"What the fuck?"

Anubis sat with his crossed and his back resting against a tree as he picked at some microscopic spec of dirt from beneath his nails. "I want to go to the place that serves melted sweets."

I stared at him. "You ruined my life and you want me to take you out for dessert."

Anubis scoffed, looking over at me. "That's a bit dramatic. It's not like I killed you."

"You cursed me."

"I brought you back from the dead too. A little gratitude wouldn't be unwarranted. Humans are so ungrateful."

"Fuck y-"

"Now, now. What would your nana say about that language?"

"She'd say it wasn't strong enough."

Anubis stood up, brushing dirt off of his jeans. "Come on, I want the melted chocolate you and you friend friend by the gallon. We can discuss your... situation once I see what the fuss is all about."

Thirty minutes and six dollars later, Anunis and I were sitting outside the cafe on a bench with two hot chocolates in hand, people-watching at his insistence.

"Your rot, let me see."

I took a big gulp of my drink and held out my wrist, not caring much about the frown on his face as I let the hot chocolate sear my windpipe.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You cursed me!"

"It should be worse than this!"

Nothing about the declaration was surprising - the goddess had mentioned something along the same lines earlier. "You're the one who did this! You tell me!"

Anubis scowled and slurped his own drink in the most obnoxious way possible. And then he slurped it again. And again. He liked it, clearly, but he didn't comment about it. Just continued to scowl like a wronged, angry cat.

"Why'd you bother to show up?"

He didn't answer. He kept drinking and staring at the cars that passed.

"Is it because you found out I'm not decaying quick enough?"

He stood abruptly, head turning to look at absolutely nothing in the distance. "What's over there?"

"'There' is a little vague."

"We are going there."

I considered telling him to go off himself, that I had no desire to around him any longer, but pissing off a god that had already cursed me seemed unwise. And if something was bugging him that bad about the area, it could be of use to me. Maybe he'd even let something slip on the way.

Anubis didn't wait for an answer, he just started walking off in the direction of whatever it was that was calling him. I went after him, throwing questions his way that he ignored. He wasn't speaking at all, his eyes stayed fixed on whatever it was that he was headed toward.

Things started to make a little more sense when we were standing outside Amanda's shop.

Anubis stared at the glowing sign in the window. "Is this where your Seer resides?"

"She-"

He pushed through the beaded curtains in the doorway without waiting for an answer, hollering, "Oi! Seer!"

I followed him in, wondering if all gods were this rude.

Amanada wasn't at her table, but her voice floated in from another room, the dreamy one she used on clients, "A moment, please! I'll be right out!"

Anubis blanched.

"What is it?" I asked.

Amanda swept into the room with the grace of queen and sat down in the chair that was her throne, but the sweet smile on her face dropped when she met Anubis' gaze.

Being in the room with them felt eerily intrusive until Amanda went rigid, falling out of her seat, seizing on the ground.

I scrambled forward, but Anubis caught me by my arm, yanking me back. "No, leave her! It will pass."

"What did you do to her?"

"I'm not to blame for this," he hissed, letting go to kneel at her side himself. "You call her Amanda?"

"Yeah."

"Your... Amanda," he said, almost forcing out the name, "will be fine. She's just remembering."

"Remembering what?"

"Sit down. Your friend will be back in a few moments. As soon as she remembers her old lives."

A u t h o r 's   N o t e

Answers are coming! I hope you guys aren't too disappointed with this update, I know it's pretty short. I've already started the next chapter and rest assured, it's longer than this one. Ending it here felt better than where I had originally cut it off. I'm also thinking about changing my update schedule from one every two weeks to once a week? Not too sure about it yet though - I'm taking courses this summer semester, and they're pretty hectic since summer semester classes squeeze all the coursework you'd do during the fall and spring semester, but in half the time. My first one ends on the 21st, but the other two start right after :(.

I've also come down with the flu, in the middle of June which is questionable but apparently not uncommon, so consider this a little reminder to do your best to stay healthy! Take care of yourselves!

I'll update soon! ❤