Labyrinth Through The Mirror of Time Chapter 16

 Chapter 16: The Birth of the Twins

The network crash didn't affect the atmosphere in Shahrazad’s house at all. The mission of the white cat didn’t need the internet or electricity. It only needed the magic of the Collar of the Two Skies and the purifying presence of the white cat.

Demir’s bedroom was quiet and smelled pleasant and sweet, just like always. Shahrazad repeated the familiar ritual with the cedar-resin twine. Everyone, including Samir, was deep in thought. They all wondered if the awakening of the Mirror of Time had anything to do with the apocalyptic reality they had suddenly been thrown into. For a highly high-tech world, losing all technology felt like birds evolving backwards into reptiles.

After Shahrazad set the sea-turtle clock, Remi felt her collar vibrate again, accompanied by the steady, calm countdown. Her eyelids felt like lead once more. She woke up inside the Wall of Ether, holding Demir’s hand.

"The mirror is repairing itself!" the boy said instantly. "Am I going to save my mum?"

Remi, who was a woman again in this new dimension, placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Where are we this time?"

They were in a long corridor with polished white limestone floors. The walls were covered in massive murals painted with mineral colours—ochre, lapis lazuli blue, and brick red. They showed the sun disc of Aten extending its rays like protective hands. Servants with various tasks and maidservants hurried past silently in single file, making the hallway look like a busy modern pavement.

"Look!" Demir said, pointing.

Very close to the wall, in the diagonal light pouring through the narrow window slits, two cats were trying to blend in. One was a white cat that looked exactly like Remi-Bise, wearing the exact same collar. The other was the black furball, Mehyt.

"Let’s follow them," Remi said. Remembering they were invisible to everyone else, she grabbed the boy’s hand and quickened her pace to catch up with the ancient cats.

"Psst, Mehyt! Psst!"

The black tomcat stopped, looking annoyed.

"You lot again? Don't you ghosts ever say hello?"

"Forgive us, Your Darkness! What is happening?"

The white cat, who looked just like Remi, stopped too. She measured the writer from head to toe and, with utter shock, barely managed to speak.

"Mum? Are you the spirit of our mother?"

Remi swallowed hard. She squeezed Demir’s hand tightly but didn't get a chance to answer because Mehyt cut in first.

"She’s not your mum, Meritbastet! She looks like her, and like you lot, but she’s not your mum! These ghosts keep showing up, asking me to help, and then they disappear... I don't get what's wrong with them, but look at her neck. We share the same faith!"

"My sister is in labour," Meritbastet said. "I don't have access to the palace, so I took this form. Let’s hurry, Mehyt!"

Barefoot maidservants rushed past them, treading on the woven mats placed along the centre of the floor. Their long, tight-fitting Kalasiris dresses were made of linen so fine it was practically see-through. Their eyes were heavily lined with black khol, and their wide turquoise-beaded collars gave Remi a powerful sense of déjà-vu. In fact, she felt as if she and Meritbastet were the exact same person, like seeing herself in a dream about something that happened a long time ago.

They pressed on through guards with massive, muscular bodies that looked carved from stone. Their skin was sunbaked, and they wore short aprons made of coarse linen and wigs. They passed maidservants carrying bronze trays and porous ceramic amphorae on their heads, along with towels and bowls filled with blue lotus petals. The air was thick with the heavy scent of warm sweat, nard oil, and burning myrrh.

Finally, they reached a tall, majestic archway covered by a heavy drapery of royal purple linen, embroidered with solid gold threads along the edges. The two cats slipped underneath the folds of the curtain, and Remi and Demir followed them curiously.

Once inside the royal chamber, Meritbastet looked around, sighed with relief, and transformed right back into a woman.

Remi could hardly believe her eyes. She had been struggling for over three months to become human again, yet this young girl, the queen's twin sister, could shapeshift at will while still wearing the collar around her neck.

Inside the Queen's quarters, the atmosphere was suffocating, intimate, and heavy. Reed blinds at the windows filtered the light into golden stripes, keeping the room in a dim semi-darkness that wasn't cool at all. The air was hot, thick with the smell of fresh, warm blood mixed with burning incense.

Surrounded by four midwives, the queen seemed to be in terrible pain. She wasn't on a bed or a birthing table. Instead, she was half-squatting, leaning against two large, ritual birthing bricks decorated with the face of the goddess Hathor. A sheen of sweat covered her pale skin. Her linen dress was wet, pulled up to help bring the babies into the world.

Meritbastet stepped closer to her suffering sister. She pressed her lips first to her forehead, kissing her gently, and then to her ear, whispering prayers and spells.

"Don't leave me, sister! Stay here, right beside me! Don't let the High Priest into my rooms! This child..."

A loud, vigorous cry of a baby cut through the hot air. Inside the Wall of Ether, Demir’s breathing turned ragged again.

"Calm down, Demir, everything is going to be fine! You lot are already born... just breathe!"

The midwives immediately took the baby to clean him and check his body. Then, completely unexpected by everyone around the queen, another vigorous cry announced the arrival of the second baby.

"You have two perfect children, little sister! Hold them close."

At that exact moment, one of the maids announced the arrival of the Pharaoh. Meritbastet instantly transformed back into a cat. She sat quietly next to the black tomcat by the wall, right underneath the window. They looked like two expertly carved statues.

"Did you see that?" Remi whispered. "She shifts from one form to another without any effort at all. What happened to these collars over time?"

The buzzing of the sea-turtle clock announced the end of the journey and the fading of the magic inside the Wall of Ether.

Remi opened her eyes, but she felt more exhausted than ever. Leaping off the boy’s chest, she forgot about the connection Shehrazad had made. Her sudden movement accidentally jolted the child’s body hard, nearly throwing him right out of the bed.