A God's Bargain (EgyptianGod!Brothers and Reader)

Chapter 16

I sat in near-absolute silence in the stone room with the others, the dull pounding of my heart becoming harder and harder to ignore while my mind rebelled against the demands I made of it. The more I wished for it to become empty and clear, the more the nightmare from last night intruded.

The other scribes around me had managed to pull themselves into a deathlike trance, their lips whispering indiscernible words with nearly every exhale.

I knew they were communicating with Thoth. It was something that I had to achieve in the next two days.

Thoth's papers, quills, and ink were ready to be used, carefully stored away where dust and dirt couldn't touch them.

A gentle touch on my shoulder made me flinch before I looked towards the person, seeing the temple priest slightly frown down to me. His hand lifted and motioned towards the hallway leading to the outer courts of the temple, quietly padding to the doorway when I acknowledged his silent request.

"Amenti," The priest's tone sounded like a caring grandparent worried for their grandchild, "I must commend you for all the work you've done these past days, but I ask that you not strain yourself. To gain a lifetime's worth of training in days is not an easy task."

"Venerable one, I understand that I've taken on a burden too large, but the obstacle I face has remained a mountain," I dipped my head in understanding, following him a few steps behind as we proceeded through the outer court at a comfortable pace.

"So I have seen," He tucked his hands behind his back while turning to face me, "It is not my place to stop you from pursuing this burden, but I must speak my words when I see that it's tearing apart your spirit."

"What do you mean?" I stopped at his words, more confused than anything else.

"There is a force within yourself that does not belong to you, a force that seems to have a different challenge than the one you're facing," The priest took a step closer before resting a hand on my shoulder, his dark hues looking up to mine, "This burden you've chosen may become lighter when you have faced what this force is desiring."

"I...I don't think I can do that," My face paled a little, wondering if the priest could see Set's mark still on my chest, "The force you're talking about desires nothing but destruction from me. I'm here to rid myself of it."

"That's not the force I'm talking about, Amenti. I feel overwhelming sorrow and fear from it," He shook his head while walking away from me, his hand dropping to his side, "You have permission to use the spring."

My breath quickened as he left me alone.

I understood what he was stipulating, knew exactly what it meant when someone entered the spring in the temple: the priest thought that I was possessed by a demon, cursed with the sorrow and fear he claimed to have felt.

I shook my head hard for a short moment, wanting to clear my head from the growing anger at the accusation. The demons that Egypt had believed in were in the thousands, dwarfing the pantheon with such overwhelming numbers that modern archaeologists and cultural anthropologists began labeling everything that wasn't worshiped in a temple as a 'demon', regardless of its positive or negative role.

Wondering briefly if the priest had detected Nephthys, I slowly made my way towards the private spring kept deep within the temple's walls. The sun hadn't fully left the horizon when I closed the solid wooden door behind me, enclosing myself in a dank tunnel that sloped downwards.

Swallowing harshly, I cautiously made my way down the stone steps while pressing my hands against the carved walls.

What greeted me at the bottom of the stairway was a vast underground spring, the sound of water dripping onto water echoing throughout the chamber. Wrapped around the ever-flowing spring was the natural rock wall, barely touched by man made tools besides the sconces that illuminated the cave.