That was all.
I closed my eyes and envisioned him finishing the missing word, knowing that, wherever he was, he meant it.
Thoth pulled from me, and I was almost too exhausted from that stamina marathon to stay upright, but just when I thought I might truly collapse—pain seared through my left forearm.
My eyes snapped open as my body reawakened, gaze immediately drawn to my sizzling flesh. It wasn’t actually sizzling, but a true tattoo had been branded there, not a lengthy phrase of pictographs, but a single symbol.
The feather of Ma’at, like an ostrich feather with its tip slightly bent.
The moment I thought that, the feather’s outline glowed with dark blue radiance rather than the usual black of such markings. Ma'at's feather was the very thing that the hearts of the dead were weighed against to determine if they were worthy of the Field of Reeds.
I looked back into the reflecting glass, upright after my startled jolt. I was still as stunning as the gods had made me throughout this journey, however spent. However ready to be done with this. Thoth stepped out from behind me to stand proudly at my side.
“I weigh you worthy, Nakht—for now. But I am not the last who will judge you.”
“I know.” I ran my hand over the feather. It was already healed with no lingering ache. This was Thoth’s gift, like many of the others who had given me decoration or vitality. “But to be seen as worthy by the god of knowledge gives me hope.”
When next I looked at our reflections, Thoth had dressed himself, as pristine as if he had never disrobed, and with a wave of his hand, the same was soon true of me.
There was more though. Not actuallymore, as in tangible to hold or wear, but renewed energy and strength in me, even morethan what Horus had gifted me. I looked like the best version of myself I could ever hope to be.
“Prrp!”
The sudden chirp at my feet drew my attention from the glass. It was Pasht, rubbing against my shins, and not in brief passing or like a phantom soon trotting out of view, but right there, waiting like always for me to pluck her from the ground.
I did so without a moment’s pause, cradling the soft and gentle feline in my arms. She purred instantly, looking as content to be held as ever.
“Does the little one grow so impatient?” Thoth asked, almost like a rebuke, but as he said it, he reached over to pet Pasht’s head and scratched her chin.
She purred even louder.
I looked from the seemingly normal cat, to the seemingly normal man beside me, who was so much more than he appeared.
“Is she…?”
Thoth’s crescent eyes glowed, much like my tattoos had, only with silver radiance within the turquoise, reminding me just how godly he was. “Would you really ask such a silly question when you already know the answer?”
I supposed not.
All cats were emissaries of the gods in some way.
“Go.” He gestured behind us at where Meryt’s archway had and also had not been, at least outside the reflection, and in its place was a new opening, fully tangible in reality as well as the glass. What lay beyond its threshold was awash in bright light. “He awaits.”
I nodded, still holding Pasht as I turned to face it. While I could not see through the archway, I knew what awaited me, or at least who.
There was only one god left, and through him was Meryt.
“And Nakht?”
I looked once more at Thoth.
“The right words are emblazoned on your soul. When the time comes, you will know what to say.”
I hoped so, but I also took his words to mean that speaking the right words was not something I needed to rush. “Thank you.”
As soon as I took my first step toward the archway, I hesitated and looked at him again.
“Are you not going to ask for me to stay with you?”
