The desert, which is a terribly ugly place to Phineas' eyes, had a long history of unknown dangers. Throughout Phineas' history with it, he has seen many horrors that he would much rather forget. However with his newfangled blindness and his fear of death that accompanied him along the ride with Sir Keith Ahmad and his band of men; his mind's eye had become more vivid than ever before.
He had once taken a trip to the shrine of Hebe around half a year ago with a group of villagers. At that time there was a dust storm happening and he had to wait the storm out underneath a rock with his mother. During that experience he had memorized just how cold a night out in the desert could be and the very dangers it could come with.
Now, as he rides on the back of a camel with the very knight that could have possibly destroyed his village, he felt the chill of the desert at night. He began shivering and closed his eyes, they were strained from staring at the blue and white swirls of rapid flows for 3 hours. The sky was cloudless with the moon's light glaring down at the sandy oceans that laid before them. After he had closed them he realized that what he could see was indeed the qi that flowed through the bodies of Sir Keith and Yosef.
For most of the ride he had stayed silent, only observing and wishing himself luck for the next day or so. At other points of the ride he would think fondly of his mother. Praising the blessings he experienced while in her care; while simultaneously cursing the bad times. Her inaction against the bullies that tormented him fueled him with a rage as deep as his anger towards the Gods.
Although the bullying on him lessened as he grew older (it completely stopped only a few weeks ago since most of his bullies began apologizing to him for their actions as they all turned into adults), for only a moment as he thought of what his village could possibly look like from only the shockwave and sound of the explosion. He smiled at the prospect of his bully's death. "I could fill my mind in peace now," was the thought that accompanied that twisted smile of euphoric nihilism.
"That doesn't mean anything," one of the men screamed sometime around hour one and a half. Everybody turned to face the man who dared to interrupt their hour of peace and silence. Phineas looked in the wrong direction as he could not see the qi of the man who broke the silence.
"What is your malfunction," Sir Keith asked yawning and elevating his voice.
"Sorry Sir, it's just that. I think I saw a monster of kinds, dwelling in the sands."
"A monster? Are you claiming it stalks us like birds onto wild rats? Gents shall we stop to slay the beast or continue our-" he yawned, "journey to the raven. I will give this fictitious beast that you've seen an hour. If it is not here to test its might by the end of the night. I will make you my jester, you pestering fool."
"Nice rhyme sir," a man near the screaming man commented.
"I'm sorry Sir, methinks it was my imagination."
Sir Keith laughed, "Methinks you are an idiot. We haven't had a monster in these sands for nearly 6 years. Calm your heart."
Around the time Phineas had closed his eyes to rest (3 hours into the ride), Yosef grabbed Phineas' right arm. He gripped it and pulled him up and over in front of him. "Huh, huh, what's happening," Phineas yelled making everyone look at him and Yosef. After Yosef had seated Phineas in front of him, he used one arm to embrace him, and the other to hold the reins of his camel.
One of the men behind Yosef whistled, and continued saying, "Fallen in love with another rat already?"
"This one is blind, maybe he doesn't have to look at his ugly mug," another whispered at a volume that only the 3 other men around him could hear. However Phineas managed to hear it.
"Are you alright?" Yosef asked as he tightened his arms around Phineas' waist. Yosef leaned into Phineas' ear as he whispered, "Before you reach the raven, you're going to escape. Do not answer me in the slightest, make faint moans and groans as though you are being pleasured."
Phineas nodded his head and let out a weakly but loud forced moan. "Really Yosef? You couldn't wait until we had the raven judge his character," Sir Keith asked nodding his head and dozing off into brief periods of a dream-like mind state.
"The raven will judge you good, I know it, but I know Keith much better. He will continue to treat you like a rat as will the rest of us. You shut your eyes for the first time in a little over 3 hours, have you become comfortable with the peace."
Phineas faintly moaned, "Yes! Mhm" Had it not been the middle of the night and the experiences granted to the party that surrounded them, the men would have noticed how poorly Phineas seemed to know how to react to be pleasured.
"Never be comfortable, remember to keep your mind full. Have you had anything to eat recently," he whispered into his ear.
"Do you know my father," Phineas excitingly shouted warranting everyone to turn to him. There was a calm still that came over as they waited for Yosef's response. "I am your daddy, boy," he responded with a low tone while tightening his grip on Phineas and pulling his ear so close to his lips that Phineas could hear the trickling of saliva in his mouth as he opened it slightly to speak to him in a whisper. Everyone turned back to their own little worlds as Yosef continued, "You speak when you are told. Else we'll both be better off dead. Heed my words and remember them clearly. I don't know who your father is, but surely he's taught you how to listen. Open your mouth and let me feed you, I wish I could give you a better meal, but this is all I could manage."
Yosef loosened his grip on Phineas and waved 5 strips of bacon in front of his nose. Phineas smelled the luxurious meat and opened his mouth. Like a baby he waited for the strips of bacon to be put into his mouth one by one. As each entered his mouth his body remembered the emptiness that was his stomach. He devoured each one while savoring the taste of the cooked fat of a poor dead pig. He shed a tear, perhaps to the pig or perhaps to the satisfaction of his own hunger.
"Do not become comfortable," those words echoed throughout his mind as his mind's eye saw his mother scorning him for enjoying this meal of his. He lowered his head as Yosef whispered, "That was all." Then suddenly almost on cue a cry could be heard a distance ahead from the group. It was child-like in nature, but filled with the cadence of a fully grown adult. The group could not hear it at all, but Phineas could and so he turned his head toward the sound. "Did you hear that," he asked.
"What are you talking about Phineas," Yosef responded tilting his head and looking around their surroundings. "Quiet rat, don't try to play us a fool," Keith interjected as he looked around their area.
"Help me! A beast has my-"
Phineas opened his invisible eyes, he jerked them around, each moving independently from each other in those gauged out eye sockets. He fixed them onto the direction he heard the noise, but saw nothing.
"I heard it again, someone is talking about a beast."
At once, the group stopped. Keith hopped off of his camel, limped over to Phineas, grabbed him from Yosef and shook him. "What is your malfunction rat? Must I throw you in the sewers from whence you came or slaughter you here and now and let Anubis parley with your fancy."
Phineas' eyes grew large as he saw multiple swirls of blue and white approaching from the opposite direction of where the cries was coming from. The group was heading north, the cries came from north, yet in the distance south, Phineas could see large flow approaching them.
"Sir! We have trouble. The beast I had seen earlier is coming."