Chapter 24: Cliffs Notes on Worshiping Gods

I cannot recall how I managed to slip the rope off my ankle. My mind was in a panic. I tugged at the rope senselessly desperate to get it off me and somehow it managed to slip off out of luck. By then I had already sunk deep into the water's depths. It was dark. I didn't know where to swim. My lungs were burning for breathe.

I clawed at the water trying to find a way out. The rope had disappeared so I couldn't follow it to the surface. My mind was filled with terror with the mantra 'I don't want to die!' repeating in my head. At last a glimmer of light. The sun was just visible through the lapsing waves. My fear dissipated slightly enough for me to remember how to swim properly. I propelled myself upward and broke out into sweet air.

My first moments out of the water I could do nothing but savor the feeling of being able to breathe. Once my gulping gasps steadied into an even rhythm I searched around me for our boat. But it wasn't anywhere. In fact everything around me was unfamiliar. The body of water I was in was large and round, not like the river that stretched in a line through the heart of Cairo. There were no skyscrapers. In the distance I could see, were they hills? Or maybe plateaus?

'Did I get swept down the river…?' I muttered to myself. My fall into the waters had been disorienting enough. I didn't know where I was. All I could do was swim to land.

Towering me ahead was a large hill, the tallest standing landmark in the area. At first glance it looked like a pile of rubble, but looking closer I could see hints of walls and windows peeking from the structure. At the top stood a sliver of a tower that was barely visible. I decided to make my way there. If I could get to the top, I could look around and get an idea of where I was.

There was no shoreline, but there probably was one here not too long ago. I trudged through knee deep water past trees and shabby houses in slightly better condition than the ruins nearby. The people here were trying to deal with the flooding as best they could. The roofs of their homes had lines of clothes stretched out to dry. Boats were either filled and strapped to the sides of the houses or they were rowing down what had once been streets.

It was slow moving and my calves were aching. My shoes were certainly ruined at this point. It wasn't until I made it to the base of the hill that I was finally able to get out of the water. I stretched out on the ground for a few minutes to give my legs a break. Once I was ready, I started my way up to the ruins.

The path ahead was blocked off with tape. I saw a sign that read "TEMPLE OF THE ORACLE: Dedicated to the cult of Amun 'Lord of Counsels.'" I guess I now know how I ended up here. 'Lord of Counsels' huh? What does that even mean? Sounds vague, but I suppose that suits him.

The whole place felt like a maze. There were many buildings, many crumbled away. Some places only had winding walls. I would take a path that I thought would take me to the tower and meet a dead end. I was so tired and frustrated. I started squeezing through the window-like holes instead of retracing my steps. It did the trick. I happened on a path that zigzagged until it led into the tower.

The inside of the temple was very dark. I didn't have a flashlight with me so I had to be careful with my steps as I climbed up the winding stairs. There wasn't much to see inside, partly because I couldn't see much at all without any light. I reached the top and peered out the small window there.

In the distance I could see a large lake further away from the one I had come out of. There was another tall hill that also had ruins built at its top. The actual city stretched in the lower lands between them and it was all flooded. Thousands of homes filled with water. I went back around to the other windows but it was no use. There was no Nile here. How could there be when the Nile was losing water, not flooding everything?

"Where am I then…" Turned out coming here didn't tell me much. I had nothing on me, not a cell phone or anything, that could tell me where this place was. With no other options, I shouted into the empty tower, "Amun! I know you're here! Show yourself already!"

I waited but only silence answered me. I growled in frustration and kicked at the wall. It didn't take much for my foot to leave a mark in the stone. The rock was in poor condition. It was then I noticed that there were many more marks along the entire wall. Some parts were smoldered and black. A few paces down I even noticed the head of an arrow lodged into the siding. The tower wasn't a temple; it was a lookout tower for battle.

I slumped down the stairs, running a hand along the bumps of the stone bricks. My shoes were squeaking and my feet were freezing. I wanted to get rid of them, but I didn't want to walk on the gravel barefoot. I followed the path that snaked out of the tower. There wasn't anything to find here. I would be better off going into town and finding out where I am.

Going back the way I came, I passed another building when something caught my eye. Leading to the entrance of the doorway were pieces of paper lined in two rows creating a path. I thought it was a strange thing to be here, and for them to be so perfectly aligned as they were. Just then, a gust of wind suddenly flowed from behind me. The papers started to flip, two by two, until the wind reached the temple's entrance. They settled to the ground neatly in their place.

I walked to the path to take a closer look at the papers. Not all of them had been flipped, but the ones that were had messages written on them. It looked like all of them were questions. Many of them were vague and even bizarre without any context. I read ones that asked 'Should I admit my crime?' 'Does the first journey count?' 'Will the flowers bleed?' 'Did he do this to find a book?'

As I skimmed through them the names of gods started to pop out. I saw some that asked about events that have already happened. 'Should Bastet be the next Eye of Ra?' 'Will Isis' child one day rule Egypt?' 'Will the pieces of Osiris be gathered?'

