Earth, Sun, and Moon Saga Ch. 10

"I'm sure you've also noticed the transformative nature of us. We grow and change as the people that worship us do. Getting to the Earthly plane would allow us the freedom to recreate ourselves, gain adherents, and take the next step in our growth."

"And you need my help to do it?"

Qebhet threw her head back and laughed. "See how he speaks as if you are his equal. I told you he'd be perfect."

Bastet continued, ignoring the river goddess. "In exchange, your mission in this new life would be to facilitate our arrival. No doubt you understand how we need sacred objects to allow us passage?"

"The tethers. Aye. I'm familiar."

"You'd need to find another tether for my Anubis. And assist him in bringing me forth."

Edward nearly laughed. "What makes you think I'd help you do the very thing I died preventing?"

"Context," Qebhet offered helpfully. "You now know what is at stake."

Edward thought of his objections. He was vaguely suspicious that he was being manipulated. The goddesses had gone above and beyond in describing how they were mere figments of humanity's imagination, somehow both powerful but ultimately malleable to the whims of their believers. But he couldn't shake the possibility of what they offered.

He thought about Lenore. The vampire had been the reason Gwen and he became involved initially. Anubis had massacred her coven, butchering her fellow vampires to gather the spare parts necessary to resurrect a mummy. That mummy was Bastet herself and Lenore was the last missing piece.

"Why did Anubis need to kill the vampires?"

Bastet smiled at him, revealing the sharp incisors of a feline. "Vampires are as old as humanity is. The first ones were spawned from ancient demon gods that managed to reproduce in a fashion. Bastards from an underworld that escaped to yours. The same humanity that breathed life into us as avatars of life, love, and family, breathed life into the devils of their more malevolent desires.

"These children of demons contain the raw divine spark that gives us life. Anubis needed that to breathe life into my tether."

"But he didn't need that for himself?"

"He exists mostly in the space between life and death. It's easier for him to cross over."

"And when you cross over, what would you do to recreate yourself? What does that entail? You mentioned gaining adherents. You don't fancy enslaving humanity, I hope."

Bastet flicked her tail as if annoyed by the question. "No, nothing like that. I'm sure you've heard of Osiris and Horus?"

"That they escaped? Somehow joined another pantheon of gods?"

"Precisely. Our stay in your world would be temporary. It's a way station. Nothing more. I'll be honest that I don't quite understand how they did it. I know that it had something to do with Horus becoming a carpenter or some such nonsense." Bastet waved her hand as if shooing the topic away. "No matter," she continued. "My Anubis and I would forge our own path once we escaped this place."

"Ironic that our human souls can leave but you gods are all trapped here."

"The universe is funny that way," Bastet agreed. "Not that we're exactly rolling with laughter here." She studied him, not pretending to hide that she was observing his every expression. "So . . . do we have a deal?"

"Just so I understand you correctly," Edward started. "You're offering to allow me to be reborn, whilst keeping both my memories and my skill with magic intact. In exchange, I'll need to devote a large portion of that life to locating another tether and bringing forth first Anubis and then assisting him in bringing forth you. Do I have that right?"

"Don't forget about me, lover," Qebhet said.

"Of course not," he conceded. "But how do I bring you forth?"

It was Bastet who answered. "Qebhet here is in particular danger. She is a minor goddess, no offense, dear, and has even more reason to want rebirth. But in our lands, there was no cult center for her. She had only the barest smatterings of any priests and followers. She exists as not only a vestige of her father, Anubis, but of this place in particular."

"Like I said," Qebhet added. "It'd been a long time since I'd had anyone to console."

"You're saying that she doesn't have a tether?"

Bastet nodded. Then added. "Yes. But also, we'd like her tether to be you."

"Me?" Edward repeated dumbly.

"She'd crossover with you. Your soul would be stitched to her essence. She'd be your protector. You would be her guide. Together you'd work to help my love and I cross over. Through you, she'd get to live again."

Edward absorbed this and shook his head slowly. He turned to Qebhet. "I'm so sorry," he said. "That sounds like marriage. I'm afraid I can't. My heart belongs to another."

Qebhet looked at him confused. "Yes. And?"

"I confess I love another. I can't have my soul stitched to a goddess then, can I?"

Bastet chuckled. "Dearest man. Upon my arrival, I will be able to separate that bond. You can journey separately then."

