Encroaching Darkness: Ebony Game

It was raining in the streets of a small city, all was quiet and silent for the night, save for the pitter-patter of rain drops as they hit cars, windows, and concrete of the cement jungle. A red robed figure with hair as white as a sheet ran down an alleyway, smirk donning his pale features as a building came into view. Purple eyes scanned the area for a few moments before the figure ran up to the doors and materialized through them. Dark energy represented by black flames escaped the figure's robe, floating to cameras and other forms of surveillance

"Pathetic... The security here is meager at best." A bank no less was in the process of being robbed by the thief, who grinned as he approached and easily opened a safe with a wave of an arm. He entered the large safe, easily finding some money to be able to start off his new life.

"I think it's far easier to steal in this age than it was back then, don't you agree Wadjet?" The white-haired thief smirked at the cash he now held in a small bag. A ghostly snake materialized behind the thief, producing a slight hiss as it came into view. It's white wings and red eyes faintly glowing; it flicked its tongue out at the air.

"Yes, I'm positive that I disabled the alarms and cameras; if I didn't there would have been police swarming the area right now. Now go look around the rest of the place, keep a lookout as well." The winged serpent obeyed, floating out of the safe to go look around the rest of the dark bank. "You'd think that there'd be more of a challenge, especially with the new technology of today."

A hiss escaped his Ka, his spiritual snake, one that caused the thief to become tense with uncertainty, 'Don't tell me that someone has already caught on to my antics.' The thief mulled over in his thoughts, 'No way that there is anyone fast enough or smart enough to know I'm here already.'

The thief strode from his recent find out into the open of the bank to find the front doors were wide open, "Ah, so someone has already caught on, indeed." The thief looked around, trying to find the culprit that planned to intrude upon his own attempt at stealing.

"So, where's the mortal that has performed this act, Wadjet?" He looked to the floating spiritual serpent for answer, to which the snake stared at him, merely flicking its tongue out. "You have no idea...? Well, that's just great. Search for him or her then, I cannot have a mortal in my way as I perform my art."

"Thought I'd find you here." said a familiar voice from behind.

The thief turned around to around at that instant to find the intruder standing there before him, "Ugh... What do you want...?" Ateo's eyes narrowed, "I'm busy, can you not see that?"

Philip raised an eyebrow, "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to let a thief just roam free without some surveillance?" A tiny nanobot zipped from Ateo's shoulder and back to Philip. "So, what are you after now?"

"I figured I'd need a little headway." Ateo's eyes glinted, "Money is something that can give me that. In my time, money was everything, I'm going to assume it's the same here as it was then, no? Besides, the people who work here won't notice anything is gone, not right away at least." Ateo snickered to himself.

Philip looked over his shoulder to see if people were coming or not. "You do know there are ways to legally obtain money right? Like a job? Or welfare? Something like that. Stealing is not necessarily the answer." Philip faced Ateo, secretly making eyes to see if anyone was coming on the off-chance the thief tripped a silent alarm.

Ateo laughed, "You forgot my namesake didn't you?" He chuckled, "Thief King ring a bell, Philip? I can steal what I want when I want to. No one really has a say on what I do when it comes down to it. I can do whatever I want without anything holding me back now."

Philip then asked, "What about the awkwardness of being a temporal fish out of water?" He cautiously took a step forward, "Doesn't that ever get in the way. I mean you call Hebrew "the language of the slaves". God (or Ra in your case) have mercy on you if you ever go to a temple."

The winged serpent hissed, "Calm down, Wadjet. I doubt he'd actually harm me now. And in response, the gods forsook me long ago." Ateo stated, "I don't think I really need to bother with them now anyways." Ateo took out a dollar bill, looking at it carefully, "Why on papyrus, I'll never understand." Ateo mulled over the money, seemingly distracted for the moment, somehow comfortable in Philip's presence.

Philip slithered his hand, erasing his fingerprints, and took the dollar from Ateo and placed it back on the pile. "Now come on, don't want to risk getting caught do you? Why not use your dexterous hands for..." Philip stopped, muttering to himself, "Blast, what is it that people with dexterous hands do... Painting!"

"Caught? Don't think so little of me Philip. The security has been disabled." Ateo stated, "I'm not going to take up art for my life, pottery and painting was never my thing. But I got money now. It was nice seeing you for the time being, but I have more business to attend to." Ateo seemed in a rush, turning around and taking his bag of money with him too.

Philip shot out a few nanobots, trying to land on to act as a tracer again; a purple energy seemed to shock those very nanobots, to which Ateo turned around with a grin on his face, one eye widened while the other was somewhat closed, giving him a creepy expression, "Sometimes I don't think straight. But when I do, I know what you plan. Heheheh... You're such a stalker Philip. Now, stay still while I reactivate security."

