Treya
Floating in empty darkness again, Treya couldn’t force down a feeling of panic. For so long, she’d dared to hope that she would be free, until finally, she thought her prayers had been answered. But it had only been a dream, a cruel trick by the universe, to make her believe she was finally free. This time, Treya could not stop the despair that washed over her. She pleaded quietly for someone to find her, help her, save her. But this time, there would be no visit from her benefactor, there would be no opening in her prison. She would be here forever, withering away where no light or sound or feeling ever came, only the endless cries of her soul and the empty indifference of the void, and she-
Treya blinked open her eyes with a gasp, flying upward from where she lay. Wherever she was was a blinding white that made her eyes throb, even when she closed her eyes. Her ears were ringing with a loud, shrill shrieking sound. She made to stand and tumbled off of something, hitting the floor with a jolt. The ground was freezing, and she curled inward, preparing herself to stand up. There was noise all around her, shouts and words that had her spiraling into a frenzied rush of energy. She would have cursed at herself, but she feared she might be cursed already.
“Hey, can you hear me?” She could make out words now, spoken in a soothing, soft voice. She nodded, keeping her eyes tightly closed. She felt the pressure of someone’s arms wrapping around her, helping her stand back up.
“Okay. It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re in the Brooklyn House, in the infirmary.” Treya tried opening her eyes, which was a mistake because the lights were still too bright, and then the sounds were too loud again and-
“Hey. Focus. Don’t worry about anything else. Just try to calm down, okay?” Treya tried. She took deep breaths, pulling her focus away from the noise around her. Slowly, whoever was helping her set her down on a soft surface. As she sat for a second, the sense of panic faded, and the noise all around faded into the background.
“I’m… fine,” Treya mumbled. She opened her eyes and, after a moment found herself in a fairly large room, painted not white as she’d thought, but a very bright shade of yellow. There were beds placed several feet apart from each other along all the walls, including the one she was sitting on. The room was empty except for herself, the girl crouched in front of her with an arm on each of Treya’s shoulders, and a guy who was looking through a bag of stuff and muttering to himself.
Treya looked at the girl next to her, who still had an arm over her shoulder. She had dark skin and her curly hair was pulled back into a puffy ponytail. She smiled gently, then she gave Treya’s arms one last reassuring squeeze.
“I’m just going to go grab Sadie, I’ll be right back.” She stood up and brushed past the guy with the bag.
Treya watched the girl leave. After a moment, Treya closed her eyes to escape the awkwardness of listening to the boy getting increasingly frustrated at whatever he couldn’t find. She wasn’t sure why, but she started counting to herself. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…
She made it to 26 before she was shaken out of her counting by a familiar voice. Treya opened her eyes to see Sadie marching into the room, followed by the girl who had just left. The girl gave the boy a look, and he flushed red before leaving the room in a rush.
“You alright now?” Sadie sat down on the bed opposite Treya. “Or are you going to pass out again?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Now, what’s your name?”
“Treya.”
“Well, Treya, who are you?”
Treya had to think about how to answer that question. She couldn’t just tell her the whole truth, not until she’d asked a few questions of her own.
“I’m a magician, like you.” Alexis would have laughed at how short that explanation fell. Treya could almost hear the laughter from her best friend. “I’ve… I’ve been out of touch with the House for a while. Can I ask…what is this place? The last I remember, the 21st Nome had its base in an underwater palace.”
“A…sorry. A what? An underwater palace?” Sadie’s eyes were wide. “When was this? Where have you been?”
Treya sighed. There wasn’t a great way to gently bring up why she had no idea where she was or what year it was.
“I was locked away in a kind of prison for a long time. A really, really long time.” She couldn’t find the words to say how many years. Thankfully, it was becoming more and more evident that one did not need to find words around Sadie Kane.
“So. What sort of prison are we talking about? Antarctica? Alaska? Florida? What did you do to get locked up? Was it even the House who locked you up?”
