Protector of Children - 22. Chapter 22: Lucas and Mark--Part VI

Lucas and Mark—Part VI

“Even we, who are of the Light, may fear the things
children in the Dark hold in terror.”
—Lucretius, de Rerum Natura c. 60 BCE, Earth Analogue III.

Mark

Something had gone wrong. I wasn’t where I wanted to be. It took only a couple of seconds to know that I was in my dream but I wasn’t flying—and I wasn’t dreaming, either. I was standing in a long tunnel. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of rough, tan-colored blocks. The air was damp, and water dripped from the ceiling and ran down the walls. I expected to see rats running along the floor on little rat errands. The only light came from torches. The nearest one was about twenty feet away. The torches weren’t very bright, and were separated by long stretches of dark. I could only see a couple of torches in each direction. This isn’t right!

I tried to go back home, but I couldn’t. I tried to think myself back to Lucas’s living room, but all I did was get dizzy. It was like I was pushing against something, something soft and sticky, but something that would not let me pass. I was scared—more scared than I’d ever been.

What was that? Scratchy noises came from one direction. In my dream, I flew down the tunnel. I couldn’t fly, now. I started walking away from the sound, pushing against the wall for support. I passed one torch, and another one appeared in the distance. The scratches got louder. They were regular and I realized they were footsteps, so I walked faster. Then, I tried to run, but mostly just stumbled. I was wearing my braces, but didn’t have the canes. I scraped my hands on the walls trying to balance. I passed two more torches before all the torches went out leaving me in darkness. Now, the scratches echoed like they were coming from everywhere.

“Daddy!” I called. “Lucas, help me! Please, Daddy . . .”

I knew he couldn’t hear me. Even if he did, why should he come? I’d just told him he wasn’t my daddy. I’d rejected him like Mars had rejected me. I had run away from him—to the only place I’d consciously translocated, before: an orange grove in California. But I hadn’t gotten there.

I squatted on the floor, wrapped my arms around my knees, and tried not to make too much noise while I cried.

Something grabbed my arms above the elbows. It was all herky-jerky. There were two of them, and they pulled me to my feet. I couldn’t see, but I could smell whatever they were. Damp and moldy like tuna that’s been left in the back of the refrigerator for too long. One took each arm and stretched them out until they hurt. I bit my lip and tried not to cry, but they must have heard my whimper as they dragged me through the darkness. The only sounds were my feet scraping on the floor and the skritch-scratch footsteps of the two things that were holding my arms.

We stopped, and there was another smell: sour, acrid. I thought of spoiled orange juice. Then I heard the voice. It was deep, and echoed like I was in a huge room. It reminded me of the cave I’d seen when I went to Eddie on the roof, the cave I was afraid to dream about.

“So, I see a Greek semi-god. A youngster, who doesn’t have his powers. My master should be so pleased.” The voice hissed the esses in those words, like Harry in that movie.

“Who are you?” I managed to get out. “Where am I?”

“I should be displeased by your silly questions. I do not suppose you should know me. I and my siblings have been erased from history for so many years.”

That should be “My siblings and I,” I thought. Lucas would have corrected me . . . I started crying thinking about Lucas.

“I am Apep.” There was a pause. “You do not know me? Of course you do not. Do you know my master, Set?” Another pause. “Nor him, I see.”

The tone of his voice changed. “Sek, Mot, release him.” The hands that had been fastened to my arms dropped away. A torch flickered into light on my left. I was standing only a few feet from the head of a huge snake.

He was six feet across, and must have been miles long, even though I couldn’t see but a little of him. Standing beside me were two dudes, human, wearing only those skirt-things you saw in pictures from Egypt. Their feet weren’t human, though. They had legs like birds and their toes—three on each foot—had claws, huge claws. That was the scratching I’d heard. They held spears with curved, barbed points. I thought I’d been scared when I was crouched in the hallway. Now I was so scared I pissed myself, and my own acrid stink joined that of the snake and his minions.

