I felt my mind awaken as I slowly began to regain consciousness. As far as I knew, I was still alive. My head pounded while my body still felt rather numb. I then began to recall the events of earlier, wondering if they all really happened.                   

I gradually let my eyes open, hoping to see the ceiling of my bedroom, but instead, I nearly screamed when I saw the face of a woman staring curiously back at me with eyes the color of shimmering lilac.

“Let go of me!” I said, falling to the sandy ground beneath me. My surroundings shrouded in darkness once more as I tried to find a way to escape.

“Qaf, aistarakh!” The woman commanded with alarm at my rash actions, “Nahn jmyeaan ‘usdiqa’ huna.” (Roughly translates to: Relax, we're all friends here.)

“I’m sorry,” said, trying to pull away from the woman, “I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”

She was unusually strong, no matter how much strength I put into my attempts to flee; she kept a hold of me without even shifting her position. Of course, I was clearly exhausted from my endeavors with the last woman I faced.

“Oh right,” The woman behind me said suddenly in a smooth but snarky tone and I whipped my head back in her direction to make sure I was hearing her correctly. It was hard to tell in the bitter darkness, but I could have sworn it was the same woman that had spoken to me earlier in a foreign language.

“You speak, what is it, English?”

“Yes,” I cried in a strained breath, “now please, let me go!”

This had to have been a different woman because the last woman I had spoken to (and fought) spoke in clear English. Then again, that woman hadn’t really been all that human to begin with.

Of course, there was a great possibility that this woman wasn’t all that human either.

“What’s the rush?” She asked curiously, “Let’s take a moment to talk, hm?”

“Listen,” I said with an exhausted sigh, “normally, I wouldn’t mind that, but I have just had the longest, bloody evening and I would just like to go home. Plus, how do I know you won’t try to murder me as well?”

“Excellent question,” She said, still keeping a tight grip on my wrist, “and I suppose it would be wrong of me to promise you that I won’t, but if you can believe me, I really have no reason to.”

“How do I know that’s the truth?” I asked, turning to distinguish her silhouette from the darkness that concealed her.

“Another great question,” She said in flat amusement, “I guess you don’t really know if that is the truth either. Man, I didn’t realize we would be having a philosophy session this early in our meeting, but here we are.”

It began to irk me that this whole thing had become some sort of game to her, but I did my best not to let it show. I was growing tired of my struggles to get free, and slowly, my willpower began to dissipate.

“Hey, would you like to learn about that bracelet on your arm?” She asked out of the blue.

“Wait, how do you-?” I began, but then it hit me, like a wave crashing to the sea. I recognized this woman’s complacent voice after all. Though this hadn’t been the woman I had fought near the barrier, it had been the woman I had heard in my head trying to get me to free the man in the barrier. This was the woman Jumishat.

I then began to panic at my realization that I had also completely forgotten all about the man I had saved. Where did he go?

“You okay in that head of yours?” The woman asked in slight concern.

“I would like you to explain the bracelet,” I said in resignation, bringing my form to sit beside her, “but first, can you tell me what happened to the man I saved, Jumishat?”

“Oh yay!” She said in an animated voice, clapping her hands together, “You remembered my name. Of course, I do allow my friends to call me Jumi if they prefer. I suppose you’re a friend now.” I watched her silhouette give a slight nod, “alright, well, the man you saved is over there,”

I then watched her silhouette extend an arm in a direction hidden by even more darkness. I stared blankly ahead before stating plainly.

“Um, I can’t really see.”

“Oh right,” She said, “you humans and your weak eyesight, am I right?”

I went silent, unsure of how to respond to that question.

“Fine, since I guess we’re friends now, or whatever,” She said after a minute of silence.

There was a sharp click, which I had assumed it was from Jumishat, and then the complete darkness transmuted into a dim source of light provided by torchlights, which hung from the stale stone walls surrounding us. The middle of the room held a sole, dull grey sarcophagus that looked to have been weathered from the harsh winds that seemed to pool in from an opening unnoticed.

There were also various greens that sat upon the grave as well, some a vibrant, contrasting green, and others about as dull as the sarcophagus itself. I presumed them to be a sort of offering for the soul taken by death. The air was musty and smelled of dried earth. I couldn’t imagine the tomb had seen much natural light except for when the mourners entered to pay their respects. There was a stream of what I thought to be sunlight pouring in from a small crack in the wall and I blindly assumed it was an indication for a door.

I then turned to look at the man laying on the sandy ground a few inches from my right. He was the same man I had rescued from the barrier, and I was relieved to see that he hadn’t been completely forgotten, but I began to grow nervous that he wasn’t breathing.

I began to get up again, but Jumishat grabbed me by the arm once more. At that moment, I was able to get a better look of the woman who inhabited this tomb with me. She had deep brown, glowing skin with evening black hair. Her lush lips were dyed a dark crimson and her outfit consisted of a dusty tan crop top and her pale skirt that was split down the middle. She wore three gold bands on her neck and even her rather delicate feet were decorated in dainty, golden anklets with purple crystals down the center of the chains. Her shoulders were well rounded, and she seemed to have no trouble keeping her posture upright in a haughty manner.

