.^^ the new Bone Wand/Sword ^^

— James —

I woke up to a massive headache, like my skull had been cracked open and the contents stirred with an immersion blender.

A cool hand pressed my forehead, and the feeling lessened until it was bearable. A firm, feminine voice I didn't recognize spoke in modern Egyptian Arabic. "Lie still, Elf-Boy... you should not even be alive, so you should do as I say until you are in no more danger."

I chuckled softly, and sat up with just my stomach muscles. "I appreciate you helping me, but I will be fine. Where am I?"

The woman, who I could now see was in her Middle Ages, with deep charcoal eyes and beautiful Teak Skin, smiled. "I see you are Alright, then... you must have Fire in your blood. I thought you had a fever!"

I smiled at her, and pulled out my map, then opened it, asking it the same question.

"Where, oh where, did the God of Power send you?
Who would know, but the Eye Of Horus?"

"You're still angry that I forced coordinates out of you, aren't you?" I asked dryly.

"And who would know, The mind of a God?
That which has mourned the passing of Oceans within the Sands of Time?"

"Yeah yeah, don't be pissy, I was in a hurry. Now where am I?" I sighed, poking the map.

"The Edge Of Nowhere is your destination,
On this path to Desolation."

I blinked, surprised, and looked around. We were now on a boat of some kind, like the one from my vision, complete with the river of fire. "Oh... fuck me."

"Language, child." The Woman purred, and took a step towards me, her skin darkening to the color of ink, while her eyes turned golden.

"Ahh, hello, Lady Bast. Did you enjoy my and Ptah's gift?" I smiled.

She laughed softly. "I did... most thoughtful, child. Your Clan is now my Children, all of them... it is a wonderful feeling, to have children again!" She giggled and hugged me to her chest, then hummed. "But the power that Ptah pushed through you separated your Spirit from your Body... I am trying to return you to your body, but it is not easy."

I blinked, and grinned. "Why didn't you say so? I know how." I focused on making a portal, using her blood (carefully and respectfully extracted,) to draw the Runes. My body fell through the portal, with Athenos and Mum on top of it.

They looked at me, then Bast, and hummed in unison. Athenos spoke first. "Lady Bast, May I ask Where you are taking my son's Spirit? He isn't dead, is he?"

Bast smiled, showing white teeth. "Not at all. He is simply on a Journey with me. His body was to await him in the Mortal Realm, but he summoned it... ah well. He is a Demigod, now, as are you. You can survive the Dead Realm."

I gripped my body (weird thought,) and almost slithered into it, like a snake working itself back into its old Skin, or a Hermit Crab making its way into an old shell.

My spirit was too big for the body, but I crammed myself in, anyway, and found it unbearably uncomfortable, until I let my spirit expand slightly, like an Aura around my mortal form.

Bast smiled. "Very well done, my child! Now send your parents home, so we may continue our adventure."

Athenos raised an eyebrow, and mum placed her hands on her hips. "Now See Here, Bast! You were my father's friend, and so I don't want to be too rude, but I don't like my son being sent off on dangerous adventures without even a By-Your-Leave from me! What field trip is taken without the parent's permission?"

Bast smirked. "Field Trip? He isn't in School, darling. Now begone with you." Her voice deepened, roiling like a tiger's growl.

I opened a portal under them before they could argue, sending them to our house. "Sorry!"

"Well done! Now I don't suppose anyone has explained to you the concept of Avatars?" Bast sat down casually, staring at me with those luminescent golden eyes.

I shook my head, sitting across from her. "Not really, other than that you use humans as Golems, and inhabit them for a time, leaving pieces of your power behind."

She nodded. "That's basically it, Yes. See, the Gods of Greece, Egypt, and Rome signed something of a treaty, long before I was born, that no god would interfere directly with the world in their Divine Forms."

"And you decided to use Avatars, and do things yourself, while the Greeks and Romans decided to have Demigod Children, as the middlemen." I surmised.

"Correct. And the Norse just did as they liked, as always." She said distastefully.

I nodded. "Alright, and?"

"Well, avatars are much more compatible, if they're descended from previous avatars. Egyptian Demigods have never been born from direct divine conception, like the Greeks and Romans. This means that their power is weaker, but they pass on their power for longer." She pulled a small block of burnt black driftwood out of the river, and started carving it with a knife.

"Like Fire, the more potent the flame, the shorter it burns." I nodded.

"Correct. The exception is that if a goddess or god were to mate with an avatar of themselves, (which is a bit gross-sounding, but stay with me,) the Fire is permanent, no matter the heat, because it's in the Blood Magic, no longer the Body." She smiled.

"I see. So you were inspired by my recent endeavors to transfer my magical abilities to Blood Magic, and now you want me to find you a male Bast Avatar descendant?" I asked dryly.

"No. I want you to let me inhabit you for a moment, and make you into an Avatar. Then, you can have a child with anyone you like, and I'll make sure they're an Avatar as well. Mission accomplished, your family has my power forever." She nodded seriously.

"And therefore supplying you with power and soldiers for eternity." I said dryly.

