Isabel wanted to scream. She wanted to put up the loudest techno she could find in the car. She wanted to open the door and jump out. There were a myriad of things she would rather do than sit in silence in her father’s car as he drove her to… somewhere. The silence cut deeper than any knife ever could. She kept fidgeting in her chair. The outside lights couldn’t distract her. Her hand kept going to her leg. An hour ago there would’ve been stitched and a deep wound. Now it was completely healed. How!?
She wanted to ask her father, but she couldn’t. Not right now. Ares had only ever been this serious one time before in her life. Back then she was just a teenager. She kept asking what was wrong. Why she suddenly had to pack and leave? He didn’t snap in the way she thought he would back then. He just told her that she would either gather her things and get in the car or drag her into the car, kicking and screaming if he had to.
He never told her what they were fleeing from. It only happened once though.
Now it felt like it was happening again. There was an unmistakable tension in the car. The same one as before.
They drove for what felt like three days but in reality it was less than an hour. They reached some sort of fancy apartment complex. “We’re here.” Alexander said. Her eyes looked up. Most of the lights were out. One stood out though.
Her father took her inside and into the elevator. Her heart was beating in her chess. What was ‘here’? Some sort of cult? Maybe some sort of secret CIA initiator? What was happening? They stepped out of the elevator and headed for one of the doors in the condominium. Before her father rang the bell he turned toward her.
“I haven’t said it often.” He said. “And I’m sorry for that. I love you, Isabel. I have always loved you. I will never stop loving you. You’ve made me proud.” He paused for a moment. There was a strange, uncharacteristic anxiousness on his face. “What’s going to happen now… it won’t be easy. There will be… talking. Answers too, hopefully. But a lot of talking. There’s no punching your way through what’s coming. There is no weakness you can exploit. It will just be.. a lot of talking. So I want you to take your own pace. If you need time you take it. As much as you think you need. Okay?”
Isabel’s lip quivered for a second. For the first time in far too long, she felt herself crack. Not even while being tortured in the hospital by that hag did she feel this vulnerable. Yet now her heart was beating in her chest like it wanted to break free. She didn’t have the words right now. So she just hugged her father and held him tight. Hoping he would never let her go.
They hugged for minutes. Ares never let her go. Only when she released her embrace did he ring the bell on the front door.
And the door opened not even ten seconds later. A man who wasn’t really a man. A god of the Egyptian Pantheon, a man whose skin was like night and had the faintest hint of grey around the beard that hugged his face from the edges of his sideburns all the way around under the bottom lip and over the top lip. Anubis met the two who came to his condo so late, yet he was expecting them. He wore what he always wore in impromptu appointments: an outfit assortment consisting of a sweater vest, a tie, slacks, and oxford tipped shoes. HIs outfit was all colored in soft browns and light tans. The vest was a combo of each, the slacks black, and shoes were white and sienna.
Anubis let his guests in. “Please, come in,” the Guider of Souls said in a deep, soothing voice, though vaguely British in how it sounded. When Ares and his daughter stepped into his condo and the door gently closed behind them, he led the two inside on the couch. For such a late and last minute request, at the behest of his acquaintance, of course, this was the best that Anubis could do. Ideally, he would prefer to have done it at his official practice, which was to say just down the block, but he couldn’t dare bother his assistant this late at night. Sarah was a sweet mortal woman that Anubis hadn’t the heart to interrupt her, not on her day off.
Besides, Anubis had been, as it was with him internally, struggling with the loss of life he sensed earlier in the day. He persisted on and took a seat opposite of the Greek God of War and his companion. “I hope you know it’s not common to take such impromptu calls, Alexander. But I understand the urgency.” Anubis took a moment to examine the woman sitting next to the usually stoic god of war. It was clear to him that she was in some state of distress. She went through something traumatic recently. The stain of pain was as fresh as the feeling of melancholy still within him from what he sensed earlier. “My name is Dr. Darius Amentiu, or if it eases you so, you may just refer to me as Darius.” He said to the lady with a gentle smile. A thought came to him about whether or not she knew about them. If she knew they were divine.