Not wanting to be caught in a bank after hours, he dissolved and slithered towards the exit. Once he was outside, he looked towards the roof to see if Ateo had left already. While doing this he muttered, "I'm not a stalker... anyway, what the hell does he think I'm suppose to do. I can't just let him roam around free."

Wadjet was already flying above head, Ateo laughing maniacally at the pace the winged serpent took, "See ya Philip! Enjoy whatever time you have. Got much more fun to make tonight!" Ateo laughed until he was gone once more, heading to the nearest place to keep shelter from the rain. Philip sighed.

'Maniacal laughter is not helping your case Ateo.' He began to sprint under Wadjet, watching the snake to make sure that it wasn't looking down, getting ready to use evasive action if it did look down.

The snake flew over the city, taking its time with the travel, it looked about for any places, and spotted one far away. It began to fly over a wooded forest, Ateo on the other hand mulled about looking at the skies and the ground, "Twerp isn't following, is he?" He looked down to check for Philip. The hivemind quickly changed into a wolf form and continued to run, hoping that the two wouldn't notice.

Wadjet landed down near a cave, Ateo hopped off, "That was nice, we bagged something somewhat neat now didn't we?" Ateo grinned at Wadjet, who merely hissed and faded into nothing, for the time being. Ateo walked into the cave, unaware of Philip still on his tail. In order to avoid being noticed, Philip shapeshifted into the form of a milk snake, thinking to himself, 'What is he doing now?'

A few seconds later was all it took for Philip to realize a fire was inside the cave, Ateo merely munching on an apple and quietly counting the money he stole from the bank. Keeping to the shadow, Philip slithered closer to try to hear Ateo, if he was saying anything aside from counting.

"Bleh, dumbasses... Using papyrus for money, it was not worth much back then but it seems to be praised now. Hm?" Ateo took to looking at the mouth of the cave, seeing Philip in his snake form, "Ah, one of Apep's children wishes to keep me company for the night. Come over." Ateo beckoned, "And even if you were hiding from me, little snake, my years of living in the darkness forced me to adapt." Ateo's eyes flashed violet glowing in the shadows of the night. Philip cautiously slithered over to Ateo.

He couldn't help but think though, 'Modern money isn't papyrus. It's a mix of cloth and paper fibers. If you're going to steal stuff, might as well do the research.'

Ateo sighed, "Child of Apep, do you, by your natural instict, feel the remaining bits of darkness that still pervade the land? It was my fault that Darkness came to Earth." Ateo bit into more of his apple, his lavender eyes staring at the snake, "And what's more-" An explosion was heard, surprising Ateo and getting him to stand on his feet immediately, "What in Ammit was that?!" He ran to the mouth of the cave, to see flames shooting out from above the forest.

Philip changed into a rat and followed Ateo to the mouth of the cave, basically thinking the same thing Ateo has just said.

"Hm..." Ateo broke into a run, hurrying his way through the forest, until he came across a church that was on fire. A person with white hair wearing what appeared to be a black trench coat was walking away from the fire. "Hey! What happened?!" Ateo yelled to the person.

The figure turned around, revealing it to be Makoto, but his eyes were a deep, blood red, his expression appeared angry, "And what do you want? Oh... It's you..."

Philip looked up and saw Makoto, thinking, 'What the hell? That looks like Makoto...but he looks...different. Disturbed.'

"You're Makoto, the boy from those many nights before." Ateo stated, "While I don't mind senseless destruction, why out here?"

Makoto laughed, "Boy, do you not look into one's eyes when you speak to them?!"

Ateo took a step back, "W-what?"

Makoto walked over, "It's been so long Ateo, a little bit past 4000 years... After those stunts you pulled off, and with the recent ones now... Well, I was able to cross over to Earth once more..."

"N-No! Get back!!"

Makoto smirked, raising an arm, flicking a finger and blasted Ateo back into a tree, "Not anywhere near the power you used to have in Egypt." Philip sprinted behind a tree, dissolved into a puddle and secretly tried to slither closer to Makoto, in case something bad happened.

Ateo stood up, "You must have suffered quite a destructive end once I was sent away... Look at you now, having to possess a kid's body." Ateo laughed at Makoto, who seethed in anger.

"All would have gone right, had you followed every direction I gave you; but you didn't... And look at you now, alone and weak..."

"You mean like how I was after everyone died, nothing's changed... I'm still alone..."

Makoto gave a wicked grin, "Of course. And I came back... To help you..."

"Help me?"

Philip climbed up a tree and took the shape of an owl, watching and listening to Ateo and this...being in control of Makoto. 'Let's see what's going on.'

