Anaïs's spirit had just crossed through the portal by which she had joined the world of the living. This was the first memory she received of her life after death: her arrival in the expanse of gray sand. Her soul hadn't been able to wander on Earth and discover the outcome of the gods' encounter; she had arrived here directly after falling unconscious.

Her gaze fell upon her hands and arms, almost expecting them to be translucent like a ghost, but they were not. When she lifted her head, she realized the real change was in her surroundings. She wasn't the only human wandering here. Some looked at her curiously, others wept over their death crouched on the ground, but each preferred to stay in their own corner and not speak to the other souls. There were maybe a dozen of them, no more, and no one seemed ready to welcome them at the moment. This wasn't a problem for Anaïs, who already knew she had to look for a door without a frame guarded by men with crocodile heads.

At least I can't lose my memories now...

Finding her way through the Necropolis proved more complicated than it seemed. Her sense of direction had recorded – mistakenly, it seemed – a linear trajectory between the two points when they had mapped out the path that morning, but it was impossible to know in which direction she was moving. She had no compass, there was no sun, and no landmarks that could indicate whether she was going in circles. The farther she moved from the portal, the fewer souls she encountered, since very few dared to venture into the desert for fear of getting lost forever. And it turned out their fear was justified. Fortunately, she finally found the door about twenty minutes later.

Walking was exhausting in this heavy and suffocating atmosphere, and she couldn't wait to feel the natural breeze and the spring temperature of the City of the Dead again. Of course, she suspected she would have to submit to the famous weighing of her soul, but she had nothing in particular to reproach herself for, right? There might be one thing, but... Anaïs had always shown kindness to most of those around her, and she believed she had lived her life by her values. She wouldn't have defined herself as a saint, as she had done some low blows out of mockery or revenge like all children, but surely that didn't warrant a place in hell or divine punishment.

When she arrived in front of the crocodile guards, they set their gaze upon her, and then one of them finally spoke in an extremely deep voice:

"Souls are not permitted to cross without an invitation. A guide will accompany you in a few hours."

Anaïs sighed. She didn't know what she had expected; of course, they weren't going to just let her pass. Yet she had no desire to wait here when her feet had already touched the inside of the Field of Offerings. An idea struck her as she scrutinized the guards' heads.

"I came through recently with Anubis and Isis. I would like to speak with Sobek."

The two soldiers exchanged a glance until the one on the right nodded and transformed into a small crocodile, immediately burrowing into the sand. So, the guards didn't need to pass through the grand doors. Perhaps they weren't even truly human. The creature disappeared for about three minutes, during which Anaïs fidgeted nervously, kicking at the sand with her sandal. She wasn't sure what she hoped to achieve by calling on the god, but she didn't want to remain alone in the desert expanse of the Necropolis. She might as well leverage her privileges, given that it was because of Anubis that she found herself in this situation in the first place. The crocodile reappeared in the same spot, its snout emerging from the sand and its legs clawing at the grains to the surface. Once it was free from the ground, it transformed back into its half-human, half-animal form.

"The god Sobek has been informed," it announced gravely before resuming its motionless stance.

All she could do now was wait and hope that he would come to meet her as she had requested. Unsure of how long she would have to wait—or if he would come at all—the young woman sat as comfortably as she could in the gray sand.

When the door finally opened to reveal the crocodile god, Anaïs was busy gathering grains of sand to toss endlessly a few meters away to occupy her mind. She had been waiting for about forty minutes, growing increasingly anxious that he wouldn't come.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"What a surprise!" he exclaimed, dramatically raising his arms to welcome her like a diva. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. I suppose their quest didn't go well."

"'Didn't go well' is an understatement!" she replied, standing up, relieved to see the deity. "One moment I was crawling on the ground, the next I had a sword piercing my heart!"

"Come, tell me all about it while I take you to your waiting chamber," he invited, indicating the corridor behind him.

