State of Possession

I realized quickly that I was not going to get through this book very fast. So, I decided that I would need to read only the relevant parts of the chapters. I skimmed the index and got to work happily finding the information I was looking for. Set was certainly a rebellious Egyptian God. His original reign was over the desert, storms, disorder, and warfare. I wondered if this was why I enjoyed rain and storms, glancing at the tattoo on my wrist. Later in the New Kingdom Set was considered a maker of discord and strife, identical to my namesake, Eris. Some of the pharaohs even used him in their names, such as Seti I, Seti II, and Setnakht. They thought of him as the protector of Ra, God of the Sun, the creator himself. Ra had gifted Set a dagger, which was in two pieces. One part is a ruby representing everlasting health. The other was obvious to protect Ra. He used this in his many endeavors such as one of the times he killed Apopis the enemy of Ra. Later when the Europeans invaded Egypt Set was an outcast from the pantheon, thus making Set the new and more powerful enemy of Ra. This changed everyone's view of him, merging him with Apopis. Thus the ruby and dagger took on a different meaning, darkness, which is how he ended up recruiting Ahmanet.

I sighed, knowing this information was not as comforting as I would have thought it to be. But I was glad to have the knowledge, I closed the book and put it back inside my bag. I closed my eyes thinking about the goddess, Eris. She was the child of Zeus and Hera. She mostly just loved mischief, I remembered a story that used to be told to me at the orphanage, she wasn't invited to a wedding, but she showed up anyway. When at the after party she threw a golden apple with the words 'for the most beautiful' into the crowd, Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera all thought it was for them. This caused some issues between the three as Eris had hoped. Paris, the prince of Troy, offered to help them end the argument by being the decision-breaker. Each goddess tried to bribe him, Hera with power, Athena with wisdom, and Aphrodite with the most beautiful woman in the mortal world. Obviously, Aphrodite won. However, the woman she promised him was already married. Her husband wanting revenge for Paris stealing his wife, started a war to get her back. This became known as the Trojan War, which lasted 10 years.

Now for the last to ponder, Ahmanet. Power-hungry, much like Athena, on a quest to get exactly what she wants. She had even killed her family to reach immortality and greatness. But with a few wrong steps with those smarter than her, Set in particular, she let her desires cloud her judgment. She then became all-powerful, but before that transformation could be complete she was captured and mummified alive. Now she needed me to complete that task for Set to live in a mortal body.

"Oh hey, Winston." Rick's voice snapped me out of my thoughts about Ahmanet. I looked over my shoulder, seeing him walking towards us with Winston trailing behind him.

"You know O'Connell, ever since the end of the Great War there hasn't been a single challenge worthy of a man like me." I heard him babble, he normally gave this speech when he was inebriated.

"Yeah? Well, we all got our little problems today don't we Winston?" Rick pulled out the chair next to me as he replied, flicking Jon's ear to get his attention. The only way to shut Winston up was to get him through his memories as quickly as possible. Rick and I were all too familiar with this. He was one of the first people Rick introduced me to when we had first arrived in Egypt. Jon poured Rick a shot as I finished off my drink setting it down on the bar, gesturing for the barkeep to get me another.

"I just wish I could've chucked it in with the others and gone down in flame and glory instead of sitting around here rotting of boredom and booze." Winston finished up his story, patting the boys on the back. He really needed a hobby other than sitting around and drinking. I could visibly see Rick's annoyance set in. He looked as if he was ready to call it a day but knew there was more to be done.

"Oh well, back to the airfield." Winston let out a laugh spinning around and leaving us alone.

"Tell me, has your sister always been?" Rick started to ask Jon, shot in hand ready to throw it back. I received my drink, thanking the man and giving him a bill to pay.

"Oh yes always." He answered Rick's question before hearing anything else. I started sipping my refill.

"Well we're all packed up but the damn boat doesn't leave til tomorrow morning." Henderson came up beside me and Jon putting his arm on the bar between us leaning towards me. I watched him closely, curious if we really needed to go through this again.

"Tail set firmly between your legs, I see," Jon replied to him, sarcastically. I mean what really were they supposed to do, they thought they were going to die from opening the chest.