Lucas

Where might Mark have gone? To find Aiden? Could he do that? To Ben? He was the only other adult, male god we knew. Except Apollo, but Apollo usually appeared to be about Mark’s age. Had Mark ever seen Apollo as an adult? I couldn’t remember. And Zeus, but Mark had seen him only for a moment or two. Was Mark really looking for an adult to have sex with? Was he just throwing that in my face? Or did I misunderstand? Had he run to someplace or run away from me? I wished I knew more about how the gods’ teleportation worked. I wished I’d asked Ben more questions when he was here.

“Eddie!” I called. “Hurry, finish, get dressed. We may have to go out. Hurry, please!”

I heard a last “toot, toot” from the bathroom as I grabbed my phone and pressed the second number on my speed dial. Dike answered before the phone had rung. “Something is wrong,” she said.

“Mark disappeared. He transported himself somewhere. He was angry because I wouldn’t have sex with him. He said he would find someone who would. He’s run away.”

Eddie came into the room in time to hear the last sentence. He had hurried, and was wearing only flannel sweat pants and quite a bit of water. I didn’t have time to think of how to spare his feelings, so I said, “He and Eddie are having sex, so it’s not that he’s unsatisfied, but that he’s—I don’t know—unfulfilled or something? And I don’t know where he is!”

Eddie blushed until his face and chest were as red as his hair. He knew that I knew that he and Mark were having sex. After all, I’d taught them all they knew. At least, I hoped they hadn’t figured out anything else. Still, realizing that your daddy’s talking about you having sex, and especially when you don’t know to whom he’s talking, would embarrass any young boy.

“Yes, ma’am. He does.” Dike had asked me if Eddie know about us, meaning the god business.

“Yes, ma—” She had hung up. There was a pop of displaced air, and Dike stood in the living room. Eddie’s eyes got big. There was another pop and Ben Marlberg was there. Eddie recognized him, and seemed to calm down a bit.

“I’ll make tea,” Ben said while Dike gestured me toward the couch.

I started to protest, but Dike anticipated that. “We need to talk, to think, and to plan. And you’re about to fall apart. Tea will help settle you. Hello, Eddie. My name is Candi, and I’m a friend of your daddy. You remember Captain Marlberg, don’t you? Ben? I think Eddie would like a hot chocolate. Eddie, would you sit next to your daddy, please. He’s probably going to need a hug or two before this is over.”

Eddie nodded, and pulled me to the couch, sat beside me, and snuggled into my side.

Ben came in from the kitchen with a tray holding the tea and Eddie’s hot chocolate.

“What happened?” Dike asked.

“Mark had gotten a pamphlet—a religious tract—from some kid at the Y. The tract was clear that homosexuals would go to hell. I explained to Mark that—at least in my world view—this was not true, and that the person who wrote the pamphlet distorted the truth to his own ends.”

I reached for the pamphlet, but Eddie had found it, and was about to open it. I snatched it from his hand.

“Hey!” Eddie exclaimed.

“Later, Eddie. We will read it together, and I’ll talk to you about it.”

I turned to Dike and continued. “Mark took what I said to be an endorsement not only of homosexuality, but also of sex between a man and a boy. I, uh, told him about the centurion and his catamite in the Gospel of Matthew. He read more into that than I had intended. Mark demanded that I have sex with him. I refused. He said he’d find someone who would, and disappeared.”

“What exactly did he say,” Ben asked. He was in full-Chicago-cop mode.

“He told me that I—”

“His exact words,” Ben demanded.

I thought for a minute. “He said, ‘Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not my daddy! If you won’t have sex with me, I’ll find somebody who will!’ ” I choked on the last few words, but Ben seemed to understand them. So did Eddie. He hugged me tightly.

“So, where is Mark?” Eddie asked. His voice was raw as he forced it from his throat. He was clearly unhappy.

“We don’t know,” Dike said.

