People screamed, and ran while soldiers marched through the streets. Titus had set one of the biggest towns in the Kingdom on fire just to prove a point. Ace was shocked by the hellscape he had come upon, the bodies of the dead on the street, and screamed when he saw a man running by, his clothes and hair on fire. He turned around to look at his house. It was on fire as well in a roaring blaze.
He ran inside and found Menes with his son, lying in the bed. He quickly brought them outside and smacked Menes until he woke up.
"I was sleeping," Menes gasped. Ace was crying, the baby was screaming, people all around them were screaming, and Menes looked around in confusion as the town was being razed to the ground, and he was sleeping through it all. People were trying to put the fires out, running to the wells and the river, coming back with water. The fire spread faster than they could run, and soon all hope would be lost
. “Where is she,” Ace screamed. “Where is Ibis!?”
"I don't know," he coughed.
Ace closed his eyes and opened them again. They were back at Alexandria, inside Menes' house. He gave him the baby and made sure he could breathe, giving him water and wiping the ash off his face.
“I’ll be back,” he promised. “Take care of him for me.” Ace left, and Menes held his grandson, who was still crying. Menes looked around his long-empty house, confused, holding an infant with no servants to push it off on, and awkwardly went to go find a neighbor to help, the bottom of his robes singed and his hair crispy.
Ace ran through the streets of Memphis looking for his wife. He called out for her, but he could not find her in the chaos and the smoke. He blinked all around town, and she was not at their home, she was not at the pier, she was not with the others who had escaped the fire, standing near the riverbank. Ace then started to visit the major temples in the city, and on his third try, he finally found what he was looking for.
Deceit was inside the temple dedicated to Hathor of Sycamore. It had long, brown columns at the entrance, face carved out of them and he was greeted by the small sphinx at the Gate of Domitian and Trajan. The temple was strangely quiet and empty. Once inside it wasn't hard to find them. Columns were going straight through, with painted people and religious stories, the brightly colored reliefs illuminated by the small candles left inside.
Deceit had Ibis, hands tied around her back, her ankles tied together as well. A large fire burned behind them and he was alone, save for horses, a chariot, and the two Roman soldiers who stood guard near the southern exits.
Deceit looked bored. He hoped Ace would have returned by now, but he didn't. Instead, he was forced to listen to Ibis' screams of terror, and now she simply hurled insults at him. Deceit perked up when he saw Ace arrive. The soldiers aimed their bows at him, ready to kill.
"Don't," Deceit commanded them. "He's who I've been waiting for."
“Give me her,” Ace screamed. “Give me the fucking watch!” Deceit ignored him and continued with his narcissistic plan.
“Today I will sacrifice your bitch to the goddess Hathor, mother of all and love. You will love me once she is gone, and nothing else will matter.” Ace cried, his body aching, his feet with blisters, exhausted and scared.
“If you kill her I will never love you,” he cried. “I will find a way to kill you instead.”
Deceit bristled at his words. “So if I let her go, you won’t have me, if I kill her, you won’t have me?”
“Yes,” Ace shouted. “Stop already!”
Deceit weighed his options carefully.
“I have decided to kill her,” Deceit declared.
Ace glared at him and shut his eyes, ready to blink over to the altar and grab Ibis.
Nothing happened.
Ace had exhausted his energy by teleporting all over town searching for her. The drugs had taken a toll on his body, and he was already suffering negative effects from overusing his ability. He was craving meat, his nose was bleeding, and his eyes twitched. He looked crazy, he felt like he was going insane, and he couldn't stop Deceit from hurting him again.
“It’s okay,” Ibis shouted.
“Quiet, bitch,” Deceit snarled.
“I cannot die,” Ibis laughed. “I can bring life to anything!”
“She is crazy,” Deceit snickered. He looked at Ace, who suddenly had relief on his face.
“I will find you again,” Ibis promised. “No matter what, I will find you.”
“I love you,” Ace shouted. “I love you too,” she cried.
“You want her so badly,” Deceit heaved. “Yet you defy me? How can such a powerful man want such a weak thing?” Ace ignored him, and stared at Ibis, memorizing her face, every inch of her that he loved. He decided to run towards her, not letting him kill her.