"Man of Wales," Qebhet said, "You're lovely. Really. But I want to live my own life too. I want you to show me this Earth and teach me all about it. But I'm no one's wife, spiritual or otherwise. I have my own path to walk as well."

"It would be a temporary alliance, then?"

Both goddesses nodded.

"When I was alive—well, just before I died—there was another goddess. Ammit. I can only assume I am to help bring her forth too."

Bastet and Qebhet exchanged a look but only Bastet replied. "That's a . . . delicate situation."

"What do you mean?"

"She, um . . ." Bastet searched for the right words.

"She failed," Qebhet said. "She was supposed to protect my father and she didn't. He managed to summon her to his side through a tether he personally blessed and when it was time to repay him for that generosity, she utterly failed him."

"She has no tether that I can divine," Bastet added. "She had her chance."

Edward was momentarily thankful he wouldn't have to ally with the frankly terrifying monster goddess that was Anubis' assistant.

"Alright," he said, finally. "I'll do it."

Qebhet clapped and hugged him. "Yay! Thank you, Ed-Edward!" Bastet smiled and nodded, clearly expecting this answer.

"But there is," Edward said, holding up a finger, "just one more thing I need."

"Although I feel like we've been more than generous with you, dear man," Bastet said. "Go ahead and name your price."

And Edward did.

***

When James woke, he felt both rested and ravenously hungry. He could feel the gentle rocking of the yacht and it was clear they weren't underway anymore. He checked his watch and saw he'd slept for more than four hours.

He was up and out of bed moments later, a habit from his military life, and went searching for his clothes. He expected to find them crumpled in a wet pile in the corner of the cabin and, while it wouldn't have been the first time he'd worn wet clothes for a second time, he wasn't looking forward to it.

He couldn't find his clothes other than his belt and boots.

Instead, he found a shopping bag at the foot of the bed. Inside were a pair of Wrangler jeans, a 3-pack of heavy wool socks, another 3-pack of boxer briefs, a simple gray knit sweater, and a tan canvas jacket.

Also, in the bag was a black t-shirt with a cartoon bat on it that read, "Bite me."

Nice one, Lenore, he thought as he dressed.

Surprisingly, everything was not only his size but fit him well.

It was warm enough in the interior of the yacht that he left the sweater and jacket for later. The big revolver and silver-plated knife were still on the nightstand and he slipped the gun into the pocket of the jacket, wishing he had a holster for it. He shoved the knife in his belt, at the back where it was easy to reach with his right hand, glad he managed to hang on to the sheath.

Upon leaving his cabin he could hear voices from the upper deck. He climbed the narrow staircase but was unprepared for what he walked in on.

He found them in the galley area, with Ash sitting at the small dining table. Cartons of Chinese food covered the table and Ash was mid-bite as she watched Lenore and another woman James didn't immediately recognize.

The newcomer was kneeling before Lenore, head lowered in supplication, and was mumbling something James couldn't hear. Lenore had placed one hand on the back of the woman's head, smiling down at her in clear amusement.

"Hi, James!" Ash yelled, waving at him. She pointed at the cartons of Chinese. "There's food!"

Ash's announcement broke the apparent seriousness of whatever was occurring between Lenore and the third woman. She stood up, startled and embarrassed.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

Ash answered before anyone else. "Angelica is swearing her undying fealty to Lenore. And she brought noodles!"

"Oh, nice. I'm starving."

He finally recognized Angelica as the goth girl he'd lured over to Lenore during their date the night before. It turned out she was a fan of the metal band Lenore was a part of in the early 90's and the vampire had disappeared with her into a back room to slake her thirst. She'd swore to James that she wouldn't murder the poor girl but he hadn't expected her to make a friend.

Tonight, she was even more goth than at the club. She wore ripped black jeans, a black Misfits shirt tied at the waist, and a pair of black platform boots that made her two inches taller than her normal height of 5'4". Her black hair, black eye shadow, and black lipstick completed the look.

"Hey, thanks for the food," he said to the embarrassed girl. He took a seat next to Ash, who immediately pushed a carton of beef lo mein at him. "Feel free to continue."

Angelica looked from him to Lenore, who stood passive and silent as only she could do.

She finally took pity on the girl and held out her hand. Angelica immediately responded by kissing it.