Mark

Apep’s two goons chained me to the wall like in an old cartoon or I think it was a Monty Python movie. Manacles with short chains held my arms out; manacles with shorter chains held my legs apart. At least my feet were on the floor. One torch stayed burning, even though I think they could see in the dark—the snake and his minions. I think the light was for me, and mostly so that I’d know that Apep was watching me. He was always watching me.

“So, semi-god, who is your sire?” I’d figured out by now that he liked hissing his esses, so he said sire instead of father or daddy. I decided not to answer. I didn’t think he’d hurt me, since he said something about saving me for his master.

So, I just stared at him.

I wish I’d answered, ’cause he stuck out his forked tongue—it must have been thirty feet long—and licked me! It was nasty, and his spit burned my face. Crap! At least he’d missed my eyes.

“Who is your sire!”

“Mars,” I said. I couldn’t say Lucas ’cause I’d told him he wasn’t my daddy. I started crying, until I saw Apep’s reaction to Mars. He drew back his head. Just a bit, but I noticed.

“Mars?” The snake closed its mouth, but its tongue kept flickering in and out. “You are a scion of Mars. Still, you are not strong.” The head moved forward, again. I guess he wasn’t afraid of me, after all.

I started to say something smart, but remembered the tongue.

Apep opened his mouth, and then snapped it shut. I felt a vibration, like the garbage trucks make when the drive by the apartment where Mother and Lucas and Eddie—and then I was crying. I knew I’d never see Mama or Lucas or Eddie, again.

A hand touched my shoulder. It was gentle, not like the two goons, Sek and Mot. I turned my head and saw a man. He was wearing sandals and one of those Egyptian skirts, and showed a lot of bronze skin, like a serious suntan. His hair was black, long in back with bangs cut straight across in front. Before I could digest any more, he spoke.

“There, now, little man.” His voice was deep, and it almost sounded like he was singing. “Do not cry. Apep! You have been cruel to him? You have hurt him?”

His voice changed and became sharp, the words cracking like a bullwhip. “Free him!”

The two goons didn’t even look at Apep for permission, but rushed to undo the manacles. They shook. The goons, that is, and fumbled. The man backhanded one of them. It didn’t look like he’d used any effort at all, but the goon flew across the room and slammed into a wall. The man gestured, and the manacles disappeared. I couldn’t stand, but he caught me, and held me tightly until my own shaking stopped.

“Come, little man, you have had enough of pain and ill-treatment.” Before he finished the sentence, we were not in the cave, but in a room with a wading pool in the middle. At least, I thought it was a wading pool until the man said, “You may bathe. Your clothing will be cleaned.”

I blushed at that. I knew I must smell pretty bad after pissing my pants, and being in the same clothes for what felt like two days. As soon as the man spoke, two creatures came in. They looked like men with the heads of dogs, like on that TV show. They frightened me, and I clung to the man. He chuckled. “They are not to be feared, nor am I. They will not harm you. Let them clean you.”

His voice was compelling and I was so glad to be away from Apep that I let the dog-men take my clothes and braces, and help me into the pool. And I let them wash me. I saw that the man watched, but he looked more like he was making sure the creatures were doing their job—stern and watchful.

I did get a stiffie when the creatures lifted me from the water and I stood naked in front of the man. He didn’t seem to notice. One creature held me while the other dried me off. Then, the creature wrapped one of those white skirt things around my waist. The other had cleaned and dried my braces, and strapped them on. And then sandals, like the ones the man wore. The creatures bowed to me, and left the room. I tried to take a step, but stumbled.

The man was immediately beside me, holding my arm. “You are weak. Food will be provided.” Then, he surprised me by picking me up, and carrying me from the room. I could feel his strength. He was stronger than Lucas.

Food was fruit and bread. And water. It was a lot better than it sounds, I guess because I was really hungry. The man sat across the table, and watched me eat. It was like he was just making sure I ate.

“Thank you,” I said. And then, “You called Apep your servant. Are you Set?”

The man smiled. “I am,” he said. “Do you know of me?”