She blushed delicately. "That's true, but it's not like I'm trying to use you, you know exactly what I'm doing. Your Clan is the largest I can find, and that means something, even if I'm not the strongest of Gods. I am still relatively young, and I need followers to join the Big Leagues... but no one is religious, anymore. It's difficult to be a goddess when no one believes you exist, much less gives you any power!" She sighed.

"And I suppose it's the same deal as before? When we die, we join you in your fight against Apep and Set, and other duties in the Dead Realms?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. And the spirits who are weary can still journey freely to and from that crystal tombstone you made. I will not hold them longer than they can stand. I am aware that mortal spirits become worn down, by the sands of time. And they can still share their power and knowledge with their descendants, as always."

"You'll have to consult directly with them, for any sort of deal. I do not speak for them... but myself, I think this sounds good. After death, continuing to having things to do, and holding back the Apocalypse itself, that sounds worthwhile." I nodded.

She grinned. "Good! I will confer with your friends and ancestors personally. In dreams, for the mortals, of course. Now, we must make our way to the End of this River before I can possess you."

"Because your real body is fighting Apep, and that's what needs to touch me, to make me an avatar." I surmised.

She kissed my cheek, laughing. "Very astute! Yes, indeed."

"Can I ask you about my grandfather, while I row?" I asked, sitting in the rower's chair, and beginning to move the solid gold Oars that had appeared.

She hummed. "He was a friend... I always wanted children with him, but he had a woman, and he wanted no part of me. Their love was incredibly strong... I was almost envious of them, were it not for Ptah. He always cheers me up, after I am rejected so soundly."

"I saw, in a vision. He was powerful. The weapon he had, was it yours?" I asked.

"No, not at all... it came from an Irish Wood God... uhmmmmm... I can't recall the name." She shrugged.

"Dean Chellt?" I offered.

"No, a Forest God... maybe Woden? No, not him... why do you ask?" She hummed.

"I was looking for it, that's what started all of this." I rowed around a crocodile with scorched hide, and it opened a giant green eye lazily, but closed it again when it saw Bast.

She pet the crocodile casually as we passed, and nodded. "Well, it was destroyed, I believe. The pieces were recovered, but they had no way to revive it, so they tossed it into their Hoard... they're going to be quite miffed at you for destroying that Hoard."

"No, they're going to be happy that I gave them the power it contained, in our Blood Magic." I countered.

Her eyes widened. "Oh... that's not good."

"What? Sure, they're not the nicest of people, but-"

She grabbed my cheeks, and pointed over my shoulder. A giant snake was gulping down mouthfuls of the river, and three others were down the river a bit, each doing the same, while a fourth battled Bast's real body.

"Apep has no children... right?" I asked.

"He does now..." she hissed.

"Any chance killing them would give me... anything useful?" I asked slowly.

She grinned savagely, and armor appeared on both of our bodies, made from what looked like lion-pelts, and a lion's head on each shoulder. "Oh yes... as a demigod, they are nothing, if not powerful."

I nodded, and drew my bone dagger and shield, all that was left of my arsenal, though I could feel the rest inside myself. "Then I suppose I'm going to go skin some god-snakes."

The first snake didn't even look at me, as I approached at top speed, but it took notice when I poured the ice of Helheim into its mouth, freezing the river to stop them from drinking.

It retched for a moment, and finally coughed up the chunk of ice that had been going down its stomach. As it did, I stabbed it in the gums, and sent the ice into its bloodstream. My dagger ripped into him, engorging itself on the godly magic in his veins, then froze his entire body solid when it ran out.

The body of the snake cracked, and then the ice was brought back into the knife, leaving me standing over empty air.

I charged the other snakes, dodging the little spouts of devastating flames they sent at me, (making sure to get a sample for my weapon, which ate it up greedily,) and stabbed one in the eye, freezing its brain and therefore killing it, then moved on as it, too, was eaten by my weapon.

The other two were more wary, now, and tried to keep their distance, but I simply portalled over their heads, and ripped into them with a savage vigor.

When they were all dead, I stopped to wonder for a moment, where Apep had gotten children. The very idea was confusing, to say the least, but at least they were only normal Egyptian Demigods, having only a tiny fraction of his power in the mortal planes of existence.

I searched high and low on his side of the river, to find any sort of connection, and was rewarded with the grisly remains of a human with snake scales. "Clearly, He lasted long enough to make children for his dread lord, but where is the... oh. Gross." I scrunched up my nose at the female anaconda, and Bast chuckled.

"If you think that's gross, you're so not ready for most of the Egyptian Legends." She shrugged at my incredulous glare, and took my knife from my hand.

"Interesting... you have the most incredibly amusing enchantments. Well, time to do what we came here for." She gave it back, heavier than before, and dissolved into a pile of golden sand. Her larger form kicked the original snake away from herself, and reached a massive hand down, gripping my body.

I blacked out momentarily, and found myself standing in front of the jaws of the snake, holding it back with raw strength.

"It would seem that you are a prodigious Host, James! Good for you!" She laughed, and then kicked the snake so hard I saw it's jaw shatter, and sending it flying away from the river bank.