"My waiting chamber? What's that?" Anaïs asked as she followed Sobek through the maze of wooden doors.

"Each soul awaiting its weighing is assigned a room where all the belongings buried with their body are stored. Some weighings can take a long time, and it happens that many deceased arrive simultaneously. It would be chaotic to let them wander around the Kheret-Nedjer."

"Especially since it's not the most welcoming place in the world," the young human commented wryly.

Anaïs spent the next five minutes recounting what had happened in the world of the living and the exact way she had met her death until they arrived at a door with a small plaque containing some hieroglyphs. She couldn't decipher it, but something told her it was indeed her room. When she opened the door, she found a small room with a simple but seemingly comfortable bed, an armchair, a small table, and a window without glass that offered a view of the Necropolis desert. On the table were a pitcher of water, a cup, and a bowl containing some fruit. When her eyes fell on the clear liquid, she suddenly felt parched.

"I'll try to expedite the time of your weighing. Normally, you'd have to pay to cut the line but given your unusual circumstances... Between your arrival here as a living being and your death caused by a god, you're quite an exceptional case."

"Anubis and Isis haven't returned yet?" she suddenly inquired after taking a few sips of water.

"No, at least I haven't been informed of it. I think Anubis would have come to find you otherwise," he affirmed teasingly.

Anaïs rolled her eyes, prompting Sobek to smile. She suspected he was right, but she also knew he shared that last remark just to taunt her.

"I'll keep you updated, alright?"

The young woman nodded before the crocodile god disappeared, closing the door behind her, and leaving her alone in her waiting room devoid of any belongings. Of course, she had died in an era where she possessed absolutely nothing besides the clothes she wore, and they technically weren't even hers.

Poor even in death... she thought sarcastically.

It was difficult to estimate how much time had passed when Anaïs finally heard someone knock on her door. Since there was no sun per se and no clock in the room, it was impossible to know exactly how many hours she had waited. She would have guessed about three, but the time had felt so long that it could have been less. She had spent it lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and contemplating her life to try and guess the outcome of the weighing. As time passed, her nervousness only increased, reaching its peak when the door opened.

"Anubis has returned, he's waiting for you at your weighing," Sobek immediately announced, giving her a hurried look. "I don't understand everything, but something unusual is happening. Come."

Anaïs stood up without hesitation and followed the crocodile god through the endless corridor. A strong urge to bite her nails gnawed at her, but she fought with all her might not to fall back into her bad habit from adolescence. Would her circumstances prevent her from accessing the Egyptian paradise? A multitude of questions raced through her mind. A storm of anxiety raged in her head.

"Do you know what's going on?" she finally asked Sobek, unable to hold her tongue any longer.

He looked at the young woman and grimaced, which was a clear answer regarding his lack of information.

"Anubis barged in while I was negotiating with the secretary. I suppose he had just returned from the world of the living since he was... a bit battered. When I told him I was there for you, he asked me to wait and said he needed to speak with Thoth about you. It seemed urgent, so I didn't say anything, but I ended up waiting at least two hours," he complained, sighing.

"Who exactly is Thoth?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"The god of scribes, science, and wisdom," Sobek explained. "Probably the most powerful magician among all the deities. In Osiris's absence, he presides over the Tribunal of the Dead in complicated cases or special circumstances. Normally, his scribes handle recording the result of the weighing, but if Anubis called on him... it means he has something in mind."

The last few minutes of their journey took place in almost oppressive silence. Finally, they arrived in front of the two wooden doors guarded by men with serpents and bulls heads. This time, they would not take the door with the wheat stalk, but the one representing the Scales of Justice. The two serpent-headed guards opened the door before they reached it, and an opaque black veil greeted Anaïs. She couldn't see the Judgment Hall from the outside, making the passage particularly terrifying. However, seeing Sobek's lack of hesitation, she took a deep breath and decided to go through it. It wasn't as if she had a choice; the weighing was a necessary step to determine her future.