Isamu walked through the desert for hours after leaving Horus's temple, his body feeling strangely different despite the exhaustion that still weighed heavily on him. The wounds he had carried into the tomb were gone.
He looked down at his hands while continuing through the sand, and for a brief moment golden markings appeared across his fingers before fading away.
"So this is a contract…" Isamu murmured.
He didn't feel stronger, at least not yet. There was simply something different about him now.
Magnolia was still somewhere in Egypt, but Isamu had no idea where to begin looking. He didn't know who had taken his son, why they wanted him, or whether Magnolia was even still alive, but none of those questions changed what he had decided.
He was going to find him.
The sun began disappearing beyond the horizon as Isamu finally reached a small settlement, and he slowed when he noticed several people gathered around a water well. A merchant noticed him approaching and looked over the exhausted traveler before glancing at the empty container hanging from his waist.
"You look like you've been walking all day," the merchant observed.
"I have," Isamu replied.
The merchant studied him for another moment before reaching for a clay container beside the well. "You need water?"
"Yes."
Without asking for payment, the merchant handed him the container, and Isamu drank slowly before returning it.
"Thank you," he offered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
The merchant nodded before becoming curious. "Where are you headed?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"Who?"
"My son."
The merchant's expression softened slightly as he studied Isamu. "What is his name?"
"Magnolia."
The merchant shook his head. "Never heard of him."
"I didn't expect you to," Isamu answered.
The merchant watched him disappear into the darkness before looking toward a woman who had remained nearby throughout the conversation. She had said nothing, but her eyes never left Isamu.
"You heard that?" the merchant asked quietly.
The woman nodded.
"He has a contract."
The merchant frowned. "You're sure?"
"I saw the markings."
She looked toward the direction Isamu had gone before continuing in a calm voice. "And I know where he came from."
The merchant's expression changed. "Then why didn't you stop him?"
A faint smile crossed the woman's face.
"Because we don't stop people."
She turned away from the well and began walking after Isamu.
"We follow them."
•••
Isamu continued traveling for another two days, moving from one village to the next while asking anyone willing to listen if they had seen Magnolia. Most people gave him the same answer, nobody had seen him, while others claimed they had seen soldiers traveling through the area and pointed Isamu toward places where they believed the army had gone.
Every trail eventually disappeared.
By the third evening, Isamu found himself standing before the ruins of an ancient temple after following a group of footprints toward the structure. He had hoped they belonged to soldiers, but the tracks ended near the entrance and gave him nothing useful.
Isamu studied the ruins for several seconds before stepping inside.
The temple had been almost completely destroyed, with broken pillars scattered across the floor and sand covering most of the walls. He moved deeper into the ruins while keeping his guard raised, then suddenly stopped when he noticed someone sitting on a broken stone pillar ahead.
Isamu immediately shifted his stance.
The stranger looked at him calmly.
"You're Isamu," the man observed.
Isamu narrowed his eyes. "How do you know my name?"
"We've been watching you." The man said cautiously.
"Who are you?" Isamu replied distraught yet confused.
The stranger stood from the pillar and brushed the dust from his clothing. "Someone who knows where you've been."
Isamu stepped closer. "Then you know what I'm looking for."
"Yes." The stranger replied quickly.
"Where is my son?"
The stranger remained silent.
Isamu's expression hardened as he took another step forward. "I asked you a question."
"I'm well aware."
"Then answer it," Isamu demanded, his patience beginning to disappear.
Instead of answering, the stranger glanced toward the golden markings that had appeared across Isamu's hand.
"You found Horus."
Isamu followed his gaze and looked down at his fingers.
"Yes."
"And he accepted you."
"Yes."
The stranger nodded slowly. "That explains why you've survived this long."
Isamu looked back at him with growing irritation. "You're avoiding my question."
"We don't know where your son is." The stranger said, ending Isamu's irritation.
Isamu stopped himself from responding immediately, taking a moment to think through the stranger's words.
"But you know something." Isamu uttered.
"We know what happened before he disappeared." The stranger replied, Isamu became more concerned.
"That's enough," Isamu cut in.
The stranger studied him carefully before answering.
"You don't understand what you're searching for." The stranger said adjusting footing.
"I understand that he's my son."
"That isn't what I mean," the stranger replied sternly.
He stepped closer.
"Magnolia isn't simply a missing child."
Isamu's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"
Before the stranger could answer, several figures emerged from the shadows surrounding the temple.
Isamu immediately turned toward them.
There were six of them, all dressed in dark clothing. None wore military insignia, and none carried the markings of an Egyptian army.
