In The Mind of Anubis

Feather of Truth or Dare?

So maybe playing Truth or Dare with the Feather of Truth wasn't such a good idea, but neither was leaving two bored teenagers unattended.

And I swear, Anubis suggested it first.

"I am bored," he stated out of the blue. We were waiting in the Hall of Judgement while Carter talked to dad.

"Yeah."

"Why don't we play a game?" he offered. "You could teach me one." I shrugged. It sure beat sitting around doing nothing.

"Um, sure. What game?"

"A... party game? Is that what the mortals call it?"

"Right," I said sarcastically, "because this is such a party." I gestured to the empty room and then the two of us sitting confortably on one of Anubis's toilet-paper sofas.

"You're not really helping," he pointed out. "Are you going to teach me a game or not?"

"Truth or Dare," I blurted. "We can play Truth or Dare."

"Hmm," Anubis drawled. "Alright. I have the Feather of Truth with me, which is convenient."

"No! You don't play it with a bloody Feather of Truth!"

"Why not?" Anubis was genuinely confused. "If you don't use the Feather of Truth, how can you tell if the person is telling the truth?"

"Er...you...trust them?" I asked. It was harder to explain than I thought it would be. "Besides," I added, "this is a mortal game, and mortals don't have Feathers of Truth just lying around, in case you didn't know."

"I am not a mortal, so what is wrong with using the Feather of Truth?" Anubis persisted. He was so hung up on ensuring that our game of Truth or Dare really did involve telling the truth that I obliged.

Which I totally should not have done.

"Fine," I sighed. "We can use the bloody feather." Anubis opened his palm, and after a burst of bright light, the feather appeared, hovering.

"Now, how does this game work exactly?"

"Um, you pick 'truth' or 'dare' when I ask you, and then I get to either ask you a question, if you pick truth, or make you do something, if you pick dare."

"The things you are going to make me do... they aren't going to be... dangerous, right? Anubis asked, sounding a little worried. I would have laughed had I remembered some of the very stupid dares that Liz and Emma had made me do when we played.

"No," I reassured him.

"Okay, ask away."

"Right, then. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he answered decisively.

"I dare you to go to the nearest soul and ask for fifty cents!"

His smile dropped. "I don't want to..."

"But you have to."

"Do I really?" He hesitated.

"Why, of course."

He grunted before going outside, not checking to see if I was following him (but I was).

insert stuff about the dare here

"Truth or dare?" he asked me.

"Truth." he motioned for me to hold out my palm. I'd had one experience with the feather before, so I knew what to expect. It rested in my palm, no longer glowing, and slightly heavy.

We both sat staring at the feather.

I coughed. "You're supposed to ask me a question now."

Anubis opened his mouth, but then closed it. "I'm not really sure what question I should ask."

"Ask me anything you want. I kind of have to tell the truth, thanks to your insistence we use the bloody feather." At that, Anubis suppressed a smile. I didn't like the mischievous glint that appeared in his eyes.

"Can it be an open-ended question?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose."

"My question is this: what do you really think of me?"