A warm feeling spread through Percy’s body, soothing his mind and relieving him of his exhaustion.

“Please forgive me for not helping you out earlier… I have selfishly indulged in my curiosity. Given the things you have learned about us, I hope you won’t hold it against me.”a female voice said.

It was crisp and clear, bouncing against the crimson walls as its echo trailed through the corridors. It seemed like every inch of the pyramid resonated with the sound, welcoming it home.

Turning to look at the tall woman standing beside him, Percy scanned her slender body from head to toe, making note of her flawless skin and elegant clothes. Unlike the barebones attire of her subjects, she wore a long flowing dress that reached all the way to an inch above her sandals. A thin, winding crown adorned her forehead as a translucent veil fell over her features.

“Nephthys, I presume?” he asked, getting a curt nod back.

Perhaps, he should have acted less casual toward the alien goddess, as he had no way to tell how friendly she was. In his defence, she had just saved his life, however. On top of that, she radiated a gentle presence, far less domineering or suffocating than Metatron’s or Rhaziel’s.

Instinctively, he gathered some fused mana to his eyes, peering into her body. He almost squinted, having expected to be blinded by her divine radiance. To his surprise, he saw nothing in there though, her current body appearing to be little more than an empty vessel.

“You won’t find it in here.” She chuckled. “Think bigger,” she added, gesturing at their surroundings.

“So, we’re truly inside your mind, then?” he asked, still finding that difficult to believe, despite all the clues pointing toward that conclusion.

The woman shook her head, however.

“Not exactly. Even with my mind affinity, I don’t think I’m quite capable of pulling another’s mind into my own. Oh, but make no mistake – this world is, in fact, inside my body. Just not where you have imagined it to be.”

Percy frowned, thinking back to what he knew about gods – which was admittedly very little. Though there were

a couple of things he had read about them while growing up, one of which he thought might apply here.

“Your internal world?”

Nephthys was the one to raise an eyebrow this time, having probably not expected him to guess accurately.

“I never quite gave this ability a name, since there wasn’t much of a point. After all, I was the only person on Amenthes to reach my current level. But yes, that sounds like a suitable descriptor.”

Percy nodded.

He didn’t really know much about internal worlds, other than the fact that only gods had them. Apparently, it was what became of their domains once they attained divinity… Or, wait, was he remembering this incorrectly? Was it what their mana cores turned into? Was that why he hadn’t seen a core in Metatron’s body?

“It’s actually both,” Nephthys smiled, startling him. “If you ever make it this far, your core and your domain will merge, giving rise to this… internal world – as you call it.”

Percy wasn’t in the mood to discuss divine magic, however, focusing on something more serious.

“You can read my thoughts?!” he asked, furrowing his brow.

“Only in here. Once again, I must ask for your forgiveness at my lack of discretion, but you are the one who’s barged in here uninvited.”

The revelation shook Percy to his core, but he had to admit she was right. He’d invaded her most private place – albeit unknowingly – so he didn’t have any room to complain that his thoughts had leaked.

“When did you notice me?”

“As soon as you stepped foot in the pyramid.”

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“Then, why didn’t you show up earlier?”

Nephthys shrugged.

“Like I said, I was curious. I wanted to see your genuine reaction upon exploring this place and learning about Amenthes. And to possibly figure out how somebody at such a low grade had even managed to get here. No offense.”

“And have you satisfied your curiosity?”

“Very much so. Gods and mortals… lesser springs… demonic infestations… I was genuinely humbled by the wealth of information you have unwittingly shared. It would appear Amenthes was both extremely lucky to have made it as far as we have, and exceptionally unlucky to have encountered such a horrific calamity so early…”

The goddess sighed.

“I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I had been more proactive. Could I have pushed others to attain divinity faster? Could I have worked harder to become one of those titans you’ve thought of? Would it have even made a difference? But I suppose it no longer matters – what’s done is done. I won’t keep you here any longer.”

Percy suddenly felt his connection to his main body return, causing his eyes to widen.

“It was you! You were the one preventing me from leaving!”

Nephthys gave him an apologetic smile, before speaking.