One woman stepped forward and raised her hands slightly.
"We're not here to fight you," she assured him.
Isamu kept his stance. "Then why surround me?"
"Because we needed to know how dangerous you were."
"And?"
The woman glanced toward the stranger.
"He's dangerous."
Isamu frowned. "That doesn't answer anything."
The stranger gave a faint smile.
"That's because we haven't decided whether you're one of us yet."
Isamu slowly lowered his hands. "One of you?"
The woman stepped forward. "The Veil."
The name meant nothing to him.
"What is the Veil?"
"A hidden organization."
"What do you want?"
The woman folded her arms. "To understand what happens in the world before everyone else does."
Isamu looked across the group before returning his attention to her.
"And my son?"
"He's part of that world."
Isamu's patience finally began disappearing.
"Stop speaking around the question."
The woman remained calm despite his irritation.
"We don't know where Magnolia is."
Isamu stared at her.
"But we know why people were interested in him."
His expression changed. "Why?"
"Ra."
Isamu froze.
The woman continued after noticing his reaction.
"Your son carries a contract connected to Ra."
Isamu's hands tightened.
"You knew?"
"We suspected."
"You knew and did nothing?"
"We couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because the people who took him were stronger than anything we could confront directly."
Isamu looked toward the ground as his anger slowly gave way to frustration.
"So you watched."
"Yes."
"You watched my son get taken."
"Yes," the woman confirmed.
"And now you're telling me this because you want me to join you?"
The woman didn't answer immediately. Instead.
"Horus chose you."
Isamu nodded.
"What does that have to do with you?"
"Everything."
The stranger stepped forward and joined the conversation.
"The Veil has existed for years without openly serving any kingdom, army, or god. We gather information, protect people when we can, and interfere when we believe something threatens the balance between humans and divine powers."
Isamu looked at him.
"And you think I can help with that?"
"We think you already have."
Isamu frowned.
"You walked into a god's tomb with nothing, then You walked out with a contract."
"You've crossed half of Egypt looking for your son."
The stranger paused, studying Isamu's exhausted expression.
"And despite everything that happened to you, you're still moving."
He looked directly into Isamu's eyes.
"That matters to us."
Isamu remained silent as he thought about Magnolia.
He remembered the small boy who used to run toward the door whenever he returned from work, the same boy who collected rocks and never stopped asking questions. He remembered the promise he had made to protect him, and the weight of failing to keep it.
"I don't care about your organization," Isamu finally admitted.
"We know."
"I don't care about your goals."
"We know."
"I only care about finding my son."
The woman nodded.
"Then that's exactly why we want you."
Isamu looked at her.
"You'll help me find him?"
"We'll give you everything we know."
"And what do you want?"
The woman looked toward the others before answering.
"Your experience."
Isamu's brow furrowed.
"You've lived through things most of our members haven't."
"You understand what it means to lose someone because of the decisions of people more powerful than you."
"You understand what desperation does to someone."
"And now you have a contract with Horus."
She paused before continuing.
"That combination makes you valuable."
Isamu looked down at the golden markings on his hand again.
Horus had told him that he couldn't change what happened. He couldn't erase what he felt, and he couldn't undo the mistakes that had brought him here.
But he could choose what he did next.
Isamu finally looked back toward the group.
"If I join you…"
The woman waited patiently.
"You help me find Magnolia."
"Yes."
"And if you find him before I do?"
"We tell you."
"No secrets."
The woman gave him a faint smile.
"We can't promise that."
Isamu's expression hardened.
"But we can promise that we won't hide information about your son from you."
Isamu considered the offer for several moments.
He had spent years believing that keeping Magnolia away from everyone was the best way to protect him.
It hadn't worked.
Maybe continuing alone wouldn't work either.
He extended his hand.
"Then I'll join."
The woman took it.
"Welcome to the Veil."
The others slowly stepped forward.
Isamu looked across the group, taking in the different faces and clothing. They came from different places and had different reasons for being there, yet every one of them had chosen to remain hidden from the world.
The stranger who had first spoken to him approached.
"I'm Thorn."
Isamu nodded.
"Isamu."
Thorn smiled.
"We already knew."
Isamu gave him a tired look.
"I figured."
A few of the members laughed quietly, and for the first time in days, Isamu almost smiled.
Thorn turned toward the deeper part of the temple.
"Come."
"Where?" Isamu asked.
"You're going to meet the rest of the Veil."
Isamu followed him through the ruins as the others moved behind them.
They disappeared deeper into the darkness of the temple, and the golden markings on Isamu's hand appeared once more.
