“It’s all been taken care of,” Monica replied. “There shouldn’t be any delay. I only wish the same could be said for the city.”
From what Blake had told her, and after his battle with the horned Corrupted, there was substantial work required from the organisation before the first game – to hide any remnants of the Corrupted and their struggle from the public. Many operatives had hastily worked over the last week to get the gymnasium up to standard. They’d needed to drain the gymnasium of excess water and fumigate to rid it of any insects that might remain in its walls. Katherine had also been told that once these repairs were completed, only then would they move to rebuild the city.
Now that the first game of the season was set to begin within less than an hour, she could hear booming music fill the air as she approached its front doors. Inside, the bleachers were packed with students and local residents. Many cried out and danced along with the music as the minutes were drifting away; the atmosphere was deafening and fuelled with a buzzing excitement.
“Over here,” Gavin shouted, having saved them some seats a few rows back from the main court.
Katherine gazed down at the home team’s bench. “I still can’t believe Blake made the team.”
There were a lot of things recently Blake had done that left her in disbelief. He’d even once said something nice about her; for he’d told Monica that Katherine fared far better than he had ever expected, and that he’d been wrong to question her fitness to serve as one of the organisation’s Indigos.
“He’s actually quite talented,” said Naomi, as they sidled along the crowded aisle to their seats. “He’s not the tallest, but his athleticism is really impressive. There are some questions around his passing ability though; he can be rather selfish with the ball in hand. But if he manages to reign in his ego at the door, they may have a chance of reaching the national tournament.”
That sounds like Blake; she thought to herself, his own pride and arrogance are the only things that might hold him back.
But she also believed there’d been a notable change in the way he’d addressed her lately, as if a mutual respect now existed between them.
Since Monica had moved in with her at eleven Delphi Crescent, she had asked more questions about what she’d seen through Alu’s illusions, but she had never brought up anything about Blake and cloning. It was difficult enough to even understand this notion of cloning, and she felt it wasn’t her place to inquire about anything that wasn’t on a “need to know” basis. Nevertheless, it certainly left her seeing Blake in a different light. Then there was the burden they shared. They were both Indigo’s of the organisation, and would need to support each other before the end.
Naomi sighed. “Unfortunately he’s no Justin Ellis. It’s a shame he decided to withdraw from the team.”
Withdraw? I wonder how much she remembers, Katherine thought to herself, and not for the first time.
“I think they’ll be much better off without him,” she said, gazing down at the court where Walter was giving Blake a lecture about the fundamentals of basketball. “Breaking up with Justin Ellis was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. And I think Blake could prove to be an even better player than him with the right motivation.”
She half expected Naomi to rebuke this remark, at least strictly on a basketball level, but her friend appeared distracted, distant and her mind seemed to be elsewhere.
The light’s dimmed, and there was an announcement made for a moments’ silence. She watched as everyone in the gymnasium closed their eyes; she could hear a number sob as the names of those who’d fallen victim during the ‘earthquake’ were read aloud. Soon, the lights flickered and both team’s players strolled out on the court.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the unveiling of our new school banner,” said Naomi, peering up at the rafters. “Although I feel as if I’ve seen it somehow before, and not in your sketchpad.”
“What do you mean?” Katherine asked.
“It’s nothing really. I’ve just been having many strange dreams lately. Sometimes it feels like someone, or something, is calling out to me; trying to share my memories and desires.”
“I can relate to that,” Katherine replied, treading carefully with how much she should reveal.
Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before a new Indigo comes into the fold, she thought to herself, as she smiled back at Naomi.
Naomi giggled, giving her shoulder a shove. “You’re just humouring me.”
“Not at all,” she replied. “There are some things in this world that go without a conventional explanation; things that are difficult to explain, but that we know are there nonetheless.”
Before the opening tip, a school announcer directed their attention toward the gymnasiums’ ceiling. A red banner was soon furled; streaming down from the rafters. All could see the design weaved from Katherine’s own imagination. She looked up in admiration of her handy work; at a banner framed with embroidered lace, and donning the school’s new mascot in the centre. Her mascot, the one selected by the school to represent them thereon, was a winged creature of legend: with the brave head of an eagle, the hulking body of a lion, and its eyes speckled with gold.
Epilogue
Drained of almost all that remained of his celestial energy, the sun god crawled along a remote island’s sandy shore. With what remained of Atlantis having sunken deep within the watery depths, Ra had soon after found himself floating aimlessly out at sea.
