Chapter 13
Charlotte
As I poke my head out of Horus’s chamber door, I realize an error in my logic. I was in such a state of shock when I walked here, I can’t remember how to get back to Anubis’s work room.
“Just get out there and explore, Charlotte. It’s not like that lioness is going to find and eat you,” I chide myself as I take a step out of the chamber and take a left. I figure that I’ll run into someone eventually.
As I walk down the pale white marble hallway, I take note of the beautiful pieces of artwork lining the walls. A little ways down the hall, a striking piece catches my eye. It’s a marble statue of a stunning woman in armor reaching for twin swords on her back. Whoever the artist was they captured the tenacity of her brow and the fierceness of her gaze perfectly. The attention to detail on even the beading of her headdress is beyond impressive.
Just as I reach out to touch the stone warrior, a deep voice surprises me from behind. “Of course you would be fascinated by the one woman who caused you to be in this interesting situation.”
As I quickly turn around, the source of the voice is standing right behind me. It belongs to a dark and fit man who is so tall that I have to crane my neck to meet his dark eyes. His short dreads are pulled back at the nape of his neck. His eyes are arresting and all-knowing, and it seems clear he’s not very happy with my presence.
After taking a second to compose myself, I realize what he stated. “That is Cleopatra?” I ask in awe as I turn around to give the statue another look.
“That is her. Isis herself carved this piece as a memorial for her sacrifice.”
I turn back to look at my new companion as I say, “I did not realize that she was a fighter? I know she was a brilliant strategist but I didn’t know that she could use a weapon too.”
“Not many did and she liked to keep it that way. It made her enemies underestimate her.”
“And how do you know so much about her?”
“Because I was there. I am the god known as Thoth.”
My eyes widen in shock in the realization that I am face-to-face with another immortal. From what I remember, he is a god of knowledge which might make him the perfect person to help me with my translation problem. “It’s nice to meet you, Thoth. My name is Charlotte Fletcher,” I say with a smile as I hold out my hand to shake.
He doesn’t return my smile and folds his arms when he replies, “I’m aware. I helped bring your bleeding body into this temple. You’re welcome by the way.”
“I don’t even know how to answer that statement,” I reply in shock at his arrogance.
“Gratitude would be nice but alas. It seems even that it is too difficult for you, just like the rest of the mortals I’ve dealt with.”
The self entitlement of this god is enough for an entire city, but I need him for this translation. So, I remind myself that I need to play nice. “Thank you very much, Thoth. I most likely wouldn’t be here without your help.”
“Of course you wouldn’t be here. Horus is abysmal at healing and you needed a lot of help by the time I arrived.”
“Well, thank you all the same. I was hoping a god of your infinite knowledge might be able to help me with something?”
He does not reply, but just lifts one of his brows.
Taking that as a prompt to keep talking, I continue. “Before the attack, I discovered a coded message that was with the stone tablet. I was able to translate the Greek portion of the message, but sent the hieroglyphs to a colleague of mine. She was only able to translate some of them and even so, some of the glyphs could have multiple meanings. Would you be willing to take a look at it with me to try and make sense of it?”
At this, both of his brows shoot up. I have a feeling it is hard to intrigue the god of knowledge. “Well, this is surprising but promising news. Where is this message?”
“The papyrus is back at the museum, but I took plenty of images that are on my laptop,” I reply as I gesture to my satchel.
“Come. Follow me and we shall take a look at this message of yours,” he says as he turns to walk down the hall.
I take one more glance at the statue of Cleopatra. If these gods and some of the history books are to be believed, she was one of the smartest and bravest women to ever live. The fact that I get to follow in her footsteps to help the gods and the Duat still astounds me. Much preferring a book to an outdoor adventure, this is not where I pictured my life taking me just a few days ago but I won’t waste this opportunity that I have been granted. Even mortals can make a difference in the lives of gods.
I jog down the hallway and catch up with Thoth. “You don’t seem to like me very much.”
“Don’t take offense. I don’t like most mortals.”
“How lovely,” I reply sarcastically.
“More importantly, you have seen what happens when mortals get tangled with the workings of gods. It is not just Egyptian, but Greek, Roman, Nordic gods as well. It never tends to end well for the mortal and the gods tend to lose something in return. Most of us in this temple agree that you should not be here, but Horus seems to think you are… different from those before. Maybe you are different or maybe it is just different times. Only time will tell how your story will end.”
I’m deep in thought before I realize that we have turned off the main hallway and have entered a large cavernous space. Looking up, the circular ceiling is high and comes to a tapered point with a large, golden brazier hanging from that point. The space is an interesting mix of ancient and new. Marble columns frame a raised dais in the middle of the chamber, but instead of an altar there are desks with computer systems and other technology screens.
On the other side of the raised dias, two arched entryways catch my eye. There does not seem to be a door but I cannot see through the swirling gray and blue fog that fills the archway. I start to hear a strange humming as I walk around the dias towards this peculiar new sight. Just as I reach out to touch the substance of the archway, a hand stays my wrist.
“I would not touch what you do not understand, mortal.”
I come back to myself after realizing I didn’t consciously remember trying to touch the archway. Thankfully, Thoth was there to stop me before I did something stupid with forces that I clearly do not understand. “I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen something like that before. What is that in the doorways?”
“Magic.”
Well, clearly someone did not grow up playing show and tell. “Yes, I can see that. What is that magic intended to do? Does it have something to do with all of the computers in this room?” I ask while gesturing to the raised dias in the middle of the room.
“It does.”
I’m going to pull my hair out trying to talk to this egotistical, self-righteous god. I have to take a deep breath before I say, “Right. Thoth, I know it has been a while since you conversed with a mortal, but I am an academic. I cannot help but try to understand the world around me. So please could you indulge my curiosity and explain this to me?”
My slight groveling seems to do the trick because he gives me a once over and turns to walk up to the dias. He pulls out a chair behind one of the desks and gestures for me to sit. As I walk up and take my offered seat, he sits in the chair right next to mine.
“You must excuse my seemingly uncaring demeanor. You are correct in that I have not conversed with mortals on an intellectual level for some time now. I forget that your inferior minds are filled with imagination and curiosity.”
Ignoring the “inferior” portion of his abysmal attempt at an apology, I ask, “So, would you mind explaining what those are?”
“Those are portals, which combine a unique, and might I say brilliant, mix of technology and magic. They allow a person to be transported anywhere on this plane. A person can also transport themselves back here to headquarters as long as they have one of the two portal-keys that allows for an instantaneous return.”
Thoth then launches into a very technical explanation about how he combined the computer’s GPS technology and portaling magic to make it so they can go anywhere in the world. It’s quite impressive even though I don’t understand all of the magic behind it.
“When you say this ‘plane’, what do you mean by that?” I ask.
“These portals can take a being anywhere on this planet in this space and time. It cannot go to other realms or to different places in time.”
“Other realms?”
“Like the Duat, Olympus, the Underworld or the other planes that exist,” he replies matter-of-factly.
“Wait a minute. Are there other gods out there too?” I ask as my voice seems to get higher in pitch along with my anxiety.
“Of course they do. If Egyptian gods exist, why is it so hard to believe that other deities exist as well?”
“Well, when you put it like that I guess it makes sense”
“Of course it does. Now, to the matter of your coded letter?” he asks while looking at the satchel now at my feet.
I pull out my laptop and set it on the desk to turn it on. Thoth slides his chair closer to get a better look at my screen. As I pull up a picture of the papyrus, Thoth takes a sharp pull of breath once he sees the writing on the screen.