Fractured

Chapter 5

Gemini was stuffed into an expensive car that Bast had "borrowed" with no remorse. They were all a little panicked because of the weird men chasing them.

Sadie had pointed out the coffin to Bast, and Gemini noticed her grip on the steering wheel tightening. 

"What are they?" Carter asked. He was talking to Bast but his eyes were trained on the four men and their coffin. 

"Carriers, summoned from the Duat. They do not stop and will not until they have caught their prey and stuffed them into that box they are carrying."

"Why do they even want us?" Sadie looked understandably worried. 

Bast assured them that it was nothing good.

"I just want to ask if they're here for me, or for Carter and Sadie." Gemini realized how the question sounded. "Not that I would abandon any of you." 

"I'm sure Set or one of his allies sent the carriers for Carter and Sadie. Him not knowing you even exist could be an advantage," Bast mused. She controlled the car with incredible skill and finesse, and before they knew it, Gemini was being pulled out of the car. 

Gemini was running after Bast as soon as they were out of the car. She was running towards Central Park, or at least they thought she was. Carter and Sadie were just ahead of him, and Gemini hoped that they wouldn't be left behind. 

Fortunately for them, Bast had stopped in front of a tall structure, an obelisk, that she was staring at intently. 

Gemini stood off to the side, watching out for anything suspicious. They were also watching their new friends for any new developments. 

"Just concentrate on opening a gateway to the Duat. You can do it, Sadie. I can buy you some time." 

Gemini edged closer to Sadie. They assumed Bast was going to deal with the carriers if they got too close, and its not like they could help with fighting. Sadie eyed them before her eyes flickered back to the obelisk. "Maybe imagine opening something?" Gemini offered half-heartedly.

Sadie looked at them with a deadpan expression. "Gee, thanks. Never would've thought of that." 

Gemini rolled their eyes and glanced back. To their shock, Bast was floating at the center of a twenty-foot tall avatar of a woman with the head of a cat. She was slicing the copper men into pieces, and Carter below her was trying to help as much as he could.

"Um, maybe you should hurry up," Gemini said as he watched the copper men reform their bodies.

Sadie growled. "I'm trying! Open! PLEASE!" 

Gemini felt a chill that raised the hairs on their neck. A slithering sound filled the air, and they could feel a presence they were beginning to associate with the gods. 

They tried to identify the source of the sound, and they found their answer a second later. Thousands of scorpions skittered and crawled all over the grass. They all seemed to come out of a woman- a goddess that was walking towards Bast and Carter. The goddess looked almost bored. 

Gemini could barely hear Bast and Carter over the distance and the insistent sound of thousands of scorpions rushing at them, but they could read expressions. Bast looked worried and exhausted. More than that she also looked resigned. She said something to Carter and he responded frantically. "Sadie? I think something's happening."

Sadie turned from the obelisk. She paled when she noticed the assumed scorpion goddess. 

"Go into the museum!" Bast yelled at them. "Find the temple!" 

"What about you?" Sadie voiced her concerns.

"I'll be fine. I'll come back as soon as I can."

Carter turned to his sister and Gemini and began to run to them. He grabbed both their hands. "We need to run! Bast can handle herself."

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One argument and hundreds of corridors later, Gemini found theirself facing off a strange girl who introduced herself as Zia Rashid. She was incredibly pretty, and under different circumstances, they would have complimented her. As it was, however, Zia was trying to kill them all.

"I must save your miserable lives now," she said, changing her mind. She looked truly miserable saying that. 

Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Gemini chose death by pretty girl as opposed to death by scorpion goddess. Carter and Sadie made a similar choice, and the three followed Zia further into the museum. 

They kept on looking backwards for any sign of scorpions, and when they looked forward they noticed that they were standing in a very odd room. 

"A reconstruction of an Egyptian temple. It was dedicated to Isis, so it should help us open a doorway." Zia explained after a snide comment from Sadie. 

She then continued to explain the significance of auspicious moments to portals, and how they had a perfect opportunity. Zia gave Carter and Sadie instructions on setting up a defensive barrier as she summoned her own weapons. She looked Gemini up and down, then turned around without saying anything.

Gemini was offended, and they couldn't help the tiny gasp that escaped. "Rude." They then felt a familiar chill. "She's coming." Gemini warned.

Zia then turned to face the approaching goddess, her newfound staff lit at the tip with a bright red flame, a weird boomerang thing in her other hand. 

Carter noticed their confusion. "That's a wand." 

Gemini just nodded, choosing not to say anything. 

"I am a Scribe of the House of Life, goddess. Return from where you came, and I won't destroy you."

The goddess, who Zia identified as Serqet, was trying to break down their barrier, but Zia was fending off her attacks. In a blink of an eye, she threw her wand into the avatar Serqet had created. 

There was a bright flash, and Gemini couldn't see without flashes of light obstructing their vision for a short while. By the time they could see clearly, Zia was outside the barrier and caught in a deadly dance with Serqet. Trails of flame trailed Zia's staff, and she looked intimidating. 

"She's going to use the ribbons," Sadie mumbled. Her eyes were unfocused, and she had a foot on the edge of the barrier, preparing to join the fight.

Gemini pulled her back before she could take the full step out. "What are you doing?" 

Sadie didn't respond. She was focused on the fight between the self-proclaimed scribe and the goddess. Gemini couldn't blame her. The fight was entrancing. It stuttered to a stop when Serqet was suddenly trapped by ribbons, and Zia was commanding Serqet to leave the host and the owner of the body.

Gemini knew somehow that the ribbons were failing. They could almost feel them. The Seven Ribbons of Hathor. "Zia! The portal!" 

Carter waved his arms and repeated Gemini's words.

Zia hesitated, but when she noticed that Serqet wasn't in fact gone, but getting somehow even stronger, she made up her mind. 

Together, the four jumped into a swirling vortex of sand that supposedly led to safety.