Ra was shocked to hear from one of his attendants that Xen was waiting for him outside of his room. He ordered, "Let her in, and you, you may go out. Go to the ministers pavillion and ask for Atlas, tell him to come here with you after two hours."
The attendant left and did as he was told. Xen entered languidly...
'She was still unconscious a while ago.' he thought as he eyed Xen. Coldly he asked, "What is it?" He glared at her as he awaited her response, the offensive attitude of her sisters still irked Ra.
Xen, obviously oblivious from the iciness of Ra, spoke in a lazy yet enchanting manner, "My sister wants to talk with you."
Ra couldn't help but feel infuriated with her indolent self for she was completely unaware of the disdain he was throwing at her. Remembering that she had just fainted a while ago, he just let it go. It's just that remembering the unconscious Xen reminded him of that pale looking face that asked him to let them to have time to themselves. "Jin, is he awake?" he asked Xen.
"He lost consciousness again."
He sighed, nodded at Xen, stood up, and left her as he walked outside of his rooms and went to Jin's room.
Xen did not take offense for his sudden departure and utter disregard of her for she was in her own selfish bubble. Being the little, tweedledee, curious cat that she was and the fact that she was left in Ra's room with no one asking her out... she took it as an opportunity to look around his room. For yes, the Fayes were able to see the past, present, and future but they are not that informed about the life of the mortals and their culture.
She has always explored the houses of mortals and found it quite interesting. She also thought that Ra's room would be another normal prince's room, which may have secret passages and switches that she could explore and remember to their advantage. However she caught the foul scent of something she despised greatly...
"This...!" After blurting out her shock, she immediately went to the area where the scent was strongest. She stood at the right side of Ra's table, she then squatted and felt around the floor there. She felt someting odd and saw a tile that seemed flat but wasn't as flat as it seemed. She then touched this odd tile, "clack" a switch clicked and the floor mechanically lowered per tile until it formed a staircase.
The staircase can only fit one person, Xen felt exhilirated since there was no one there to stop her and Ra himself did not tell her that she must come out of his room with her, her consciousness was guilt free. She went down quietly, she needed to confirm whether this scent was what she thinks it is.
Soon, the whole place became dark. She walked with the speed of a deity, for she thought that the time her sisters and Ra's talk would neither be short nor long, 'He may return any moment.'
Even though it was dark, she could distinguish the whole area clearly as if there was light. The flight of stairs took her some time. When she stepped on the last step of the stair, she saw a long hallway that seemed to stretch beyond what the normal eyes could see and it was filled with unidentifiable and somewhat morbid bodies. The sight of the hallway was quite distasteful for her.
She couldn't help but scoff, 'My, my, my...To think this room would have such a repulsive secret.' She eyed the long hallway with a zealous hatred. These bodies that lay on the floor were the source of the disgusting scent that she caught earlier on. She hoped to never set her sight on such bodies again, but as of the moment, it would seem that the Lady and the Lord are not granting her wish.
She continued to walk for she felt that something was amiss here. Soon, she was at the end of the hall, it was a dead end and a tall wall faced her. Her eyes constricted when she saw rune seals on the wall. "What a well guarded place..." she mocked.
Her, being one of the fayes and also being one of the deities that followed Lady Iroko, she naturally had her way to see through the runes without having the need to dispel it. This particular power that can go beyond the seal of the runes, she hoped to not use it for its power can make the aura of a deity noticeable even for mortals. But whatever was on the other side, she felt that she needed to see what it was.
So, she chose to use that power. Also, she chose not to dispel the runes for she wasn't sure whether it was Ra who set these runes on the wall or somebody else was hidden in this secret passage with her. She chose to undo a particular seal on herself, she closed her eyes and whispered, "Allwissender Basiliskenauge."[1]
When she opened her eyes--- her circular pupil turned into pupils that had vertical slits. She saw that the wall sealed off a hidden room. Inside the room was a bed encased in glass and a woman was on the bed. She seemed ethereal and stuck in time inside the glass. Xen was dumbstruck as she stared at that beautiful face. Other than the beautiful face of the woman, what baffled her was that she could not believe that the woman was a rare case, she whispered to herself, "A... sealed... soul?"
She could not help but stare at the woman with a tinge of amazement for a sealed soul was of rare occurrence even in the world of the deities. After staring at woman's face, Xen could not help but feel that something was up...
'The face of this woman is very familiar and... quite unfamiliar?' The contrast in her thoughts bewildered Xen, never has she felt such uncertainty with her judgement. Her heart jumped when a Hüter Tigress[2] appeared and looked her straight in the eye.
This tiger did not look away from her as if she could see Xen, while her gait exuded confidence as she prowled her territory. She walked towards the wall and sat in a direction which directly faced Xen. Had the wall not existed, they would be face to face.
Xen gulped, not expecting to see this fine specimen here, 'This... why is it here?' She kept looking back at both the woman and tigress. After seeing the bizarre woman and cat, so many questions flooded Xen, but she realized that she could not stay any longer to find out any of the answers to her question for she had stayed long enough and whatever talk her sisters' and Ra might have had would've probably ended by now.
She looked at the Hüter Tigress one last time before she turned around and closed her eyes. She sighed, when she opened her eyes, they returned to their normal auburn color. She immediately left the hidden room and made sure that she left no evidence whatsoever that could show that she had entered that secret chamber.
"Grrrr..." The Hüter Tigress growled as if to indicate that this move of Xen offended her. But it could not chase after Xen for the wall's seal also sealed her inside. She could only eye the trespasser until she could no longer see her.
While Xen was walking away, *crack, crack, crack* The breaking of glass and it falling to the ground could be heard.
Then, a slender hand gently patted the Hüter Tigress' head. "There, there." a soft voice chided. The tigress seemed to have been appeased by this pat and she rubbed her head shamelessly on the hand on her head as if to say she understood the words spoken.
A giggle could be heard from the sealed room, the woman that lay in bed was gone. The glass that was around the bed was now a messy set of shattered glasses on the floor.The body of the woman was standing next to the Hüter Tigress. Her smile held a depth that was terrifyingly beautiful.
She looked towards the direction that Xen took. "Hmmmm, I wonder how I could bring her here?" she mumbled to herself. Her face was so perfect, she even looked exactly the same as...
[1] Allwissender Basiliskenauge (omniscient basilisk eyes): Well, it's not technically like the mythological eyes of the basilisk in Harry Potter which can kill when you look into them. It's an all seeing eye. Deities have sealed eyes, they look like normal eyes when sealed, and sometimes the color of their eyes will change depending on how their real eyes react to the seal. When they unseal it, they can call it, Allwissender Basiliskenauge, they don't have to technically say this before their eyes change. It's just for reference. When they use their real eyes, there is nothing hidden from their sight unless if it is a seal made by the Lord and Lady Iroko. Their eyes look like the eyes of a Tokay Gecko. In reference as well to class reptilia, I was inspired to use the basilisk because it is a mythological creature. Reptiles, especially with pupils that have vertical slits are predators of day and night. And since basilisks are mythological, naturally they will seem like they are at the top of the food chain of reptiles because of all the myth about it. In relation to this, deities in this story are the ultimate predators.., but they don't hunt, unless if necessary.
[2] Hüter Tigress: A guardian animal deity, it looks like a Bengal tiger. It is usually found at the eclipse. Deities may tame them but some of these tiger's are born at the same time as other deities becoming their guardians. They appear on their own when their owners have lost consciousness.