Chapter 4:

The spirits hesitated. Though they had begun to move forward, the weight of their old grief still lingered. The Mourning One was a part of them, and it knew it.

Nefreti glanced at Seti. They had freed the spirits—but now, they had to free this creature from itself.

Seti looked at the spirits and spoke firmly. "You don’t have to forget your sadness, but you don’t have to let it control you anymore. He is only strong because you gave your sorrow to him. Take it back. Own it."

The spirits, now seeing the creature for what it was, began to rise.

One by one, they spoke their names aloud, reclaiming their memories not as burdens, but as legacies. They whispered their joys alongside their sorrows. They honored their pasts instead of grieving them.

The Mourning One screamed.

The shadow that had once bound the realm began to unravel. The creature’s form flickered, its edges dissipating as the spirits took control of their emotions.

Nefreti held her amulet high, and the golden light from the Eye of Horus shone brightly. The shadows withered in its radiance, unable to feed, unable to remain.

The Mourning One let out one last wail before dissolving into nothingness.

The realm fell silent.

For the first time in a long time, there was peace.

Am-Tet appeared once more, its form now luminous. “You have done what none before you could,” it said. “Balance is restored.”

Seti and Nefreti smiled at each other, relief washing over them. They had not just saved the spirits—they had shown them how to save themselves.

As the spirits faded into the light, finally able to move on, the realm itself began to shift. The eerie sadness lifted, the sky brightened, and the heaviness that had filled the air disappeared.

A new golden gate formed before them.

The way home.

Seti and Nefreti stepped through, leaving the realm behind.

 As Seti and Nefreti stepped out of the spirit realm and back onto the banks of the great Nile, the golden gate shimmered behind them before vanishing into thin air.

The sun was now high in the sky, as if no time had passed, but they felt different. The weight of what they had just done, the spirits they had helped, the Mourning One they had faced—it had changed them.

Seti’s mother, Neferu, and Nefreti’s parents, Ra-Hotep and Ma’atari, stood waiting for them, their expressions unreadable.

“Welcome back,” Neferu said. “Tell us what you have learned.”

Seti hesitated. How could he put it into words? That sadness did not have to mean suffering? That grief could be honored, not just endured? That spirits were not so different from the living?

Nefreti, as bold as ever, stepped forward first. “We learned that emotions do not have to control us. That spirits, like people, can find new purpose if they choose to.”

Ra-Hotep smiled, nodding approvingly. “A lesson even the gods sometimes forget.”

Seti finally spoke. “But something was wrong in that realm. It was not just grief—it was twisted, corrupted. The Mourning One existed because sadness was left unchecked. If that could happen there… could it happen elsewhere?”

The gods exchanged glances.

Ma’atari, the goddess of hidden knowledge, narrowed her eyes. “Perhaps you were not sent there by chance.”

Seti and Nefreti looked at each other.

“There are other realms,” Neferu said, looking at Seti. “Other places between the worlds that must be kept in balance. What you saw may only be the beginning.”

The wind stirred. The Nile’s waters rippled, as if whispering secrets.

And then, something flickered in the distance.

A faint glow appeared, hovering just above the water’s surface. It was neither flame nor sunlight but something ancient, pulsing softly like a heartbeat. As Seti watched, he could almost hear it—a whisper, distant yet familiar, calling them forward.

Nefreti grinned. “Looks like we have another adventure.”

Seti exhaled, already feeling the weight of what was to come. But for the first time, he was not afraid.

Together, the two eleven-year-olds, bound by fate and courage, stepped toward the unknown once more.

Because some voices must be heard.

And some journeys never truly end.

To be continued….