"What is to be my next task, mistress?" Angelica asked meekly.

Lenore smiled and tilted the girl's head up to force her to look her in the eyes. "Your next task is to sit down and eat some of the food you brought."

"Yes, mistress." She sat at the table and began separating a pair of chopsticks.

"Soooo," James said after a moment. He pointed to his shirt. "Who do I thank for the new threads?"

Angelica raised her hand, shyly, barely able to look at him. "You like them?"

"They fit perfectly. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Angelica said. She pointed at Lenore. "She told me your sizes. Your other clothes are drying now."

James nodded vigorously between bites. "Cool. Neat. Awesome. Anyway, what the fuck is going on?"

Ash raised her hand. "Ooo, I can answer that. Lenore called Angelica over to bring us supplies for our upcoming mission to rescue Gwen and punch Annie right in his stupid snout. She brought food and clothes for you and then she got here and was all 'thank you for the opportunity to serve, my dark mistress' and then we told her about us in a fun little Q and A and then she pledged her eternal soul to Lenore as her blood mistress, whatever that is, and then you walked in."

James looked over to Lenore who said, "Yeah, that about covers it."

He turned to Angelica. "And you're okay with this?"

"Pshaw, of course," she said as if he were stupid. "I feel like I've been waiting for this my whole life."

"Welcome to the party then." James could relate so he didn't press the issue. "Do we have any sort of plan for getting Gwen back?"

Lenore sat in a lounge chair on the other side of the cabin, her expression unreadable. She motioned to an open laptop on the counter of the small galley. "I managed to narrow down where Anubis might be hiding her. The mummy collection is renting a warehouse over in the port district. Apparently, that's where they'd keep the trucks and any artifacts that wouldn't fit in whatever museum they're in that month. Not that it does us any good to know that. I barely survived our last encounter with him and we're still at square one when it comes to locating his tether."

"Also, the snake!" Ash added helpfully.

"Yes. The snake," James echoed with a groan. It had nearly killed him mere hours ago.

"Wait," Angelica interrupted. "What snake?"

"We think it's Qebhet, Anubis' daughter," Ash said, snatching up an errant eggroll, not caring about talking with her mouth full. "And we don't know what her tether is either."

"Okay," Angelica said, raising her hand as if in school. "I'm lost again."

James looked over at Lenore. "You invited her. It's up to you how involved you want her to be."

Lenore shrugged. "She's a big girl. Besides, we need allies."

James thought the earnest and all-too-bashful goth girl was more akin to cannon fodder but kept that observation to himself for now.

"Look," James said to Angelica. "I get that you're into my girl here but I need to warn you that we're in actual danger here and if you hang around you will be too."

Angelica looked from him to Lenore, the shock obvious on her face. "Wait, you're like together?"

"I feel like you may be missing my point."

"Yeah, danger, super serious or whatever . . . So you're not, like, her man-slave?" Angelica looked to Lenore. "He's not, like, your Renfield?"

That caused Ash to snort loudly into her food. "Only if Dracula called Renfield 'sir'."

Lenore tried to seem indignant but was blushing. "Whatever, fish-girl. At least I don't have to make a fuck nest just to be satisfied."

"Hey," Ash said, waving one chopstick indignantly at the vampire. "That is totally normal behavior for my kind, you jerk! I saved your undead butt there if you don't remember. And what's normal about drinking blood? Nothing! It's weeeird!"

"Wait, what's a fuck nest?" Angelica asked. "I wanna see the fuck nest."

"Hey, let's focus," James said, putting a hand on Ash to mollify her. "We have a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it."

The women acquiesced, allowing him to continue.

He turned back to Angelica and over twenty minutes and a carton of lo mein, gave her an abridged summation of current events with Lenore and Ash filling in the events from London. He finished by saying, "As it stands, I have five silver-loaded rounds for my revolver and a silver-plated knife, so not exactly an armory. I'm not sure what Anubis needs or wants with Gwen but I do know that if we go after her as is, we will lose badly."

Angelica studied him for a moment then looked at Ash and Lenore. "Nah, I don't buy it," she said finally.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno, it doesn't make sense. Like, why would Anubis come all the way here just to get to Lenore and then fail to capture her when he had the chance? Not only that, he straight-up attempted to murder her without the whole weird orgy ritual first. What's that about?"

"That could just be bad blood between us," Lenore offered. "He sort of hates vampires."

