Pan Post 11 opens with a Non-Story Note asserting that new Writers shouldn't feel obliged to read this post and confuse themselves. The post then progresses with Thoth, an Egyptian God of Magic, in Egypt with Hermes Trismegistus. They discuss the recent event where Princess Aurora Briarose came to Earth to stop Jeb, a rogue Æon Knight, in CatH Post ?. She helped saved Albion by reopening The Rift but Hermes informs Thoth that, with Earth's weakened magic thanks to the attack by the Latter-Day Greys of Memnoch in HFO ?, Albion is draining Earth's magic like a sponge soaking water. Thoth unveils that he has reestablished the nexus node at the Great Pyramid of Giza but this isn't enough to save the Earth.
Post[]
Project Earth[]
Non-Story Post: This posts ties with several other posts contained within different Stories. For new Writers, you may wish to skip reading this post as it does not pertain to the current main plot but a sub-plot and may be confusing.
Clear and the Hopeless: Post #45
Never-ending Story2: Post #1917
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Egypt, planet Earth, is a very hot place, even now in winter. The sun beats down on the land with unrelenting oppression. Of course the night, on the other hand, is likely to be bitterly cold. By then, however, Thoth will be gone. He stands before the Great Pyramid of Giza - the oldest standing wonder of human civilization. He has often admired the ingenuity of humanity, from the times of Atlantis right through to the modern world with its skyscrapers, motorcars and spray-on cheese (truly the greatest invention of all time in his humble opinion, even if none of the other gods seemed to share it).
He stands and gazes at the tip of the pyramid, watching seconds pass by for many hours. Until he feels a presence. He feels the presence before it even appears and he is left waiting those extra hours for the presence to manifest in time. It may have been in instant for Hermes Trismegistus, but Thoth could feel the bind of time upon the event before it occurred.
Thoth: "Can I help you, Trismegistus?"
Hermes: "Isis told me you'd be here."
Thoth doesn't turn from the pyramid.
Thoth: "Did she."
It is a statement rather than a question.
Hermes: "You must have felt the change? The Rift in Britannia has been reopened by Merlin. Merlin and the ******* heir to the throne."
Thoth: "You are aware that that word is no longer considered acceptable, Trismegistus?"
Hermes: "I am. But for a bloodline borne of incest, I think the original meaning of the word is poignant."
Thoth: "We both know one act of incest isn't going to bring calamity to any of their descendants. It seems childish of you, of all beings, to be so exclusive on such a detail."
Hermes: "It's not the descendants DNA, or the morality of it, that I have issue with. It's the blood."
Thoth: "Blood ink. As always. Sometimes I think the creation of those bloodlines was a severe mistake on behalf of the Ancient One."
Hermes: "Mistake or not, when the Fay family birthed their incestuous child, they created a deviance from what was established. I would never say a create born of incest is unnatural... except for that family. The thirteenth."
Thoth: "Then it is lucky they left the Earth behind long ago. And it seems the current generation has no interest in remaining here either. She has already left the planet."
Hermes: "Yes, yes. Now we're getting distracted. I didn't come here to discuss blood ink with you. I came to discuss Albion and the nexus."
Thoth: "You did."
Again, it's not a question.
Hermes: "Albion has become a problem."
Thoth: "Problem is quite a subjective term."
Hermes: "I don't see anything subjective about it in this context. Merlin may not have felt it yet but the nexus is no longer large enough to support the world beyond. Albion is eating the remaining magic of Earth and if we don't do something, all magic will be consumed from this planet and that puts Albion back where it was - facing its own doom."
Thoth: "It does."
Hermes, frustrated, turns to look at the top of the pyramid where the Egyptian god of magic has been staring. He doesn't see anything... but then he feels it. A tiny, frail speck within the aether.
Hermes: "Did you...?"
Thoth: "I did."
Hermes: "You continue to amaze even me."
Thoth: "Don't get excited, Trismegistus. The nexus node I have recreated here is small, weak and will not save Earth or Albion. It will take decades before it can provide aether in the region. But it is a start."
Hermes: "Can you do it again?"
Thoth: "Perhaps. It is one thing to create a nexus node, another thing entirely to reconstruct one. That I could do."
Hermes: "Perhaps there is... some way to speed up the process?"
Thoth: "Perhaps."
Hermes: "I dislike speculating on this, but those that destroyed the nexus were worshippers of Memnoch."
Thoth: "They were."
Hermes: "How do we respond to the threat of Memnoch? Without the contracts of the Ancient One, we are vulnerable. He has already demanded tribute from our Hell. He may well decide he wants more from us."
Finally Thoth turns to Hermes.
Thoth: "I feel that Memnoch is uninterested in the Earth. If he did orchestrate this plot himself, or even provoked his worshippers into causing Earth harm, then I feel he did so as part of some greater scheme that he has in play. Either that, or, he is entertaining himself at our expensive. '****s and giggles' I have heard humans say."
Hermes: "I wouldn't put it past him..."
Thoth: "The real question is... how did he know where all of the nodes were and... was he alone in his actions?"
Hermes: "You think another god helped him?"
Thoth: "Perhaps. And the worst thought is... was it one of our own?"
They both turn, in thought, towards the pyramid. The sensation of the newly recreated nexus node is like a new-born child. They have the urge to protect it and nurture it. But the ongoing attack on the magic of Earth may well expire the baby node's life.
Notes[]
Britt's Commentary[]
"This post was part of a Story-wide event that had been building up for a long time, ever since the introduction of Princess Aurora Briarose in HFO and her subsequent use in CatH. Discussion of King Arthur had been going on for some time and this discussion would link to his incestuous affair with his sister, Morgan le Fay, and the birth of their son Mordred. This wouldn't hit the story until Pan Post 25. This is also the first real characterisation of Thoth and he enters the regular deity cast. Thoth is vaguely based upon a Thoth I had made on a previous website but while there he was very silly, here he's very serious and aloof. I wanted him to seem like he's barely in the conscious world." - Britt the Writer