Despite the loss of his home, his resolve had not once wavered. As he’d drifted, carried by the ocean’s currents, he’d dreamt of the many ways he could restore what was lost. But he knew there were certain conditions that needed to take precedence. First, he needed to rejuvenate his waning energy. Second, he needed to find those of his kin, who’d survived the conflict; who could help him rebuild their new world. Third, he desired to secure of a new land; a land suitable to reconstruct his ancient citadel.
He clambered within the sand, and he heard a loud hissing and snapping noise coming from behind the nearest dune. The sight of reptilian feet scurrying toward him then caught his eye. Initially he’d thought these feet belonged to a crocodile. But this lizard-like creature had the mane of a lion had an incredibly bulky hide, and was covered within tufts of husky golden hair.
“Ammit, leave my lord be,” he heard a familiar voice bark out from off in the distance.
Amidst the glare of a blinding sun, this figure: with a helm crafted to resemble that of a jackal, dressed in a pleated kilt that hung about his waist, and clutching a long flail of solid bronze, placed a clawed palm atop the head of this unusual reptilian creature.
“Anubis, you’re alive,” Ra responded, toiling to raise himself up from the shifting sand. “Is Setekh with you? Where were you when Atlantis was lost?”
“My lord…, there is much I must tell you,” said Anubis, helping the sun god to his feet. “We’ve been betrayed by one most dear to our hearts.”
“Of whom do you speak?”
“My lord father,” Anubis affirmed. “I was unable to stop him. Both Isis and I found him meddling with the most forbidden of technologies.”
“Mer-Ka-Ba…?” Ra cried, as visions circulated within the depths of his mind of a world fragmented; with all earthen energies thrown off balance.
“Yes my lord. Within moments he’d lost control. I witnessed tears open from the cosmos above, unleashing the wrath of many horrifying creatures upon our earthly realm. I saw one of these creatures join with lord Setekh, corrupting him, and together I heard them declare themselves as the new ruler of this dimension.”
“Namtar…,” lord Ra murmured. “What is this creature that now follows you?”
“Ammit is one of those spirits that descended,” Anubis replied, guiding the sun god further into the depths of an ever-expanding desert. “But he has not once strayed from my side. We formed a bond of sorts, and he now calls me his new master.”
“Where is Isis?”
“What of Horus? Has Thoth yet emerged?”
Anubis sighed, shielding the frail Ra from an emerging sandstorm. “You are the first we’ve found. It’s not far now.”
Setehk…, what were you thinking, Ra thought to himself, his body aching with each passing step taken.
As they carefully traversed a sand ravine, Ra could see a great pyramid in the foreground. Before the mouth of this great pyramid, stood a womanly figure dressed in white robes laced with gold. This most voluptuous and graceful beauty soon marched toward them through the flowing sands.
“My lord,” Isis cried, her dark hair rippling in the wind. “It soothes my heart and brings me peace of mind to see that you’re alive.”
Anubis braced the sun god upon his shoulder as they drew nearer the pyramid’s entrance. “Isis, our lord is in desperate need of your divine touch. And with lord Ra’s blessing, we must carefully consider our next course of action.”
Isis parted the hair from beneath her golden headdress and pressed an Ankh against the weary sun god’s chest. With the cross-shaped symbol positioned nearer the left, she lightly murmured an ancient healing incantation.
“Your life-force is weak, my lord,” she said, ceasing midway through the words. “I can only do so much. You must rest, and reclaim your lost energies from within the spirit realm.”
“Help me inside,” he urged, each step becoming more arduous.
They helped him inside the pyramid’s mouth and led him through its dimly lit halls. Once they descended along a narrow staircase toward the hall’s end, they emerged within a secluded chamber at the epicentre and helped him inside a stone sarcophagus.
“Isis, I sense there is something on your mind child,” he said, as he lay there on his back and closed his eyes.
“I only wish you had listened to me when I proclaimed my husband’s innocence. He would have known what to do. He would have prevented Seth from pursuing these wanton desires for chaos.”
Ra growled out, his arms folded. “I’ll hear none of that. Osiris was a traitor. He sought to overthrow my rule, and create of a world where only the strongest would survive.”
“And if he’d succeeded, then perhaps more of our people would have been strong enough to survive Seth’s horrific crimes,” she cried. “It was Setekh who betrayed us. Not my late husband.”
“Setekh…,” he whispered the name of his devoted guardian, and reflected on happier times. “There must be another reason behind such acts of recklessness. He never craved more power.”
“You are too trusting, my lord,” judged Anubis, his red eyes gazing down upon him.
“Perhaps this is my greatest weakness. And yet I now must rest, leaving you both with the burden to restore our great nation to its former glory. I have no choice but to be overly trusting once more; for I must leave this divine responsibility in your most capable hands.”
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