“Um, sorry, sir, only what Apep said—that you were his master, and that you would be pleased to see me. Please, sir, why did he think that?”

“You are a demigod, and there are few left.”

“But why was Apep so cruel to me?” I asked. “Why did he keep me chained to the wall?”

Set frowned. “Cruelty and evil—they are natural to him, and cannot be changed. There cannot be good without evil, you know.”

“And you?” I asked. “Are you good? Even though you have an evil servant?”

Set laughed, and then said, “You are clever. I like that.”

I felt good about what he said, and smiled at his laughter.

“Good and evil are relative,” he said. “Have I not been good to you? Did I not take you from a bad environment and bring you here? Did I not make you clean? Did I not provide clean clothing? Did I not feed you healthy food? I cannot tell you if I am good. You will watch what I do, and you will judge me.”

I thought there was something wrong with what he said, but I wasn’t sure what it was. But, the part about doing good things for me was right. I thought for a moment but then yawned. “Sorry, sir,” I said.

“You are tired. Understandable after your ordeal. We will talk more tomorrow,” Set said.

He lifted me into his arms, and carried me into a room with a huge bed. I felt safe in his arms, safe for the first time since I’d popped out of Lucas’s living room. I got scared, though, when he laid me on the bed and removed my braces. I was afraid he would want me to have sex. No matter what I’d said to Lucas, I really wasn’t ready to have sex with a grown man.

I think he knew how I felt. “No one will harm you, here,” he said. “No one will require you do to that for which you are not ready.”

Lucas

“Do you have gas, or did you have an epiphany?” Ben asked.

At first, I was not only puzzled, but pissed off. Then I realized that Ben was trying to release a little of the tension that we all felt. And, I realized that I had experienced an instant of awakening, of knowledge, of things that I knew coalescing into a reality of understanding—an epiphany.

“Epiphany, Ben,” I said.

“You, and Dike—please forgive me, ma’am—but you’re bound by Aristotelian logic, binary logic, things are yes or no, black or white. You’ve never incorporated precepts of later philosophers like, oh, Peter Abelard, for example, have you? You don’t really understand the scientific method.”

I made that last a statement of fact. No question in my mind. They were locked into an ancient worldview. Dike seemed to understand. So did Zeus. Yeah, I know—he wasn’t here to hear me, but apparently he’d been listening.

There was a pop of displaced air, and Zeus joined the convocation. Dike and Nomos seemed to want him to say something. He didn’t disappoint them.

“Prometheus, you have the right of it,” he said. And then, somewhat incongruously, “Nomos? Is there more of the gunpowder tea?”

Ben went to fix another pot of tea. Zeus sat on the couch beside Eddie.

“Hi, Eddie. You’re a pretty remarkable boy, you know.”

Eddie didn’t say anything. His eyes, large and motionless, spoke for him.

“Eddie, my name is Zeus, and Pro . . . Lucas and Mark are special friends of mine. Will you be my friend, too?”

Eddie nodded his head, but even I knew it was tentative. Zeus laughed. “You don’t have to agree right away, you know. Will you at least let me try to help you? Later, we can talk about the business of being friends.”

Eddie nodded, and smiled.

“Lucas, you must lead this discussion,” Zeus said. “You are right. We are . . . servants is perhaps the best word . . . we are servants to an old way of thinking. You are the new bringer-of-light.”

To say that I was uncomfortable would have been a serious understatement. Nevertheless, I was being given a chance to help Mark, and that was the only thing that was important.

“I’m not sure where to begin. Perhaps gathering data from which to form a hypothesis? Does anyone know of anything similar to the tunnel Mark has dreamed about, and which he saw when he went to find Eddie?”

The assembled gods shook their heads. Zeus gestured, and a twenty-something guy, wearing nothing but the sandals and doughboy helmet of the Scions of Hermes appeared. Zeus frowned, and he morphed into a twenty-something guy wearing a tunic. He still had the helmet, and wings on his sandals, though.