"Time can be reset, we can restart anew; we need to go where it all began." Makoto chuckled, "But I sense that you'll need a little convincing..." Makoto looked over to where Philip was, his red eyes piercing, "You know, all it requires is a large portion of souls and dark magic. I'm sure you'll be willing to give that sacrifice." Makoto looked to Ateo again, "Well?"

"I... I don't know... You'll have to-" Ateo was smacked across the face, "Foolish, ignorant brat. Even after so long of a time, you still know nothing." Makoto looked back up at Philip's owl form, raising his arm and suddenly shooting a black barb out from his tenchcoat's arm.

Philip melted towards the ground and reformed in his attempts to avoid the blast, turning his arm into a flail and sending it towards his attacker's torso in a non-lethal area.

Makoto smiled, merely jumping backward, though it almost appeared as if he floated, "A fine trick, one that would get someone like Ateo; but not me. Neither do your disguises deceive me, Philip..."

"Philip? What are you doing here?!" Ateo growled, "I thought I lost you when I left!!"

Philip retracted his fist, creating a sword, snapping, "Be happy I'm here to help you out!" He then focused his attention to Makoto, "Alright, what the hell did you do to Makoto? I can tell you're not something I'd fully understand, meaning it's something most would call "magic"; and you're going to be like Ateo and mock me for being clueless, so you might as well just explain it to me."

Makoto merely smiled lazily, raising his arms up as if surrendering, "I'm merely a fragment of something that once was. A friend of Ateo's from long ago." A slight chuckle emanated from Makoto, "Ateo... I'll give you a day to think it over... I trust you'll have an answer by tomorrow night." Makoto started to walk off.

"I didn't need your help, Philip. I could handle myself, you know." Ateo ground out.

Philip responded, "You don't even know what dollars are made of...or modern paper! Any way, if you are a fragment of something from the past, I guess you're a guy out of time like Ateo here. Except you weren't lucky enough to have a body."

The air grew heavy at that moment, as Makoto turned, his eyes boiling blood red, "Stay out of this... Your last warning..." Makoto suddenly disappeared.

"It appears you've angered him, though he's given you mercy by leaving Philip." Ateo laughed, "You should get out of my business you know." Ateo turned around, walking back to his cave to get warm and dry from the rain.

Philip followed, saying, "Ateo, I know a guy who fights beings of such power, someone like me has to call them "gods" solely for convenience. I tagged along and nearly died. I think I can deal with this guy, who seems mostly human. Now, tell me what you know about that guy..."

"And what makes you think I'll tell you about him, huh?" Ateo questioned, poking at his now very small fire, "He's just a mere acquaintance... Some old friend who I knew long ago..."

"Seems like he knows you pretty well. Also seems like he has quite a bit of power to him." Philip said, tossing some dry grass into the fire, feeling a touch cold from the rain and wind. "Look, I know we're not exactly friends, but I can't let some guy who randomly burned down a church run around. So I'm going to need as much information as possible."

"Hmph... While Darkness does indeed rule a realm over his own name; he did have more than one inhabitant... Ides the Shade, a demon who almost destroyed the Earth long ago..."

"So that's his name. Ides the Shade. How did he almost destroy Earth. Any record of this?"

"That information I do not know of... It'd probably be in Egypt." Ateo stated, "Under layers and layers of sand... With a bunch of dead people. I've got thinking to do." Ateo stared at the fire, looking longingly into it.

Philip simply sat down, asking, "Define, "I don't know." Is it an amnesia thing, suppressed memory, wasn't around for it? What's going on?"

"I was gone by that time." Ateo growled.

"Can't you "divine" anything from Darkness? Doesn't your "magic" allow you to do that?" asked Philip, trying to get more information from Ateo.

Ateo looked down at the ground, hiding his face, he sighed, not answering.

Philip sighed, "So. Now what should we do?"

"You're going to leave."

Philip, deciding to be smug, replied, "Well I can't face this guy alone and you're the only guy who knows what the hell we're dealing with so you're helping me out with this."

Ateo narrowed his eyes, "You don't tell me what to do. You don't order me around."

Philip crossed him arms and said, "Tell me, how many planets are there in the night sky?"

"It depends, does it not? This has nothing to do with what we're speaking of, so shut up and leave me alone..." Dark energy began to emit from Ateo.

Philip was surprisingly unphased, 'Must be from spending time with Todd.' He then asked Ateo, "So what are you going to do if I do leave? Just sit here and watch the fire?"

"Probably go to bed, and then repeat stealing from another place. Hmph... And give Ides his answer..." The darkness retracted after a few moments. Due to not really liking the answer, Philip secretly sent a nanobot Ateo's way to be a tracer.

