In the Serpent's Shadow

"Who do they pray to?"

"Ka."

"Ka? What for?"

"Mercy."

Mercy, Ana reflected. Mercy, a.k.a. Angela Zeigler, wasn't in the Nexus. She didn't know where she was, or in another sense, when. Time and space were in a constant state of flux in this place. But, Mercy was the name that popped into mind. Not whatever abstract concept the realm lord of Luxoria could provide.

"Mercy," Ana repeated, as she and Morales looked at the group of Luxorians in front of them. "What mercy could he provide?"

"Mercy that their sons will not be taken as minions. Mercy that their daughters will not be taken as concubines. Mercy that their homes be spared the wrath of his temples."

"And what do the people of Luxoria get in return?"

"In return?" Morales chuckled. "You think a god is obliged to give them anything in return? They get to live. That's their reward. I mean, you're from Earth too, right?"

Ana said nothing. Rosa Morales was from Earth, that was true. An Earth over four centuries removed from hers, but an Earth nonetheless. An Earth that was under the rule of a single government, one that had suppressed all languages bar English, and all religions bar its own creed. The Earth of Rosa Morales was nothing like Ana's. And while the Nexus was her home now, she hoped that the world she'd left behind would not become the world Morales knew. That their Earths were separated by space, as well as time.

But as a denizen of the 21st rather than 25th century, Ana knew a bit of the gods of Egypt. Gods that some people even worshipped now, as Egypt remade itself after the Omnic Crisis. The gods could be cruel, but were also just. Ra raised the sun, giving life. Horus was the protector. Anubis ferried souls to the hereafter, delivering justice and mercy. But Ka? She'd seen nothing but spite and arrogance from this so-called 'god.' In the temples of Egypt, she'd felt an awe of the past. Here, at the Sky Temple, she felt nothing but contempt.

"Ka, in your mercy, spare us. Ka, in your mercy, protect us. Ka, in your mercy, overlook us."

Ana snorted. "They pray to their god, and hope he ignores them."

"Gods ignore their subjects all the time," Morales said. She patted Ana on the shoulder. "Anyway, I've got to go."

"Go where?"

"Just go." She drew out a remote and a moment later, a dropship appeared beside them. A moment after that, Morales had boarded it and flown off to God knew where…if God knew at all.

"Fine," Ana said. "Go off then."

Did Morales have a pressing engagement, she wondered? Yes, probably. Was she not telling her because she was the 'new kid' on the block? Also likely. Ana was older than most of the heroes drawn into this realm, but she knew that the people of her Earth were in a minority, bar those Viking weirdos, whose Earth was stranger than even Morales's. The heroes tended to bunch together with those of their own dimensions, so those of Ana's were in relatively short supply. Even among them, she only knew Genji and Lena. The former wasn't in for socializing, and the latter had no problem calling the Nexus her home. She'd been the first hero of her world drawn into the Nexus. She'd had by far the longest to get used to it. All Ana knew was that this place was insane, this place was her home, and that sooner or later, she and Nova would have to have a competition as to who was really the best sniper across time and space.

But that would occur later. All she could do now was watch the Luxorians come to and from the crocodile edifice above her – one of three shrines on Sky Temple that were usually used as weapons of destruction, but in this time of peace, were a place of worship. Of 'mercy.' She looked as a couple joined the line, drawing a girl along with them that-

"Fareeha!" she called out, running over to the girl. Her daughter, here. In the Nexus. Fareeha would have been an adult in her own world now, but if time really meant nothing here than-

The girl looked at her. And Ana stopped.

No.

It wasn't Fareeha. Oh, she looked like her. Walked like her. Had the same hair, eyes, and height as her. But it wasn't her daughter. One didn't raise a daughter for years on end and not know them. Fareeha Amari had an udjat over her eye as well. This girl had the tattoo of a snake. Ana had given her daughter the udjat as a sign of protection, for herself, and those she would come to protect as an adult. For the girl here, the snake tattoo, coiled above her left eye, looked more like a brand.