“Your servants pass more often than anyone through the fold,” Zeus said. “Have any reported anything like Mark described?”

“No, sir,” Hermes—for I decided it was he—answered. “Never.”

Zeus thanked him, and then invited him to stay.

“Ben explained that one should see where one was going before popping,” I said. “What experience have people had in popping when they had no destination in mind?”

The assembled gods seemed puzzled, and then frustrated. Finally, Dike spoke for them. “In a case like that, we go nowhere. We remain where we were. It is not something we’ve ever contemplated!”

I tried to gather my thoughts.

“Hermes? We've not met, and you have no reason to help me,” I said.

“Actually,” Hermes said, “we have met . . . or will meet. And I have every reason to help you. We can go into that, later. For now, what can I do?”

“Where might Mark have gone?” I asked. Before Hermes could answer, I added, “What other men were in his life? Teachers? Coaches? Other role models? Who might he have been seeking? Perhaps your scions could do a little investigating?” I was thinking of the ones who appeared as US Marshalls.

Hermes nodded. He didn’t get up, and none of his people popped in, but I saw his eyes flickering as if he were thinking—or talking to them.

“We’ll have answers, soon,” he said, confirming my understanding of what had happened.

“Daddy? I want to help, too.” Eddie’s voice brought me back to reality. He’d been cuddled under my arm during all this discussion. He knew about the gods, but seeing one after another pop into his home must have been disconcerting, if not a bit traumatic.

“Eddie? I just don’t know . . . .” I began.

“I do,” Dike said. “What might Mark have said to him. Wait! That should be a private conversation. In the meanwhile, I know that Mark was—infatuated is probably the best word—infatuated with Aiden. It is possible that he moved in time, and found his way to Aiden. He was supposed to meet him some three years from now, but perhaps . . . ? I will go to Aiden. You boys can talk to Eddie.”

You boys, she’d said. Then I understood, and nodded. Dike disappeared.

Dike

I was careful to meet Aiden at a time after his foray into the past, and at a time when I was not present in Chicago. It had, also, to be before Aiden expected a call from Mark. I was beginning to understand why Chronos had warned us about slipping too far or too often in time. And wondered for a moment where Chronos was, and if he, too, had disappeared from our reality.

Aiden and Casey were not quite in flagrante delicto, but would have been had I appeared to them a few seconds later. Further, both of them were accustomed to my grandmother Aspect; I’d not remembered that, and appeared as a young woman. The boys were petrified, and that part of them that had been petrified was suddenly small and soft.

“Aiden, Casey, I’m sorry. I am truly sorry.” I quickly changed aspects, and then realized that no twelve-year-old wants his grandmother finding him naked, in bed, and entwined with another twelve-year-old boy. I switched back to the Aspect of a young woman.

“Boys, you know me. You know I am Dike. And you know that I would never, ever, deliberately hurt you. I’ve just done so, accidentally and because I was afraid for someone Aiden knows. I will, in time, apologize. For now, Aiden, I must know: has Mark tried to contact you?”

Aiden sat up in the bed and pulled the sheet up to his chin. All I could see was his face.

“No, ma’am. He hasn’t, really he hasn’t. What’s wrong?”

“Mark has disappeared,” I said. “He was trying to translocate, we think. Aiden, remember this: if Mark ever tried to contact you before the day you set, contact me immediately. And please, believe I ask this only because Mark’s life may depend on it. Do you understand?”

The boy nodded. I saw his face lose its color. Good. He believed me. “Thank you, Aiden.” I slipped in time, and returned to the hallway outside Lucas’s apartment an hour after I’d left. And rang the doorbell.

Lucas

“Eddie? I understand what Dike wants us to talk about. If you don’t want to talk about it with the others here, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“You want to talk about sex stuff,” Eddie said. He looked around the room. “It’s important, isn’t it?” He didn’t wait for me to answer, but said, “If you can talk about it in front of them, so can I.” He clenched his teeth, tightened his lips, and nodded firmly. I was so proud of him!