"Yeah you can talk, you don't have some sacred walking corpse after you." Henderson breathed out, confirming the fact that he was scared.

"Ah but we do have a thousand-year-old entity with us constantly and she's a bore," Jon replied, knowing that Henderson wouldn't understand what he was getting at but I certainly did.

"Whoa, be careful, I'm doing my best over here to hold her but she's a force to be reckoned with," I warned Jon not to make Ahmanet upset, especially when I was continuing to mentally hold her in her place. But for some reason, it was more of a chore than it had been before, I felt a migraine coming on since I walked through the threshold to the bar and it was only getting worse as time went on. The thought of continually keeping her at bay was becoming less and less a reality.

"What's he getting at?" He asked me flabbergasted at the thought.

"So uh, how's your friend?" Rick asked Daniels who appeared next to him, both of us ignoring Henderson.

"He had his eyes and his tongue ripped out, how would you be?" He replied sullenly, not in the mood to converse about the pain his friend had gone through. We all spun around in our chairs watching the entrance to the bar, it really was a beautiful modern area for the time. It almost had a Moroccan theme with the fabrics that were hung to look like curtains, filling the space with earthly tones. The tiles that were embedded in the floor were a nice touch as well, lots of blues and whites. This bar was much better than the others I had been in while looking for Rick. There were some men in the corner sharing a hookah pipe passing it around, happily. Oh, to have no cares in the world right now.

"Good luck boys." The four of them clinked their shot glasses together and I with my gin and tonic. We drank to their luck and health getting away from Egypt still intact. Immediately when the drink hit my tastebuds I spat the liquid back out.

"Sweet Jesus tastes just like…" Henderson started.

"Blood." Rick and I finished his thought, Rick dropping his glass on the floor as he looked at the fountain.

"And the rivers and waters of Egypt ran red and were as blood" Jon quoted the Bible.

"He's here," Rick whispered out and took off running in the opposite direction. I took off after him grabbing my bag.

"Rick, wait!!" I called after him, as I realized where he was going.

"Oh Evelyn…" He called her name in a sing-song voice, slowing down upon approaching her so he wouldn't bulldoze her.

"Oh, so you're still here?" She asked him, there was some tension here that I wanted no part in deciphering.

"We've got problems." He told her just as a clap of thunder shook the complex. The rain started pouring and I felt queasy, staggering, attempting to get my balance back. I knew that this was no doubt what I had been feeling earlier with the migraine. It felt as if the world was on my shoulders and I couldn't keep standing anymore. Neither my brother nor my friend noticed the issue I was dealing with, which I was thankful for. Ahmanet took over as I felt my consciousness fade as I gave into the pressure.

"You are getting weaker, as he rises," Ahmanet spoke to me in the confines of my mind.

"What do I do?" I asked her, sitting on the ground in an all-black room with no reference as to what was going on outside my head, no reference to my body.

"There's nothing you can do. Unless…" I groaned out feeling pain all over, just like when the tattoos appeared.

"Unless what?!" I yelled, hearing my voice echo around the area. I was prepared to do anything at this point to get control back.

"You're too weak to continue on your own. I am the only reason you are still consciously here, in this place. It was my choice to keep you alive. I could have tucked you away you forever when you fainted." She told me.

"But you also need me," I told her skeptically feeling even more faint than I did before.

"Beauty and brains. But this, you will not win." She laughed as my consciousness faded away for the second time, I relaxed into it accepting my fate.

***

"Eris!! Wake up!!" I heard his tortured screams as he attempted to wake me. Ahmanet allowed me a glance through a window. Rick was being slashed up by the dagger of Set. This was yet the third time he had been in mortal danger in this entire excursion and I doubted it would be the last. I watched as the curved blade barely touched his skin but ripped through him like razor wire.

"You talk of bravery like a Medjai, yet you are still mortal, how do you forget this?" Ahmanet questioned him in broken English. Evy was cowering in the corner as the mummy turned to face her attempting to kiss her.