"Wait—ooo!" Angelica put her hand over her mouth in realization. "Are we the bad guys?"

"Huh?" Ash said, noodles hanging from her mouth.

"Like, Anubis isn't an evil god. He protects the dead. Guides them. And vampires have only had good press relatively recently. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally on team vampire but have you guys considered that we're the villains in this story?"

"Anubis could be doing all this to bring about peace on Earth," James began, "and I wouldn't give a single, solitary fuck. If someone comes at you with a gun, you kill them. Their motivations are meaningless. And how can you know the motivations of a god? As far as I can tell, humans are either playthings to them or a means to an end."

"Okay, jeez," Angelica said, looking away from him. "I was just thinking out loud."

"Can we discuss how we're going to kill him?" Lenore interjected. "Or at least get Gwen back? You know, have a brainstorming sesh?"

"Well," James said. "You can aerosolize silver nitrate. Put it under pressure and push it out into the air."

"Like a bomb?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, but less explosion, and more in the way of covering every surface in fine silver mist."

Lenore visibly cringed. "Ugh, they would hate that. I love how you think."

"Problem is," he continued. "It'd be tricky to get enough for our use. You can buy it retail in either small powdered amounts or as a heavily diluted solution. It's a reagent used in chemistry labs so it comes by the gram. We'd need . . ." He looked around the cabin. ". . . about twenty grams with an explosive equal to a few firecrackers to get enough to cover the interior here. On a human, it'd be a mild skin irritant. On one of them, I imagine it'd be like covering them with acid."

"Stop, you're making me wet," Lenore teased.

"Yeah, but it'd affect you too." James motioned to Ash as well. "Maybe you as well, Ash. Silver nitrate is incredibly toxic to aquatic life."

"Lame," Ash said.

"Still," Lenore said. "That may be our best option. If we set it off with Gwen near it, she'd be okay but any gods near her would be in for a world of hurt. We could slip in and free her before they know what hit them."

"I'd need time to improvise a dispersal device."

"Bomb? That's a bomb, right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. Call it an IDD. If they're in a warehouse I'd need way more than a few grams."

It was Angelica who spoke next, "I think I can help with that part. I attend UW. I'm not a chemistry major or anything but I'm doing a work-study thing in some of the labs there. Would they have what you'd need?"

"You have access to the chem labs?" Of course, James thought, silver nitrate was very common in freshman-year chemistry classes.

"Sure," Angelica said, "It's not exactly Fort Knox."

"Aww, do you guys go to school together?" Ash asked.

James had to laugh. "I guess we do."

"Fun!" Ash started clapping. "So, are we gonna do a heist?"

"Looks like it," Lenore said.

"Yay! Another heist!"

James turned to Angelica. "So what's your major?"

"Oh, um," Angelica looked around the table, suddenly remembering her shyness from earlier. "Religious studies."`

***

Edward now sat on a small stool, leaning on his cane as he told her about the afterlife. The big office window was between them and Gwendolyn felt like she was talking to someone visiting her in prison. But that was close to the truth, was it not?

Her side of the window crackled with the static-like energy of the sigil burned into the office floor. That sigil essentially turned the office into a prison cell. And since being captured Gwen had sat patiently, listening to the story of a man who'd been dead for 130 years.

This Edward looked only vaguely like the young man she'd raised as her apprentice so long ago. He was older, mid-forties perhaps, but looked strong and healthy despite carrying the cane. If the sigil was any indication, his abilities with magic had come a long way as well.

"So, when you were reborn, did you remember all that when you were a baby?" she asked. "Your life before? Me?"

"Yes," he said, nodding, "but it was more like gaining memories as I grew. Remembering. The great irony was I was again born an orphan."

"Until you were adopted," a woman's voice said. "By me."

Gwen turned to see a tall black woman walking up behind Edward. She looked young but could have been much older. She was dressed smartly in a white business suit and her long dreadlocked hair was pulled back. She stopped next to Edward and put a protective hand on his shoulder.

Edward smiled up at her, placing his hand over hers. "Ah, my love, allow me to introduce you to my savior. My protector. She goes by Shanaya Johnson now. But you may call her Qebhet."

The woman smiled broadly at Gwen. "It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you. I feel like we're already friends."

"You have an interesting way of making friends," Gwen retorted.