Slow Thea opened her eyes. She was extremely groggy. Even her vision was blurred. After a few moments of blinking didn't help, she sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. Following that, a loud, long yawn erupted from her mouth, coming from the deep recesses of her lungs.

"Good morning to you, dearest."

Thea yelped and promptly fell out of bed. Scrambling up, she peeked over her bedside. Ahmed sat in a chair, one leg over the other. His lips were pursed, and it appeared he was trying to contain a laugh. Embarrassed, Thea got to her feet, smoothing out her hair. Before speaking, she groped for her glasses and put them on. Even with them her eyes were still blurry, and she rubbed them. 

"Good morning, Ahmed," she greeted, but then rose an eyebrow. "Or should I say Aqen?"

The God shrugged. "The two can be interchangeable; at this point, it matters not."

Thea yawned again. "What time is it?"

"I have awoken you early enough so we can go into work together."

Thea blinked, padding over to the window curtain and looked outside. It appeared to still be evening, though the horizon was starting to lighten up a bit. A shudder ran through her body.

"Aqen...how long was I asleep for this time?"

He shrugged once again, as though his answer were no big thing. "A few days. I called into work for you, saying you were sick--the flu."

"Days?!" Thea gaped. "Aqen!"

"I needed to wake you up, however. We need to go into work."

Annoyance coursing through her veins, Thea crossed her arms. "Why?"

"Two-fold," he replied. "One is of a practical matter. I want to see if the vases have changed."

Thea nodded. "And the other?"

For a moment, a look of regret swept over the God's face. But just as quickly as it was there, it passed. Aqen got to his feet, coming besides Thea. With some hesitation, he took her by the shoulders gently. She looked up into his face.

"Thea...There is something you must understand, something I have not explained to you yet."

Her heart thudded. "Go on."

"The longer you spend in the past, well...The harder it is for me to bring you back."

Thea blinked, shocked. 

"People aren't allowed to be in two timelines at once," he continued. "They must be in one or the other. Since you were there for days this time, that is why you are so groggy right now."

A frown was starting to form on Thea's lips. 

"You have already done so much for me," Aqen said, the gratitude heavy in his words. "If you chose to not proceed, I fully understand."

Thea turned her head to the side, looking at him suspiciously. "Aqen..."

He took a deep breath. "Thea. What I am about to tell you, I need you to take serious consideration."

"If I go back," she surmised, "you might not be able to bring me back here, will you?"

Aqen splayed his hands. "I don't know, to be honest. With every pull, it's becoming harder and harder for me."

Thea said nothing.

"It's a possibility."

Still Thea said nothing.

Aqen visibly cringed. He then bowed low, and began backing up. "I will leave you to your thoughts, Thea."

As soon as the door was closed with Aqen on the other side, Thea sunk onto her bed. She felt numb. Not only did she feel numb, but her mind was going faster than the fastest train on Earth.

The only true friend Thea had was Rose. The relationship with her family was strained, after she had been left at the alter. She was quasi close with her mother, but she was pretty sure they both knew it was forced. For whatever reason, her family had adopted an archaic outlook to the entire misfortune, like it was her fault for being stood up on her wedding day.

Yes, Thea held a high position at work. If she left the museum would have to scramble to fill the void. Yet even as she thought that, her heart fluttered at the prospect of staying in Ancient Egypt.

No more dusty, broken pieces to put back together. No more shipping mishaps. No more artifacts being held up in customs. She would be there, and everything would be fresh, and new, unaltered.  

No more computer crashes. No more being blamed for things that weren't her fault. No more having to get up early. No more commuting.

Yet...the prospect of living in Ancient Egypt frightened her. Their medical system was archaic. Life expectancy was low--very low--especially for women. The infant death rate was high, as was maternal death rate. At best, the average man lived to be thirty four, woman making it to thirty assuming they hadn't died in childbirth by then.

This line of thought made Thea worried. Contraceptive was also archaic. And she had just slept with Ankh, without protection. It suddenly dawned on her how stupid that had been. What if she had an STD? What if she was pregnant, right now?  If she were pregnant and went back, she'd have to give birth there.

For a long, long while Thea sat. The sun peaked out, turning the early morning into bright shades of pinks and purples. At one point Thea went back to her window, and looked at the sky thoughtfully. As she looked through the smooth glass, she wondered--was Ankh seeing the same sunrise? 

Thea had always abhorred tales of women who changed themselves for a man. She hated "love stories" where the woman drops everything she's doing just to be with the man she loves. In her head, this was always crude at best, but mostly pathetic. She always thought of it as a type of Hollywood brainwashing. No man would ever sway her to do something as ridiculous as that. 

Yet here she was, pining over Ankh. Her eyes focused on her reflection, and she wished Ankh's own was behind her. It wasn't just Ankh though; since she had been a little child, she always wanted to visit Ancient Egypt. And now, miraculously, she was given the opportunity. 

Thea continued to think further. What if she regretted her decision? What if she died stupidly, bitten by a rattlesnake or something absurd? She'd be wasting her life in the here and now.

What life? she thought to herself bitterly. 

This shitty, small apartment? Having an extended family she resented, and a mother and father who weren't much better? She was alone; she didn't have any pets. Hell, she didn't even have any house plants. Down the line she might, hopefully, win some awards, or maybe make some historical discovery. Realistically though, the odds of that happening were close to none. At the end of the day, the only person she gave a damn about was Rose.

Thea quietly got dressed in her work attire, and then slipped out. Aqen stood up from the couch as soon as she entered the room. He looked at her anxiously as he spoke.

"Thea, you have my word that whatever decision you make, I shall respect it."

Thea took a deep breath, looking at the God evenly. "To be honest, I'm still undecided. Please, lets go to the museum and look at the vases. I will make my decision then."

Aqen inclined his head respectfully. "As you wish."