#opto is the person second in command of a roman legion

[ancientcivilizationnonsense]

OCkiss24 day six: reach

Felix didn’t know what to do. 

Everywhere she looked, there was more destruction. Set animals with their long biforked tails ran through the Gaul refugee camp, trampling everything in their path. They slashed through the canvas tents and stuck their long pointed snouts inside, ripping the flesh off the people taking shelter there. Most of the people here were displaced civilians and Felix watched in horror as families were chased through the wreckage of the camp. A man tripped and the Set animals descended upon him like wolves. A lady desperately hung onto a branch of a tree and they jumped up, grabbing her dress in their teeth and trying to pull her down. The air was filled with the crying of lost children and screaming of the unfortunate. 

There was some resistance though. To her left, Aurelius and Marcellus, the centurion of their legion, were fighting back to back, swords cutting through the vile black beasts. To her right, Philo was firing shot after shot from his bow, trying to pick off the creatures that had cornered people. A few of the refugees were Gaul soldiers; they had their long swords out and were helping to push the creatures back but even so their little band was sorely outnumbered against the creatures. 

And in the middle of it all was Anipe. But it wasn’t really her, was it? Her eyes had rolled back in her head during dinner a half hour ago and she dropped her food with a clatter. Her body had seized up, her back arching, and a deep voice that was not hers boomed out declaring itself Set, the god of chaos and destruction, come to rule the world. She had raised her hand and that had been the start of it, the first horrid Set animals forming out of the ground. 

Now she stood in the middle of the battle, white dress stained with blood, cackling and clapping her hands at the bloodshed like it was her favorite performance. A faint red glow exuded out of her. 

Felix’s eyes narrowed. “SET!”

Anipe turned to her with a blank expression. 

“Leave these people alone!” Felix commanded. “They did no wrong!”

“It’s not a question of right or wrong,” Set said dismissively, “it’s a matter of who’s in my way. These people aren’t stopping me, no, but you are and they’ll follow you anywhere. And for that… you, all your friends, and followers must die.”

Felix charged with a yell, sword at the ready. 

Set just stood there with a wicked grin. 

Felix raised her sword above her head, ready to bring it down into Set’s collar bone when suddenly Anipe stumbled. She looked up with fearful eyes. “F-Felix?”

Felix froze, her lover’s plea for help catching her off guard. In that split second hesitation, Anipe’s eyes rolled back again and Set slammed a fist into Felix’s stomach. She went flying back and landed with a sickening crunch. She weakly grabbed her ribs and a flash of pain went through her. 

Set laughed, a mocking condescending sound, as he walked towards her. “This is why you’re weak, Opto. For all your fancy fighting skills, you’re still a slave to your heart. You’ll never be able to stop me as long as you hold yourself back like this.”

Felix groaned, forcing herself to her feet. 

Set raised another hand and a red ball of glowing light formed in his palm. Felix closed her eyes, bracing for the worst. 

But nothing happened. 

Felix cracked an eye open. Where the red had once been, the ball of light now glowed a light blue, the color of Anipe’s magic. Her face was screwed up in concentration; sweat beaded up on her forehead. 

“Anipe?” Felix croaked. 

Anipe’s eyes flicked up to her. “It’s so loud in my head. I can’t hold him off much longer.”

As if on cue, her eyes turned red again and Set shook his head to clear it. 

“Stupid Thoth,” he cursed, “trying to push me out of his avatar. Giving her his power as if she didn’t want this. It’s not my fault she asked me to do this.”

“You liar,” Felix spat. “You stupid fucking liar!”

“Oh, did you not know?” Set feigned concern, putting a hand over his mouth. “Your beloved Pharaoh Anipe here asked me to use her body as a vessel. She’s the one who freed me from the old scrolls, blinded by Thoth’s pointless pursuit of knowledge. Don’t believe me? Ask her yourself.”

Anipe stumbled forward, falling into Felix’s arms. She trembled like a leaf as she looked up at her. “I– it’s true, I did. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know this would happen. Kill me, please kill me. I don’t want any more innocent people to die. Stop him, please.”

Felix’s mouth turned dry. 

Suddenly, Anipe’s eyes rolled back again but this time turned blue. The voice of Thoth, god of knowledge, rang out across the battlefield. “YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING. AS MY AVATAR ANIPE IS UNDER MY PROTECTION AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR SUCH EXTREME LENGTHS. EVEN NOW, WITH EVERY SECOND HE DOES NOT POSSESS HER, SET’S POWER GROWS WEAKER. WE ARE FIGHTING HIM FOR CONTROL AND WE ARE WINNING.”

With a small sigh, Anipe fell against Felix’s chest. She shakily opened her eyes like each one weighed a pound. “F-Felix…”

“Anipe…” Felix didn’t know what to do. Holding her lover in her arms while she begged to die and two gods fought under her skin was heart wrenching. 

“It’s so loud…” Anipe whispered, eyes falling shut again. “Make it stop… Make them be quiet…”

The air around them crackled with magic. Bursts of red and blue lit up in her veins as the gods battled for control. Around them, the tide in the battle against the Set animals started to turn but Felix was oblivious. Anipe’s breaths seemed to get more and more shallow until Felix struggled to see her breathe at all. 

“Anipe?” Felix gently shook her. “Anipe? Anipe?”

She reached out and grabbed her partner’s hand, gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white. 

“Nonononono,” she whispered. “Come back to me, come back. You can do it, you can beat him, you’re stronger. I don’t care if you let him out in the first place, I’m sure you didn’t know ihe would do this. Beat him, you can do it, I believe in you.”

Anipe’s brows furrowed.

A burst of blinding blue light exploded out of her small frame, flooding the remnants of the camp with light. The Set animals shrieked in pain as their bodies withered and burned away leaving behind a pile of ash and a putrid smell. 

Felix slowly blinked the spots out of her vision. Anipe sucked in a deep breath and, chest steadily rising and falling, relaxed more comfortably in her arms. 

Felix looked around in confusion. Her friends were blearily stumbling in the rubble, beginning to check on the injured. 

“It’s over…” Felix realized. “You did it. Oh, you did it, Anipe, you did it!”

She pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Then her forehead, her ear, and her cheek. 

“You did it, he’s gone, we’re alive,” Felix rejoiced. “I knew you could do it. I love you so much.”