7 A story and a new hope

The golden sun disk hung in the middle of the seamless sky. Its vivid rays reaching out gently, with no clouds to obscure its afternoon warmth and light. Riya sat on the wooden floor beams right outside her temple door.

She had her violet robes rolled up, revealing her legs in an almost scandalous way, as she crossed them and sat in what she believed was a meditative stance. She wanted to rearrange her thoughts and do what she should have done since day one. And that is to carefully study her choices in this new life.

But every time she found a thread of peace and quiet to latch on to, the sound of hammering and the clatter of noise disturbed her senses and threw her thoughts into disarray.

The newest addition to her temple, the young priest Silorek, stood outside her front yard. He had his white priest robe discarded nearby, and wore nothing but a pair of trousers, as he carried and hammered a new wooden plank into the broken segment of the fence.

This random man who appeared out of nowhere just a few hours ago was now just standing there doing hard labor for her with no return for him. "Is this slavery?" the thought crossed her mind again, as Riya stared at that half-naked man before her, who was hauling planks of wood he found at the back of the temple.

When he introduced himself earlier to her, he had claimed that he was sent here as a Priest and all priests are merely servants to their Gods. He said he was here to cater to her every need and be of help in any way that pleases her. That clearly didn't sit well with Riya right away. "Are you some sort of slave forced to serve me by my mother?" She blatantly asked him the question she suspected the most.

But the inquiry only widened the smile that never seemed to leave his youthful face. "No, your Radiance. I was not forced to come here. I have come here by my own will." He had replied with a very curt bow.

'Then why?" She had asked him then, staring at his slanting eyes.

"Because you have come to me in a dream." He said simply with a slight shrug in his shoulders. As if that was all the motivation one needed to be an unpaid servant. If that was the case Abdo would have been a slave to half the female movie stars he knew.

"A god can not thrive without his followers and worshippers, your Radiance" he stopped her before she had a chance to reply. "A god's own measure of ability and power is largely related to the number of loyal worshippers they have. Take for example The Enneads, they are the council of the Elder Gods worshipped in Heliopolis. Their followers number in the millions, some are even worshipped outside of Egypt and have multiple facets and forms. Some others have temples as numerous as the grains of sand in the Sahara desert, both in the mortal plane and upper plane." He explained politely "So you see, it is simply not possible for a deity to thrive alone, your Radiance." He said the words coolly and rationally. "So both parties have things to gain, even though most Gods would not admit that."He finished.

Riya arched her eyebrows at the young man that stood before her. He seemed much more broad-minded and outspoken than any other priest she had met before. She could see how this line of thoughts made complete sense if things truly worked that way.

But at the same time, she couldn't help but remember how solitude was the thing she was most familiar with in her previous life. She had never dealt with as many people as she did in the last weeks, for maybe a few years as Abdo. And that was the most difficult thing for her right now.

The feelings of anxiousness she constantly had in her previous life were threatening to slowly boil, like a pot of water, bubbling up and threatening to overflow in her chest. She wasn't sure how she could deal with this aspect of her new life as much as the other aspects, such as her new female form and her Goddess status.

Silorek looked up from his work, and caught a glimpse of Riya absent-mindedly looking at him, and returned her look with a wide smile. Realizing she must have been staring, she quickly closed her eyes again and tried to go back to her attempt at meditating.

"Your radiance." His voice came to her much sooner than she had expected. She opened her eyes again, finding him walking towards her, away from a newly repaired fence, and taking a seat on the stairs beneath the porch on which she resided.

"Do you know the story of Aqerius the Godson ?" He wondered as he looked up at the sun which shifted from its position mid sky, drifting closer to its den in the underworld where it went in the dark hours of the night.

Riya kept quiet and didn't answer him.

"Well," He whispered. "Its a very old story my mother told me. It is said that long ago the God of land Geb and the Goddess of the night Nut, had given birth to a mortal child." He leaned back while supporting himself with his outstretched arms behind him

"They named him Aqerius and dotted upon him like no other child they had, never making him feel bad about who he was born to be. But the other Gods were filled with disdain, and non associated with him." " On one fateful Day Anhur the God of war heard of a spear Nut had crafted for her son from pure moonlight, and he said that he would not rest till he had his hands on it."

"I guess Gods are just as entitled to things that do not belong to them as mortals." Riya snickered at the thought.

"That is more true than you believe, your radiance." He nodded in agreement before continuing. "So Anhur challenged Aqerius for the spear, in exchange he would bestow upon him a portion of his Godly power if Aqerius beat him. So Aqerius agreed."

"The challenge was that whoever managed to hold of Apep, the great Serpent that threatened to swallow the sun every day and the nemesis of the sun God Ra, for one turn of an Hourglass would be victorious," Silorek said as he pointed up at the now setting sun.

"One must know that it takes the effort of Ra himself and multiple other gods to hold off Apep for a single day, so this was no simple task for even a God."

"Anhur went first and managed to hold off the great Snake for a little less than a turn of an hourglass. Aqerius on the other hand, could not even do so for a trickle of sand from the Hourglass. He had lost, and thus he had to forfeit his spear to the God of war."

Riya listened to the story with interest, as she stared at the sun. She thought to herself that the snake sounds like a larger and dumber version of a Moth if it really wants to eat the flaming ball of inferno.

"It is said that Aqerius was so devastated by his loss that he ran away shortly after, and swore never to return again till he had the power to retrieve what was once his," Silorek said with a sad tone in his voice.

He then sprang up, stretching his arms with a yawn and signaling the end to his short story.

"Wait, but did he actually manage it eventually?" Riya asked him. "Nobody knows, your radiance. He never returned." He said, looking back at her with a saddened smile adorning his face. "Are you by any chance implying, that I'm a mortal and not really a goddess? Is that why you're telling me this.' Riya studied him with suspicious eyes as he looked at her innocently.

"I wouldn't dare, your radiance. Merely being in your presence is proof of your status. no mortal can exude an aura as majestic and nourishing as you do" He said while spreading his arms wide as if trying to encompass an intangible feeling he felt within himself.

Riya felt a little giddy inside at the flattering words, but she couldn't help but feel like this young man seemed to be much more than a simple priest. He Seemed like an honest enough person, but she couldn't tell if that smile of his was hiding more than meets the eye.

Getting up from her meditative position. Riya unfurled her rolled up robe, covering her legs once again. Then crossed her arms around herself, as she prepared to ask him the question that had been nagging her most recently.

"Is it possible for a powerless goddess like me to actually become able to help her people as a proper Goddess should?" She asked solemnly.

"I am merely a mortal, your radiance. I wouldn't know." He shook his head. The feeling of disappointment rose in Riya's chest with the echo of his words. But he wasn't done speaking.

"But I believe I know a place we can get answers." Silorek brandished a winning smile, as he planted hope into Riya's worries.