"I'm all right, Shada, I promise."

"Are you sure, my king?"

"Of course," Atem said, closing his eyes while Sakhmet wiped his face with a cloth. Shada and Karim still looked at him worriedly, but Sakhmet reassured them, "Do not worry. I will do everything in my care to make sure he stays out of harms way again."

"That's exactly what we're worried about."

"Oh shut up. You are beginning to sound like Seto. Do not tell me you have agreed with him after all."

Karim and Shada stayed silent. It was very quiet in the stone room, the only sounds being the trickle of water as Sakhmet dipped the rag in the basin next to Atem. Finally, the Pharaoh spoke, "Sakhmet, you shouldn't be worried about what they say."

"Oh, I know. Do you think tomb raiding is a social activity?"

"N-No."

"Sorry, that was rude of me."

"It's fine."

Sakhmet wrung the rag over the basin after rinsing it and wiped her own face with it. The night was warm, unusual and unexpected.

"If you are done Sakhmet, the rest of the guardians are waiting for me."

"...Right," she muttered, requesting a servant and relieving herself of the basin and cloth, "Let us go then." She draped one of the long thick strands of hair in front of her ear behind her shoulder and gestured for him to lead the way. The continued silence in the room was awkward, not as simple as it usually was between them. Shada and Karim walked ahead of the Pharaoh; it wasn't usually protocol, but due to the dangers, it was a way of protection. Sakhmet followed mutely behind, her head slightly bowed and eyes low as a sign of subservience.

When they reached the great hall, they met the rest of the guardians, each of which looked just as tired and depressed as the rest. Mahad looked like he was about to fall unconscious from his wobbling back and forth on his feet. Karim had trouble keeping his eyes opened and every five-seconds Isis was yawning.

Atem sat on his throne and sighed, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Sakhmet stood beside him, considering leaning on the side of the throne for support. "Thank you. All of you. I appreciate all of your hard work," he said, yawning, "Tell me, what is the status of the time being."

Seto stepped forward, "Pharaoh, I have heard news that Hathor was spotted near the outskirts of the city to the West. If we find her, we can track down Horus and Sekhmet as well."

"Our soldiers have reached the point of exhaustion. There is no one left to go out and search for the goddess," Akhenaden reminded him, rubbing his eye, "If finding her is a good idea, who do you suggest we dispatch?"

Seto glanced around the room, his eyes locking on his target as he said, "Sakhmet could do it."

The priestess ground her bottom jaw and glared at him, instigating her imagination to come up with as many ways to kill him as possible. Atem shook his head, "I need her here. I don't think there's anyone left to send out. We ought to make a plan and begin once we've all gotten a good night's rest."

"Then what is the plan?" Seto challenged. Isis countered, "It's simple. Once our troops are well rested, they can go out and search in the areas of the sightings and corner the gods."

"And what happens when we capture them?"

"We command them to explain their reasoning for doing this."

"Right, and we're just supposed to tell gods what to do. Brilliant idea. Let's go talk to the Nile and tell it to form a lake too. I'm sure it will do that for us if we tell it to."

"Then what's your idea, Seto? If you're so cynical about everyone else's, then please, tell us what genius plan you've come up with," Mahad snapped, growing increasingly lethargic as the meeting continued. They continued to argue, all of them. The burden of sleepless nights was heavy on them all.

Sakhmet leaned over and whispered to the Pharaoh, "I know it is not my place to speak in these meetings, but I suggest we sleep and then make a plan. Who knows when they will get along at this rate. We are all tired and are falling asleep on our feet. You still need time to recover and even you are growing tired. I can see it in your face. Let us all go to bed."

He nodded and said as loudly as he could, "Enough. We are getting nowhere. This meeting is dismissed until all six guardians as well as Sakhmet and I have received enough sleep. Sleep, and then we will decide on a plan. Any objections?"

No one said anything against it. In fact, after he said that, almost everyone immediately began walking toward the halls to their rooms. Sakhmet's job was yet to be done though. "Let us go, then, Atem. You need sleep too."