Isabel’s eyes were trained on this ‘Darius’. She didn’t return the smile. It was a habit. Any emotion at all could be used against her. That’s how things went in a courtroom. In fact, that’s how things throughout her life so far. “Dr. Amentiu.” She greeted him as politely and stiffly as possible. Though she refused to use his offered name. Not so much because she felt at ease. Gods no. She did it to maintain distance. It took all but a second for her to clock what he was: a shrink. She had dealt with them before. At the insistence of both her middle and high school.
“Isabel… knows something is up.” Alexander, sitting beside her said in a rather matter-of-factly way. “I would’ve wished to introduce her into this world more… slowly. But things happened. She had an encounter with Sekhmet that would leave… one short of a rational explanation. I was hoping you would be able to help us with what comes next.”
The only mortal in the room almost let herself react to that information. The name Sekhmet sounded familiar. Was he speaking about Dr. Ayad? Sekhmet must be some sort of alias. It was something to start looking through. That combined with hospital employment records would give her enough. For now, though, she had to get through whatever this was going to be. Which became more and more confusing.
“I understand.” He noted, taking his eyes from the god of war to Isabel. To have such an encounter, even with one of the more compassionate gods in his pantheon, would shock any mortal. Anubis had known many strong-willed mortals and something as daunting as the knowledge of divinity would shake them. Isabel seemed to be such a mortal, but there was something else. Something that either Ares wasn’t admitting or that maybe he wouldn’t?
He kept his kind eyes and smile on Isabel before turning them onto Ares. “Alexander, for…this to be as helpful as I am sure you want it to be, respectfully, I think it is best you give us some time. Perhaps two hours should suffice?” Though late, Anubis recognized this was a special case and above all else, Isabel seemed to be distressed about something. Maybe it was what Ares refused to disclose? If it was, Anubis had to tread carefully. Ares was an acquaintance, but Isabel would be his priority here on out.
“I understand.” Ares replied. Before he left he did turn towards Isabel. “Be good, okay. I’ll be back in two hours. Just like I promised. I’ll always be back.”
The words grabbed a memory that Isabel thought she had long forgotten. She was standing at an airport. Her nanny stood beside her. She was watching her father leave again. He always left. But he always came back. She kept herself cold. That was the best for her and she knew it. Stay cold. Stay strong. That’s how you survive. So she showed not even a hint of emotion.
Alexander just smiled and got up. “I do, truly, appreciate this doctor.” He told Dr. Amentiu. Then he quite unceremoniously left.
Isabel sat down stiff on the couch with her arms and legs crossed. She had to stay strong. One moment of longing… One sign that she missed him… But she did miss him. She turned around, just for a second. All she saw was a closed door. Her heart collapsed. Only her heart though.
She turned back towards Dr. Amentiu. “So what now? Are you going to show me blobs of ink and ask me what I see? Dead people by the way. I see dead people in all of them.” She said and she made very little effort to hide her sarcasm. After all, Mao Zedong himself said that the only real defense is an active defense.
Anubis chuckled and hummed thoughtfully. “We could do that if it is what you want. It has proven to be helpful with some of my patients. It would resonate with them in some way, but perhaps not in your case.” Anubis crossed one leg over the other, the foot of the crossed leg resting just before his knee. “It’s interesting you would say dead people though. Do you see a lot of death in your line of work, Isabel?”
“No more than others.” A lie. As a criminal defense lawyer she had seen her fair share of dead bodies in pictures. The first few times she always felt like she was going to hurl. The first time she saw a live dead cadaver she actually did hurl. Not that she was going to admit to that. If she didn’t speak about it and nobody else knows about it then it didn’t happen, or so she wanted it to be. “And I don’t want to talk about blobs, I want-“ She stopped herself.
This was a dangerous subject. One wrong word and he could latch on to the wrong thing. She took her sweet time mulling over her words after that. Until she was confident about what to say: “What I want is to know how a deep cut made by glass could heal in less than a minute.” She said as neutral as possible. Though she didn’t uncross any of her limbs.
There was no doubt this was about what Ares mentioned. And her encounter with Sekhmet. Anubis closed his eyes for a short moment. In all the times he had to see patients -- both divine and mortal -- there were certain challenges, difficulties that would arise during sessions. Whether it was about the credibility of Anubis’ qualifications or deflecting from the core of the issue, there was always one. He was a patient god and one who understood (probably better than most) the weight that a heavy heart and soul could do to a person, no matter who or what they were.
