I remember correctly, he took six men, six beasts, and six spirits and corrupted them, tricked them into serving him. There are obviously many more now, since they in turn spread Seth's work throughout the lands where Isis was strong, but those six were the most powerful."

"Where on earth did you learn all of that?" Avia asked incredulously.

Siete looked almost regretful for a moment, before adopting his smooth mask once more. "I have been fascinated by demons for quite some time now. There's all different kinds you know, it's a very interesting study. Why are you so interested, anyway? Its not exactly a common topic."

"No reason in particular" Avia replied, lying through her teeth, "just curious."

"Idle curiosity in dangerous subjects is not a healthy exercise, Avia. But if you're really interested, then I know what book we can move onto next."

Siete walked over to the shelf and replaced the book of myths, drawing out the hard bound, sealed volume Avia had noticed her first time in the room. On closer inspection, she could see several runes that the priests put on the shrine doors, signs of purity, locking and concealment. "What is that thing?" Avia asked. "Looks rather morbid to me."

Siete examined the locks on the book, and simply ripped them off, to Avia's surprise. He must be stronger then he looks, she thought, and he looks pretty strong.

Opening the book, Siete announced in a hollow sounding voice, "This is a copy of the Book of the Dead. Not only does it protect the body in the afterworld, it has all kinds of information about some of the things that plague us while we are still alive. There's also a compilation of prophecies, which are always interesting to read."

(A/N: Just in case anyone saw The Mummy or has a misconception, the Egyptian Book of the Dead was not a single hidden, magickal text used to raise evil dead people who fool around with other people's wives. In contrast, a copy of the Book was buried with all who could afford it, as it contained spells and directions that were very important in facing the many trials Egyptians believed the afterlife contained. I'm not sure that it contained any demonology or prophecies, but hey, it's a fan FICTION, so I'm taking some more creative liberties. Deal with it.)

Avia gasped in shock. "What are the priests doing with a copy of the Book of the Dead? They don't embalm anyone!"

"Well, they probably want it for the same reason we do: to learn about demons and such." Siete replied.

Avia had some feelings of misgivings, but was too eager to learn about her apparent heritage to care. She eagerly turned to the first page, and began to read.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

As days passed, Avia and Siete constantly poured over the Book during most of their lessons together. At first, Avia could not believe someone had wasted their time writing something so far fetched. (A/N: Hmm…that sounds familiar) But the more she read, the more interested she became. Morbid or otherwise, the book was full of knowledge most of her peers would kill to get their hands on. With Siete's assistance, she learned about Incubi, demons who preyed on women; their female counterparts, called Succubi; elemental beings that brought havoc in the form of natural disasters; and spirits that could inhabit the bodies of others. As Siete had so accurately pointed out, she really didn't have a reason for wanting to educate herself on things that were neither living nor dead, she just felt it was better to be safe than sorry. Despite all her pressings, Siete absolutely refused to elaborate on his encounter with the Daughters of Isis he had apparently run into. Avia was rather unnerved by his secrecy, but decided not to dwell on it.

Soon after Avia's lessons with the Book of the Dead began, Avia caught up with her brother just as their chores for the day were complete.

"Come on, Arimsa!" she called from across the room, earning scowls from most of the older servants. "Lets go for a walk".

Arimsa nodded his agreement and headed for the door. The twins exited the temple from a small side gate and headed toward the river in the distance. It was a good walk away from their home, but Avia thought they would have enough time to get back before dark.

After a hot walk, they were both very much relieved to reach the river bank. Scanning the area left and right, the stretch of water looked deserted, so both waded in, fully clothed. After splashing each other like lunatics for a good while, they climbed under a shady tree overhanging the river and lay down to rest.

Avia could see the sun glinting through the trees, and estimated that about an hour remained before dark, and they would need at least half that to get back in time. Still, she looked up at the tree's branches and day dreamed idly, not moving. She examined the details of the leaves above her head; the veins running through them, the shape of each leaf, the beautiful bright green color. Looking at the emerald leaves brought her mind to a pair of emerald eyes, and she smiled slightly at the thought.

Just before Avia's mind could wander still further down a road that the author had wanted to save for later, Arimsa's voice shattered the silence.

"Look at that, Avi" he said in a choked sounding voice. "There's a woman walking" he paused, "on top of the water."

Avia instantly snapped out of her daydreaming and followed her brother's gaze to the water. She instantly recognized the figure ahead of her; there was no mistaking the flash of blue eyes and powerful gait. "Arimsa, you can see her too?" she asked.

"Unless we are both having exactly the same hallucination, then yes, I can see her." Her brother remarked, sounding angry. Avia, however, knew better: he was afraid.

The figure was now within calling distance of the twins, and Avia began to wade into the river to greet her. Arimsa's hand stayed her arm.

"What do you think you are doing?" he demanded. "We have no idea who that is!"

