In the deep corridor, one could hear a pin drop. Mori Tsukisa, holding a black scripture book that almost reached her chin, stepped lightly over the stone slabs. Nagini followed silently behind her Master, holding the black cat and following the 'turn left, turn right' instructions the little fellow occasionally gave.
"You just came out of there, and you already don't know the way back?" Bastet's object of disdain was, of course, Mori Tsukisa. "A Planeswalker who can't remember the way."
"This isn't my home." Mori Tsukisa held the scripture book, the chill from the heavy metal still palpable in her palms.
"But you've been here for a day." The black cat looked up. "Your wisdom—"
Nagini's arms suddenly tightened.
"Ack—"
"Hmm? Is something wrong?"
Mori Tsukisa looked back and saw Bastet slumped listlessly in Nagini's arms, while Nagini smiled. "The cat is tired; she's resting for a bit."
Today was the last day. Before evening, everyone had packed their luggage and tools, preparing to leave at dawn tomorrow. Upon learning that the book of the dead had been found, Mori Tsukisa also moved into action under Bastet's urging.
Leaving Arrietty to watch over Evelyn, she borrowed the scripture book and wandered all the way to the burial chamber to resurrect that High Priest from thousands of years ago.
"Don't you have the key?" Bastet lay limply in Nagini's arms. "Open it and chant the resurrection spell."
"Oh, actually, I've been meaning to ask." Mori Tsukisa tapped the iron cover of the book with her fingernail, making a 'ding-ding-ding' sound.
"How do you plan to persuade the resurrected Mr. Mummy to ensure he tells you the whereabouts of the god box and that group of human descendants?"
Mori Tsukisa wasn't very optimistic about Bastet.
This cat goddess clearly disliked the priest's past actions. Under such a preconceived impression, could the questions posed by a lofty deity get... an answer?
One must remember that the other party had been dead for three thousand years.
"Of course I can." Bastet was full of confidence. "If he doesn't tell the truth..."
"Then what?"
The black cat scratched its chin, looking a bit puzzled. "I am a god. Why would he dare lie to me?"
"Don't tell me this is your plan?" Mori Tsukisa covered her face, looking even more listless than Bastet. "My lady bastet, this isn't thousands of years ago, the era when you displayed your divine might..."
"Impossible. He was the Pharaoh's High Priest! He must respect the gods and answer my questions!" Bastet didn't understand what Mori Tsukisa was worried about at all. "What do you think a god is? All his power comes from us!"
Mori Tsukisa curled her lip: You don't have any power now.
"Sigh... whatever you say. Anyway, you can't blame my dragon." The girl dropped the book with a 'thud,' and after greeting the hideous, stiff mummy, she inserted the octagonal box into the slot on the book cover.
She turned it.
Click... The sound of the chain turning was rhythmic and powerful. Opening the pages, inside was an extremely mechanized scene—every page (metal sheet) was connected to an exquisitely crafted silver chain. When someone opened it with a key, it would move the chain lock to unlock this heavy metal book.
Hieroglyphs were engraved on the iron pages. Although Mori Tsukisa couldn't quite understand some of the characters yet, it didn't stop the girl from appreciating the beauty of the script.
"Beauty is eternal..." She gently touched the carvings with immense emotion. "Even if one cannot understand it, the brain can distinguish what is beautiful..."
"An exquisite mechanism..."
The black cat crouched boredly by the coffin lid, swishing its tail, watching Nagini take out a pistol and load it bullet by bullet.
"What are you doing, little snake girl?"
"I'm making safety preparations, lady bastet." Nagini glanced at the black cat, her hands never stopping. "If that resurrected gentleman tries to harm my Master..."
"Pfft." Bastet curled her black mouth in mockery. "You think a Mortal's firearm can harm him?"
"And can you?" Nagini countered. "You are a god, after all. Can you protect Master?"
"He—he—" The black cat choked, arguing stubbornly, "He wouldn't dare harm us. I am a deity!"
Nagini seemed to understand something. After nodding solemnly, she pulled out a second gun from her waist.
Bastet:...Every single one of them is so infuriating.
Click... click.
Bullets continued to be loaded.
"So, you cannot guarantee the Master's safety, yet you still deceived the Master into making a deal with you."
"I gave the dragon! Gave it! Gave it!" The black cat meowed in exasperation: "This isn't deception!"
"Is that so... then, where is the dragon?"
Choked.
"So annoying, so annoying, so annoying! You snake is so annoying!" The black cat bit her nails, looking displeased: "Mori Tsukisa is a Planeswalker, do you really understand what kind of creature a Planeswalker is?"
"As her Attendant, do you understand what stands behind Mori Tsukisa?"
"She needs my protection?!"
"It's a matter of attitude, ma'am," Nagini nodded solemnly, her upturned eyeliner making her look even sharper: "Perhaps you've been a deity for too long, and you've forgotten what respect is."
The cat who didn't know how to respect people didn't want to deal with this venom-spitting little snake anymore. She originally thought only Mori Tsukisa was like this, but found her Attendants were even more mentally ill than the last.
'The Bandit Logic Money-Grubber Fairy' and 'The Basilisk Who Shuts You Down in Three Sentences.'
Mori Tsukisa was still better... at least she could occasionally let her take a few bites... or scold her a bit... The young girl focused on looking down, checking the scriptures line by line, and in a blink, saw Bastet walking over dejectedly—tail drooping, ears flattened like little wings.
"Bastet?"
The black cat raised its head with teary eyes.
"Just bear with it. Nagini is too cute when she's roasting you, I can't stop her." Mori Tsukisa pointed to her ear: "Her voice is both raspy and sexy, don't you think?"
—I think you're all very sick.
Nagini put the gun away and bowed to Mori Tsukisa in thanks.
"Don't mention it. I'm telling the truth, your voice is very pleasant."
In short, this outsider cat had zero status as a deity in the eyes of Mori Tsukisa and her Attendant—even less than an ordinary cat... "Let's just start... I kind of miss my long slumber when I couldn't hear anything..."
The thick metal pages were flipped back to the first page.
"I wanted to see more..." Mori Tsukisa pointed at the hieroglyphs word by word: "Well, let's begin."
Clearing her throat, the girl used a crisp tone to crush the strange words between her lips and teeth, then gently spat them into the air:
"Amun Ra (Sun)... Amun Dei (Moon)..."
As soon as Mori Tsukisa spoke, a gust of wind suddenly blew in the quiet tomb!
Solemn buzzing chants began to ring in Mori Tsukisa's ears one after another: like monks walking along the way who had been lost, but then saw a fellow traveler; as they kept walking forward, more companions joined this long scripture about death and resurrection.
Ahead was the Dead Sea, the River Styx of suffering souls; behind was the mist of light, the holy road from which they came—
"When rising... I see you..."
There were more and more monks. Out of the corner of her eye, Mori Tsukisa could almost see them standing beside her, hands pressed together, heads bowed in chant.
"In the river of death, you return to the world of the living."
"Wake up."
"Wake up!"
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