"Ra—"

"Mother, please, call me Isis."

Isis flicked her tail in annoyance, hoping that the priests who watched her from below didn't notice. Soft morning light streamed through the walls of her little glass palace atop the pyramid, bouncing off her golden scales. The gold throne felt hard beneath her ivory talons, and her wings itched to escape from the monotony of the priests chanting, the stuffy heat inside the palace, and most prominently...

"Isis, do you even know what that name means? Ra is the Goddess of the Sun. It is my name and the name of all of my mothers before me."

Isis sighed. "I am well aware," said she, forcing civility into her voice. "Isis stands for healing and magic. Considering my own skills, I believe the name suits me."

Her mother narrowed her emerald eyes at her from where she sat beside her, sandy-gold snout wrinkling just a slight. "It also could mean Goddess of the Moon," Ra huffed. "Why do you fight me so? Why must you insist on a name that is not yours?"

Isis's claws dug into her throne, leaving small marks. "We've gone over this mother. Don't you have more important things to worry about?"

Ra's pale sings shifted in annoyance. "Well, I could talk about how my daughter went and got herself kidnapped, leaving me to do all your work for you back here while you were off messing around in London."

Isis clenched her eye ridges together. "Exactly how is it my fault that I got kidnapped?"

Her mother turned to look at her, horror clear on her face. "I don't know, maybe hiding from your guards and flying off alone had something to do with it?"

At that point, Isis wanted nothing more than to bang her head against the glass wall.

"You're sagging. Chin up, Ra."

Isis took a slow, deep breath, shutting her eyes. When she opened them, she noticed that the priests were rising from their kneeling position at a ledge a little ways down the pyramid. As one wave of scarlet cloaks they turned and evenly made their way along the stone stairs down the side of the pyramid.

As if on cue, Isis leapt from her throne the moment she saw the last red-hooded priest disappear down the stairs. She ignored her mother's cry of protest and darted into the sky, warm drafts beneath her translucent wings. For a moment she let herself relax into those drafts, letting them carry her as she savored the view of the city below. Clean, modern buildings towered up into the sky near the edge of the city, sun glinting off the class. The buildings near her pyramid were a little more historic, stone and sandstone and wood. People milled about the streets, a vibrant mix of modern attire and fine silks and robes and headwear. Merchants shouted praise about their wares, from fresh fruit to jewelry to souvenirs.

Finally, she settled herself into a descent towards the offering box where the priests had been previously, a little ledge in the side of the pyramid.

She alighted on the edge of the box, firmly gripping the warm light wood with her talons, and surveyed her options. The box was piled high with glistening pastries and exotic fruits. It almost amused her that her people thought that bringing her pineapples and papayas would convince her to heal the sick and help the needy— she was very happy to do all that with no pay, but she wasn't about to decline; she still needed to eat.

"Ra!" Her mother snarled, landing at the other edge of the offering box with a plunk. "You have to be more careful! You could have been seen!"

Isis ignored her, pushing aside a mango to unearth more options beneath. Her talon was greeted with a strange purplish stickiness, and fully pushing away the mango revealed a mass of squashed blackberries. "You'd think people would have more common sense than to just come and drop a bunch of berries in this thing," she murmured to herself.

"Ra, are you listening to me? To think you are the Goddess of the Sun, yet you care so little for your position that you would risk it for food! Ra! Ra, are you listening?"

Yet Isis was not, in fact, listening. She had become curious with a small white corner sticking out from beneath the sticky berry mash. Narrowing her eyes, Isis reached out a talon to the corner, and slowly pulled it out from beneath all of the other fruits and foods that it was buried beneath. Once fully freed, she laid out the rectangle of paper on top of the other foods in the offering box.

Curious... Who out there would think to use my offering box as a mail box?

She scanned the envelope for any sort of writing to tell her who it was from, yet whatever it might have said was thoroughly stained away by the mash of blackberries.

So, she curled her talon under the lip of the envelope and ripped it open.

"Ra! You should have had your guards check that first," her mother protested. "It could be laced with poison!"

Isis continued to ignore her mother as she opened up the envelope and slid out the letter hiding within. She unfolded it before her, and began reading.

Dear Isis, Goddess of the Sun,

1,3 - 3,4 - 3,2 - 1,5 - 4,4 - 3,4 - 3,1 - 3,4 - 3,3 - 1,4 - 3,4 - 3,3.

- A

She looked at this top half of the letter in confusion. It sounded vaguely like math— perhaps points on a graph, but there was still more to the letter, so she continued on.

Hey Isis— Sorry about that. Angus got it into his head that we needed to cryptically code all of our letters in case they got intercepted by the Lab. He did some sort of thing involving tap code, but in any case, we need you in London. Meet us at the Queen's hideout this Friday. We'll explain the rest when you arrive, but be aware that this is urgent.

- A

Isis grinned upon finishing the letter. It's about time I've had some adventure, she mentally murmured. One's throne does start to feel hard after a few weeks.

"Well?" Her mother inquired. "What does it say?"

A warm breeze drifted past, as if summoning her to leap up and ride it. "Mother, can you cover for me for another few days?" she asked, already starting towards the edge of the offering box, clambering over bread and bananas.

The old queen chased after her. "What? Ra, what are you saying? Wait— stop right there missy! Stop!"

Yet her mother's pleas were to no avail, as Isis had already spread her wings and leapt into the air. "Try not to let my city go up in flames! Thanks!" she called back to her mother, flapping her iridescent wings.

She could hear Ra's voice shouting after her, but soon the sounds were lost to the wind. Isis found herself a warm updraft, and let it carry her. She didn't know what Angus and Azara had store for her in London— but whatever it was...

It would likely beat sitting still in her palace all day.

Okay, perhaps I am being a little reckless... she considered. But mother's been here since I got back, and she did have a very strong opinion about how things aught to be done... Let her have fun with that while I'm gone.

She tilted her wings, angling towards her city's airport— she'd have to sneak on a flight to be there in time by Friday.

And I'll be back soon. It's not like I'm getting kidnapped and trapped in a cage for weeks.

Just a quick little adventure.

~~~~~

Isis joins the quest! And we also got a little peek into her history... I'd love to hear what you all think, so please remember to comment and vote if you liked!