Strega's décor was as kitschy as it was clichéd, from the red-checkered tablecloths, the candles in old Chianti bottles and the straw seat chairs to the white washed walls bearing colourful renditions of Italian landscapes. The artificial grotto their group was sitting in also featured the bleached top half of an old rowing boat and a fishnet with green baubles and fake crabs, reminiscent of a Rimini that had never existed in reality. Savoury clouds of garlic and tomato sauce greeted them upon entry as the Maitre d' responded to Metjen's codeword with a 'Si' that was distinctly at odds with the 'No' on his blue-jowled face.
Still, he presented the menus with a flourish before his aproned minions placed little dishes with olives, sundried tomatoes, ham and bread on the table.
'I need to go out with you more often, bro,' said Ranofer spearing an olive with one toothpick while swatting away Pharaoh's probing fingers with his other hand. Khy watched him, grabbed another toothpick and successfully targetted a tomato.
That guy is amazing, Trueth thought.
'No you don't,' Metjen said. 'And anyway, this is not why we're here. Let's not waste time. Let's order a variety of pizzas and some green stuff for those who need it and be done with it. I want to hear your opinions on my plans.'
His father snapped the menu shut. 'As long as I don't have to suffer a variety of wines, I'll go along with that. So tell me, when and how are we going to go back? To Kemet, I mean. If I stay here any longer, I'll have to see if I can lecture somewhere. People have noticed I'm back and will find it strange if I'm just hanging around. To be honest, I find it strange myself. To be even more honest, I would like to return to Kemet pretty soonish. There is so much to explore!'
Nefertiti nodded vigorously. 'You can't keep cataloging all these books all the time. So strange that we don't hear from Imhotep, Metjen dear. What's going on? Does he want us to remain here? Then I need to make some investments.'
Nobody looked at Pharaoh, and he only had eyes for the raucous throng populating the restaurant that consisted mainly of teenagers. Nobody said anything either, but it was clear that he was neither of nor for this world. By now, he might no longer agree with that opinion.
Metjen took a deep breath but got interrupted by another aproned waiter who took their order. At least, he made a valiant effort. Balancing the different preferences, tastes and dislikes of their group turned into a task of pyramidic proportions.
'No anchovies on the Pizza Margarita!' It was a near miss, but the professor's hand slipped off the apron as the waiter escaped towards the kitchen.
'They never have them on that one, you know,' Nefertiti said and got interrupted by a groan from her eldest son.
'Now that we have a chance of feeding the multitudes, can you all please try to listen to what I have to say? ' Metjen glanced round the table, and met with sufficient interest to continue. 'Look, I'll sum it up for you. Imhotep has evidence that the portal shifted Kemet into the wrong world, and this is why we are vulnerable. The walking stick is not enough to keep out the demons. Nebmutef got through and is on the loose. He'll make sure that somebody summons some more of his pals. That somebody could well be the high priestess of Maat, who turned out to be the traitor in the circle...'
He got interrupted by swearing and other expressions of dismay and raised his voice. 'Let me finish please, you can ask questions later. Our traitor has freed Ptahmes and these two morons are trying to call in the darkness once more. Ra only knows what payment they have been promised.'
'And what does Imhotep intend to do about this?' the professor asked.
Metjen pulled a face. 'His solution is to do what he did once before - have another portal built. He believes this will shift Kemet into the right place this time.'
Pharaoh had been snorting at the news. In one of his sudden mood swings, he went serious. 'He can't do that. It will drain all the resources of the country. My country. Ours, I mean. We mean...whatever, this is not his decision to take. At least not alone. We are not consulted, and we are not amused!'
To Trueth's surprise, Metjen nodded. 'Nor am I. I believe our esteemed ancestor is completely on the wrong track. He's relying far too much on things like technology, calculations, logic, that sort of stuff. Nothing wrong with it in principle. But why do more of something that went wrong the first time?'
'Have you told him that?' Trueth asked.
