Reincarnated

Chapter Twenty

"Only? My god, Ahmose, there is no 'only' to this at all! That's like telling someone milk is only an insignificant part of ice-cream!" An incredulous laugh splutters out through my lips. I run a hand through my hair, wincing a little as my fingers snag on all the knots. "That's crazy! It's insane! It's not logically possible!"

"Kiara none of this is logically possible." He replies dryly. "Our world has never been logically possible, not for thousands of years. Why are you still questioning the logicality of this all when you can produce magic with your very fingers?"

"I can produce magic with my fingers. I just don't know how to control it." I retort. Ahmose chuckles at the grudging look on my face. I splutter out a breezy laugh, rubbing my face tiredly with my hands. It's barely midday, but I feel like it's well past midnight. "So... that's why Osiris wants to talk to you? Because he wants to make sure you're protecting the part of his ba that's inside you? That I'm protecting Isis' ba?"

"Yes. He and Isis sacrificed a lot to help us, and they have a lot depending on our success." Ahmose says. "That is why he wants me to 'update' him, as Anubis put it."

"But why now? We're so close to breaking the curse — we've only got to beat one more task!" I exclaim. "They're gods Ahmose; if they wanted to talk to us so badly couldn't they just... appear like Anubis did?"

Ahmose laughs. "Things with the gods are never as simple as they appear, Kiara. Just because Anubis has the appearance of fluidity does not mean the other gods are so lucky. We must travel to one of Osiris and Isis' temples if we wish to speak with them."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Never."

"We have to trek to another temple? Again?" I splutter in disbelief. "I feel like that's all we ever do these days, and we're not getting anywhere near actually solving the next stage of the curse. Shouldn't that be higher on our priority list? We only have fifty-eight days to solve it — we're almost half out of time!"

"Najmay it's sounding an an awful lot like you don't care for the gods that are helping us solve this curse." Ahmose replies bemusedly. My cheeks stain red. "Are you saying you don't want to show your appreciation for their continued support?"

My blush deepens. "No. That's not what I'm saying."

"Then what are you saying?"

"Can't Osiris and Isis just.... Wait until we've solved the next clue for us to show our appreciation?"

"You of all people should know that the gods do not have the largest amount of patience, najmay. Particularly those whose own lives are intertwined with our mortality." Ahmose says. Though his expression is still amused, there's a hint of warning peppering his tone. "So no, we cannot. In the past I have always reached out if we had survived to forty days, and I do not want to find out what happens if we decide against that this time."

"Alright, you make a valid point." I sigh, begrudgingly accepting defeat. "But once we've seen Osiris and Isis, will we finally get onto figuring out what the clue to the next stage is? We haven't even looked at it since..."

Ahmose's expression softens when I cut myself off, unable to bring it in myself to finish the sentence. "Yes. We will. Her death was not in vain Kiara, I swear to you."

"I know." I muster a small smile and plaster on a mask of enthusiastic bravado. "Where's the nearest temple?"

"Three days from now."

"Three days?!"

I let out an exhausted wail and fall flat in the sand.

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