"Sine you're clearly not going to be helpful, I'm leaving. Good evening." said Philip leaving the cave.

"Before you go..." Ateo's body burned a bright purple, destroying the nanobot, Ateo gave a creepy grin, "Should you find me deceased by tomorrow night, I'd prefer my body to be burned."

'Damn...' thought Philip, "And really? No mummification?"

"It's not reserved for me. I'm not going to the wonderful afterlife... Ammit probably already has me." Ateo sighed, "If not worse..."

Philip commented, "If memory serves, Ammit is as bad as it gets in the Ancient Egyptian religion, aside from losing your name. Unless death for you means returning to Darkness."

Ateo chuckled, "Or Ides removes my soul from my body... Won't it be sad that the only person who knows of the Lord of Darkness will be killed by the Lord himself? Of course, that is if I don't side with him."

"So, what is your answer for him?"

Ateo stood up, approaching Philip, creepy smile as per the usual, "Oh... I don't know yet... I just know it'd involve replication of my time..."

"At what cost though?" asked Philip, assuming it won't be so simple.

"If memory serves... One thousand human souls..." Ateo's expression dulled, "Ides knows how to do it. I can do it if I wanted, it just requires time and effort."

"What?" Philip replied, not liking the way that sounded. "I may question the existence of an immaterial aspect of a living being, but something tells me anything powered by them aren't good! Hell you released Darkness to free your family and people who were being used to power "mystic" items!"

"Do you think I wanted them to suffer continually? Never to see them after I myself die? That was my goal..." Ateo crossed his arms, "I didn't care whether or not Earth would suffer. I don't care if it does now... No one understands an outcast. No one cares for one." Ateo turned around, "I aided Ides before I was sealed away at the age of twenty... I released him in the hopes he'd wipe away Egypt."

Philip stretched out a now bladed arm towards Ateo, suddenly enraged, "You unleashed a psychopath 4000 years ago, that's now going to take 1000 souls to go back in time and destroy Egypt?! Don't you know what that'll do to modern mankind!?"

Ateo stared at Philip, "He was sealed away after I was. I assume when Darkness came to Earth, he found a loophole through, and was able to return to Earth as well. Why do you think I was hesitant to explain this to you?" Ateo was oddly calm.

Philip snapped again, "This is serious Ateo! Someone is going to wipe out an entire civilization, that helped shape modern society, just because he can! This is the sort of thing my friends fight a regular basis!"

"I am being serious. I've told you what I know and what I did as a child. You think I don't regret some things?!" Ateo's eyes turned a slight tint of red, "Kill me if you want, I could give less of a damn."

Philip sheathed his sword arm, "I don't kill as often any more. I have killed a man once you know. Didn't like decided not to do it anymore. I'm going to do some research on this cataclysm you mentioned." With that Philip began to walk away. He pulled out his cell phone and hit 3 on speed dial.

"Uhg, hello?" said a tired voice over the line.

"Todd, it's me Philip."

"Yeah, I know. Cell phones have caller ID. What do you want? I had a long day, killing these weird shadow demon-monster things, and a freaking dragon."

Philip asked, "Do you have your Book?"

After a moment of silence Todd answered, still tired, "I didn't but the damn thing just appeared from I don't know. What do you want?"

"I need you to look up any sort of supernatural cataclysm in ancient Egypt."

Todd replied with a slightly annoyed voice, "There were several Philip. There was that goddess that nearly ate everyone, and then there was Set's reign..."

"Here are some key words: Sealed spirit, time manipulation, 1000 souls, ritual."

"OK, I'm looking, I'm looking."

"Damn morons..." Ateo muttered to himself, shaking his head. He walked back into the cave.

Philip snapped back to Ateo, "Not one to talk!" He then returned his attention to Todd on the phone, with the sound of pages flipping on the other end, "Found anything yet Todd?"

Todd answered, flipping through the pages, "Not yet...found a few cool summons though. I can call on Ammit...with the risk of getting my heart devoured...no thank you." He continued to look through the Book.

Ateo walked back out of the cave, carrying the money he had, "You and your friend are both morons. You know nothing of Ides or how to handle someone of his strength."

Philip ignored Ateo this time and told Todd, "Oh and throw Ides in there too, see if that helps."

"What would help is if I were asleep right now." responded Todd, flipping through the book, trying to see if there was anything on Ides.

"Why don't you just throw my name into the damn equation!" Ateo growled, continuing to walk further away, grumbling to himself.

"Throw in the name Ateo while you're at it."

"...I'm never going to sleep am I?" Todd moaned, looking through the book still.