Sep 25th - A Servant of Isis Walks Into A Sekhmet Ritual

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda stopped outside of Nailah's work room pondering the door for a moment before taking off her socks and shoes. She stows them beside the door and rolls up her pants legs. Tieing her hair back, she slips into the room and shuts the door behind her. She looks around the room to find the scarab and her sight plays over the blood and the ritual circle and her mouth draws into a thin line. "What in the name of the gods were you up to, Mom?"

[Narrator]

The scarab isn't hard to find. It scuttled out of the pool of blood and left a trail of bug-prints behind. It seems to have crawled towards the bowl containing the small flame still burning inside it and has stopped in front of it. The fire is making it's carapace scintillate in it's flickering light while the beetle clicks it's mandibles towards it, unfolding it's carapace and spreading it's wings it looks like it's about to take flight but instead it remains on the ground. With it's wings unfolded it looks even larger than it already is.

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda moves slowly, looking around the room. Her eyes settle on some sort of crate, empty of its original occupant who had probably been a sacrifice at some point in time. Miranda moved the crate closer to the scarab and then approached it quietly. She didn't really go out of her way to avoid the blood, figuring catching the scarab was more important. "Em hotep, kheprer," she said softly, watching the scarab carefully.

[Narrator]

The creature doesn't seem to react much to the words or Miranda's presence for that matter. It's just chattering away and looking like it's praying to the little ball of fire, when it's probably just drying and hardening it's wings in the heat.

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda watches it carefully, not wanting to injure it by making a grab for it but not wanting it to fly away either. She reaches out and grabs a nearby piece of chalk and paper, drawing symbols of protection onto strips of the paper that she weaves into some of the slats of the crate. She hopes it'll mean something, since this thing *feels* important. When the beetle's wings look dry, she sets aside the paper and chalk. She moves over and gently touches the scarab, "Let's get you into your new home."

[Narrator]

The scarab doesn't seem to mind, in fact it follows Miranda's urging almost right away, scuttling into the prepared crate.

[Miranda Weaver]

"There you go," she said, shutting the crate's door behind the scarab and moving the crate so that the scarab still had a view of the flame. "I'll see if I can find you some food after I clean up Mom's mess," she said, stepping out to get some things to work with and coming back in. She carefully avoids the ritual objects, but gradually cleans up the bulk of the blood, setting the towels she uses aside in a bin for Nailah to deal with later. She may be a neophyte, but she knows enough not to just throw her mother's blood out in the trash bin. She hums to herself while she works, keeping it up until she's finished.

[Miranda Weaver]

After finishing the clean-up, Miranda cast her thoughts into the Astral. She gave thanks to Isis, the Mother, for protecting her mother. That small service done, she went back to check on the scarab and make sure it was still okay.

[Narrator]

There's a faint snarl that sounds through the room when Miranda finishes her prayer. The scarab doesn't seem to care and is just patiently sitting in it's new home.

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda tilts her head and throws her avatar into the Astral, looking around to see if she can see what might have caused the snarl, since there's nothing obvious in the room itself.

[Narrator]

The room shines brightly in the astral and smells of aromatic desert winds blowing through the window. A humongous lioness is lounging on the raised area Nailah uses as a shrine.

[Miranda Weaver]

That takes Miranda a few moments to process. When it does, where her avatar's eyes would be widen considerably and she bows deeply to the lioness. "Apologies, I did not mean to intrude."

[Narrator]

"That is not what you stand to apologize for. Daughters of Isis are always welcome in my shrine." she says, a rumble in her throat that might almost be a purr if it didn't come from such a huge cat.

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda's mind raced as she straightened back up. What else did she have to apologize for? A lot of stuff really, but nothing that Sekhmet would care about that she could think of. "I'm afraid I'm ignorant of what happened here. If, in my ignorance, I've done something to offend you, Mistress of Dread, I am sorry."

[Narrator]

The lioness stands up and stretches, muscles rippling under her fur. "It is me who deserves the praise for protecting your mother, not the Colorful One."

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda's avatar sank to one knee, "My humblest apologies. As I said, I was ignorant of the circumstances. Thank you for protecting my mother. She means a lot to me."

[Narrator]

"Has she not told you what was accomplished here today? What she spilled her blood for?"

[Miranda Weaver]

"Only that she 'stepped on the wrong toes' during a ritual. She didn't specify the purpose. Though to require that amount of blood, it must have been something serious."

[Narrator]

"Ask her if you must. I grow bored with this now that you've taken away her blood." The lioness flares her nostrils at the area that is still somewhat stained with blood. "Run along now." she growls and jumps down from the dais.

[Miranda Weaver]

"Yes, of course," Miranda said, her voice only wavering a bit as she returned to her body. She frowned, looking over at the bin where the blood was slowly dripping out of the towels that contained it. She stepped over to the bin, holding her blood-stained hands out over it. This was complicated, she knew, but she drew on the telepathic impression of the blood, attempting to connect that impression to the shrine in the Astral for Sekhmet. She inhaled deeply, deep in meditation as she focused on the sensation. Thought fed into being in the Astral and she believed Sekhmet would watch over the blood there. As she went through the mental exercise, she offered a prayer to Sekhmet herself, asking for continued protection for her mother and reiterating her thanks one last time.

[Narrator]

Nothing seems to happen, but just as Miranda finishes a cloud moves past the sun and the room grows noticeably brighter as it shines through the window.

[Miranda Weaver]

Taking that as a good sign, Miranda stepped away, checked on the scarab one last time and then went to get cleaned up.