Afterlife

Chapter Fifteen

"You're supposed to be green," Harmony said curiously.

"What?" he blinked at her. "I tell you I am Osiris and you question my skin color?"

"It's just, you're always depicted as green with a pointy beard."

Harmony was genuinely shocked at the revelation, so shocked that she didn't know how else to react. She knew all about Osiris, he was the Egyptian God of death and rebirth. But as she looked at him, he didn't resemble a God at all.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard," he said. "Why would people make me green? Humans are not green now, are they?"

Harmony couldn't help but laugh. "Of course not."

"Thank Ra," he sighed, "I would not be able to deal with that."

"Harmony?" it was Sally.

Light flickered down the corridor, bouncing off the dark walls and creating a small bubble of illumination as she rounded the corner, looking frazzled. As soon as she saw Harmony she darted over to her, throwing her arms around her neck and trying not to burn her with the torch in her hand.

"I've been looking all over for you!" she said.

Harmony tried to breathe around the mass of cloak and hair that had been thrown into her arms. "I got lost after I fell through the wall..."

"I was so worried about you," Sally said, pulling back to hold her at arms length with her free hand. "I had to stay with the tour group and finish the Reap on time but I came looking for you the moment I was done."

"It was so dark, I didn't want to stay where I was. But I found my way here and met a spirit," Harmony turned to introduce Sally to him but Osiris was nowhere to be seen.

Sally was looking around, slightly confused. "What kind of spirit?"

When she turned back to Sally, Osiris was standing behind her with his finger to his lips and he backed away into the shadows, disappearing. Sally followed Harmony's gaze but by the time she turned around, Osiris was already gone.

"A strange Egyptian one, but he didn't stay long," Harmony wasn't sure why Osiris didn't want to make himself known, but she was sure he had his reasons. "But then I ran into a Ghoul."

"And you killed it?" Sally asked.

Harmony gave her a flat look. "Don't sound so surprised."

"I'm proud," Sally said with a smile, "it isn't easy to take one down by yourself."

Harmony was grateful when she didn't press for more information and let Sally lead her out. She glanced over her shoulder once, looking for any sign of Osiris, but the room remained empty. She had decided to leave Chaos out of it, unsure of how Sally would respond, though she imagined not well. She just hoped he was alright and not lost in the pyramid somewhere.

"So, the soul was collected?" Harmony asked.

She had to walk behind Sally, the passageway was even narrower in the light than it had been in the dark.

"Without a hitch," Sally said, a smile in her voice, "other than losing you."

"I didn't know Ghouls hung out around pyramids too."

"Pyramids and graveyards are actually great places for them to be," Sally lead her around a few winding bends that joined them back up with the tour group, "they're dark and mostly secluded where they can catch unsuspecting victims."

The tour had come to an abrupt end with the death of one of its members and the entire thing had felt like some daydream. They filed up the narrow slope to the exit, Harmony bringing up the rear. She tugged the side of her cloak around so she could see it and examined the hole left by Osiris's arrow, sticking her finger through.