-Vika Menshikov-

This trip to the rift that Rua is taking us on is taking longer than I had hoped. Then again, the Duat is expansive, so I can only hope he knows exactly where we are. Especially since I'm even more aware of not having a cigar on me, noting it will be a priority once we emerge back into the world above.

Yevgeni had taken to Sadie rather fast, considering she happens to be a Kane. At some point I overhear him mention my name while discussing us growing up and learning Egyptian magic from Otets. But I simply roll my eyes at him mentioning that at one point I was expected to act like a lady as opposed to now. I do not miss the dresses at all, and I never did figure out how Radmila could tame my hair into a neat bun without a sweat.

"So how did you and Mariano meet?" Sadie inquires.

Yev is tense for a moment, eyes me before clearing his throat. "We met in Cairo. I was there to accompany Otets. Mariano was the only initiate there who treated me as a person equal to him rather than staring from afar."

Wait, I remember him accompanying Otets. Yev told Vlad and me that he was digging around for information on Kaz's killer while there. That's how we discovered it to be Jabari Kane and his group of combat followers. Obviously forgot to mention he met Rua there. Yet our father knew to some degree, seeming annoyed when he would tell him to stop sneaking off with a friend of his and to stay within the walls of the palace.

Is that why he hadn't told Vlad and I? He already felt judgment from Otets? I turn away to hide the hurt from everyone else on board. I've spent years after their passing wondering if they would have ever told us what was going on between them. But if they already felt out of place, of course, they would therefore pretend to fit in with those who didn't know any better.

Thankfully this is when Kyra reached out. Sadly, only to hand bad news, hoping we had something to relieve the stress evident on her face. No, because all we've managed so far is to uncover more hurt in the end. News that the former General is dead reminds me of Otets finally telling his other three children what had happened to our oldest brother. The difference is Kyra is a much stronger woman than I am, looking to help those around her rather than seek out vengeance.

I refrained from mentioning anything about Iskandar's apprentice to her, and she seemed too overwhelmed by other concerns to realize. Instead, I try to encourage her to do what I can tell she feels she should on her face. Because while she is not a Kane, she is more than capable of making the same impact if she sets out to do so.

Just not as explosive as Amos, a child holding on to a lot of passive rage begging to unleash. It was entertaining to see the shocked look on everyone's faces, despite not reading the hidden anger behind his eyes. Or the mild surprise on his face when I tell him to just act on it as if he thought he was disguising it.

I let out a drawn-out sigh before turning on my heels to see Rua pointing towards a strangle-looking portal we are approaching now. It's by no means a sand portal Per Ankh magicians use. This was a swirl of red spinning clockwise, and I was on edge as I immediately tasted the metallic flavor of Isfet magic in the air around us. Makes sense, only chaos would be the cause of such a problem.

At least Sadie seems on edge as well. The determined look on Mariano's face teeters towards unnerving as he approaches me. "How sure are you that you can get us into the Roman afterlife?" I ask before he can say anything.

"Seventy percent,' Rua admits.

My brother huffs at that. "That's better numbers than he usually gives," Yev admits with an underlining of annoyance directed at his boyfriend. "I'm more concerned about getting back into the Egyptian afterlife after."

"Set did it just fine," Mariano insists.

"Set is an Egyptian god of chaos," I remind swiftly. "The most chaos we have on this boat this second is your belief that you are capable of doing the same things he can."

"Well, that's better than the typical Kane and Menshikov family feud, so I'll take it printsessa." Rua huffs as he realizes Sadie heard all of that. "Nothing for you to be concerned about, of course."

I snort at that. Not because he brought it up. The fact that he knows that Sadie is still with a blindfold on tells me that he was certainly able to see things through Amos. Humorous that he chose to upkeep what the late Setian had going, not going to entertain the confused look on the girl's face now. This means Rua knows the importance we find the idiot.

The boat rocked as we got closer to this 'rift' as they are calling it. I'm uneasy, and only slightly grateful that Sadie appears uncomfortable as well. Rua is inspecting the portal that is now a good 3 meters away. He finally turns to the demon operating the boat to instruct it to move through it in Italian.

