Limbo's Child (41 page)

“Tell me, Nefer. What do you
see
?”

Nephys peeked into the box. It was full of unremarkable glassy pebbles. All of them were more or less the same size, small and of a rough, unhewn rounded shape. They were nearly identical except that one near the bottom was glowing brightly with an unbelievable light. It was cool and bright, just as Maggie had described it, and seeing it again he suddenly had visions of palm groves and banks of reeds where they would hunt ducks and of fields of new barley. It all came flooding back and more. His grandmother’s necklace had an emerald, his uncle’s shield was painted the same color and so were the walls of his room. Once he saw it, a whole universe of memories came back to him, as if he lived his whole short life again in that instant, from the moment of his first steps to the time of his…he reached his hand up to his throat.

It was green. He knew it was green. He could see the color vividly, both before him and in his mind. And it wasn’t just green, all the other colors came back too: purple, yellow, blue and carnelian, ivory and rosewood and saffron – vivid and intense like an overflowing spice market.

He saw other things too. Strange things he had never seen before: a large house of brick and white stone columns in a green wood. Maggie was there and so was the Chamberlain, only it wasn’t Maggie and wasn’t the Chamberlain. It made no sense. And a girl. He saw a girl with glorious green eyes in strange purple clothing adorned with unusual representations of the goddess Bastet, each with enormous eyes like Horus, and each wearing crowns and resting on fat pillows.

He looked away. It was too intense, like standing next to a fire, not the cool blue fires of Limbo but an actual roaring fire like in the real world, and he instantly remembered the fires from his life where they would roast calves outside his home. In the midst of these visions he only just realized that the Chamberlain was still waiting for an answer. He panicked.

“I…I see a box of glassy pebbles, Chamberlain.”

The Chamberlain did not react at all but said simply, “And is not one of them different from its brothers?”

Nephys cringed in horror. He knew. He knew everything. Yet the way he had phrased this question was merciful. It gave Nephys a second chance. He took a breath and calmed himself.

“Yes, Chamberlain. One is different.”

“Can you show it to me?”

Nephys slowly reached in and pushed aside the remaining glassy stones to find the scintillating stone he now knew was an emerald at the bottom of the box. As he touched it, he saw all the visions again, only more quickly and more vividly. The stone was warm and seemed to fill his body with warmth – traveling from his fingertips to his very bosom. As he drew it slowly out of the box, he could see that its light was illuminating his hand. His hand no longer looked blue and pallid. He could see the green light, but underneath it his hand looked olive in tone, like his flesh had been in life. He held up the stone and marveled at it. It didn’t just cast a green color to everything, but seemed to give new color and life to everything in its light. He passed the stone around the room. In its light the murals that were once blue and white and black were transformed to green and warm-brown flesh tones, with clothes both brilliant white and purple. Again the Chamberlain had to interrupt his revelation.

“That is correct.” The Chamberlain almost seemed to smile, and Nephys thought he saw a sharp tooth slip over his lower lip again but only for an instant. The Chamberlain closed the box and put it back on the table. He held out his cupped hand. “May I?” The Chamberlain spoke deferentially to Nephys even though he was but a scribe. Nephys reluctantly relinquished the stone into the Chamberlain’s outstretched hand. The Chamberlain’s hand closed on the stone, and the magical color-restoring light disappeared, returning the room to its usual monochromatic tones.

The Chamberlain held the stone tightly in his hand and walked away slowly, turning his back to Nephys, but Nephys could tell he was watching him with his Death Sight right through the back of his head.

“Do you know what this is, Nefer?”

Nephys ventured a guess. “It’s an emerald?” he answered nervously.

“Yes,” the Chamberlain replied flatly. “And more. All of the stones in that box are emeralds, Nefer. All of them have lost their color – but not this one – at least not to you.
This stone
is very special.”