“Yes, Eddie. Now, has Mark ever talked about wanting to have sex with me?”

Despite his resolution, Eddie was nervous. He blushed, and stammered a little. “Uh, huh. Mark said I’m not big enough to make him feel good when we uh, you know, fuck. He doesn’t say it to make me feel bad, ’cause he’s hardly any bigger than me. And, uh, we both kind of like being what you said, bottoms, but he’s right. We’re hardly big enough.”

Eddie took a deep breath. “We both talked about what it would be like to do it when we were older and bigger, and, uh, why we had to wait until then if you would, uh, top us now ’cause you’re really big and all.”

Once again, Eddie’s face and chest were a brighter red than his hair. I suppose that’s a bad comparison, because Eddie’s hair was more a golden red than a brick red. Maybe I should just say that his freckles disappeared, he was so red! By now, of course, I was blushing, too.

Before I could say anything, one of Hermes’ boy-messengers popped in. The kid didn’t seem impressed by the august company, although he did seem to stare at Eddie for a second or two longer than necessary.

“What have you found out?” Hermes asked, breaking the tension—and the boy’s stare.

“School records, hospital records, all examined. Every recorded adult male with whom Eddie has come in contact has been identified. We’ve visited all those listed since Eddie’s sixth birthday. He’s not with any of them, nor does it appear that he has been. We’ve not been able to locate two doctors who treated him before he was six, but we’re still working. We’ve set up a rota, and will check back with all contacts periodically until the situation is resolved. And Athena is upset because the delivery of her spear from Vulcan was delayed.”

Ben nodded. “Hermes, if that kid ever wants a job, I’d hire him in an instant.” Once again, Ben had found a way to break the tension.

Hermes nodded, and the kid disappeared. “No chance, Nomos. You’ll need to find your own helpers.”

“I’ve been looking for a long time,” Ben said. “There’s always something missing . . . .” He shook his head as if to shake off that thought. That’s not to the point. Where do we go from here?”

“I don’t want to disparage the work your people have done,” I said to Hermes. “What if there are men who do not appear in the record?”

“Any ideas?” Hermes asked.

Ben cleared his throat. I saw him raise his eyebrow, and remembered his skill at interrogation. I nodded, and he spoke.

“Eddie? Did Mark talk about anyone, an adult? When you talked about, uh, Lucas’s size, did he mention anyone else?”

Ben carefully questioned Eddie. Whenever Ben uncovered a nugget of information, a lead, a supposition, he looked at Hermes, who went into his eyes-back-and-forth-messaging-someone mode. Half an hour later, Ben seemed to have exhausted Eddie’s memories. Another of Hermes’ boys appeared with another negative report. Then, the doorbell rang.

Dike

“Neither Aiden or his boyfriend know anything. If they learn something, they will contact my future self.” Dike chuckled. “I hope I remember all this and can keep it straight. You know that Chronos warned us about time-slipping.” She said that last to the assembled gods, directed to no one in particular but to all in general.

What doors has Mark opened! I wondered.

It looked to me like we’d reached a dead end.

Mark

I was really confused when I woke up, and it took a while to remember how I’d gotten there.

I was in a huge bed. The sheets were soft and silky. Not like the rough sheets that Lucas . . . The sheets that Lucas liked. He liked the feel on his skin. It came from when he was blind, and other senses were important. But I wasn’t there, was I? I wasn’t in Lucas’s bed. I was in a strange place with a dude named Set who had rescued me from a snake named Apep.

The room was bright. Everything was white: the walls and ceiling, the sheets. Something dark came into the room: one of the dog-men who had bathed me—or one who looked like him. I wasn’t sure.

“There is clothing for you, there.” He pointed. “Set invites you to break your fast with him. How else may I serve?”

I kind of liked the way he treated me, as if I were somebody important, and he was my servant. I nodded my thanks. I realized I was naked under the sheets, and didn’t want him to see. “Thank you,” I said. “Please wait outside the door.”