"Rick!!" I yelled to him trapped in my mind, my voice echoed off the walls, bouncing back to my eardrums. I crumpled from where I stood, the pain erupting in my ears and brain. I tried to push forward into the forefront of my mind but Ahmanet's hold was too strong, she was growing stronger from the darkness and the plagues that were reigning on the world. I watched as she fought with my brother, she had maneuvered him onto the ground, straddling him. She reared up the dagger in my hands, ruby glinting in the fire-born sky ready to plunge it directly into his chest. A cat strode across piano keys directing everyone's attention to it, the mummy stopped in his tracks and disappeared into a cloud of sand. Jon and the Americans pulled me off of Rick and secured my hands behind my back.

"We are in very serious trouble," Rick said to everyone wiping away the blood that had been drawn.

"Let's get her to the museum," Evy murmured quietly as she tended to Rick's wounds. We walked outside and to Jonathan's car, piling in. It was an expeditious drive for Jonathan to get us there as quickly as possible as they now knew Ahmanet's true strength. The Americans dragged me from the car and led me by my arms, following Evy's instructions.

"He does seem to like Evy." I heard Jon say from behind me. Henderson was holding my wrists guiding me where I needed to be.

"Yeah, what's that about?" Rick asked, I could hear the curiosity in his voice intertwined with anger.

"There's only one person I know that can give us any answers." She spoke confidently as she rounded the corner to the Old Kingdom display heading towards the curator's office.

"You?!" Evy exclaimed stopping in her tracks.

"Miss Carnahan, gentleman… Eris? What's happened?" I heard Dr. Bey ask as he noticed I was a fugitive.

"What is he doing here?" Evy asked him not answering his question. I hoped we would get to my situation as soon as possible because it was not fun being a captive in my own head and in real life. Henderson pulled his gun from his holster following Rick's lead as everyone was tense from the fight with the mummy.

"Do you really want to know, or would you prefer to just shoot us?" Dr. Bey asked rather annoyed that he had guns pointing at him and Ardeth.

"After what I just saw, I'm willing to go on a little faith," Rick said as he stepped aside for the two men to view me.

"Richard, what have you done to your sister?" Dr. Bey asked in a serious tone as he came up to me inspecting my eyes.

"Ardeth, you'd better take a look at this." He breathed out, stepping away from me with fear in his eyes. I thrashed against Henderson, trying to get free of my bonds. I hissed at Ardeth as the Medjai walked up to me. He grabbed my chin holding me still to take a look at my eyes.

"Ahmanet." He breathed out.

"Ah a real Medjai, let's see what you're made of," I heard Ahmanet speak in Egyptian this time.

"Take her around the corner to her office." He instructed Henderson. He nodded and moved me towards the walkway, Rick went to follow but Ardeth stopped him before he could go much further.

"I'll do my best to get her back, but I must do it alone." He said to him. Rick nodded and backed away with Henderson as Ardeth took my arm in his, his touch burned my skin I felt Ahmanet waning away from control. We walked towards my office, he pushed the door open and set me in the chair.

"Eris, I'm going to recite a series of prayers. We're going to try to reduce Ahmanet's power over your body, at least enough so you can have control again." He told me, a guttural growl escaped from my throat as Ahmanet did not enjoy what she was hearing.

"Mother of the gods, the One, the Only, Mistress of the Crowns. Bast, beloved daughter of the sun, send us comfort. Envelope Eris with you. Expel all evil forces from her. Destroy and banish all witchcraft, bonds, and curses. Take away everything that could harm her." Ardeth recited a prayer to Bast in Arabic. I could feel Ahmanet shrinking from consciousness. As she weakened I pushed forward back into my own body. I sucked in the air, it felt pure. I felt like me again. I couldn't feel Ahmanet anywhere inside, it was like she had vanished.

"Are you alright?" I heard Ardeth ask me as he bent down toward my face. I nodded not willing to speak. He turned me around and cut the bonds on my wrists letting me go free.

"Aren't you worried she'll be back?" I asked him. He considered the question for a bit but did not give me an answer instead he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I felt safe, smelling the lotus and vanilla that seemed to hang over him. His chin resting on the top of my head he breathed out letting go of his inhibitions. He pulled away much too fast for my liking, holding me at arm's length just staring into my eyes. He leaned forward placing a light kiss on my forehead. I soaked in the moment before he rushed out the door to inform Rick that everything was alright. I sat back in my chair staring into oblivion not wanting to even glance at the mirror to my right. I didn't want to know if she was still there.