Within the ebony walls of an Egyptian temple, a man placed a white sheet over a thin female figure. Sadness clouded his normally joyous face as he clasped his hands to his chest. For five hundred years he had not seen his young friend, however there had been letters exchanged of course through her time in Japan. The fragile butterfly had become a ferocious feline after she had left these sandy shores.

The deadly feline, then became a tamed cat under someone's care. He had felt the pain that had encircled her mind and heart after she had left these shores. Nasir would have killed those men who had harmed the delicate newly clawed butterfly in her attempt to be something in this world. To prove to her family that she was more than just the rebellious eldest child. The fact she had not been given the chance burned his soul. However she had survived. Become much stronger than anyone had thought she would be.

No one can be saved from dying of a broken heart. Even though she had been partially marked, it would never be a full marking. Not in this lifetime. Perhaps in the light of the Underworld she would get that chance. For now though, the pain could not be sated. She could not die just because he had gone to the earth, and her heart went with him.

Sighing softly, the air still around them, he bent his head to kiss the forehead of the former head priestess on top of the fabric. His knowledge of the Dying arts ended there. Soon enough, he hoped, Catalina's heart would be weighed on Ma'at's scale and she would enter the Underworld filled with relief and hope. He had not forgotten her beloved staff either as he had prepared her for her trial ahead. Before he had paced the sheet above Catalina, he positioned the staff so that it rested clutched in her hands. He refused to touch her precious belongings when he had found her that morning finally at rest and no longer in the torment that had resided for eighty years.

Eighty years of sorrow and unanswered hopes.

Turning back to look at her over his shoulder from the doorway. Even in the dying light it seemed as though time had stilled upon the land, and in this stillness of Time, sound seemed to have vanished save for the occasional air across the sands.

“May the gods bring you the peace you could not find here amongst the mortal realms, my dear friend,” he said quietly before making his way down a darkened corridor. The ruby rays caused his shadows to dance across one wall as he ran through his own thoughts of despair.

When Catalina had arrived six moons ago she had been practically skin and bones. The Northern Land's winter had driven her to the point of near death. That thought alone had disturbed many of her former acolytes in the temple. What had disturbed him was her lack of will to speak of what had happened...

Though from little she did say spoke leaps and bounds to have told him what had happened after she had left Egypt. It truly did break his heart that she had to face so many trials and tribulations with no guidance but her instincts. She lost her family, her pride, her honor, all in the course of days. Catalina was a strong soul, and shouldn't have had to bear these burdens on her shoulders. Yet, in a way she did. That is what made her a great General, and an excellent Priestess in her own right. She fought to stay alive in her time here, though fate allowed her body to waste away her eyes held the determination and hope that had never diminished in her time she had fought the forces working against her.

“Why, my gods, did you let her suffer so?” he thought aloud as he meandered into his room just as the sun had finally set for the day. Those would be the last words echoed for the night aloud as silence resettled on the land.

Darkness flooded the room where Catalina's body lay cold and unmoving. Asar, her blessed staff, hummed in calling as an echo of staff hitting floor made it's way to the altar's side.

“I wondered when you would come home...,” echoed a voice softly throughout the room. With a gentle clawed hand, the ancient god of Death moved the cloth away from his fragile chosen. Easing his arms under her body carefully he vanished the staffs as Anubis clutched Catalina to his chest. Turning he opened the portal to the underworld.

A tunnel of obsidian, much like the material of Catalina's staff, lit faintly as Anubis made his way down the long tunnel. He knew his charge would not remember this path from the last time she had been her. When time had decided to wield a deadly card far too soon. Where a male had managed to challenge Anubis in battle, and though Anubis in the end had finally let the dog win his prize, the fight had been worth it. Though a god, he too could die by mortal wounds. However it could only be done by the living dead.

Gently he nosed Catalina's cheek, his jackal head gentle as her emerald eyes opened slowly. She blinked once, twice before looking up at Anubis in confusion.

“Anu...bis..?” The soft, husky voice of Catalina was uncommon with her. He knew though, her throat had been coughed raw despite the medicinal treatments she had received in the mortal realms.