"What time is it?"

"About evening. Not to ask for sympathy, but some of us have not slept since the night before you were captured."

"I see. Then this was necessary. Alright, let's go. You need more sleep than I do."

"My lords, the Pharaoh... I'm sorry, but he was taken from me." Horus and the two other gods kneeled in front of the seeping darkness. There was silence. The two men in the shadows merely looked at each other and the one on the right smirked. Finally, the man on the right spoke, "What does it matter? As long as we keep the chaos going in the kingdom, he'll collapse. We've got you three, don't we?"

The other man addressed Hathor, "You did steal them, didn't you?"

"Of course." Hathor held out three miniaturized tablets. After she put them in a straight line along the side wall like dominoes, she waved her hand over them and they expanded to their normal size.

"Perfect. The Pharaoh and those ridiculous guardians will never see this coming. Their own monsters fighting against them!" He handed the each of them diadankhs.

Sekhmet frowned, "What about me? Don't I get to do something? I've been sitting here for ages!"

"It's only been about a few hours you impatient little puppet. Why don't you wait for orders like everyone else? Besides, we'll have a special job for you soon."

The man on the right looked at his colleague, "Why don't we give her a job? After all, like I said before, we have to keep the chaos going. We can't give them a chance to rest. Sekhmet's perfect at destroying things, aren't you?" He sniggered at the goddess.

"That, my friend, is an excellent idea."

"My king! Wake up! Pharaoh!" Sakhmet shook Atem awake, considering splashing water on his face. They were all tired. It was no surprise it would take him so long to wake up. But before she could grab the pitcher and pour it on him, he groaned and opened his eyes, "What is it, Sakhmet?"

"They-the gods-I do not-She is-!"

"Slow down, Sakhmet. Take a deep breath," he commanded, and she did so, "Now, tell me again. Slowly."

"Sekhmet is attacking the city! Half of it is on fire again and shadow creatures are flying all over the place causing havoc! The city is burning and people are being murdered left and right!"

"Understood. Go wake Mahad and the others... and don't do anything bad to Seto," he warned her, "Then come to the throne room and we'll discuss things there."

"Atem, we do not have time for formalities! If we do not do something now, the city will be destroyed!"

"Sakhmet, listen to me! I cannot just send you out there alone! We need the others! Now, do as I said and wake them up!"

"But-"

"SAKHMET! You will do as you are told, do you understand? As the Pharaoh, I command you to wake them up!"

She froze, taken aback by his tone. He had never spoken to her like that. Not ever. Her lips curled down into a scowl as she bit her lip and she spun around, leaving the room to wake the others. Atem sighed when she left and scratched the back of his head. But he quickly got over what he said and got dressed, fearing the worst of his kingdom.

Sakhmet, on the other hand, was confused. How she wanted to do something for herself for once. If she went out there and took care of things herself, she would be completely independent again. She longed for the days she only had to take care of herself. However, now that she was bound to loyally obey Atem and the other guardians, she had no choice but to follow his orders unless she wanted to be hunted down like a dog. She had already made her decision years ago, but the independency had not faded. Maybe that was why she hated it when Seto blamed her for everything. She didn't want to be responsible for someone else; after all, up until her contract with Aknamkanon, she only helped herself.

"Argh, I hate this!" She punched the stone wall next to her in frustration, "Why are things so difficult now? If I was still a tomb raider, I know exactly what I would do! But ever since I came here I am split on two sides! What is wrong with me! My nature is telling me to go out there and take care of things now, but my conscience is telling me to do what Atem said. And by standing here and fighting with myself, I am only prolonging the help the citizens need right now!" She stood there for what seemed like forever. Finally, she raised her diadankh and summoned Sorcerer of Black Magic and Divine Grace-Northwemko. "I will help you two soon, but for now, go out and destroy as many shadow creatures as you can! Please, the fate of this city depends on you two right now!"

