the gates of a tomb welcome.

As the light of red fire crept across the sky the city of Tutmanu 'Taliku became increasingly clear to see.

While the trek across the desert had been uneventful it had been stressful all the same, and as the gates of the city came open with the rising of the sun the high levels of tension that had built up over the progress through the sands was released. Julian and his guards moved with a driven purpose, as though they might collapse from exhaustion but refused to do so until they were on the other side of these walls.

Even Raven seems to be missing his usual vigor spirit, leaving only Alex moving with the same level of energy that he began the journey with.

Despite the fact that there were gates on all four sides of the pyramid almost no one used the east or south gates because there was only desert in those directions and no known settlements further into the deserts. The only settlement south of Tutmanu 'Taliku up against the Giages Mountains was Jenida; the home the temple of Shershi, god of chaos, and the dwelling of his Avatar. So even though there was an ancient highways that continued further south there was no one alive in Myrioth anymore who knew what was beyond that taboo place.

If the eye-witness documents in the vaults of forbidden knowledge beneath Tut 'Tal were true then Jenida was not originally a city belonging to the chaos cult. But the mountain fortress city became forbidden ground when Ryu-Shi, the Avatar, appeared for the first time in histories and single-handedly slew the garrison that refused to accept their place under his guidance. The empire at the time had attempted to reclaim the fortress with their army, but the fate of that army was so horrific that that no one tried again, so horrific and absolute that the defeat ushered in a time recorded as the age of divided sorrows as the empire dissolved into in-fighting among the nobles as they tore their own empire apart into smaller and smaller factions with each passing generation of greedy and ambitious nobles tried to hold onto the lost glory of the dying empire.

Those who bowed in submission at Jenida were granted life and divine protection, and even an unusual level of comfort. Shershi was an abjectivally evil deity, but not for cruelty, but for brutal apathy to anyone not in his service. Those who avoided him he ignored, those who stood against him were swiftly and cruelly dealt with, and those who served him were blessed with his unexpectedly tender love. And yet for some reason lost to the pages of time his worship was considered the greatest taboo that a person could engage in, and there were no written reason, but there were mandates by all "good" deities and most of the neutral and evil ones as well for their inquisitors to slay on sight anyone who was confirmed to worship the god of chaos. Divine decrees that predated the advent of the Avatar.

Even knowing this Alex had once made his own visit to the Avatar for help in dealing with his demon possession, years later he was making that trip for a second time for side effects of the previous solution. The thoughts of his dealings with the forbidden were weighing on his mind. From time to time Demon would allude to knowing the reason why dealing with the god of chaos was so forbidden, but always said it was complicated and would take a long time to explain, but then she would never explain saying that it was too boring to do so. Leaving Alex to wonder from time to time why Shershi was more taboo than the blood cultists who sacrificed children and virgins to various demons and otherworldly horrors. Today was one of those times.

(Does the master want a headache?)

(Not really it just doesn't add up.)

(Immortal beings have eternity to hold a grudge.)

(Over what?)

(Technical truths. Misleading explanations. And helpful betrayals. I've said all that before.)

(On occasion, but you've yet to explain how a betrayal can be helpful.)

(Helpful because it did what he said, betrayal because it did things that he didn't mention.)

Alex sighed, (And WHAT did he do?)

(Saved the world I suppose.)

(And they hate him for it?)

(Sort of...it's complicated.)

Alex sighed again, (That sounds irrational.)

Demon laughed in his mind, (Even the gods are not inclined to being rational. In many ways they are even less so now than before they became gods.)

(What were the gods like before they became gods?)

(Is it not blasphemy to ask?)

Alex shrugged, (Less blasphemy than visiting Jenida, and we're doing that for a second time.)

(Third time for me. Once was enough.) Demon grumbled.

Alex reached back to pet her, (Last time we were fighting each other for control of my body, this time we're doing it together.)

(We are not!) Demon pulled away from his hand to a different position in the basket, (I DON'T WANT TO GO!)

(And yet we're both going there.) Alex remained calm, (You could have ran away and left me to figure this out on my own.)

(There is a limit to how far apart we can be.)

Alex remembered the time Demon had tried to run off. She hit a limit and began to experience the feeling of her body and soul being torn apart only for the resurrection effect to kick in and put her back together only to be immediately torn apart again. Alex had felt everything as well although he wasn't the one caught in the cycle, he had to crawl around looking for a place where it stopped feeling like he was dying, gauging the right direction based on the intensity of the pain. When he finally got close enough for the pain to stop he collapsed in a pile of sweat and tears. That was still in a time when he and Demon hated their shared existence, but that was also the moment when they both came to terms with the reality that they were stuck together.

(Yeah, I try to forget that day.) Alex apologized, (Sorry for bringing it up.)

Stepping into the gates of Tutmanu 'Taliku Alex turned his nose up at the smell. (I forgot how bad the slums are here.)

Demon seemed unconcerned with their plight, (Some things never change. Anytime people feel they have the moral high-ground this is the eventuality that always happens to the people they think are beneath them.)

(And this is probably why both the self appointed god of order and the god of chaos are both deemed evil.) Alex mused

(You mean that the god of chaos does nothing to aid the people who choose to live under this sort of order even though he "lives" so close to them?)

(Pretty much, although it is strikingly different here than Jenida, who would think that this is "Order" and Jenida is "Chaos".)

(Yes. In a sense chaos isn't evil, nor is order good. Order doesn't care about the little people, and **** chaos is a small picture view that is willing to ignore greater suffering for the sake of those closest to the individual. In that sense all people are inherently chaotic, but many choose to ignore their base nature seeking safety even if it denies them any sort of joy.)

Alex thought for a moment, (How much do you know about the temple here?)

(Very little, it is very old, but even I cannot tell you how old it is. It was here before I came to challenge the god of chaos, and I was already in prison when the followers of Pyrotheo took control of the city. I paid it little attention when I passed it the first time, now that I'm inside the walls I'm actually curious about the structure.)

Alex glanced up at the city tiers above them. (We will probably have some time to explore the city a little, much of it will be off limits without unveiling my identity.)

(That sounds grand, Master.)