Proceeding carefully, Anubis finally spoke, “That is not a simple question that I can just answer in a black and white sense. But I also am not Alexander and withholding truths from you isn’t what either of us are here for. When he came here and you sat on that couch you are sitting on now, it was decided that my priority would be whatever was in your best interest.” Anubis was trying not to let it show but he held a certain anger for Ares. He didn’t know the specifics, but he could make his best educated guess that something traumatic happened. ]“If it is what will ease your heart, then I shall tell you. Certain individuals exist that are capable of feats that surpass what you might consider…normal. Like healing a freshly-cut wound.” Anubis wouldn’t have divulged this had she not already been exposed to the existence of Gods.He still would go at a pace he felt she could ease into better.
Isabel scoffed when the good doctor said that he wasn’t like her father. That he would make her his priority right now. Nobody was that selfless. He was probably getting a fat cheque from her father for this. He did find a way to finally capture her genuine attention. When he talked about how there are people out there with capacities beyond the normal she ever so slightly leaned in. For the longest time she suspected something was up. Her father didn’t have a single gray hair on his head. Despite having to be at least near sixty. He should look old. Instead he barely looked forty. And then there was of course the whole Sekhmet mess.
She latched on that subject in a second. “So how did she do it?” She immediately asked. Though for once she sounded genuinely curious. The question wasn’t some thinly veiled attack. At first she thought it would be magic. That was ridiculous of course. She had long since stopped believing in magic. Again, absent-mindedly, she rubbed the leg where she got stabbed. “Stem cells? Nano-machines?” Both were nothing but ideas so far. Still, those were the most likely options.
And then she realized she wasn’t thinking big enough. It wasn’t just the healing. Her eyes looked down as she started thinking. Her father didn’t age. The doctor could heal. There was some other crazy ‘family member’ who was holding back something. Then her eyes shifted toward the good doctor in front of her. “My dad… Dr. Ayad… You. Who… what are you?”
Anubis could see it from a mile away. Isabel was an intelligent woman. Not that he was that surprised by it. She was Ares’ daughter, after all. The apple never fell far, but her natural instinct to show her temper was another thing he had heard the God of War was known for. Anubis had his temper. Everyone of divinity had one to an extent, but those born of war were more prone to it. Anubis had seen this in many of his patients that were of their kind.
And now a mortal born from it..no, a demigod, knew about it, as well.
He smiled at the Daughter of War. “I promised I would not lie to you. To prove that, I will answer as simply as I can. Truth is, we are divine beings. Your father spoke of Sekhmet, which I’ve no doubt you have surmised is Dr. Ayad. As for myself, well I have been known by many names over the years, but I believe the most common and most popular is Anubis and it’s one I am quite fond of myself.” He wondered what this would do to her internally. Anubis had never dreamed that he would reveal his true identity to a patient, but Isabel was far from a normal patient. She was of divine blood. She was one of them. No matter what has happened, that much couldn’t be denied nor ignored.
A wheezing laugh echoed through the good doctor’s entire condo. Isabel couldn’t contain herself. “Gods?” She managed to squeeze out before her laugh overtook her again. So far she had figured the names would be codenames. It took a solid minute of laughing before she finally managed to gather herself. Her stomach hurt from it. Or perhaps from the many other things that transpired in just the last few hours. Still, Isabel couldn’t believe it.
“And what? My father is Horus? No, no, Apophis? Seth?” Her tone made it clear that she was mocking the very concept of them being divine. It was too ridiculous to be true. Eventually, she looked the good doctor in the eyes though. “You’re not really expecting me to believe that pile of crap right? Gods don’t exist. They never existed. They were just… manifestations of humanity’s imagination to explain phenomena they couldn’t understand. They’re just placeholders for science.” Before, Thor created thunderstorms and Ra pulled the sun from horizon to horizon. These days humanity knew better. Atmospheric pressure differences create lightning and the earth spins because of gravity. The healing had to have some scientific explanation. It had to. It absolutely had to.