I've never felt immediately sick as fast as this approaching the rift. My stomach knotted up; my head felt as if it was disconnected from my body. All I could taste and smell was metallic in flavor. My ears ringing, and I barely register that I've now gone to a kneeling position, gagging to my senses going wild.

Whatever chaotic energy that attacked us suddenly calmed. I'm heaving as I process I had thrown up on the boat, gross. I look up to see a shield of golden magic surrounding us as we travel through the inky red surrounding us. Sadie's seemingly confident in her abilities after having her eyes take me in before returning her focus to maintaining this protective barrier.

"I see you have the same noble stomach, Vika." Yev is quick to taunt, offering me a handkerchief before I can think of a snappy retort.

I instead angrily rip the cloth from his grip to clean up since I'm more stable than I had been seconds ago. "I doubt any human would do better," I toss the unpleasant cloth overboard.

"Sadie didn't hurl immediately," my brother is kind enough to point out.

"I almost did," Sadie pipes in. "I'd much prefer dealing with Set's pyramid again over this."

Considering said reference and a certain Lord of Isfet she's had to face, I will give myself credit in comparison for only having experienced minor chaotic interactions. I look ahead to see we have just now left the rift's chaotic energy, surrounded by calm darkness instead. Sadie hesitates a moment before dropping the shield, collapsing to a tired sitting position.

I'm swift to offer her a potion, which she takes despite the sick look on her face at the sight of it. "Thank you, relax for now until you regain your strength." She reluctantly nods in agreement before uncorking.

I quickly take to observing our surroundings as she swallows it down, almost gagging at the taste of it. We appear to be on a river, but this is not the Nile like she is in the Duat. Mariano nods in approval before realizing I'm processing where we are now. "It's the Styx."

I growl in slight annoyance, but puzzle that is the name of this very blue, polluted river we are on now. I'm mostly annoyed at the fact that we are entering into territory I know nothing about. I'm accustomed to knowing too much about Egypt. It's a matter of pride for the Menshikovs, we have the scrolls priests of Ra handed down that others have never lain eyes upon. Now, we're in unknown territory and I'm questioning if I just saw a car seat float by.

"Are we in the right place?" I ask Rua as I turn to him.

"Of course!" He smiles and processes the look on my face that he should explain how he knows. "Greek and Roman underworlds are the same, the only difference is the deities."

"So, the remaining thirty percent was you being afraid we wouldn't get out of the rift?" I want to backhand him now, but I know it will be pointless due to him being dead and all.

Rua just shrugs but grins at the annoyed look on my face nonetheless. "I suppose the next part is finding where Caroline Smith went. Any ideas?"

"Over there," Sadie pipes in, and I look in her direction to see she is peering to the right of the boat.

I hesitate to look and vaguely see a ba wave us over as she approaches. "Oh hey, looks like she knew Ruby was sending help her way," Rua adds, quickly turning to tell the demon to get closer to the river's edge to allow the woman to board.

I take in her appearance as she boards the ship, seeming happy to see us. Burnet hair resting causally on her shoulders, amber eyes seeming joyful as she greets the other two bas aboard and Sadie. Wearing the House's typical linen with flats. Normal, and yet I'm on edge around her.

"Vika Menshikov?" I snap out of it as I realize she is now addressing me. There's a knowing look on her face, and it tells me enough to know she doesn't consider me an enemy either.

"You know where that idiot is or not?" I snap.

"I do," she is quick to clarify for us, not seeming bothered by my abrasiveness. She sighs before going to explain. "It's going to be tricky, however."

I eye-roll at that because of course it wouldn't be an easy task. "How much do any of you know of the Greco-Roman pantheon?" She continues, eyes mostly on Sadie as she asks this.

"After the whole Gaea thing? I'd want to say some," Sadie answers, but there's a hint of regret in her eyes. "I'm going to regret not looking at those books Uncle Amos was reviewing, aren't I?"

"No, I'll help fill in any blanks," Caroline reassures quickly. "We are currently just a way from Tartarus. Which is where Amos ended up at first."

"How exactly did he end up here?" I ask immediately. I need to know what she knows over the rest of us.