They nodded and flew off in separate directions while Sakhmet went to Mahad's room. After she woke him and informed him of the situation, she went to Karim's, then to Isis', and so on and so forth. She followed them to the throne room, secretly cursing the formalities they had to go through.

Atem was waiting for them, not even bothering to sit in his throne. He merely stood on the steps impatiently while the rest of them filed into the room. "Good, you all are here. Sakhmet, did you tell them what's going on?"

She nodded silently, returning to his side obediently. He nodded, "Alright then. Seto and Shada, you two gather the troops and take down as many monsters as you can. Isis, Akhenaden, you two try to get the people out of the city and somewhere safe. The Valley of Kings, the Nile, anywhere, I don't care. Just get them there unharmed. Mahad and Karim, you two will come with me to find the gods and stop them from ravaging the city. If you can capture them, then find out as much information as you can."

"Yes, my king." They all bowed with their left feet forward and dispersed into their groups, leaving the throne room. Sakhmet looked at Atem warily and asked quietly, "Am I not to receive a job?"

"You will come with me to search for the gods."

"You mean goddess."

"What?" He asked. She nodded, "It is only Sekhmet out there. Her specialty is destruction, is it not?"

He sucked in a deep breath and sighed, "So what do you want to do?"

"Me?"

"She's your namesake. I think of all people, you should get a chance to capture her."

"Tch, you can take her. I do not even want to see her face. She shames me with her destruction."

"I'm sure she could say the same thing for you. You're not the most bloodthirsty person around, you know. She probably always expected her namesake to be a lot like her."

She snorted, but descended the stairs, "If we do not hurry, more destruction will fall upon your city, Atem. We should help your guardians, no?"

"Agreed." He followed her out of the throne room and down the stairs to the lower level. Once in the grand hall, they were greeted by some servants who informed them that their horses were ready outside. They nodded and exited the hall, immediately taking the reigns of their individual horses and mounting them.

"Let's go, Sakhmet!" Atem ordered, riding off towards the city. Sakhmet steered Nedjem in the right direction and spurred her on, "Pyrh! Pyrh!" The horse reared and bolted off, following the other horse and rider.

The destruction of the city immense. The buildings were reduced to nothing more than piles of stones with wooden doors on fire. Bodies lay under rubble and over the streets. It was a massacre.

"H-help... please..." A voice weakly cried out from under one of the houses. "Atem, someone is still in there!" She said, halting Nedjem and clambering off her back clumsily. She began tearing at the stones to free the buried man, but Atem took over, "You've already damaged one hand, there's no need for you to injure the other. Let me do this."

"But, my king, that is why I am here. It is to-"

"HELP!" The cry crew louder and more pained. She groaned and began pulling at the heavy boulders, "We do not have time for this Atem!" He couldn't help but agree with her, so he began clawing at the rubble alongside her. Eventually they revealed a small cavity in the rock, the only way someone would have managed to survive. A man was crouched inside there, his leg crushed by some of the collapsing stone.

Sakhmet crawled inside and began freeing his leg while Atem made the opening wider. Once the man's leg was free, Sakhmet and Atem hoisted him out and together they put him on Atem's horse. Sakhmet held him still while the young Pharaoh mounted Nofre-Ari again. "I'm going to take him outside the city where Isis and Akhenaden can care for him. You look for any more survivors."

"But what about-" but it was too late. He had already galloped off. "...Sekhmet..." She sighed, finishing her sentence. She clambered onto Nedjem and bolted around the corner, looking for others that might still be alive. No sign of anyone yet.

"Hey, Sakhmet, over here!" A voice called to her, and an enormous flaming archway collapsed just as she passed under it. Fire rose on all sides. Nedjem was growing nervous, pawing the ground and pacing back and forth while Sakhmet tried to keep her under control. "Who is there!" She called out, "Answer me!"

From out of the flames, the familiar lion head appeared, and Sekhmet rose from the shadows, "Hey there, namesake," she spat, "I've been waiting for you to get away from Pharaoh. It's about time you two separated. Now I can have some fun!" She grinned, "Horus, Hathor!" The other two jumped out of the flames, "What?"