Though Anubis did not show it, that mention of Seth riled something inside him that he had, for the most part, mastered to keep it from bellowing to the surface. “I didn’t expect you to believe me at face value.” He uncrossed his legs but didn’t stand up -- not yet, at least. He knew simply telling her the truth wouldn’t work. Part of him knew that but he had to try anyway. No, he was understanding Isa more and more. One thing he was certain of was how she was someone who needed more than just the word of a doctor that she didn’t know an hour ago. “If you are open to it, I would like to show you something, Isabel.”
“If it will make me laugh as much as I just did then sure. Show me what you got.” Isabel leaned back smugly in the couch. She wasn’t entirely sure what would come next. In truth it all had to be a joke. It had to be, because if it wasn’t there was something deeply wrong. Was her father in some sort of cult?
He chuckled only slightly and only because of what he was about to do, there was indeed a chance that she could laugh. “To make this as clear as I possibly can make it, though you do not believe me just yet, we of divinity have certain domains and with that comes special powers. Sekhmet, as you probably realized, is a healer, but as for me, well--” As he lifted his right hand, though faint in visibility, a purple smoke started to emit from his palm and slowly ascended as it coiled around each finger. It concentrated on the tips and started to flow towards Isabel. Then, in a single blink of his eyes, which had been solely locked on his patient, the smoke faded into particles of dust, reappearing around Isabel. He made it possible that she could see it until she couldn’t. “And this is mine, Isabel. Tell me, what are you feeling right now?”
For a second she frowned. Her eyes looked away. Then her muscles relaxed. For the first time in far too long she realized she was holding a horrible amount of tension inside of her. Her blood felt warmer as it flowed through her. At the same time a clarity went through her mind. As if suddenly someone pulled away the clouds to show her what really mattered. Things were falling into place like puzzle pieces. “I feel… afraid.” She confessed. “Dad is… always so… far away. He’s the only one I have. I don’t want lose-“
A paranoid brain always questions itself. The moment those words left her lips she realized something was up. Alarms rang out in her head. Walls rose up from the metaphorical ground that reached high. The sensations of relaxation vanished in an instant. A wide-eyed Isabel, who was having tears form in her eyes, suddenly snapped back. But she did turn pale. It was a trick. It had to be. Elsewise she would have never said those things. The CIA had something. A drug that made you tell the truth. She heard about it. That had to be it. No, wait. It was smokey, whatever happened. None of it made sense.
“W-Wait.” She said as a dizzy spell knocked her for a loop for a second. She couldn’t look at the good doctor. Instead she was pulling herself up from the couch. Who else had these things? These domains? She pressed her nails down into her arm. The pain mixed with adrenaline jolted her awake. Her mind bounced back to the question at the center of it all now. She looked up towards the good doctor. “Who’s my father then?”
Anubis watched her closely, observed her every move with watchful eyes. She had started to accept it, but then fought against the effects of the smoke. Anubis never forced it on anyone. His power, at least the version of it since the fall, was about free will and the power of whoever was on the receiving end to accept its effects and let it happen naturally and with their consent. Isabel was initially accepting of it, but she started to reject it. That’s what he found interesting. Interesting in the sense that maybe she was open to the process? And not just doing this because Alexander had forced her to.
When she asked about her father, he considered the possibilities of how the God of War would react when it reached back to the Guider of Souls. But Ares should’ve known that whatever happened, Anubis’ main priority has and always will be his patients. He took his seat, crossed his legs, and took a moment before he answered her question. “Your father has gone by many names. Over the years, I’m sure, he has adopted a lot of aliases. But you might know his true name as Ares, the Greek God of War.”
In a way, the information was everything she ever wanted and far too much. It was as if a single cog fell exactly in place that made the entire machine work in her mind. Only for her to realize that the whole thing was spinning far too fast.
For the first time in her whole life, Isabel felt completely overtaken by dread. She would fight it. So far she had fought everything that came at her like this. She fought that bully in middle school. She fought against those fratboys thinking she would make for a good conquest. Hell, she fought against her peers in the law firm. Every time she came out on top. Every time it confirmed to her that she was a fighter. All of that collapsed. Only one thing went through her mind.
“I have to get out of here.” She mumbled. It was barely audible. Luckily for her, she was already on her two legs. Isabel gave the good doctor Anubis one final look before she burst into a sprint. With a fluid motion, she ripped open the front door and barreled down the stairwell.
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