"It's been ages!" Pangu complained.
"It has been two days," I reply. But he is right. It feels like ages have passed with barely any progress made. I didn't stop, not even once, and the distance that I had crossed so far is pathetic when compared to a normal state of gravity.
Six months passed by, and the situation pretty much remained the same. I was at approximately the halfway point to the tower. So far, it has only been that flat slab of rock that forms the ground of the entire island.
Thankfully, some small areas had normal gravity, or at least better than the one that I was welcomed with. It allowed me to march for some distances without feeling like my body would be torn apart. Unfortunately, these areas were small.
I am tired and spent. I have barely any energy left. To make the situation worse, the scrambled and chaotic state of the island makes it impossible for me to replenish my energy reserves.
At some point, I couldn't breathe in any oxygen from the area, forcing me to generate the air from my own energy. It won't be long now until I collapse from utter exhaustion and possibly die.
Another two weeks passed. I can't go on anymore. Whatever energy I had left was now gone. I struggle to breathe. The only thing that I could do was lie on my back on a small slope and drift into unconsciousness.
I don't know how much time had passed until I woke up. It is a wonder that I am even alive and breathing as well. I look around me and see that nothing has changed, yet I feel slightly energised. In an environment like the one on the Isle of Prisons, you don't usually just replenish yourself after fainting, so I turned to the only person who could possibly have an answer, "What's going on, Pangu?"
"You're finally awake!" Pangu exclaims. He ignores my question and asks his own, "Don't you think that there is something wrong going on?"
"Pangu, I just asked you-" Before I could continue, a cat, in this horrendous gravity, strolled and sat on its four legs in front of me. "Is that a cat?!"
"That is a cat," Pangu replies with the obvious, although I could hear from the tone of his voice that he is hardly believing this sight as well. "What in the world is a cat doing in such a place?"
It just sat there, eying and observing me as I did the same. Upon further inspection, I could see energy fluctuating around its small body. The fact that it was able to walk seemingly unaffected by the unstable gravity, and the presence of such strong energy, can only mean one thing: this isn't a normal cat.
My mind drifted back to something that I once read back in the library at the Mansion of Night. Many records provide information on Bast, daughter of Ra and granddaughter of Richard, who possessed the ability to change her body from its humanoid form to that of a cat.
Those records also describe the cat as being thin, with its fur being the color of dark ink, and golden engravings span its body. The cat in front of me matches this description. Having no other choice, I bow my head slightly and say, "Greetings, Bast."
I don't know if it is fortunate or not, but it would seem that my guess is correct. The cat morphed and changed to that of a three-meter-tall, skinny woman. Her skin was tanned, but unlike anything that could be seen on Midgard. Her head was mostly bald, except for a lock of black hair that dangled from the back of her head and down to her bony shoulders.
She wore a simple white dress that didn't contradict the golden jewelry on her neck, arms, and wrists. Weirdly enough, I could see some of Richard's features, technically my features as well, in her face.
I don't know her at all, so I found it best to stay silent until she spoke, "Set!"
Her tone was murderous. Her black eyes matched the tone of her voice. I was startled to see that Bast had such killing intent towards me, because, once again, we had just met.
Still, I do not know what she means. Set is the Egyptian god of chaos and fire. I clear my throat and say calmly, "I fear you've mistaken me for someone else."
"Mistaken you for someone else? Ha! I did not know you for a long time, Set, yet you never struck me as someone who likes to make jokes."
I frown. Whatever this woman is saying, she isn't making any sense. "Look, I don't know why you think that I am a fellow of your pantheon, and no matter how much you try to say that I am Set, I still become him. My name is Orion Fistore. Always has been, and always will be."
Bast smirks and asks, "Okay, Orion," she says the name with such mockery, clearly not believing me, "Your hair might have turned white, but you still look the same, you still feel the same, and you still have the same smell."
Smell? I am left speechless. Then I remember that she said that Set and I look the same. Great, another person looks like. As if two people having almost the exact same look wasn't enough.
She unhooks a sickle-like sword from the belt on her waist and holds it in her right hand. A khopesh. This was the sword that was mostly used in Ancient Egypt. Yet this one was smaller than what a khopesh should be.
Bast points the blade at me and declares, "When you killed my father and destroyed Egypt, I vowed to kill you. And now the time has come for my khopesh to taste your blood!"
"Would you just calm down?" I shout at her as she prepares to lunge at me and draw a curve around my neck.
She does stop, but she smirks and replies, "Calm down?"
"Yes, calm down," I repeat. Whatever energy I replenished earlier, it is not enough to fight back, and even if I did, I wouldn't waste it on this pointless fight. I still have a long way to go until I reach the tower.
"If you have any last words, Set, I grant you the opportunity now."
How generous of her. I take a deep breath and ask, "What would it take for you to believe me?"
"Oh, lovely, more excuses," she said while rolling her eyes.
"If these excuses would stop you from murdering me, then so be it. Do you seriously think that just because I look like Set, I am him? Well, I have got news for you. I look like the Lord of Chaos, your grandfather, so is he Set as well?"
She frowns, thinking it through. Great, at least she is starting to suspect that she is wrong. "How about you check with Richard to see if I am telling the truth?"
She remains stubborn, "You be truthful in saying that you are not who I think you are. However, I can't take the risk of letting you get away."
"You somehow tracked me to this abomination of a place. I am sure you can find me again if you find out that I am wrong."
It took some time, but Bast did come to a decision. She said, "If you were lying today, then my wrath will be greater the next time we meet."
Then, she transformed back into her cat form and somehow disappeared from my sight.
I let out a sigh of relief and said, "Well, this wasn't expected."
"It wasn't," Pangu replied, yet he remains worried.
"What's wrong?" I ask with a frown.
"This wasn't the wrong thing that I wanted to tell you about..."
"What do you mean?"
"Orion, you slept on a slope."
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Updated on 6/11/2025