There's a hint of stress on her face to my question. "Honestly, I can only assume that their weaponry assumes House of Life magicians to be monsters. Unless it's confusion from hosting Set. I'm not entirely certain about that."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Where is he now if he isn't where he was at first?" Sadie asks before I can continue interrogating her.

"A goddess by the name of Trivia has him," Caroline concludes. "He, uh, attracted attention having befriended a group of monsters. Seems to be a common theme with hosts of Set for some reason." She gives a pointed look at Mariano.

Great, so now we have to deal with a Roman goddess? Anyone else, I would say good riddance and move on to other matters I've been shoving away. Except I need to chew his ear off for dying like he had.

"How are we to trust your information?" I interrupt the eruption of humor between the bas concerning this apparent incident of Mariano bringing a fire-breathing demon into Aaru. "How am I to trust you know what you are talking about?"

The girl hesitates a moment but seems like she understands that she needs to let us completely into what she knows. "I have Amos' ren. He doesn't know it, but I've had it since he was thirteen. I needed it to save him then, his life was slipping away and his brother was a mess." She takes a moment to process her emotions. "I wasn't going to watch him die just because I wasn't able to help repair a lung puncture."

My eyes narrow, and she seems to understand that I need further evidence of this 'truth' of hers. "He killed him last year, Friedrich. Because he was scared of what it meant for him to receive a pardon from Carter the way he did. Scared because he's seen what that man was more than happy to do when he believed he had immunity to any consequences."

Sadie's eyes are about to pop out of her head, ready to fire several questions off. "I'm just glad you were there to help support him," Caroline speaks, knowing damn well his niece has questions lined up now.

I sigh as I register that she's pretty much passed my questioning at this point. "It was that, or I would have killed the damn German myself. I just figured the kid needed some kind of satisfaction from it more than me."

"What weapon sends someone to an afterlife they don't even believe in?" Yevgeni sounds horrified in asking this question.

"Imperial Gold," she answers rather easily. "I, uh, am a daughter of Cleopatra. We did a lot of research into the Egypt and Rome conflict. It's why I know as much as I do."

"Wait," Sadie is about to fire off a question that I already know I can answer.

"She doesn't mean actual daughter, she means descendant. Your father and uncle would be known as sons of Narmer." Doesn't ease off my concerns now about Caroline, however. Though I suppose I will just have to keep a close eye on her as we continue from here.


-Kyra Teal-

Janet has an angry frown on her face at the news. But she's known me long enough to know that she won't be able to change my mind despite her opinion. So, it remained an angry frown as I explained that I planned to pass my role of Nome Leader on to her. She's done it a few times; this time it might be permanent.

Despite being a large support to me and the direction I have taken us in, she still doesn't think getting involved in the affairs of the Kanes is wise. She hasn't really quite understood that I can't, even though they are 'just cousins'. I grew up with Julius and Amos, Aunt Nadia raised me after my parents passed. I understood their reasons because I grew up under the same roof as them. Their problems are just as much mine, despite the Seattle Nome seeing otherwise on the subject.

"Are you sure this isn't just grief leading you away from us?" Janet finally says something. "I know the passing of Amos has been leaving you somewhat manic of late. Perhaps you should leave it? Maybe he didn't want you to keep holding on to him like this?"

I sigh, and she is not surprised by the look I end up giving her. "I need to know why Mel left Sebastian as a mess."

"I know," she barely says, but the hurt in her voice still comes through. "Whatever happens next, Kyra? No matter what, this is still your home. I don't care if they accuse you of murdering Whittaker, I never liked her anyway."

"Mel isn't bad," I pause after saying that. Because I knew she was above this, and yet I now have Kurtz left in bad condition from her work. I defended Julius, despite unleashing the Demon Days upon the world. I defended Amos, despite it being obvious that he was hosting the God of Chaos. I want to defend Mel, and I want to defend Carter. I hold back tears, realizing I need to break my bad habit. "Let's hope it doesn't lead to that then?"

"What's your opinion on this Starr character?" Janet decides to ask now. "He appears to want to cause a civil war amongst us again."

"I'm not here to tell you which side to pick, Janet," I explain quickly. "This is your nome now, you lead it in the direction you feel is best."