He wandered over to the murals and examined the one of Osiris being dismembered by his brother. He crossed one arm across his chest and then rubbed the fingers of the other hand near his face. “I have known this stone since I was a young man not much older than you are now. When I first came to Limbo many millennia ago I could see the color of this stone just as I could see the color of this mural. But now, they are all lost to me. I knew even then that I was losing my natural vision and resisted it as long as I could, just so I could enjoy the stone’s light, but the Death Sight is irresistible.” Nephys looked down. He certainly understood that feeling. “It’s purity, its clarity, its sense of detachment. The Death Sight is the only thing that can make one see reason or purpose in this place. So, finally I embraced it and lost the ability to see the stone’s true color.” The Chamberlain expressed almost no emotion, but for a moment it almost sounded as if he were regretful.

He paused, then turned and spoke to Nephys directly, “But before I did, I rolled this stone over countless times between my fingers.” He opened his hand and the light of the stone seemed to flood the room with more intensity than before. He rolled the small gem between his thumb and forefinger. “I held it in my palm and scrutinized it endlessly. I memorized every surface, every flaw and every imperfection, every subtlety, so that when I could no longer see its real hue, I would still know it.” He walked across the room back towards Nephys.

The Horus mask covering the Chamberlain’s face with its large falcon eyes stared directly at him. “And now that I can no longer see its vivid green color, now that the very word
green
is just an abstraction to me, I still know that it is
this
stone that is unique, and I can tell it from all the others by feel alone. At times I doubted my ability or my resolve to remember this, yet I would open the chest and examine the stones and instantly know which one was
the
stone just by its shape. And you, Nefer…” Nephys had been staring at the stone this whole time, but as the Chamberlain said this, his vision snapped back to the large falcon eyes of the mask. “You alone of all those residing in Limbo, are the only one who can still see it.” He held the stone up between two fingers as if to drop it. Nephys quickly realized he meant to give it back, and he awkwardly cupped both of his hands underneath it.

The Chamberlain dropped the stone. Nephys caught it, clamped both hands over it, and then opened his fingers just a crack to see the bright green light streaming out.

“And that is why I have called you here today.”

“Chamberlain?” Nephys was confused and dazzled at the same time.

“Only a person who can still see the stone for what it is can wield it. To all others, it is powerless.”

Nephys gulped. It made his stomach lurch to think that there was a power that even the Great Chamberlain could not use but he could. Nephys marveled at it. “It’s so beautiful. What is it for?” he asked.

“It is a weapon.”

“A weapon?!” Nephys looked up in shock and almost dropped the stone as if it were a poisonous asp.

“Yes. A weapon against the darkness. A weapon against the end of time.” Before Nephys could even respond to this, the Chamberlain was moving again. “Come, Nefer.” The Chamberlain immediately began to walk away and Nephys followed him out of the elegant tomb. “Put the stone away for now.” Nephys didn’t have any pockets to speak of, so he merely held it tightly in one hand to conceal its light. Instantly he was plunged into darkness. Nephys had to remember to use his Death Sight outside. Thankfully he could still follow the Chamberlain’s soul light.

The Chamberlain spoke with urgency, “The Great Master is not well, Nefer.”

“Not well?!” thought Nephys. They walked on past columns and courtiers at a furious pace. How could Death be “not well?” It’s not as if he could die, could he?! Before he could ask the question the Chamberlain was already explaining.

“Do you know what would happen if the Great Master perished, young Nefer?”

Nephys just shook his head “no” furiously, not daring to speak. Even through the back of his head, the Chamberlain could see Nephys’ response with the Death Sight.

“No one knows for certain, but without Death, the flow of life and death could be reversed.”

“Reversed?” Nephys said in shock. What would that mean? That the dead would leave the underworld and come out into the land of the living? Nefer tried to imagine the world flooded with the dead: shades pouring out over the living, and not just shades, but worse things from the pits of punishment. Nephys gulped. The Chamberlain seemed to read his mind.