"Go take care of the other guardians! See to it that they never see their precious city again!" They nodded and disappeared, the fire thickening.

"Sekhmet! Stop this!" Sakhmet yelled, Nedjem rearing. She yanked on the reigns, panicking to control her horse. When she was finally standing on all four legs again, Sakhmet looked up to see the goddess charging at her, her hand outstretched. She grabbed Sakhmet's face and threw her to the ground, maniacally laughing. The ground was unforgiving as the priestess' back made a full impact.

"How long have I been waiting to do this?" Sekhmet chuckled, grabbing the neck of Sakhmet's dress and picking her up. "Sakhmet!" Another voice rose over the crackling of burning rubble and Atem on Nofre-Ari leapt over the flames. His diadankh was activated, but he had not yet summoned a monster yet.

Sekhmet snarled, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be outside the city!"

"Isis took care of the man for me. I came back when I saw Horus and Hathor over the city. And what do you know? You're here. Let go of Sakhmet."

"Now what on earth makes you think I'll do that?"

"Fine. I summon Sli-"

"No, no, I think not. If you want your precious little priestess alive when this is over, I wouldn't do that," she mounted Nedjem and dragged Sakhmet onto the horse's back in front of her. Sakhmet kicked and fought, but it was difficult without injuring the horse. She bit her captor's hand, but Sekhmet didn't seem to notice. After forcing Sakhmet onto her own horse and holding onto her by the hair this time, Sekhmet spurred Nedjem on and flew past Atem.

"Come on, Pharaoh! You do want her back, don't you?" She cackled, jumping over the flames. Atem screamed, "No! Sakhmet!" He could no longer see them, but he blindly dashed over the fire and through the smoke. He caught sight of them turning a corner on his left. They disappeared quickly, but he spurred Nofre-Ari on to follow them.

He chased them up and down streets, left and right, all over the city until they broke through and ran out into the desert. Dust and packs of hard dirt flew behind them as their horses trampled the ground, sprinting as fast as their bodies could carry them across the desert.

"Atem!" Sakhmet yelled, struggling to grab hold of the reigns while Sekhmet held her back and forced the horse to go faster. Eventually, Sakhmet was causing her so much trouble that she let her go and shoved her to the left. "Gah!" Sakhmet yelled as she was violently thrown from the horses back and hit the sand heavily. She rolled several times, and when she had finally stopped moving, she lay there on her back completely immobile. She coughed up sand a few times, but her body ached too much to move.

"No!" Atem yelled, wrenching back the reigns and slowing to a stop only a few feet from her; but Sekhmet beat him to her. She jumped off the horse and grabbed Sakhmet's hair at the base of her neck, jerking her up to a kneeling position. "Alright, Pharaoh. Why don't we settle things the traditional way? With a shadow game! Hm?"

He eyed her warily, but the goddess smirked, knowing she had left out the most important part. Sekhmet knew he'd agree, whether he wanted to or not. She held up Sakhmet, who whimpered softly.

When the goddess held out her hand, a small glass cube formed, spinning on an axis. She threw it up into the air and it expanded, floating in the air above them. "What's that for?" Atem questioned, but Sekhmet merely laughed before disappearing, fading away as if she was only a hallucination. Sakhmet fell forward and convulsed slightly, making small choking noises. Atem assumed she had only gotten a mouthful of sand, but when he clambered down from Nofre-Ari, she started laughing. It wasn't her laugh. Instead, it was twisted and choking.

She got to her feet and asked, "Ready to play that game, Pharaoh?"

"W-What! Sakhmet, what are you-?"

She laughed again, "If you're looking for your priestess, take a look up there!" She pointed to the glass cube above their heads, a twisted smile on her face. "No, Sakhmet!" Trapped in the cubic cage was the soul of Sakhmet, and it didn't look like she could hear him. She was beating her fists soundlessly against the glass, panicking from her situation.

"Atem!"