Cursed Times - What Now?

Chapter 14 - The Inner Eye

As they were approaching Cairo, Metjen dug up his courage and called the professor to explain in greater detail what had been going on and that they were bringing back a scroll requiring both his expertise and his connections to various institutions.

'!!!' A crackling emerged from the mobile. Its volume conveyed the emotion on the other end of the airwaves. Trueth saw Metjen grimace as he held the telephone away from his ear into mid-air where it continued to send remote disgust. Mother Al-Nour had obviously not worked her usual magic.

Metjen gingerly returned the phone to his ear. 'Hello? Yes father, I'm still here. The tomb is secured; we are in fine shape; the scroll is not, but that isn't our fault and we've kept it in a safe container all the time. What?'

Metjen listened to more blaring from the speaker.

'No, I can't restore the scroll myself. You know how these divine constraints drive me mad. I still haven't worked out how to mind-fix things without understanding how it bloody works! And I'm not familiar with the intricacies of papyrus restoration, certainly not with carbon-dating, and this isn't something I can just read up on the Internet. I don't want to run any risks, better you check out that document.'

He smiled at the response and continued. 'We have to confirm the age of this text. Those bits we could read make me believe that papyrus could be modern. Maybe it's a hoax, whereby that makes no sense... '

'What are you saying?' It sounded as if Metjen had only briefly mollified his father. 'No, don't give me that crap about traps.'

Metjen waved his hands around and for a moment Trueth feared the mobile might land in the Nile.

'That was no ruse, we wouldn't have found the burial otherwise. She would have had us pinned straight to a rock to pick us off at her next convenience. The tomb was for real, but I'm still baffled. We really need your help with that scroll. Uh, hello? Something seems to be wrong with the connection, too many cliffs around here ... .' Metjen ended the call on expelled air.

'Father is not amused, I gather?' Ranofer asked.

'Well, no, and I don't blame him.' Metjen shoved the mobile into the pocket of his shorts and paced the deck. The smooth, bronzed muscles of his calves made Trueth wonder whether he had them waxed. The guy was vain enough to undergo such torture. Trueth had to concede the result of whatever it was he did, was certainly easy on the eye.

'He's worried, they both are,' Rani-Ra said from the depth of the deckchair she had installed herself in.

Metjen sat on one of the metal boxes for the life-jackets next to the railing. 'I can only hope whatever the scroll has to tell us is worth the risk, otherwise... .' He lashed out with his hand, a ray streaked off board and water vapour rose from the stern. From the galley below came shouts of surprise, it had got engulfed in a hot mist.

'Uh, sorry,' Metjen leaned over the railing. 'I didn't mean that, you all right?'

A positive response floated up through the haze that was being dispersed with a vigorous flapping of table mats.

'Has the professor got news about this pylon of hope mentioned in the other scroll?' Trueth asked.

Metjen slapped his forehead.'No, forgot to tell you, I got a message the other day, this isn't cited anywhere. Hope yes, pylons no, or only as part of a temple. Not the two of them together like that.'

The stare he directed beyond her did not appear particularly cheerful. Trueth mustered her courage to ask a question that had been buzzing around her head for far too long. 'Why do you look at me like that?'

'Is this another of your weird questions?' Metjen asked.

'No, my questions are pertinent even if this isn't always clear to people of inferior intellect.' That got her the third degree in vacant stares and an outburst of mirth from Rani-Ra and Ranofer. 'You never look at people, but—beyond them. Your eyes are—empty? I have no better word for it. Is there a reason?'

She must have asked the wrong question because the twins stopped in mid-giggle, and Metjen twisted away from her to grip the railing.

'Ah, that. Well, I didn't intend to talk about certain facts with you yet.' He whipped around and confronted her. 'Being who you are you will imagine basilisks if I keep you in suspense. Are you sure you want to hear the truth?'

'Metjen... .' Rani-Ra had got up, a frown on her face. 'I don't think she... . '

Trueth mouth went dry. 'Tell me.'

'Fine,' Metjen said. 'Technically I'm blind—not from birth, but we get blinded when we receive the Blessing. This is necessary for us to see—before you say anything, let me continue,' Metjen hastily added.

Blind? That explained a lot. It explained too much. All came back to that idiotic cult of his. Still—he had been driving a car?

Whether Metjen had read her thoughts, or had taken a more or less intelligent guess, she did not know but he responded to her unspoken question.

'I can see, or let us call it "perceive" my surroundings perfectly well. Better than you actually, for you are limited to your eyes at the front of your head. I can take in everything behind me on top of it. Full colours, surround visuals, the full set. So I'm not missing out on anything,' Metjen said.

Trueth croaked 'Why?'

Rani-Ra interfered, her calm voice flowed honey over the horror. 'If big bro still had his eyesight he couldn't access Beyond—another dimension. This only works when the inner eye takes over, and for that you need the Blessing. And before you ask—going Beyond enables him to tap into the divine power. He stores it in his body and brings it back to the temple. They use it or the veil, for example. The sun-flow of the Servants alone would not keep the shrine going.'

Metjen snorted. 'Especially, as they are so decrepit. With the power from Beyond, I can also recover more swiftly. Of course, I need sun-flow to be able to get there in the first place—'

This sounded wild, but somehow intriguing. 'There are other dimensions?'

Metjen had regained his composure and waggled a finger. 'No, I'm sorry sweetie, not like that. You want details, you become She who explores— trainee Servant, I mean. I promise you nobody will force you into the Blessing. Nobody can actually do that. It's impossible. So you are safe, do you hear me?'

'I don't exactly consider myself safe right now.' Trueth said. 'In fact, I'm pretty sure I find this concept rather unsafe.'

Ranofer put his hand on her arm. 'Give yourself and us a chance. If you really don't want to join, fine. You can live with our family—help father with his excavations. He can do with an anthropologist.'

The emptiness in Metjen's eyes reached out and would have sucked Trueth in, had she not fled to her cabin, where she threw herself on the bunk pulling the pillow over her ears. But the words stayed with her, turning around and around in her mind like a carousel from hell. By the time she emerged, she felt so dizzy and queasy, 'Selket' might have well been braving a ten force gale on the glittery river.

Trueth stayed on deck all afternoon, watching the prow of the ship sending wavelets down her sides, until Metjen joined her. They sat motionless, at one point his hand grasped hers, long warm fingers caressing her the soft web of skin next to her thumb. A citrusy smell of aftershave calmed her overwrought nerves. It felt good. But she could still not get that image out of her head—the vision of a mirror reflecting her own eyes as they stared back in emptiness.

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This chapter is dedicated to @hollydouglas5 . Image is from Wikimedia Commons, copyright David Liam Moran