*Ancient Egypt*
*(The Dark đź•ł Hole)*
"What?! What do you mean?" Horus asked, fear flashing in his eyes. He couldn't believe he had heard her right.
"You heard me right, Horus. Aposis is back, and he is responsible for this," Isis said, afraid of her own words.
"Then we must inform Supreme Father Ra at once," Horus said, helping Isis to stand erect. She was already weak from the trance but managed to steady herself.
Both of them knew very well about the war between the sun god and the demon god. The story of their war was one of horror and fear. The sun god only conquered with the help of Geb, god of earth and father of snakes. He alone was able to outwit the demon lord in his serpent ways and bring victory to the sun god. But now Geb was gone, and the demon god was back. They were unsure of what the fate of the sun god might be.
They returned to their abodes, waiting for the first sun by the morrow so that they could deliver their findings to the sun god. But one thing was certain: he would not be pleased with what he was going to hear, because Aposis was his worst nightmare.
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*(The Morrow, at the God Council)*
Isis and Horus looked at each other nervously as they waited for the sun god's arrival. All the other gods and goddesses were already present, and the council could not proceed without the supreme god's presence.
After a few minutes, the supreme father arrived. He glowed gloriously as he sat upon his throne, the supreme god and father of all Egypt. All the other gods and goddesses rose to their feet and welcomed him with a bow, a sign of respect.
"Supreme Father, the sun god of Egypt and father of all," they said at once immediately upon his seating.
"Sit, my fellow gods and rulers of Egypt," Ra responded with all authority, as the others sat.
"Isis!" Ra called. "I believe you know why we are here," he breathed, preparing himself and his ears for whatever he might hear.
Isis rose with grace and bowed slightly to Ra. Her heart thumped hard against her rib cage, but she tried hard to keep her cool.
"Speak, Isis!" Ra ordered, noticing how reluctant she was.
"Supreme Father, I went to the dark hole with Horus at the last moon shone upon us by Iah," she started, gesturing towards the moon goddess, who nodded in return.
"I asked Mother Nature to bear witness unto me of what had transpired there at the moon before. I used the ancient chants, Supreme Father, and it took me into a trance." Isis's breaths were heavy after every word.
Ra noticed her uneasiness but chose to ignore it, simply nodding.
"In the trance, Supreme Father, I saw the air god Shu walking by the dark hole, seeming deep in thought. After some seconds, he turned to leave but sensed the presence of great evil around him. Lo and behold, it was the demon god Aposis." Isis said, eyes fixed intently on Ra to gauge his reaction. As she expected, he was in shock.
At the sound of his name, many gods gasped. Many were dumbfounded; some were still, while others were in a daze, not believing what they heard.
"Aposis?! No, Isis, that can't be true," Ra said, shaking his head as if trying to shake off what he had just heard. "I don't believe you, Isis."
"Supreme Father, I have never failed you, and I never will. I cannot stand before your glory and lie. It was truly Aposis I saw, and he was the one who tried to kill the air god," she said now with confidence.
"What? How can that be? I thought he was locked up in darkness! Where did he come from?" questions rippled among the gods and goddesses, shocked by Aposis's return.
"If it really was Aposis, tell me what he wanted from Shu. I am his enemy, so why did he attack Shu?" Ra asked, hoping Isis would take back her words and rephrase them to something more pleasant, other than awaken his nightmare.
"Actually, Supreme Father," Isis began boldly now that the lump in her throat was gone, "the demon lord wanted nothing from the air god."
"What do you mean?" Ra asked, tension creeping into his voice.
"I mean what I said, Supreme Father—the demon lord Aposis wanted nothing from Shu. Rather, he sought to take the sky goddess Nut, who was presently held captive in the dark hole," she explained.
At this, the whole council broke into murmurs, wondering aloud, 'What would Aposis want with Nut?'
"Why would he want my Nut?" Tefnut asked, having just teleported to the council. She was late because she had to tend to Shu's personal needs before handing him over to Bo.
However, what she was hearing now was not helping her state of grief. She had just lost her son to the granite barrier of time, her husband had been in a trance for two nights and two days, and now she heard the unbelievable—that Aposis had taken Nut with him. She felt her soul wanting to self-destruct.
"Answer me, Isis! Why would he want my daughter, a goddess of Egypt? Why?!" she yelled at Isis, who stood by her seat, staring at her.
"Answer her, Isis," Ra ordered, noticing Isis's hesitation.
"I don't know, Supreme Father, but I will tell you his exact words," Isis said, looking to Ra for permission.
"Go on, let us hear it," he said.
"As thou wishes," Isis bowed before starting. "He said, 'Shu, it's been long—let me think—oh yes, it has been hundreds of centuries since I last saw you. And I must say, you look well, not quite affected by what was going on.'"
"Can I proceed, Supreme Father?" Isis asked, sensing he was not fully following.
"You may, Isis. Just continue," Ra said with a wave.
"As you wish, Supreme Father," she said before continuing. "'Ha ha ha! Please, Shu, I am not here for jokes. I have come for Nut because I know where she can find the one god she's still living for—Geb.'"
At the sound of Geb's name, silence fell again.
"Geb? What has Geb to do with this? Wasn't he cast out of our time? Did he send Aposis to get Nut? Is he now in alliance with Aposis?" questions arose among the gods and goddesses.
But Isis was only answerable to Ra and whoever he ordered her to answer, like Tefnut, as Ra had instructed.
"Go on, Isis. Let's really find out what's happening," Ra said with authority, silencing the others.
"I'm sorry, Supreme Father, but that was all of his words I could gather from the trance; it did not last long. However, after that last sentence, he broke into a fight with the air god and defeated him—he seemed to have increased in strength. He threw the air god to the place where we found him with his tail, then transformed to his mortal form as he walked to the entrance of the hole. He opened it and saw Nut, who called his name with disbelief..." Isis stopped speaking.
"So... What then happened, Isis?" Tefnut asked desperately, feeling as if she was losing her mind. She was on the verge of breaking down; she wanted to hear everything so she could find a suitable solution or answer for what had happened to her husband and daughter.
"I don't know, Tefnut—that was the end of my trance. I didn't have the will to push through it," Isis said, disappointment written across her face.
"It's okay, Isis. You did well, and you may now sit," Ra said, authority firm in his voice.
"I sensed a great deal of evil on the night of this incident, but little did I know it was Aposis," Ra said, disappointment evident in his tone.
"No, Supreme Father, don't sound like that. We were all caught off guard. No one saw what was coming, and it was absolutely no one's fault," Horus said, trying to calm him.
"No, Horus. It was my fault—all my fault," a voice said from the entrance of the council hall.
"Shu?!" …