“It wasn’t my intention to harm or frighten you. I just never imagined I would ever get a chance to meet another person in my life, so I didn’t want you to go too quickly. I assure you, you were never in any danger.”

Percy frowned, contemplating the goddess’s words. She didn’t seem to be lying, though he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive toward her. After all, she was not only a goddess, but one with the mind affinity. There was no telling what she was even capable of. Then again, he couldn’t even hide his thoughts from her, so his apprehension was worthless.

“How did you banish my lethargy anyway? I don’t suppose that will last very long?”

“It will not. Even with that ‘spectral trait’ of yours, I doubt it will keep you awake for more than a couple hours. It will be even less effective the second time I try it. The Slumber is great at adapting to all of our countermeasures. The only thing that seems to work for an extended period of time is attaining divinity – which is not something anyone can accomplish… If not for this, my people wouldn’t have been reduced to such a sorry state.”

Percy nodded, deciding to just go with the flow. If Nephthys wanted to harm him, there was nothing he could do to stop her anyway. Rather than worrying about the things he couldn’t affect, he figured he might as well look for a way to help these people.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I don’t think that portal of yours will help.” she replied, not even waiting for him to voice his question. “My physical body has already succumbed to the Slumber. I’ve barely been able to preserve a sliver of my consciousness in here. I don’t think I can even twitch my fingers, and if I was to abandon my body entirely, my soul, my mind and my internal world would fall apart rather quickly.”

“Why didn’t you escape with your people while you were still awake?” Percy asked.

“How would I have done that?”

“I don’t know – you’re the goddess here.” Percy shrugged. “I was under the impression that gods can traverse the cosmos, but I have no idea how it works.”

Nephthys appeared to ponder his question for a few seconds.

“If this is truly an ability that all deities share, it is unfortunately one that I have never mastered. Though, it might simply not be compatible with my mind affinity.”

Percy remained silent for a while, thinking about a great many things. He could ask Zoris about internal worlds and the method gods used to travel from planet to planet, but it would be too late to help Nephthys by then.

Granted, the goddess hadn’t even asked him to help, probably guessing this was a problem well outside a mortal’s capabilities. And she might be right about that. Still, he didn’t feel good about escaping by himself and abandoning these people to their grim fates.

“So, have you read all of my memories?” he suddenly asked. “Are you sure there’s nothing we can do?”

The goddess shook her head.

“I can’t read your memories – only what’s at the forefront of your mind. Why? Do you have any other ideas?”

Some hope flashed in Percy’s eyes, but he pressed it down, not wanting to get the goddess excited over nothing. During the next few minutes, he went over everything he could think of – telling the goddess about souls, about the universe, and about his bloodline, just in case it gave her some well-needed inspiration.

“Hmmm… This is fascinating stuff, though most of it isn’t applicable here, I don’t think… Except for that bloodline of yours. That thing you did years ago, turning your friend into a familiar... Do you think you can do it again?”

Percy tilted his head in confusion. Sure, he’d shared everything about his bloodline with Nephthys, in case it gave her an idea, but he didn’t think that aspect of it would work in this situation.

“I’m confident I can do it again – and, in fact, I was planning to do exactly that in the next few years… But I think that would only work with my hosts. I can try bringing Rasef’s soul back if it’s not too far gone, yet I seriously doubt I can help anyone else…”

“Why not?” Nephthys asked.

“Well, my bloodline only allows me to possess a single soul at a time. After it’s used up, I can’t exactly change hosts, unless I return to my body first. Rasef is the one I’ve possessed – not you, or any of the others.”

Nephthys leaned back on the wall, sliding down to sit next to Percy. He was a little surprised to see her acting so casual with him. Had it been Metatron or Rhaziel, they would have probably found the very notion of mingling with a mortal like this quite insulting.

It only made him feel worse about this whole mess, however. Why did the good goddess have to watch as her entire world got destroyed, while the asshole deities got to plunder and pillage anyone they wanted with no consequences?

“Maybe there’s some hope after all!” Nephthys exclaimed at some point, breaking him out of his thoughts.