“Yes, Nefer, that must
not
happen,” he said tonelessly. “Do you know of the Necromancers?”

“Yes, Chamberlain.” Nephys didn’t bother to bow but just kept walking trying to keep up with the Chamberlain’s long stride, his mind still reeling from these recent revelations.

“The Necromancers are a race of men endowed with powers of life and death. Only one of them is THE Necromancer, however, the Champion of Death himself and charged to maintain the balance between the world above and the world below, keeping the flow moving always in the one direction only.” The Chamberlain spoke hurriedly but in the same, monotonous way, “The soul has many parts as you know, Nefer. The
Yib
, the
Ba
, the
Ka
, the
Akh
– the heart, the mind, the essence of life, the sense of self. The living necromancers can call on the necromancers of the past. The Necromancer provides the life essence, or
Ka,
in his own blood so that the other parts may be summoned into the dead. These are his servants, his helpers in this great task. Their hearts remain in Limbo, but their other parts – their shadows and psyches – can return. The Necromancers of the past have sworn to maintain the balance between the worlds and to help the current Necromancer in this one goal. But now the necromancers above are very few, and the Champion is failing in his task.”

“Failing?” Nephys asked, curious despite his apprehension.

“Yes, Nefer. The balance between our worlds is very delicate. It can be broken at any moment. If it is broken, catastrophe will come to both worlds.”

“Catastrophe?!!” Nephys would have been panicking had he not been struggling so hard to keep pace.

“Yes. The balance is now very close to being broken, but, with the stone, I believe that the Necromancer can restore the balance between our worlds and save us both. There is no time to lose. You must take the stone to the Necromancer.”

“Um…which one? Chamberlain?” Nephys glanced around the hall at the various courtiers. He wondered which mutilated soul he had to take it to and why the Chamberlain could not take it himself.

“
THE
Necromancer, Nefer. You must take the stone to
the
Necromancer in the world above.” Only now did the Chamberlain’s voice betray any urgency.

“What?!!” Nephys came to a dead stop. “B-b-but how?” The Chamberlain stopped, but only briefly, to turn the eyes of the Horus Mask on the hapless scribe.

“Through the gates of Erebus, of course.” He stated this as if it was obvious and resumed his brisk walk. Nephys doubled his pace to catch up. “The stone once resided in the world above, but it was sent here by the current Necromancer to protect it. He can call up the souls of the Necromancers of the past, but he cannot call up the stone. It must be carried out and there is only one way.”

“But…but Chamberlain, no one could survive the passage! The torrent of souls… I…I would be destroyed and turned into a shade in mere moments!!”

“The stone will protect you…and you will have help.”

“Help?” Nephys was incredulous.

“Do you know the causeway to the Gates of Erebus?”

“Yes, Chamberlain.” The causeway was a large earthen dam, bridging what was once the rivers Styx and Acheron. It served as the main thoroughfare between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. Many children of Limbo worked there cataloging souls as they made their way, confused, into their new habitations.

“Do you know the broken statue of Apnu on the far side of the causeway?” the Chamberlain went on.

There were many battered and half-broken statues along the causeway. They were relics from the time of Elysium and before. The statue of Anubis was a gigantic thing of black granite with half its head missing. It was so big you could see it easily from the other side of the river. It had been there longer than any other.

“Anubis? Yes…I know the statue.”

“It is not a statue. It is the god himself.”

Nephys nearly came to another stunned halt. Before he had time to question, the Chamberlain went on.

“He never was a god, not truly, but one of the ancients who learned all the secrets of the afterlife and then remained to lead souls to the other side, but even gods can fade over time. Rather than embrace oblivion, he decided to remain still and endure the long passage of time in silence, but there is still some strength in him. Tell him you need passage to the land of the living. Show him the stone. He will understand what to do. He will help you across the threshold of the gate. From there you will have to take the stone to the Necromancer. The stone will guide you.”