Carefully Anubis set down her down onto her feet, still supporting her faintly as they stood outside the doorway of the Scales and the Hall of the Dead. The jackal god of death was actually fearful that perhaps her heart would weigh too much and be fed to the demon. Looking into her emerald eyes, he gently ran a claw through her ash-colored hair.

“Indeed, you are home in the Underworld. Are you strong enough to stand on your own?” Cautious though he was, he kept his thoughts of dread to himself. He would find out soon enough, as would Bast, if the daughter of their soul would survive the Scales and join them.

“How did I end up here? I didn't...die did I?” Fear filtered into those emerald eyes and even Anubis could feel the sorrow in the air still thick with Catalina's confusion and worry. “Is Nasir alive?!”

Anubis placed a finger to her lips to calm her as ran his claws through her hair. He could see the shimmering frost like markings on her cheeks formed by the Male's claws. His possession of the daughter of his soul captivated him, to know that he had been willing to neglect what had been put against them. To put such a burden on them both was out of his hindsight to See. The living dead were immune partially to Anubis' power, which irked him slightly. Though without that living dead soul, his daughter would have fallen prey to so many different outcomes in the end.

He would have hated to see what would have happened if she had faced the Reapers of the Dead in Japan. The hell of Japan was much different than the one of this realm. Shaking his head from his dark thoughts he sighed and pulled Catalina's hair away from her face.

“Nasir is alive and well, you will be alive once again if you have faith with yourself.”

She was about to speak when the great hall doors opened and there stood a gigantic scale that was Ma'at, the Goddess of Justice. On one end of the scale laid a single feather and on the other laid a still beating heart. Her heart. Anubis watched warily as the scale tipped, however it would be the side of the heart that rose.

In the background Bast sighed in relief. The ebony furred feline had been pacing for some time and the knowledge that the daughter she had created would enter the realm of the gods blessed and whole brought tears to her eyes. She changed faintly into the catheaded humanoind form and gently touched Catalina's shoulder.

“Come...we have much to discuss, little one,” her calm voice sounded like that of growling cats though not deafening as she led Catalina away.

“WAIT!” Catalina cried, tears starting to run down her face. Bast blinked her golden eyes and let Catalina go run back to Anubis and cling to him.

Startled Anubis ran a soothing touch through Catalina's hair. A father trying to soothe a troubled child as he enveloped her in his embrace. “I will return soon enough, Catalina.”

Catalina looked up at Anubis with wide emerald eyes, “What about Shadow? What will happen to him? Will I see him?!”

Anubis' eyes softened as he moved his hand to brush away his daughter's tears, “You will see him again one day, that I can promise you. I cannot say when, or where, or even how...but what I can tell you is this is not for forever. You will see those you care about once again. However the time is not now. Now is the time to rejuvenate, to restore your soul to it's proper self. Go with Bast and Isis, they will bring you to your rightful self.”

Catalina's tears dried at his words, a shakey smile forming at her lips which caused Anubis to give a toothy smile in return. “That is the person I know behind those tears...now go on...”

Nodding she walked gracefully, though her body was practically a wasteland it would rejuvenate with time. It would acquire the fullness it once had, the softness. Her feline spirit would not be tamed even in death nor by the gods.

Anubis watched her go thoughtfully as Bast raised an eyebrow in return to him. A silent understanding drifted between them as Bast and Isis, the Goddess of Magic, led Catalina towards the peace she deserved. Golden eyes flickering he avoided the other gods as he wandered back along the corridor lost in thought. He had seen a glimmer of Catalina's future which shouldn't have happened. She was supposed to remain. Someone higher than himself had woven a longer thread of life than he thought. Glancing around he ran a claw across the obsidian wall and stared at it intently in command.

“Show me why and whom will bring Catalina back to the living.”

The wall glittered forming an image of a woman in a different version of hell. Anubis raised an eyebrow at the sight as the woman fought with a man whom was trying to force her to stay. The defiance reflected in the woman, he mused to himself, reminded of Catalina. Then his vision shifted to something else. Another woman with icelike eyes sat upon a throne of sorts her dark clothes hugging her form as she sat in the fire's shadow. Her aura reeked of the Unliving. A soft growl emitted at the thought before the vision shifted again. This was farther ahead than the other images. Only one object was seen however.

A white rose.