Treya sighed. “You ask too many questions. How am I supposed to answer if you just keep talking?”
Sadie huffed, but she did calm down. “Well alright. I suppose you can tell the story your way.”
“Ah...well. It was the House that banished me. I was- well, my story is very complicated. I was trained in the First Nome, a long time ago, if my math is right. I was… well, I was very powerful. I got in over my head, followed a path I should have left buried. And…” Treya paused, wondering how much she should reveal. Something told her that she should keep the details to herself for now. “...and I was hunted down by people who believed I was wrong. They caught me off my guard, locked me away in the Duat-”
“Oh no.” Sadie looked sorry for Treya, which was odd. Treya couldn’t remember the last time someone looked at her with pity in their eyes. I’m to be feared, not pitied. Then she remembered that she was sitting on a hospital bed, and she admitted internally that maybe she wasn’t in top form at the moment.
“Were you….did you follow the path of the gods?” Sadie asked. When Treya nodded, she continued. “I’d heard stories about people who tried to defy the House. I didn’t realize- well, I guess I never thought I’d meet one, with the age gap and all.” She frowned. “Who was your patron?”
Time slowed down. Treya heard the question and immediately was thrown back into memory. She was in the Hall of Ages. Iskandar sat on the steps in front of the throne as always, the hieroglyphs that floated around him spinning at an agitated rate. Desjardins paced at the foot of the stairs, bathed in a dark red light. Ribbons that unfurled from his arms wrapped around her wrists, tightening with his every word. What is your patron? He demanded for the fifth time. And Treya let the truth slip out, just as she did now to Sadie.
“Set.”
Sadie stiffened. The pity written all over her face melted away. Treya wished she could take the word back, but it was too much. After all she had gone through, she could not betray him. Set, who had treated her with the respect she desired, not the pity and later on disgust that others had shown. He had believed in her and, after all the time she had spent locked away, he had sent the last of his energy to let her know she was free.
Treya knew what she needed to do, and it filled her with despair. He was trapped somewhere. It was the only explanation for why he had not approached her already. She had to return the favor he had given her. She had to find him and free him.
She had known all of this the moment she landed in the mortal world again. Yet now she had jeopardized her goal in the only way possible; she had become involved with the House of Life. She’d gotten carried away by the thrill of magic, and she had been careless. The same recklessness that had gotten her noticed by Set in the first place had now doomed him.
Then Sadie spoke, and her voice was sympathetic. “I get it. My uncle had the same problem. We can help you defeat him, Treya, we’ve done it before-”
“Stop,” Treya said. “You’ve misunderstood me. I’m not being manipulated by him. I know this isn’t a satisfying answer, but it’s not something you could ever understand. I am well aware of the consequences I face as somebody following this path.” Treya paused to take a calming breath before continuing. “Look, I’m sorry if someone you know had a different experience with Set, but I was the most powerful magician in my time. I can handle anything thrown at me. And I promise you, you are not the most dangerous, most powerful, or even the most talkative foe I have beaten.”
Sadie looked a bit pale. Treya tried to rein in her fervor. This conversation was feeling far too similar to the one she’d had so many times before.
“I only meant - well, we thought that Set was untamable. The current Chief Lector has tried to learn his path for years now. I’m afraid you two are the only ones we know of. As for the whole thing about the path of gods being against the law, well, that’s out the window, though I’m afraid the gods have been silent for years now.”
“What? Silent?”
“Oh, you know. Apophis rose, Ra awakened, and they fought. After Ra won, the gods all retreated to the heavens. An average day for us.”
Treya thought about asking for more information, but she decided that it wasn’t worth the headache. “Ok…”
“Not important now. Anyway, we haven’t had contact with them in years now. Are you certain you can contain the power of Set?” She looked skeptical.
Treya nodded. It was at the top of a very short list of things she could put her faith in.
“Then you are welcome here, Treya. You’re with the Kanes now. We protect our own.”