A rushing of nearly blinding color met Gilda’s eyes as soon as she descended into a sea of magic, as if she burst through a cloud cover and soon she was on a river of pure broiling lava. The boat was eyeing things left and right even as it was battered by the waves and at several points was nearly sent spiraling into a craggy outcropping of rock. Gilda held back her lunch that was threatening to make a very ghastly return, purple lightning crashing in the ‘sky’ above.

“Yeah, this is the Duat for you,” Horus observed appearing alongside her in a faint golden glow. At some points, he was a man, another a falcon and at others a mix of the other. It gave Gilda headaches just looking at her. “Constantly chaotic. Course, it’s not supposed to be like this for us.”

“H… How so?” Gilda dared to ask as she was sent smashing into the side of the boat by the tumultuous power behind the river.

“Well, you’re only supposed to enter the Duat in an allotted number of ways, you see?” Horus explained manning the helm cursing slightly at how uncooperative the boat seemed to be. “This is like us just smashing through a door without asking and so we don’t get a proper greeting if you will.”

“...You couldn’t have told me sooner?” Gilda asked and Horus turned back to look at her with his mismatched eyes burrowing into her soul.

“You want to save Twilight or not?” Horus asked. “Look, time is not on our side here. I’d almost ask if we could bargain with Khonsu over a game of Senet for a couple more days here but I’m not so sure that’s a risk we should take. His deals, they always have a sort of price if you lose one of his gambles.”

“...Something tells me I’d really rather not know, to be frank…” Gilda muttered to herself as she regained her balance.

“Try losing your soul and becoming a vegetable,” Horus muttered sourly. He sounded bitter, almost like he knew what it was… No, Gilda decided against pressing the matter even as she fought back a shudder. “That’s a common price if you lose something to him. Oh well, no risk no reward right?” Horus asked brightening back up.

Then a shout of “LOOK OUT!” as several massive rocks came collapsing down from the ceiling and Gilda went for her crook and frail reacting almost as if on instinct.

“Ha-di!” She bellowed with each rock glowing golden before shattering in explosions sending rubble flying everywhere.

“Good, you learn quickly!” Horus appraised even as a massive pillar fell down from a higher level shaken free by the constant earthquakes. Again Gilda reacted.

“Khe-fa!” she screeched even as a massive fist of golden energy slammed into the pillar shattering it in two with what remained falling into the lava below.

“...I take that back. You learn very quickly,” Horus mused with a small hint of pride in his tone. “I’ll make a godling out of you yet!”

“Yeah, well don’t let it go to your head, okay?” Gilda remarked. “I’m using this magic to save Twilight and that’s all got it? Hardly interested in becoming the next ruler of Egypt. I have no interest in Ma’at or whatever.”

“You are a stubborn one, you know that right?” Horus remarked. “I like that in my hosts, they don’t give in to my demands so easily. Trust me if you were a weaker sort I could very well easily use you as a puppet to carry out my whims.”

“I’m flattered,” Gilda deadpanned. “You think you could try hiding being a pretentious dick any time soon?” she asked.

“Hmm, thinking on it,” Horus remarked. “It’s not really an appealing thought. Personally, I like the way I am. It’s gotten me this far in life I should think, so why the hell should I change now?”

“...Might win you more friendliness from me, so there is that…” Gilda trailed off in thought and Horus sighed to himself.

“Look, it’s not so easy for us to just change our lives as it is for creatures like you,” he said with what Gilda could have sworn to be a hint of sadness if she didn’t know any better. “We’re long-lived, we end up repeating cycles time and again. Me and Seth, we keep on reincarnating and in new relations every time. Once he was my dearly beloved uncle, and another time he was my father. And every time we end up against another. Patterns, cycles. That’s the way of life of a God.”

Gilda if she didn’t know better felt… what was that? Pity? No, surely it couldn’t have been. That was completely ridiculous. The Gods had been no friends to her as of late so why should she be feeling any form of pity towards them? No, Gods just used mortals as their playthings like some sort of cosmic horror story and that was an end to it.

Still, she had to admit what Horus was saying made a certain amount of sense. When studying Egypt’s stories she did admit there were certain discrepancies. Stories that seemingly conflicted with one another. And this certainly explained a lot.

Argh, thinking about this just gave Gilda one massive headache she would really have rather avoided. Floating over a lava fall and descending down into a deeper section of the duat she looked to her left swearing she saw something move in the darkness. She wanted to brush it off as something from her imagination, the paranoia getting the better of her and all that but she simply could not. She blamed her recent experiences for that. Turning back to Horus she raised an eyebrow, her eyes briefly flicking to the shoreline. She’d seen something, she knew that much. Almost canine in nature but she couldn’t make out the full features thanks to how dark it really was down here.

“So, say we run into something unfriendly down here,” Gilda asked. “Aside from my magic, how do we intend to deal with it?”

“My knowledge of magic is… crude to suffice to say. It basically amounts to little more than: ‘Hit enemy with a sword until he's dead. If he rises hit him again. Repeat as necessary.’ That’s it really.”

