Collection of Hearts

Thirteenth Drabble - Ashe

He wasn't sure if he would say he 'looked forward to' the reapings in Egypt, but he did enjoy the chance to stop by and check on the small child he'd found not too long ago. Even now he found interest in the boy who ran after his shadows, squealing in joy every time he got close enough to almost touch the flickering darkness as it darted from one spot to another in a game of "catch me if you can" with the child.

Of late, it seemed to him that the more time he spent watching the child, the closer he felt to understanding the humans here and their strange relationships with both each other and their gods. Maybe if he watched long enough or often enough he could start to understand the odd feeling of something 'not cold' within him these past weeks.

Of course, there was also the curiosity at how the child could see his shadows so clearly, let alone him. Even if he made sure it was only in the form of Nephthys, the goddess that those of Egypt he reaped were most familiar with. Not that she was the only deity linked to death for them, but she was the idea of death's form that he had become bound to as the pantheon was created and grew.

It never bothered him that the form was female, what with how many of his forms were lucky to have flesh at times, let alone be male or female in form. And when he reaped on other planets, the forms were rarely even something humans had ever seen, let alone something most of them could imagine.

Although, there was that one species that had visited in the past. He did favor them rather a bit, admiring their loyalty to their mates and children, as well as their bodies that seemed to wear the stars upon their very surface. He found it rather peaceful when he went to their planet personally, rather than sending a Shadow to reap the ones that were ready to move on from life.

It was similar to the way he had found himself sending fewer Shadows to Egypt, coming himself to reap the souls and collect them in preparation for their afterlife. All so that he could visit the small child that laughed as he ran about in front of the form of Nephthys, a small upward curve to her lips forming without thought as she watched the boy almost trip over his feet from turning too fast as he ran.

She was barely able to catch the boy in her arms as she dashed forward, her eyes wide as the shadows around her flickered and writhed. Setting him down carefully, Nephthys ran her hands along the boy's legs, checking for any scrapes that might have occurred in the moments before she was able to catch him fully. She froze at the sight of a tiny trail of red, her eyes tracing its path up to his lightly scuffed knee.

It was her fault, if she hadn't allowed her shadows to play with the boy, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. She wasn't supposed to play with children, her job was to reap the dead and dying, not watch children run around for hours on end. If she hadn't been indulging her curiosity so freely, the boy wouldn't be whimpering in pain. The blame was on her shoulders and all she could feel was the cold as it rose from within her, frost spreading across the ground as she stood up and took a step back from the boy.

"I'm sorry... I'm... I should go, I need to go," she mumbled softly to herself, not sure if the boy heard her and unsure if it even mattered that he heard.

Turning, she began walking away from the child, not noticing how silent he had become. Just before she began to fade into the shadows of a nearby archway, she felt something small and soft slam into the back of her legs.

"Please don't go! Don't leave! I'm sorry I made you cry, mama," the boy sniffled as he clung to her,

Freezing in place, Nephthys felt the cold that had built up almost vanish, a flickering warmth growing within her chest as she turned her head to look down at the small child. Seeing those dark eyes looking up at her, tears streaking down his cheeks, she reached down and pulled the child into her arms.

"Don't cry, Kohmus. Please, I won't leave. Just please, please stop crying. I'll stay as long as you need me to. As long as you want, I'll be right here," she whispered to the boy, the fingers of one hand gently wiping away the tears.

Even days later, sitting in his office as he stared blankly at the almost bare desk before him, Ashe wasn't sure why the boy had called him mama, nor why it had such an effect upon him. Surely the boy hadn't meant it, didn't look upon him as Ashe himself looked upon Nyx.

But no matter how much he told himself it shouldn't matter, such a simple slip of the tongue from a small child, it didn't stop that small warmth from returning to his chest every time he recalled the sound of those words spilling from the boy's innocent lips.

The smallest of smiles curved his lips upward, his hands reaching out for parchment and a stick of charcoal that he began to slowly trail across the surface, the image of a small Pharaoh-to-be mid-chase appearing as he watched the lines take form. It would quickly become an image he would treasure for centuries to come.

This drabble was a collaboration event with AssassinPsyche who has posted Kohmus' POV in her own drabble book. You can find that book by either going to her story page or clicking this link https://www.wattpad.com/story/173931945-assassinpsyche%27s-drabble-book-mythological-hearts and finding the corresponding chapter. She has a lot of great stories, both original (some linked to the Mythological Hearts universe) and fanfiction, so please check her out if you haven't already! And for more Kohmus, read her book Sands of Time!

And yes, this scene is part of Ashe's past timeline from long before the events of Heart of Ashes.