The dog-man bowed, and backed out of the room through the single door.

I found a clean skirt—that’s how I thought of it—and sandals next to the bed. I put them and my braces on, and wondered how I could get the dog-man back to help me walk, when Set appeared. I knew he could translocate, but still it startled me, a little.

“May I carry you?” he asked. “Or would you rather hold my arm?”

As much as I liked it when he carried me, I asked to hold his arm, and walked slowly at his side into another room where a table was set with fresh fruit and different kinds of breads. It was better, even, than the Waffle Place! I didn’t have to do anything, either. One of the dog-men loaded my plate when I pointed to something, and then went to stand by the door.

“Did you enjoy your food?” Set asked. He had been so quiet, his voice startled me. I jumped.

“Do not be afraid of me,” he said.

“Sir? I have to know. Where am I? And why am I here?”

I looked into his eyes as I spoke. I thought that would make him know that I was serious. I tried not to gasp: his eyes were blue. But there was no pupil . . . perhaps just a pinprick. Doesn’t that mean he’s on some kind of drugs? I wondered.

“You are in the world of ancient Egypt,” he said. He paused for a moment, frowned, and added, “You know, of course, that the gods you know are not the only gods.”

He said that like I should say yes, but I wasn’t sure, so I shook my head.

“No, sir, I just know about some of the gods,” I said.

Set laughed. “Nor am I surprised. Each culture teaches its children in its own way. The same forces that make a man an Anglican in London will make him a Muslim in Riyadh, a Hindu in Delhi, and a Mormon in Salt Lake City. Children are shaped by their culture and, unfortunately, by their parents.”

“Why do you say unfortunately?” I asked.

“Because the parents have been shaped by their parents, and often without thought or understanding. You are fortunate. You have not been shaped by dogma, custom, and superstition. You have been shaped by inquiry. You are here so that I may answer your questions.”

“But how did I get here?”

“You mean, of course, how you got to Apep’s lair. If you will learn, you must be clear in your questions and in the meaning of your words.”

At first, I thought he was pissed, but he smiled. “I do not know exactly how you arrived in Apep’s lair. I suspect, however, it was the desire of some power greater than I who felt that I could help you find answers to your questions. Shall we proceed in that belief until we know differently?”

Yesterday he had said something that I felt wasn’t quite right. Now, he’d done it again. There was something wrong, something illogical about what he’d just said. And I think he knew it. I was afraid, but tried not to show it and not to let him know I knew he was lying.

“Sure,” I said. “Where is the realm of the gods?”

“We exist in a world that is like yours, in a reality that split from yours centuries ago. In this world, we remain. In your world, we no longer exist.”

“Are the gods I know here, too?”

“Most exist in their own world, in their own reality,” Set said. “Some exist in your reality.”

“Can we talk to them?”

“No. The worlds are isolated from one another. There is no contact and no communication.”

“But I got here!” I said. “If I got here, I can go back, can’t I?”

“If we knew how you got here, you might. But we don’t know.”

I lost it, and started crying. I didn’t see Set come around the table, but I felt him pick me up. He hugged me. I didn’t want him to! I pounded on his chest with my fists. “Let me go! Let me go! I don’t want to be here!”

I knew I wasn’t hurting him. He pushed me into his chest, so I started pounding on his back. He wouldn’t let me go. I stopped beating on him. He held me tightly, and whispered into my ear. I didn’t hear all the words, but he called me little god, and little man, and told me not to be afraid.

Then, he said, “You shall become one of us. You shall become a god of great power, and I will teach you.” And I heard him hiss the esses, and knew what was wrong. I must have heard them before, but I’d ignored them until now. He spoke like the snake. He was the snake’s master. And I was in a lot of trouble.

Disclaimers and Notes

Set’s comment about cultures teaching their children the ways of the culture is based on a quotation from John Stuart Mill, On Liberty: "The same causes that make a person an Anglican in London would make him a Buddhist or a Confucian in Peking."

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