An odd feeling shivered though my bones, as she released me, and returned to her earlier form, but I could feel the pieces of her left over, throughout my body. It didn't exactly give me power, but more like a deeper connection to her, and the spiritual Presence she exuded constantly.

My weapons shook in my hands, beginning to shift again. I had come to expect this, seeing as my own state of being was always changing, so my creations doing so made perfect sense.

The dagger grew, regaining its golden metallic look, but the Kopesh was longer, with a lesser curve, and a more rugged look, purposefully and professionally crafted to look unfinished, and raw. I tried to change it, but found that I couldn't.

It shortened, the blade sinking into the handle, but the horn on the handle was apparently my Wand, now, if I should need one. I didn't need it to draw Runes anymore, but doing so made them more stable, which could prove useful.

The shield simply ate the armor that Bast had placed on me, then spat out a bastardized version, made of dragon-leather and the Namean Beavers hides (a joke name I'd given the animals from the Dark Dimension, on account of their impenetrable hide,) padding the inside.

It looked just the same as the old one, except for that it stretched into my jeans, and suddenly I was wearing leather pants, boots, gloves, and a hood as well. I laughed softly, and ordered it back into shield form, as that would be the most useful to me, as of right now, and most future fights.

Bast's Avatar reappeared, and purred loudly. "Mee-Yow! You really should cover up, darling, I'm a goddess of Lust, after all!"

"I'm 15." I said dryly, and pulled on pants.

She raised an eyebrow. "True, but I'm 7,000+, and up until about 150 years ago, being 15 meant you were old enough to be considered a Man, in almost every culture in the world."

I hummed. "Point Made, but still, don't perv out on me, it's weird."

She laughed. "Aye, Captain! Now let's get you back to the land of the living, Hmm? Can you Call the Bifrost, like your grandfather?"

"No, but I can open portals." I grinned, and opened one under myself.

She peered down through the portal, into the cottage. "Ah... Interesting. Slipped my mind... well, until you need me again!"

I chuckled and closed the portal, then sat on the porch. The Chimera sniffed me, leaning over the edge of the roof, and then snorted. "The Dead Lands... Interesting choice of vacations."

I smiled. "I've had worse."

As I walked towards the cliff, a crack appeared, and a tall being with the head of a spotted lion and the body of a golden god stepped out, glaring at me. "Who trespasses upon the Dawn?" He growled.

"Uhm... you mean when I went to the underworld without your permission, Lord Aker? Cause I was in the company of Bast, you're familiar with her?" I said calmly.

He frowned. "You trespass upon the Dawn so casually that you use the mere presence of a goddess means to dissuade my rage?"

I nodded. "That's correct."

Two spotted lions coalesced at his knees, and then leapt forward as he shouted at them, a word in an ancient language, like what Ptah had been speaking, the verbal hieroglyphs.

I sighed, and kicked one of them in the face as hard as I could, sending him flying over the cliff, then slammed my shield into the other, sending him over the cliff as well. When they crawled back up, I stabbed them with my sword, and pulled them into it with a grunt of effort.

They were direct connections to a God, after all, not sub-par Demigods or fire giants. Some of their blood went into a vial, as a plan began to surface in my mind.

Then I calmly turned to the god of Dawn and Dusk, the Horizon God, and the Guardian of the Gates Of the Underworld, (lots of titles for this guy, as one of the Ogdoah, the Original Eight Gods of Egyptian Mythology,) and grinned casually.

"Well, I think that's more than enough to send you Packing, yes? Have a nice day." I waved, and dropped into a portal when he roared, reaching for me with both hands; one flaming, and one frostbitten, representing Dawn and Dusk.

I re-entered the Crypt like a bullet, closing the portal immediately, and paused, finding it entirely barren, or at least the Hoard room. Other rooms held only bodies, some mummified and some in coffins, other in urns, different funeral customs from around the world. But the power here was impressive, and so I (completely guiltlessly,) began stealing it all, and pushing it into the same place I'd placed everything else, my Blood Magic.

The crypt was designed like a Pyramid, I discovered, but one underground, protected from the outside by some serious protections. And no one had been inside in about 35 years. The rings on my fingers hummed softly, as if agreeing with my assessment, and I noticed the sound increase, when pointed in a certain direction.

I followed it like a lodestone, carefully, and wound up in a small room, with a massive skeleton in a stone throne. A large axe leaned against the skeleton's left knee, just like the one in my vision, except that it lacked any active magic. Latent godly magic hummed around it, but nothing concrete.

I hummed softly, and picked it up, feeling the spiritual cracks in the matrix of the metal, which were the reason for its inactivity. Like Jarnbjorn, this one needed the blood of a powerful being and an incredible amount of Wild Magic to be reborn.

When I reached the door, I paused, and turned to the skeleton. "I will put it to good use, grandfather. Peace be to you." I bowed deeply, and made my way through the rest of the crypt, until I had explored every nook and passage. Finding nothing else of interest, I made my way to the Deeps of the Miami Sanctuary, to talk to Khaime.