Deceit simply kicked him, and he tumbled down the altar stairs. Ibis screamed and hurled more insults. "It doesn't matter if you kill me," Ibis screamed. "I swear I will live on forever. I will hurt you! I will get my revenge!"
Ibis had become a different woman. She was no longer the scared little girl she once was but now did not fear death. She feared nothing, except in that very moment, losing Ace. "Runaway," she screamed. "Don't die here!"
Ace ran up the stairs again and Deceit rolled his eyes, he simply pushed him back down, and Ace sobbed at the bottom of the stairs. A horrible thought came into Deceit’s mind. He looked at Ibis, and her words stuck in his mind.
“If you want her so much, you can have her,” Deceit mumbled.
He bent over on the ground and choked her. He easily crushed her windpipes, as she was a small woman. The soldiers and Ace watched in fear as something gross came out of Deceit's mouth. It was black and tarry. It poured out of his ears, his mouth, his nose, and eventually his tear ducts. Every orifice of his body released this black sludge onto Ibis's body, enveloping her in a warm bath of pain and malfeasance.
When he was done, Deceit's body collapsed.
The soldiers looked at Ace.
They looked at the dead bodies.
They got on their chariot and left.
Wheezing and clutching his chest, Ace slowly made his way up the stairs again, and over to the altar. He watched as Deceit's body shrunk. It became wrinkled and old, its hair grew, its eyes sunken, then its flesh and muscles went away, only exposing bone. The skeleton shattered into dust, and Deceit was no more.
Ace quickly picked up the watch and put it on his wrist, more than happy to go home. He picked up Ibis and smacked her face. "Wake up," he cried. "Please wake up." Suddenly her eyes shot wide open and Ace looked into her eyes. She smiled weakly and held his hand.
“We made it,” she mumbled. “He can’t bother us again.” Ace smiled back and then he started to shake. He looked into her eyes and now knew the difference. Her eyes were now brown instead of purple. The same color as Deceit's eyes.
I have brought you to Deceit, the watch laughed. I never lie.
He let go of her, and her head smacked the floor.
“Be careful,” she whimpered. Ace started to cry again and Deceit just shook her head. “What’s wrong,” she asked. “Are you afraid? He’s gone.”
“You took her from me,” Ace shuddered. “You followed me. You’re still following me.”
“I will always be by your side,” she smiled. “I am your wife.”
“No,” he whispered. “You are not her.”
Deceit’s face became twisted. It was truly horrific with the black tar covering her new host. Two large horns sprouted from her temple and a large red eye opened on her forehead. Black blood dripped down from her new appendages onto her face.
“Why do you defy me,” she asked. Her voice was no longer Ibis’ but strange, like an echo.
“You killed her,” Ace screamed. “You’re a monster!”
“Yes, I am,” she replied, grinning like a maniac. “So are you. I can feel it.”
She stood up and smiled down at him, her once beautiful dress that draped her body now bloody and black, sticking to her skin. “You never gave me yours so we could be together forever, so then I realized this is much better,” she explained. "Now we can both have what we want, Acheus. Relationships are made of compromises, after all."
Ace screamed. He screamed like an animal backed into a corner because he was. “Take me back,” he screamed. “Take me back!”
"Don't cry Acheus," Deceit whispered. "I'll take you back. A good lover forgives minor transgressions." She bent down to take his hand but stopped when the temple shook. Deceit looked around in fear, not knowing what was happening. Stone rocks fell from the ceiling and dropped right onto her head. The impact knocked her out, and she fell to the bottom of the staircase.
“Yes,” Ace screamed. “You need to die. Just die.”
The shaking stopped. Ace felt strange and looked at his body. It started to fade away, and he laughed nervously, his entire body trembling and shaking, and knew, that all along, that he was sent back by an inanimate object to only suffering.
“You ruined my life, you stupid fucking watch,” Ace laughed. “I should have never have taken you.”
I do not work for you, the watch replied. We are Infiniti, and you serve us.
Ace sobbed and laughed nervously, hysterical, the maker of his demise. “You’re cursed,” he laughed. “Now I am too.”
The watch said nothing, but Ace could somehow feel its disapproval inside his very bones.