Some of them stuck with me. Questions I weren't sure were about the past or present but felt related to our current situation, or things I've experienced. 'Did Nephthys wish for this?' I used to think she did, but I'm not so certain anymore. 'Will Set's plan succeed?' It better not. "Will the magician kill his foe?' Anubis did promise to bring that one magician's arch enemy to him, so I'm guessing he will.

But for as many scraps of paper that were flipped over, there were just as many that rested blank on the ground. I was curious if there was anything written on them too. I picked one up and my stomach turned. 'Will Anubis kill himself?' I quickly put it back down, as though hiding it's message will make it cease to be. I didn't want to read any more of the slips. I picked up my pace until I entered the building.

Although I called it a building, it didn't feel like one without a roof. The stone walls were a skeleton of the temple that used to be here. On the walls were engravings that depicted gods in the classic Egyptian form. Not all of it was visible as parts of the wall had crumbled away long ago. I glanced over them until walking into the next room.

Each room was much of the same. The room at the end had a table that had a huge pile of food on it. Grapes, oranges, tomatoes, wine, even grilled meats were stacked on each other. There were candles burning and some lavish plates stacked on the table. It was peculiar. This area was tapped off and not allowing quests. There's no reason for someone to leave this much food here.

To the left was one final room. At its centerpiece was a statue sitting on a throne. The body was of a bare chested man wearing a simple linen skirt. The head of the statue was of a sheep or ram. There were some traces of details carved into it but time had eroded much of it away. Some places were chipped away and one of the arms was missing.

I jumped when a voice boomed around the room. "Are you just going to stand there?" The voice asked me.

I crossed my arms. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"This is a holy shrine built to honor the god, Amun. A place of worship. Come to the statue."

I eyed the statue skeptically. I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. It bounced off all the walls making it feel like it was everywhere. At least the statue wasn't talking from what I could tell, but I was sure Amun must be here somewhere. I let out a sigh and stopped in front of a low bench just in front of the statue.

"Kneel and bow your head." I did as the voice said. "Now say a prayer or hymn to the god."

"I don't know anything like that. I've never even been to a church before."

"All prayers and hymns were first made up by someone. Just say what's in your heart."

I gave an incredulous glance up at the statue, as though I could roll my eyes at Amun by looking at it. I bowed my head and stammered out what was the best prayer I could come up with. "Oh Amun… um, god of hidden truths and… sheep. Uh, blessed is thy…"

"That doesn't sound like it's from the heart," the voice chided.

"You're a jerk who needs to learn how to respect people's personal space."

"You know, other gods have started famines for less insulting words. It doesn't have to be flowery. Just say one thing to show gratitude."

I lowered my head and closed my eyes. I still had a lot of conflicting emotions. He has irritated me since he first showed up and always seems to push himself into my affairs. I don't know his motives, and a lot of the time it feels like he just likes messing with me. These things seemed to cloud whatever good things I thought of Amun, but I tried to tug them out of the sticky web of emotions.

"You've given me some good advice," I said, my voice echoed until the wind took the sound away. "When I follow your advice it seems to pay off, and when I don't I regret it later… I can't say I trust you. I don't understand what you're trying to do by interfering with me and Anubis. But I do feel like you're trying to help, in your own weird way. So, I guess I'll give you a chance."

"... thank you."

I took that as a cue that I did a satisfactory job. I got up from my knees and wiped off the dirt on my pants

"Now you may bring me food as an offering. I'm hungry so I hope you can pick something I will like."

I went over to the other room and grabbed one of the plates. There was too much to look through so I just started to pile on what was close to me. An apple, some nuts… should I bring wine? I feel like that's a religious sort of offering, right? It was when I added a steak to the pile that the voice scolded me.

"Cows are considered a holy animal. Killing the animal for it's meat is not an acceptable offering."

Great, I thought to myself. How many times had I made steak for Anubis during our travels? He never said a word to me, but I'll have to ask him about it later. I started to pick up a different piece of meat and again he admonished me. "I'm a ram god and you're going to offer me ram meat? How rude."

"Stop being so picky," I growled. I wasn't even sure what everything here was. I picked up some white meat I assumed was chicken and took the plate back to the statue. I dropped it down on the bench and placed my hands to my hips waiting for his next order.

"You forgot the candles."

"Of course I did…" I went back and picked up two of the candelabras. I placed them on either side of the bench and gestured to the food. "There! Bon appetite."

"No, you have to kneel and lower your head again after offering the food."

I sighed, but continued to do as he said. Why was I even doing this? I should be with my friends trying to figure out how we can get Osiris back. I stared at the ground for a moment watching the shadows bounce and dance lightly from the firelight.

When I looked back up again the statue was gone. Instead the throne held a living god in its seat. He wore the same apparel, but all those faded details were now actualized with intricate threading, beadery, and an elegant headpiece. The god still looked as I remembered, his features so pale his complexion looked almost slightly blue with the golden stones and light around him. The one thing that was different was the ram horns and ears the statue had was now crowned on his head.