Avia shook her head, with a small sigh at the many failings of men, none the least of which was making false generalizations. "No, YOU don't know who that is. I, however, am slightly more enlightened than you are; that's the goddess from my dream."

Arimsa, far from being reassured, looked even more nervous than before, and he did not release his grip on her arm. "You mean she's real?" he asked incredulously.

"'Unless we are both having exactly the same hallucination'" she mimicked, throwing his words back at him. "Now let go of my arm."

Arimsa dropped her limb, looking dazed, and sat down again with a thud. It was rather a lot for him to take in.

Avia, on the other hand, was within reach of the goddess before her. She gave a hesitant smile and cautiously said "hello."

Isis matched her smile with a much bigger grin of her own, and replied "Well met, Avia. It seems you have called me once again."

Avia frowned in confusion. "Call you? I never called you. I wasn't even thinking straight when you appeared."

The goddess smiled indulgently at her. "You probably called for me without even being aware that you did so. It has happened before. After all, you noticed me, did you not?"

"Well actually, no, I didn't." replied Avia. "My brother did. He saw you coming down the river, and told me about it."

Now it was Isis's turn to frown. "I did not know you had a brother."

"Yes" replied Avia. "We're twins."

"Twins" mused Isis, obviously deep in thought. "That is most unusual. I should like to meet this brother of yours, Avia. Can you introduce me to him?"

"Of course!" Avia replied, and led the way back to the tree, where Arimsa had been watching the dialogue from what he deemed was a safe distance away. He did not look happy at being brought into close quarters with a divine being.

"You are her brother?" Isis inquired.

Arimsa gulped. "I'm Arimsa…" and finding nothing else to say, he let his words hang alone in the air.

Looking thoughtful, the goddess put a hand to her chin. After a few awkward moments of silence, while Avia making a pile of stones at her feet, Isis looked up. "Arimsa, would you please tell me why you don't like Avia's teacher?"

Without even stopping to think about a strange immortal knowing the details of his life, Arimsa blurted out "Because he's dead!"

Avia looked up from her stones in outrage. "Arimsa! What a thing to say!"

Isis glanced at Avia, then refocused her attention on her brother. "Well, I think we may have a difficulty here. I assume Avia has told you of her dream of me, and her calling?" At Arimsa's nod, she continued. "Then you know she is one of my Daughters. Daughters are predestined before they are born to be what they are. I suppose it is possible that, while in the womb together, some of her abilities could have- leaked, so to speak, into you. This is very strange, and it has never happened before. There are no men in the Daughters of Isis- hence the name. I am not sure what to make of all this. But the hour grows late, and you two should be getting inside. These plains are not safe after dark, particularly for people like you."

"Wait just a minute!" Avia demanded, sounding put out. "You still haven't explained what these "abilities" are, or what it is exactly that I should be doing. You can't keep leaving me hanging like this!"

The goddess gave her a hard glance. "I can, and I must. There is no time left to me now. Amun- Ra has already begun his journey into Nut, the night. You must head back to the temple. If you hurry, you can make it before darkness truly falls. And Avia, daughter you may be, but you would do well to not make demands of a goddess."

With a last nod to them both, she vanished. Avia stared at the spot where the goddess had just stood. "Do you think we can do that?" she asked, with wonder in her voice.

"I don't care, Avia, we have to get back!" Arimsa replied, crossing the river. "Whatever we can and cannot do, its going to be dark in a few minutes. If we run all the way we are still never going to make it. Come on!

Avia lunged into the water after him, and the two raced up the slope. They cut across a field, hopped a fence and trespassed through an orchard in an attempt to save the failing daylight. Avia was not sure what it was exactly that they were trying to avoid, but she knew instinctively that she did not want to be caught outside in the dark. It was quite dark by the time they reached the dusty plain that marked the beginning of the temple grounds. With a relieved grunt, Arimsa picked up the pace, Avia matching him step for step. When they finally reached the gate they had exited through, Arimsa pulled on it harshly, only to find it locked for the night.

"Brilliant" muttered Avia. "Now what do we do?"

Arimsa started to suggest they try the main entrance, when a low growl caught them both off guard. Turning, they could see a shape moving in the darkness away from the temple, which was lit up with torches outside and in. Another growling bark greeted their ears, and Avia desperately hoped it was a stray dog. But as the creature moved closer to the light, she could see blood red eyes staring at her through the black, and knew for a fact that it was no mortal creature that stalked them.

(A/N: My first ever cliff hanger! Yay! I think I am enjoying this more than I should, but wow that was surprisingly entertaining. I just want to mention that I like using the phrase "well met". It's so polite and all. Also, Amun- Ra is the sun god, the journey a reference to the sun rising and setting each day. Anyway, review the story. I mean it. Review. Now. Press the button. Right this minute.)