A frustrated sigh is her response to that. But she watches as I finish grabbing what I want to bring with me in silence. Following me up to the roof, finding the Seattle Nome along with our guests are here to watch us leave. My healers had already situated Kurtz on my grandfather's boat, but they had potions they wanted to hand me to explain what they all do.

"Tell Maria hello from me, will you?"

"I still reference back to notes from her teachings, tell her I hope she is doing well."

"When things settle down, I'd love to just have a cup of sahlab with her soon."

I reassure them that I will pass on their messages before boarding. I take a moment to process Kurtz, seemingly spacing out on the boat. He's sitting upright though, and my healers informed me they had been able to calm his episodes to some degree. Though some of the potions given suggest there's a strong chance that it will happen again as we make our way to Peru.

"You should probably lay down," I suggest, approaching to fluff up the pillow that had been offered.

He hadn't responded, and I didn't suspect him to anyway. But he caved and went to lie down without any argument. My healers had managed to make the bruising lessen, but the hints of them there still hurt to look at. For the moment, I'm just concerned he might lapse into another seizure dipping into the Duat, so laying down is preferred to lessen any impacts that could occur.

I wave goodbye to everyone still watching before dipping into the Duat. I look over to see Kurtz seemed to have handled it fairly well. I sigh and look ahead before landing my eyes on him again to verify that he is fine.

I'm reminded of last year, having traveled to Starr's Nome with Amos slipping away. Nerve-racking as it was, at least there was someone else there. I would be okay with a snarky Set being here now too, kill the silence and my concerns. Then I realize what I just admitted and laugh at the irony of it all.

We find ourselves on the Amazon River, San Pablo de Loreto to our left. It's a nice village, sometimes I forget that places like this still exist in the world, so seeing it before us felt refreshing. Docking at the Two Hundred and Ninth Nome was met with guarding magicians approaching uneasily as they process who they are pointing their wands at.

"I am looking for Maria. My friend needs her medical expertise." I skip introducing myself entirely, it doesn't seem like I need to anyway with the curious glances between themselves before lowering their guard.

A man, I assume is in charge of the other's steps forward. "Maria is busy with another guest for the moment. However, we can supply your friend a room until she is available to attend to them, Teal."

Fantastic, I recruited their assistance in unboarding Sebastian and they led him to the room. Gathering everything myself, I step on the dock and find Brayan Palacios approaching. I'm just a tad uncomfortable by the false friendliness in his expression. "Kyra Teal! An honor truly."

I now understand why Julius and Amos would be irritated by Nome Leaders as kids. An awkward dance of lying through smiles when it's obvious there's tension. At least the ones faking to the Kane Brothers had done so as more a matter of survival. No doubt Uncle Jabari would have erased anyone who snarled in Julius' direction if he had to tell him about it.

"I am told you needed the Per Ankh's finest for a friend?" He starts, quickly turning to shoo away the man who had informed him of my arrival. "I am sorry to hear as much, but I am honored to have you here to host for."

We'll see for how long I suppose. I inhale before taking notes from Cousin Amos, smiling back at the man before me. "I appreciate the warm welcome, Palacios."

"Please, allow me to show you to a room. I would love to have you join us for lunch as well unless you've already eaten?"

"I could go for some food, thank you."

I understand now why the man was annoyed not having his own room. Despite Maria hailing from this nome, there are not very many members of the nome. So much so, that some of the rooms are simply used for any patients she has, leaving the infirmary for books, potions, and other items to help with her work to any degree.

Fish is being served, and I'm welcomed by the other members of the nome, not seeming as faked as it was with Brayan earlier. I finally see Maria enter, who gives a short curt nod in my direction. I planned to pass along the messages from my healers but was stopped short when I found who had followed shortly behind her, seeming to be annoying the woman. Why is Zia Rashid of all people here? And why is she zoning in on asking Maria questions that it took her entirely too long to process my staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

Brayan seemed to have caught on fast on the matter. "Ah, our future queen is checking the place out to decide if she likes the idea of holding the wedding here," He answers quickly with a grin on his face.

Too bad for him, I know that is a lie. More so the fact she seemed more focused on Maria than the nome itself. But despite the uncomfortable glances we give each other from across the table, we eat lunch with the nome without a word.