"Nice horns," I complimented.

Amun smiled. "Thanks."

"So why am I here? Wherever here is…"

"This is the Siwa Oasis. It's in eastern Egypt near the border to Libya."

"So I'm nowhere near the Nile?"

"That's right. It's far away from all the other god's shrines. That's why it's my favorite." Amun smiled looking into the distance. "This place used to be quite well known. I got a lot of visitors from other lands wanting to hear my prophecies; know their fate. Many demigods wrote about my temple, like Perseus and Alexander the Great. Now people only care to come here on vacation, plunder for treasure, or spook themselves with stories of Christians sneaking here to practice witchcraft."

"To be fair, the place is a bit rundown."

"And it'll get worse," Amun straightened in his seat. "Nun didn't make the water in the Nile vanish. He displaced it. The water will keep rising here. Confronting Nun will restore the Nile but it will also save my temple from being eroded away."

"We're trying to find him. We probably would have already if I hadn't made this promise to jump into the river. I'm sure everyone is looking for me now, and why? Why bring me here to ask me to do something I was going to do anyway?"

Amun looked up at the sky in thought, and a second later shrugged. I don't know why I ever said anything nice about him. He is still absolutely infuriating.

"Isn't my shrine cool, though? Back in the day I used to always have a priestess and she would aid me in answering the pleads of those who came here. Like the slips of parchment you saw. They would ask me about their future and I would give them a holy yes or no."

I arched an eyebrow. "A holy yes or no?"

"Yeah, cause it has more meaning if I say it," he leaned forward burrowing in my eyes. "Perhaps you have some new theories you want to test? If there was any place to ask about them it would be here."

Amun likes to probe me on my ideas. Maybe he's hoping I'll have some revelation and solve everything shouting "Eureka!" But I have a lot of pieces that don't seem to fit together. A lot of suspicions with no bases. I can't come up with good theories, and when I think I'm onto something, Amun stamps 'wrong' on my forehead and wishes me luck next time. Whatever expectations he has, he's placed them on the wrong person.

But something about this temple stood out to me, and it made me want to ask him something. "Instead of theories, can I run a prophecy by you?"

"A prophecy?"

"You're a god who tells prophecies, right? So maybe you know this one. I heard it from these sphynx in the duat, at least I think I did. It was weird. Anyway it mentioned something about flower petals, a storm, and it mentioned a dog several times which I'm sure is about Anubis and-"

"Nakia."

I had gotten so wrapped in trying to remember everything that I tumbled over my words when Amun interrupted me. I closed my mouth looking to him questioningly.

"As a prophetic god my best advice to you is to not chase after prophecies."

"Why not?" I argued. "I must have heard it for a reason. If I had some help figuring it out it could help me save Anubis."

"Prophecies are best served to those who don't hear them."

"What does that even mean? If they tell you the future, why not use them to your advantage?"

Amun was very solemn, and for once he seemed very old to me. He sat in silence, regarding me. Then his voice filled the temple walls.

"I once knew a man who chased after prophecies. A man who lost his purpose and tried to find a new one. He thought he understood their meanings. He thought they were about him. But they never were. Instead he doomed the world. He gave up on himself and casted his life away. The prophecies toyed with him and everyone lost in the end."

Amun looked into his hand. He held it cupped as though it were holding something. "I champion those who seek knowledge themselves. Who use their own eyes to find the truth. If I gave a prophecy to someone who begged me toanswer all their questions for them, I probably didn't have their best interests at heart." He looked up at me, his silver eyes piercing into my soul. "So, do you want me to tell you about prophecies?"

"... I think I'll pass."

The temperature had to be in the 100s right now but I felt cold to my core. Amun has jested before that I was mean and I hurt his feelings, but I think this was the first time I struck a nerve with him. His gaze was terrifying, like he could tear my future apart with the simplest of gestures if he decided I wasn't worth his time. Just minutes before I was berating him and now I just wanted to get out of this alive.

With a sigh he seemed to drop the serious attitude, but was still very aloof. I was so used to him being sly, teasing me and being Mr. Mysterious that this side of him didn't match him at all. He seemed more like a powerful god, and knowing him he would probably take that as an insult.

"When you were outside my temple I'm sure you saw the sign out front. The one that names me the Lord of Counsels."

"Yeah, but what does that make you? The god of therapy?"

"It means I'm a good guide. I steer people in the right direction. That's why I give humans advice. That's why I am advising you now." He tilted his head as he held me in his sights. "But whether your take my word is your choice. I can't make you do as I wish. But I know I can help you. And I promise you my guidance really will help you save Anubis."

He stood from his throne. We were the same height but it felt as though he was towering over me. "Choose your own path, Nakia. Let your eyes guide you, because the magic they hold is powerful. Keep the gods in your prayers and memories and you will save him. That is my holy word."

His cheek tugged into a smile at that last bit. But the moment he finished speaking the temple suddenly burst with a flood of water. The current was over my head in seconds and they took me away just as I had arrived.