'I did, in no uncertain terms,' Metjen said. 'Since then not only have I not heard from him, Kemet is also completely blocked to me. If some of the members of the circle had not connected with me, I would not know what is going on. Ahem...maybe I shouldn't have told you that,' he added belatedly.
The flurry of waiters descended again, leaving a load of drinks behind. Trueth eyed the super-sized glass of Coke sitting in front of Pharaoh, sweating clear beads. 'Is that good for you?'
He smiled at her. He had a charming smile, Trueth realised. When the lad grew up a bit more, he might turn into something. Now that his pimples were gone, his curly locks cut into a fashionable style, he was more pleasing to the eye. He had also grown a bit, filling out his jeans and rugby shirt. At least, he had removed the ubiquitous baseball cap.
'No, but we like it,' he said.
Seisi drummed his fingers on the tablecloth. 'Metjen, what do you mean when you say Kemet is blocked to you?'
Metjen took a pensive sip of his wine. 'I can't project there any more. I can't reach Imhotep. Most important, I can't open portals that take us there. I had just managed to establish a sneak link, and I could sort of see things, but that broke off abruptly as well. I believe, Imhotep is behind it all. He does not want me to meddle. Some of the others do not agree with him, and they approached me. It looks like--'
Iseret's voice cut across Metjen's like a razor through living flesh. One does not share the secrets of the circle!
Metjen nearly spilled his wine and his parents as well as Pharaoh stared at him with a perplexed expression on their faces as they could not hear the ghostly voice.
'Sorry, shadow's getting lively,' he explained, balling his fists as if he wanted to wring Iseret's scrawny neck. Strangling a spectre still posed a challenge, even for a high priest and he continued instead. 'The gist of it is that some of them think we had better come back. I also hear, that my temple is close to a revolt. I went to the universe but never got officially inaugurated. People are wondering where Pharaoh is, they don't like the Queen running the nation--'
Khy punched his fist into the air and nearly knocked over his glass with his elbow. 'Hah!'
Metjen ignored him. 'Uramen is apparently anxious about Imhotep, who spends all hours planning for a new portal. So, the sooner I can return, the better.'
'Fine dear,' Nefertiti started to talk, but Metjen put up his hand. 'Not all of us. At least not initially. Far too dangerous.'
'How do you want to get across,' Seisi said. 'You just mentioned you can't open any access to Kemet.'
'We could try the doorway to Mistworld,' Trueth suggested. She realised this was a perfect opportunity to plead the case for the villagers. 'Uh, we also need to do something about my fellow witches. They are stranded, they were totally edgy when I left and by now they must be ready to send out an expedition. We can't have them all hopping off pyramid mountain and parachuting into Kemet!'
Metjen ran his hands through his hair, making it stand up on end as if gelled. 'I told you, I will look after them, okay? Just give me a bit of time. As to Avebury, I do not want to tamper with that portal, it was under a severe demon attack. It held, but we simply do not know enough about that Earth magic stuff. No, we will take another approach. I agreed on this with the high priest of Sobek, who's leading the opposition.'
Trueth slumped and she saw Seisi do the same. Still no reprieve for the Avebury lot.
You should not be mentioning all this, Iseret once more barked from the shadows.
Metjen pressed his hands against the table in a visible effort to keep control. 'Iseret, thanks for sharing your opinion. This is my family. I need advice. They can give it. The circle isn't here, if things go wrong you'll be the first one to bitch about it!'
No response was forthcoming, and Metjen lifted his hands from a singed and smoking tablecloth. 'We will go through the old portal under the pyramid. There, the barrier between the worlds is thin enough. If my supporters in the circle help me, I can get through. I just can't take all of you.'
Coldness exploded from her core and Trueth heard words tumbling through her brain. It took a moment until they reached her tongue. 'Aren't you forgetting a minor detail. Like a demon army parked down there, waiting to invade Kemet?'
As if on cue, a flock of waiters arrived, bearing pizza.
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This chapter is dedicated to MayaR-31 Thank you for reading and voting on Cursed Times
The image is from DeviantArt, copyright classothepuppet