He looked down at them for a moment.
Then he continued walking.
Somewhere beyond the temple, Magnolia was still waiting.
And now Isamu had people helping him find him.
Deep within the palace the recruits were outside, the time had gone by faster than expected while they were training.
It had became nightfall, the recruits had gone through agility drills strength drills, and even endurance drills.
The general took the recruits to their respective sides of the palace. None of them could sleep, to be frank, none tried…
"Sous, enough you can't redirect everything," Abraham said.
"Ah come on wise boy, it's harmless." Sous uttered, provoking Abraham even further.
Sofia walked over placing a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Take it easy on him, you know his feathers get ruffled easily," she said sarcastically, laughing alongside Sous.
"Fine, fine." Sous scowled, finally allowing Abraham to place his cup down on the nearby table.
"Thanks a lot," Abraham said.
"You guys are insanely irritating." Poison muttered miffed.
"Oh come on, we're not even bothering you," Sous added.
"Shut it." Ren commanded his voice caused the room to fall into silence.
He walked over to Poison, analyzing the toxin alongside him. "What are you trying to accomplish here." Ren asked sincerely yet his tone came off condescending. He admired the toxin in a container resting on a shelf.
Poison gently chuckled before responding. "I'm trying to see how long it'll stay in this form before dissolving."
"And?" Ren inquired.
"5 minutes is the longest so far. If I expand the amount it'll get shorter, but if I put too low of an amount it won't do anything."
"Seems complicated," Ren said.
"It's something." Poison replied back, placing his head closer to the container.
Ren glanced around the living room for a few moments then spoke.
"Where Luna?," he asked as Abraham responded soon after.
"She's in her room, probably setting up her indoor garden," he uttered dryly, still vividly annoyed from Sofia and Sous.
Ren slowly walked over to Luna's room and was greeted to an abstract view. He saw an array of thin vines across her ceiling, thicker more dense vines across her walls, and several potted flowers sitting on her dresser.
"You've had a lot of time to yourself haven't you?" Ren asked.
She stared at Ren while sitting in her bed, thinking a second before speaking.
"Well yeah, i'm not too interested in the brother sister bantering out there." She softly giggled.
"Fair, they're putting more wrinkles on Abraham than on Saijew." Ren uttered with a slight smirk that elected a small smile from Luna.
"You're strange," Luna replied catching Ren off guard.
"How so?"
"You're two different people simultaneously," she said.
"Out they're, you're belligerent and free." Ren's eyebrows raised.
"In here, you're authoritative and fair."
Ren leaned against a wall before responding.
"I haven't noticed." He said, still startled from her observation."
"I guess, I lean towards whatever situation i'm in."
"No," Luna interjected.
"It's only those two—I mean yeah sometimes it's slightly different," she said rubbing her chin, Ren stared at her subconsciously while fiddling with his shirt.
"But it's always a version of those two things. You're either a rebel, someone who's free from rules. Or authoritative and just."
Luna sat back down.
"Personalities are tied to your contract, I guess it means you use yours two distinct ways then," she said insure, a slight raspiness in her voice.
"To an extent, yeah. I—" Suddently a loud shattering sound came from the living room, where the other squad Two members were.
Luna and Ren both came rushing out of Luna's room, appearing back in the living room. They were greeted to a clay cup smashed on the ground and furious faces from their teammates.
"The hell is going on?!" Ren stated confused, glancing at Poison, Sofia, Sous, and Abraham.
"I'm telling you, he holds the power of Ra," Abraham insisted.
"The fire, heat, how interested the Pharaoh is in him—Its obvious!" Abraham further presses.
"I mean, he did Burn off Suegi's arm—and there was no blood left over," Poison added.
Sofia rubbed her face, before responding. "Ye-yeah, do you think his own squad knows.?"
Sous sat on a nearby table, joining the conversation. "If Abraham found out… I'm sure Matthew must've as well. You two aren't so far apart in that regard."
Abraham smirked, before turning and looking at Ren and Luna.
"Ren, any takes?"
"He's contracted to the creation god Ra. His contract isn't powerful yet, but with all of the praise from the general and Pharaoh…" Ren thought to himself for a moment, Luna caught his hesitation.
"He's the real deal," he uttered confidently, walking towards the center of the room.
Luna walked slowly behind him then before spoke up.
"This isn't some normal military enlistment is it now?" she asked plainly.
"Nah, Magnolia's the entire reason we're all here." As Poison included, the entire room turned silent. They all had the same expression on their faces—an epiphany of the reality at stake.
…