"Can I help?" her father asked.

Ana shook her head – the Nexus apparently had some Babel's fish going on, because the man spoke perfect Arabic. Everyone spoke perfect Arabic to her ears, whereas to those she talked to, she also spoke perfect English, Orcish, or whatever tongue the Lords of Hell used.

"No," she said. "It's nothing."

The girl's parents gave her ' the eye,' but moved on. Their daughter did as well before she stumbled into the dirt. Not moving. Not giving up.

"Sari!" her mother called out.

Ana bit her lip – the Nexus had its Babel's fish, but it didn't have antibiotics. She watched as the man behind the family walked forward and ripped off the girl's tunic, exposing her back to the sun. Ana recoiled at the sight.

"The pox!" the Luxorian exclaimed. "She has the pox!"

Smallpox, Ana reflected. Allah almighty, they still have smallpox.

Well, technically it could have been something entirely different, but Ana knew the symptoms. Smallpox had been eradicated over a century ago on Earth, but here, it was still known. And by the looks of things, feared.

"Go away!"

"Cast her out!"

"Take her away from us!"

"Please," the girl's mother said. "Ka will help her. Ka will show her mercy."

"Get out! Get out!"

Get out from what? Ana wondered. We're all outside.

She didn't voice her thoughts – there was no place for jokes now. Ka wouldn't help the girl. She knew that. But what else could her parents do bar travel to the Sky Temple in the slightest hope that the realm lord would help their child? If Fareeha had come down with a sickness, one that no 21st century medicine could heal, if she had been out of any options…would she have turned to prayer, even in the knowledge it would likely avail nothing?

"Mummy?"

"Come, Sari."

Yes, she supposed, as she watched Sari be led away. Away from the shrine, away from the shouts of those seeking the serpent's mercy. She would have done anything to save her daughter. And it was in that knowledge that she walked over to the family.

"Hey."

They recoiled from her – hero, champion, murderer, how did they regard her, she wondered? Maybe all those things. When Ka called, she was forced to answer.

"You," Sari's father said. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you."

Sari's mother drew her away. "We don't want your help."

"But-"

"You fight for Ka! You bring nothing but ruin to Luxoria."

"I fight because the snake god bids me. I'm as much a slave as you are."

"Lies."

"No, not lies." Ana fished around in her jacket and drew out a syringe. "Here. At least let me help your daughter."

"Help?" her father spat. "What help could you possibly provide?"

Ana sighed. She could try telling him that the syringe contained a batch of nanites that would basically correct any affliction within the body, within reason. Something like antibiotics or a vaccine would work better, but Ana hadn't come to the Nexus prepared to treat a disease that had been eradicated before even her grandmother had been born.

"Magic from my world," she said. "Magic that could help your daughter."

She went with the 'magic option.' When in doubt, go for magic, she reflected. That was what her daughter had told her, when she'd read Harry Potter to her.

"Why would we want your magic?" Sari's father asked.

Ana could tell by his tone that she was getting to him, that she had to push, but not too hard. "Because," she said, "you know that Ka isn't going to help your daughter. That he doesn't care about any of you."

"And you do?" Sari's mother asked.

"I do," Ana said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a mother. Because I lost my daughter, and in my world or this, I'd see no parent go through that pain." She sighed. "And I think you know as well as I do that your daughter has nothing to lose at this point."

The parents remained silent. Sari, who looked like the walking dead at this point, whispered something that Ana couldn't hear. She watched as the girl's mother leant down to listen to her. Watched as a tear formed in the woman's eye.

"We'll take your magic," she said. "Come."

Ana nodded. For a moment, she wondered what Morales was doing. Both of them were healers. 'Supports,' as the realm lords mockingly called them. Those who sat on the sidelines while the actual heroes did their bidding. Out of sight, out of mind. Ana was quite capable of killing, but…

But she could save this girl's life. She had lost her daughter to time and space, but this girl, Sari, she could save.

That alone could make her exile here bearable.