"I should have never gone through his stuff. I should have listened to Dad," Ace said.
He faded away, crying and he wondered if he would ever see his son again.
Deceit came back to life and Ace had disappeared.
It was morning, and she groped her new body. “I should have kept the old one,” she grumbled. “Now I can’t keep the palace.” She left, out into the streets, overlooking the burnt rubble. She kept going, not stopping, never tiring, as her undead host was not constrained by normal human means.
After walking a day straight she arrived in Alexandria and walked right into the palace. The soldiers were alarmed once they saw her, covered in dirt, blood, tar, and horns. She had come up with a wonderful lie on her long walk back. "Do not fret," she cooed. "I am the goddess Hathor, here to walk upon you. I bring life to all.” The soldiers laughed at her, a crazy woman who desperately needed help.
"Come with us," the soldier commanded. "We will find your husband." Deceit yanked her arm away and ran. She was faster than all of them. Her new body wasn't used like the old one, and this one she could push to its limit until she was satisfied. She ran around until she found the guards who she brought with her to the temple. They saw her and screamed.
“She is a witch,” one bellowed.
The other palace guards surrounded her, and she smirked. “I am no witch. I am Hathor. Ask them. Did I not come to life after Titus sacrificed the woman?” They admitted it was the truth. “I can bring life to anything,” Deceit insisted. Promptly the guard closest to her speared her in the chest, twisting it as he pulled out, and she stumbled, grunted, and fell to the floor.
“Let us hope her husband is not an official,” a guard mumbled. “Her clothes look too pretty to be some common whore.” Deceit’s body twitched and she gasped as life was brought back into her lungs. The guards were bewildered as she stood up as if it were nothing, to be dead and simply return.
She looked at the guard who pierced her chest and scowled. “How dare you kill your queen. Tie him up and take him to my chambers,” she commanded. The other guards quickly took him away, and Deceit grinned. She took her time, walked back to her room, familiar with the palace, smiling at her servants, thanking them for their work as they screamed out in fear at the monster roaming the palace.
Deceit sighed as she entered her room to the screaming guard.
"Isn't it amazing how fast people agree with you once they're afraid to die," she giggled.
He was stripped of all his armor, and laid on her floor, squirming against the ropes tied around his ankles and wrists. “Do not fret,” Deceit mumbled. “You will finally be of use to me in your death.” She took an empty bowl from the table and took a sword mounted off the wall.
She sat him up and he screamed as she decapitated him in one swift movement. She took his head and placed it into the large bowl. She held it in her lap and sat on the floor, waiting for her call to be picked up. The connection was always picked up quickly, as she was one of her father's favorite's, of this she was sure.
The decapitated head began to twitch. Its mouth jerked and its lips sputtered. It blinked slowly, one eye and then the next, never at the same time, and it stared up at Deceit. "Hello Father," Deceit mumbled. "I bring you good news."
“You always bring me good news,” the head rasped. “What have you accomplished since our last talk?”
“I have made the maggots worship more false gods,” she snickered. The head laughed along with her, blood pouring out its mouth and into the bowl, spurting out its neck.
“I have found an amazing man,” Deceit mumbled. “I want to take him, share his power with you.” Her father smiled, made happy by the good news she always brought him. “Forgive me that I did not get him the first time, Father,” she pleaded. “I will make sure to get it right the second time.”
“Do not fret,” her father rasped. “You have never failed me. You understand the maggots best, turning their emotions against them.” Deceit nodded rapidly, happy to please, grateful that he was not angry. “When you have found him, let me know,” he rasped. “Continue your good work in my name.”
“Yes my lord,” she mumbled. The head went limp, its mouth slack, and the eyes wide open as the call ended. Deceit sighed and dropped his head onto the floor.
Where could he have gone, Deceit wondered. It should not be hard to find him like before. A man with striking features such as his cannot hide for long.
She stripped naked and walked to her bath, where a woman bathed her body and rubbed in fine perfumes. When Deceit was done, the body had been removed, the floor had been scrubbed clean, and the smell of death had been replaced with incense. She went to sleep, positive that it would be only a few months until she found Ace again.
It would be exactly 2,164 years until she saw him again.