I would have considered her human if it wasn’t for the elfin-like ears and vibrant lilac eyes, reminding me of the barrier back in that hell.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She said.

“I have to make sure he’s alright,” I said, gesturing to the man lying peacefully on the floor.

“He’s fine,” She said, “Now I have a story to tell.”

“I promise I will listen to your story,” I said calmly, turning to look at her with a serene gaze, “ I just have to make sure he’s okay.”

Her crimson lips twisted into a small frown, and I began to grow weary. I feared she wouldn’t let me go at all.

“If you listen to my story first,” She said with a drawn-out sigh, “I will let you visit him, deal?”

I didn’t see how I really had any other choice, she was tough for sure, and on top of that, rather stubborn; I doubt she would let me slip out of this without a fight to the death. In fact, I feared there would be no need for a fight for she would surely win.

“You promise I can see him after?” I asked in steady resignation.

“Do I look like a liar to you?” She asked, sounding somewhat offended.

“I can’t really answer that.”

“Fine, that’s fair, “ She said with a groan, “I promise, after you hear my story, you are free to go wherever you want.”

“Thank you,” I said with a nod and a benign smile, sitting back down next to her. I was rather eager to learn about this bracelet and how it worked. It would seem in all obviousness that this was no “normal” piece of jewelry.

“Right, so I’ll try to make this as simple as I can,” She said with a nod of her head, adjusting her tan crop top, “So, I don’t know if you remember the time in Tuat when I told you were a reincarnation of Ma’at, and that is true in a sense, but you’re only really a reincarnation in your time. She isn’t dead in this time so you’re kind of like a spawn of her, or whatever. Am I good so far?”

“Pretty much, I guess.” I said, my already exhausted brain trying its best to store as much of this information as it could, “I would like to know what the word Tuat means, however.”

“Oh, that’s easy, it’s the word the Ancient Egyptians use for Underworld,” She said with a chuckle before her features began to grow serious once more, “Now please stop distracting me.”

“My bad,” I said in a steady tone, my lip quivering slightly. She had been the one to stop and ask if everything as good so far, had she not?

“No problem.” She said, turning back to look at me, ”Anyway, I don’t know if you know this, but Ma’at is the Egyptian goddess of peace, balance, order, stuff like that, you know? Ma’at, as far as I am aware, was one of the only Egyptian goddesses to create duplicates of herself and spread them out amongst generations to bring peace and balance. Well, I suppose you could call these reincarnations Peace Keepers.”

“That’s…” I began, trying to find the right words to express how I felt about this information; this seemed to be the only thing I could think of on a fatigued mind, “That’s a lot of information.”

“Oh, and that’s just the beginning!” She said with a mischievous smile, “So, here’s where the bracelet comes in, but first, why don’t I introduce myself a bit more. Well, I’m what some might call an Ifret, or a type of Djinn, or to the common folk, a genie. Our kind is mainly known to be protectors of tombs, but we can also grant wishes. Well, that man over there,” She gestured towards the man still lying peacefully on the ground despite the noise, “had decided to rob one of these tombs one day, and just happened to be found by a “good Samaritan” who had decided to protect this particular tomb. Well, that “good Samaritan” also happened to have a mace and struck this man right in the head and killed him.”

I gasped in horror, turning my gaze subconsciously towards the man’s still unconscious body, “That’s awful.”

“Wait, you haven’t let me finished!” She cried impatiently, turning my attention back towards her, “Well, that man-made a wish to the guardian of that tomb, or this tomb to be more precise, and his wish was to be saved from the grasp of Ammit and her other half Am-Heh so he could be reborn again to come back for his mother and brother. Being as nice as I am, I listened to his wish, and once he had died, I began to get to work. First, after his trial with Ma’at , Osiris, and Isis, he was sent down to Tuat, but not without a trusty barrier of mine. Then, I crafted that bracelet that you’re wearing and sent it off a few hundred generations. I made sure that only a reincarnation of Ma’at would be able to wear it, so I made it a rather complex piece. Anyway, since Ma’at was one of the only Egyptian goddesses to be able to make it back down into Tuat, and I figured the real one wouldn’t give too many shits about a single thief, I knew the bracelet had to go to someone who had the Ka, or soul, of Ma’at within them.”

“Wow,” I replied, digging my fingertips into my hair, “So my bracelet can really shoot laser beams?”

“Well, yeah, but it only utilizes offensive measures when the wearer is stuck in a bit of a bind,” She said, pointing to the object, “For defensive measures, I added those amethysts, and since our kind is known to live inanimate, earthly objects, I placed my soul within them to protect the wearer of any dangers.”

“Well, thank you,” I said, turning my gaze towards my bracelet to regard it in a new, more mystical light.

“That’s the end of my story, by the way.” She said, folding her arms beneath her breasts, “If you want to go check on the man, go ahead, I won’t stop you.”

“Oh right!” I said, nearly forgetting once more of the man I had saved. With all this new information I had received, the once urgent thought seemed to be pushed to the back of my mind.