Ankh

A cool breeze brushes against Hadr’s brown skin before his feet begin to pound against the dark concrete sidewalk.

The young boy is confident that the mechanical beast currently hunting him through the streets of Newon will give up at any moment as he dodges around people and lamp posts. He keeps looking behind him to see if he has finally lost the giant mechanical creature, but the thing begins to pursue him at a fast pace. Hadr looks at the bag slung over his shoulder.

The thing inside of it is heavy, weighing him down with every step. Was stealing from the Cosmic Casino, From Anubis himself, really worth it? Hadr shakes his head and slips into a narrow alleyway, catching his breath for a moment. He holds still as the thing moves past his hiding spot, then he stoops down and opens the bag. Inside is a large golden Ankh, the Egyptian symbol for life. It pulses as if it has a heart within it and glows warmly. Yes, it was worth it. He could fix everything…

Hadr quickly puts the ankh back, peeking out to find that the coast is clear. He casually walks back the way he had come and into a small apartment building. He runs up the stairs to his flat and enters, locking the door tight. Hadr walks into the main bedroom, pausing. Before him is a frail old woman surrounded by medical equipment, her breathing weak and uneven. Hadr feels tears well up in his eyes as he approaches his dying grandmother, the only family he had left in the dimension of Newon after his mother and father had been brutally killed in a massacre enacted by Circuit-Breaker and his murderous followers.

"Grandma?" The old woman stirs, opening her eyes. "I have something that will make everything better, look." He pulls out the glowing ankh, holding it up for her to see. "You… stole it?" Hadr's grandmother breathes. Guilt rushes through him. "Yes, I almost got caught, and one of the guardians is after me." As he says this, the ground begins to shake. "It's coming for me, I need to use it now or I won't be able to, and I'll lose you!" He moves to place the ankh over his grandmother's heart, but she gently grabs his wrist. "No… I can't let you do it…" tears now fully fall from Hadr's eyes, staining the bed sheets. "Why?"

"It is my time. I've been having dreams of the spirit dimension, your mother and father are there but they say they don't want to see you joining them there for many more decades." The old woman chuckles softly. "What do I do then? I'll be arrested for sure…" Hadr's grandmother puts a hand on his cheek. "You know you must face the consequences, but I have a feeling it won't be anything severe. I'll always be watching over you, Hadr. Now go…" Hadr forces himself to walk back outside where the mechanical beast waits, his hands up. As he is carried away in the mouth of the creature, Hadr looks up to his apartment window just in time to see a bright light fill the room.

***

One year later…

Hadr's grandmother had been right, the punishment he had been given for stealing Anubis's ankh was nothing soul crushing or severe. For the past year Hadr was given the task of aiding Anubis in getting lost souls back to the spirit dimension. It had been life changing, and Hadr didn't want to stop. Right now Hadr relaxes in the room he had been in the cosmic casino without a care in the world. But his moment of relaxation is abruptly cut short as a siren begins to wail, a noise that he had hoped he would never hear again. It was the same sound he had heard before his parents had been killed. Hadr leaps up, running out onto the balcony that overlooks the city. He scans the streets below with wide eyes and a pounding heart. Then he sees them, Circuit-Breaker.

Hadr retreats back into his room, his adrenaline kicking in. An announcement comes over the intercom system, telling the guests that the Cosmic Casino is going into lock down mode, and that everyone must stay in their rooms for the next few hours. Something inside of Hadr breaks, a wild untamed fury over taking him. He bursts out of his room, ignoring the yelling of security guards who tell him to go back to his room.

Hadr makes it out of the casino just as the glowing protective walls go up. Hadr finds himself alone out on the street. His heart pounds. Circuit-Breaker approaches him, the robot's dog-like head cocked to the side. A glowing khopesh appears in Hadr's hand, a gift from Anubis. His eyes narrow angrily, his teeth bared. "I'm going to destroy you, just like you've destroyed the lives of millions of others throughout the multiverse!" He yells. However, his voice is shaky.

In a flash, Circuit-Breaker pounces. Hadr brings up the sword, but it is too late. Hadr falls to the ground, a gaping wound on his chest from Circuit-Breaker's golden claws. "Your bravery is admirable, but you are not strong enough to stop me." Circuit-Breaker's emotionless mechanical voice sends chills down his spine. "Do you remember me? I'm the boy of that one family you killed all those years ago." Hadr hisses. He can feel himself bleeding out, his vision going fuzzy. "I have killed many people. You are not special." With that, Circuit-Breaker takes off on his wheeled feet, heading even deeper into the city. Hadr's eyes roll back, and then he feels himself being pulled through what feels like a tight tube and into a blinding light.

"Hadr, You are a foolish yet brave boy." Hadr opens his eyes at the voice. The glowing forms of his mother, father, and grandmother embrace him. “I'm sorry I couldn't keep myself alive as long as you all wanted me too…” Hadr says sadly. “None of that matters now. We are together, and that's all we care about now…” Hadr’s family leads him out of the light and into a beautiful grassy hillside.

A warm breeze brushes past him.