Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mason

“You ever hear about Thoth and the Book of Wisdom?” Ankh asks me. We sit in his workshop. He’s been tinkering and toying with new gadgets since he heard about Victor’s killing of Zeus. Trying to create the perfect weapon to stop a man who’s transcended being whatever a traveler is to the status of a god killer.

A Deicine?

I can’t believe that doesn’t have some weight in this. Up to this point, I haven’t heard of a new possibility in killing a god. So, I came here to Ankh. My most trusted. The only man I believe can help me solve the riddles.

And without even saying anything, he brings up a tale from his age. One that may or may not has a place in this fight. So, I listen.

“I’ve heard of Thoth, but I can’t say I recall the book,” I reply. I’m sitting in a chair on the other end of the room. Ankh hasn’t broken focus from the new toy he’s playing with for a while now. I didn’t want to interrupt. Who knows what may come from all his toying.

“The book was meant to contain all the wisdom of the world. A book, like many of his others, that in the years have gone missing and no one knows how, why, or when. Seen as the god of balance in the Egyptian culture, Thoth wrote down everything. He kept journals, books, and notes that related to everything he did and everything we did. Keeping everything in the Forsaken realm and the Earth journaled for possible future need.” I can’t help but chuckle.

“You know I came up with nothing?” He turns to face me. The seriousness of this moment was not warranting a chuckle from me, it seems. I can tell on his face that these are his thoughts.

“Yes. I know you came up with nothing. Now, since Thoth’s books are gone, we can’t go and ask him for them, but it did lead me to wonder as to where the books have disappeared to. The book of wisdom, the book of spells, the book of the dead. Things get a little complicated here because the humans started believing that Hermes and Thoth were one and the same, attributing the various works that each did as the other’s, too.”

It’s interesting enough. But I can’t help but try to lighten the tension. Ankh has never been this paranoid about something like relating to people. “The very first act of plagiarism?” I tease.

Again, the disapproving stare comes. I understand why Ankh finds this matter more serious than I’m letting on. I do. With the death of Zeus, much changes among the Forsaken. It means that there is another being out there, that isn’t Madison, that can cause great harm to them. In fact, sentencing them to the Darkness or even death. So, I can see why he’s growing increasingly upset with my jokes.

“Thoth has accrued over thirty-six thousand books in his lifespan as an Egyptian god. This goes between six thousand BC until just after. Since then, he’s written more, but those original works had more information in them than what he could ever replace. The problem I face is that the book is missing, and I do believe that if it was found, we could use it for our benefit. Now I have no theories on where it could be but they went missing around the time a few new gods entered the fold. I will speak with them all and see if they have information. I do believe that these are the keys to finding whatever Victor is,” This statement at least gives me the opportunity to add something I found out in my communing.

“He’s not that old from what I could find out. I spoke with – and you might not believe this – Vlad the Impaler.” A look of surprise washes over Ankh. He was not yet born in those years. Thus, finding out that I was the man behind the myth baffles him.

“Interesting,” is all he adds.

“He was the only who gave me information, and I brought enough back to go behind a thousand years. This being said, he’s stayed under the radar for many years, only briefly showing his face around the fourteenth and fifteenth century.”

Ankh strokes his chin and thinks for a moment.

“The book of wisdom was inscribed with the ability to continue learning and evolving, even though there was no one writing. Much like many of Thoth’s books. They would continue to feed information to and from one another. That’s why they could be beneficial. Losing them was also the reason Thoth stopped the process of letting his books learn themselves and now writes the important things down himself. Noting only, as I mentioned, the important things. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“So, if you find that book we might have the answers?”

He shakes his head. “I think I’d have to find a good amount of them, not just the one. The book of wisdom, the first I believe I’d need. Once I’ve gone through eight thousand years’ worth of reading, I can move to the next. This is a slow game now, sadly. There won’t be a quick fix to this problem.”

“Well, try it.” The only thing I can add. “If anything comes up, give me a shout. If not, I’m sure we can find another way around this situation.”

“I do hope so, Mason. I do hope so.”