“Comforting.” Gilda deadpanned.

“Hey, it worked against Seth didn’t it?” Horus asked.

“...And how long did that take?”

“Oh, about seven odd years or so,” Horus admitted looking almost sheepish in Gilda’s eyes if you were to ask her. If a God could even be that way. “But in any case, I doubt we’ll run into too much trouble down here. Anubis is the forgiving sort really. Well, mostly. And hey, I’m here to explain things!”

“Again, comforting.” Gilda deadpanned.

“You’re a real downer, you know that right?” Horus asked as the boat continued gently along its way through the underworld river rowed along by invisible oars. “His Hall of Judgement isn’t so bad. Could use with some color, and a name change I admit. But it does its job well!”

“Don’t you get your heart eaten out by Ammit if you’re found unworthy?” Gilda asked and Horus simply stroked her head feathers.

“Eh, I doubt that’ll happen in your case. Sure, you used Twilight as a tool but then you dived into the Land of the Dead to save her! It all evens out really!” Horus chirped patting her on the back.

“...Geez, thanks for the guilt trip. Pretty sure I deserve it, but thanks for that,” Gilda murmured to herself with a small flinch.

“No problem!” Horus chirped before his face fell as he saw what the boat was currently passing. Souls, gathered along the riverbanks drawn by Gilda’s glowing form.

“What’s… what’s going on?”

“Granddad used to do this, you know,” Horus whispered to her sadly. “Light the way as he changed night to day raising the sun and fighting off the forces of chaos. His forces, the great snake’s. As he traveled here, he brought light to these poor souls, the ones who never made it to the afterlife. He helped them remember what it was like… before. And now… he’s gone.”

Gilda reached out with a paw and placed it on Horus’ shoulder in comfort. “...I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about Gilda Grimfeather,” Horus replied. “There is nothing you could do, and its times long since past.”

“No, that’s not right. They shouldn’t have to suffer like this. Ha-tep. N'dah.” she spoke. These words of the Divine, meaning ‘be at peace’ and ‘protect’ respectively used in conjunction created an effect. A small comforting light shone over the souls and their small campsite and for just a moment if only a brief one they danced and remembered times long since forgotten.

“Thank you…” Horus said though it was barely a whisper.

“...Don’t mention it,” Gilda said. “Ugh, this kindness. It’s probably going to be the death of me someday, I suspect!”

And once again Horus thought with a fond little smile the old Gilda had returned.

This would be an interesting journey he noted. And it was always nice to have a friend or two by one’s side as they braved uncertain odds. Made things all the more worth one’s while. It was a comfort even. Now he saw why Twilight never wanted to travel alone. In this world, it paid to have someone by your side, whether as a confidant or perhaps something… more. He did have to wonder what Twilight saw Gilda as when she was alive.

“You nodding off Hor?” Gilda asked.

“Me? Never!” Horus crowed. “Wits about you now, we’re passing through another cataract!”

Then the waves picked up again as the boat was once more bashed around by the powerful forces that seemingly had no end. Lightning flashed in the sky above as the winds picked up seemingly trying to force the two back. But Gilda had enough of this nonsense and with a burst of magical energy created a bubble around them protecting them from the waves and wind at least for a time.

“Not sure how long I can hold this creation,” Gilda warned. “We’d best get a move on before this magic expends itself! Already, I can feel cracks. N'dah!”

And sure enough, as she said this the battering waves were creating small cracks in the shield that surrounded their boat. “Oh, did I ever tell you about Prince Khaemwaset?” Horus said launching into one of his long rambles to seemingly calm Gilda and empower her magic. Fear did not lend itself well to casting spells you see. A calm state of mind was what was needed. “One of the first real Egyptologists you see! Restored tombs and buildings. Yes, he stole a book of Thoth, but he returned it after seeing what was to come as consequences!”

“Dare I ask?” Gilda remarked although there was a ghost of a smile on her face.

“Eh, married a beautiful woman only to see her kill his previous wife along with their kids, and then said woman turned out to be a withered corpse. All just a dream you see but it scared him straight! Thoth is not to be trifled with let me tell you!” Horus rambled. “Also one of the few people to brave the Afterlife, like yourself. He learned that a rich man’s funeral does not make up for any wicked deeds a man did in his life.”

“...Do all your myths have some sort of lesson?” Gilda asked.

“Well… Yes. After all, myths are stories and they do form the foundations and boundaries of fledgling societies…” Horus trailed off. “Is this not the case with Greece, whom I know griffins hail from?”

“Yes… Yes, that is quite true. Let me tell you a few stories about Zeus, okay?” Gilda began. “Oh, there was this one time this one idiot impersonated him. Ran through the streets on a chariot and such… Ended up with nobody ever wanting to populate that town again…”

“What the…?”

“Trust me, it’s quite a tale. It all begins with Zeus’ hatred of being humiliated or impersonated you must understand…” Gilda began as the boat continued on down that long wandering river...

Author's Note

One, sorry for the long wait. Life happened, along with my other pieces. Two, yes all the stories explained here do have a basis in myth. Trust me, well worth the reads.