The Egyptian Gods and The Ten Plagues of Egypt

Chapter 16: Nephthys

Day 31 (Midnight)

Nephthys was pouring wine into her grail when Isis suddenly showed up with her chariot just beside the goddess' room balcony. It was already the time where most of Aaru's inhabitants were sleeping, hence Nephthys felt it was strange why her sister made a sudden visit like that. Nonetheless, when she was aware of the worry flashing across her face, she got a bad feeling that Yahweh had just launched another disaster. Simultaneous with her rushing to the balcony with the wine pot still in her grasp, Isis spoke to her.

"Father just dragged Ramses to Duat!"

"What?!" Nephthys hurriedly approached her sister and held onto the rail. "Why?!"

"Father was angry because Ramses decided to free The Hebrews!"

"Ramses intended to free The Hebrews??" Nephthys incredulously responded, even though it was what she always hoped since Yahweh's message was delivered to them.

"I will explain everything later! We should now catch up with father and Ramses!"

Nephthys nodded. After she hopped into the chariot, they dashed straight towards Aaru's exit.

As ordered, the chariot's rider slowed the vehicle when they just entered Duat. They glanced in every direction, searching for Geb's and Ramses' whereabouts. At that moment, Ra's Mesektet approached them.

"What are you doing here?" Ra asked; confusion flashed across his face.

"Father has dragged Ramses into Duat!" Isis exclaimed.

"What did you just say?" Ra repeated, as if he did not believe his own hearing.

"We have to find father and Ramses now!"

Ra seemed to understand the urgency. Without asking again, he turned around and ordered Atum to explore the area. He then ordered Kephri, Sekhmet and Bastet to also search from the land. The three gods nodded and leaped out of the boat; they immediately sprinted upon landing on the ground.

Isis commanded her rider to move again. Good thing was not too long after they resumed the search, they heard repeated roars of a lioness. Knowing it must be Sekhmet and she would not do such a thing without any reason, the rider brought everyone towards the roar origin.

As expected, Ramses was found hiding between the gap of two cliffs. In front of him was Sekhmet and Bastet fighting against Apophis' demons. Nephthys and Isis gave aid by releasing their inner energy, while Kephri came soon after that. When they finally obliterated every single one of them, Isis and Nephthys landed.

"Ramses, it is safe now to come out," Nephthys said as she peeked at the human king; he was trembling, probably in fear and due to the cold weather of Duat.

"Even if there are more demons, we will help you," Isis said.

Ramses nodded. He then slowly exited the gap. Dropping to his knees, he bowed down to everyone. "All hail my gods who have delivered me salvation!"

"Rise up, Ramses, you –"

Nephthys was abruptly cut by heavy steps approaching them. Everyone turned around, while Ramses slightly raised his head, only to drop it again. The owner of the steps was none other than Geb.

"How dare you all save this wretch and coward?"

"Father, it's an outrageous act for dragging Ramses here!" Isis stepped forward.

"He made the decision to free The Hebrews, even though we've ordered him not to do it."

Geb approached the group, but Sekhmet stepped onto his path.

"Lord Horus will not approve of this," she said.

"For your information, what Horus didn't approve of was I tossing Ramses away to Ammit," Geb said. "That's why I simply dragged him here, as Horus didn't say anything about it."

Geb moved again. Immediately, without any hesitation, Sekhmet raised one of her swords to his throat. "Unless there's a direct order from Lord Horus or Lord Ra, I will never allow you to move even one step forward."

"You dare to threaten me?" Geb's expression darkened. "Do you want to suffer an excruciating —"

A large shadow from above them abruptly stopped Geb from continuing his words. It was Mesektet, and it landed on an empty space. Ra came down from it and approached him.

"You have crossed the line, Geb," Ra said as he raised his staff towards Geb. "Even if Ramses committed sins like Akhenaten, we could not throw him away to Duat before death claims him."

"If we don't give hard punishment like this, the human kings will keep disobeying us," Geb said as he raised up his chin.

"You shall now leave," Ra said as he pushed the tip of his staff against Geb's chest. "I mean it."

Geb's expression remained flat. But then a smirk was formed on his face; he then turned around and walked towards the trees. After six steps away from the group, without looking at everyone, he said, "It's better if you do not disappoint me again, Ramses."

Nephthys turned to Ramses. The human king seemed to be stunned with what Geb just said to him. Somehow it gave birth to an unpleasant feeling inside of her. However, as she did not wish to prolong the problems, she decided to just keep it inside her.

After Ra brought Ramses home on Mesektet, Nephthys and Isis went up to their chariot. But before the rider moved the wind horses, she noticed movement from the bushes not far from them. Turned out there were three souls hiding there; they most likely witnessed everything, as they were trembling with fear flashed across their faces. Nephthys went out from the chariot and walked towards them.

"On behalf of the gods, I would like to apologize for the discomfort we might have caused," Nephthys said.

All the souls were stunned; they dropped to their knees and bowed down to the goddess. In their right hand was the scroll of The Book of The Death, which was the scroll for repelling any demons from Apophis. Everyone could have them, including Ramses himself. Nevertheless, clearly he did not carry it with him, as Geb suddenly dragged him here. It showed that her father had really planned to let Ramses die, without having the slightest care for what Horus would say about it.

"You shall now resume your journey to The Hall of Ma'at," Nephthys said again. She then walked back to the chariot and commanded the rider to return to Aaru at once.