Chapter 323: Bastet’s Origins And Intentions

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“And so, even with the power of the Eye of Ra, I was unable to fight against both Set and Sekhmet at the same time,” said Bastet. “It isn’t that the Eye of Ra is weak, but Sekhmet caught me off guard… And I was already running low on Cosmic Energy to use the artifact.”

“And your soul was… shattered?” I asked.

“Yes, Set did it because my sister hesitated at the last moment…” sighed Bastet. “Yet she didn’t regret what she did anyway. I don’t know why… I, ugh, I don’t want to talk about this. It matters not to you anyways, right?”

“It does!” I said. “So what happened afterwards?!”

I was grooming my hair as I heard her talking.

“I showed up and saved her, the end!” said Sepa. “T-There’s no need to tell you more than that, Anna; do you want all the details of our suffering or something?”

“That’s weird though; I would have thought Set would have tried to devour your Story and your Cosmic Soul…” I said, looking at clothes I could change into. “Right?”

“That’s…” Bastet remained in silence.

“It was like a way to show his disrespect,” said Sepa. “He didn’t even want to eat her Story, he found Bastet… beneath him. In every way possible. Set is a very ruthless man.”

“Hm, well whatever the case, thankfully, my little bug friend arrived just in time!” said Bastet. “She grabbed my Soul Fragments, or whatever she could get before scavengers appeared, and ran away.”

“Since then, I’ve been hiding the fact I had her Story fragments and soul pieces with me,” said Sepa. “If Lord Anubis would have known, I am sure he would have demoted me from my position as a Minor Death Deity… As you know, my Myth, my Story, is quite small. So I couldn’t even hope to participate in that war… One of my Divinities is {Guardian of the Deceased} though, with that power, I was able to maintain Bastet’ soul fragments from decaying further; her Story, however, greatly weakened. She couldn’t go back to being a Constellation. I was trying to find someone, perhaps a mortal vessel I could inject her fragments into so she could later revive once they ascended.”

“So that’s what happened…” I nodded. “Oh yeah! And I am that vessel now, huh?”

“I-It’s not like that! I never intended you to become her vessel, Anna!” Sepa said angrily. “I never planned to become your pet either, you know? But I ended up breaking important rules. And then a higher being, a Void Ruler, appeared out of nowhere to punish me! I thought I would get demoted even further, but at the end that weird poll was made, and I ended up becoming sealed and given to you.”

“And so, because she carried my soul fragments within her Divinity,” said Bastet, pausing for a bit. “Well, I came with her! I was mostly dormant, though. But once the opportunity arose and that Skill was made, I jumped off her and into your body! The Demonic Beast Transformation Skill was the ideal recipient within you that I could take. And your System seemed to have happily assimilated me. So please don’t blame her, it’s all on me!”

She even knows about my System and everything…

But I’m surprised!

The System just accepted her getting into my body?

And I didn’t even realize…

Thankfully, Bastet was a good constellation, but what if it would have been a bad one?

Let’s hope the System doesn’t do something like that ever again…

“That doesn’t make it any better…” I sighed. “My body is not just some truck for me to carry constellations around, you know?”

“I’m well aware, but I’ve given you nothing but my assistance since I hopped into you,” Bastet smiled proudly; she wasn’t even flustered or scared like Sepa. “So I believe I’ve paid my rent well, right? The reason why you got that notification back then was because when you turned that Skill into a specialization, it ejected me out, and I ended drifting within your Spiritual Body until you finally obtained Myriad Egos, then your Spiritual Body awakened, and so on.”

“To think this whole time I didn’t had one, but TWO Constellations inside of me!” I sighed. “Well, whatever, it’s already… Too late to complain anymore. I’m glad to know more about you, Bastet. You were surprisingly honest.”

“I am an honest goddess,” she smiled pridefully. “I serve good and justice. As the original vessel of the Eye of Ra, I must be fair and just! Be grateful, if anything, for having me with you now. I am a part of you, and I am also myself. It’s an interesting feeling, honestly. To be you, and at the same time, to be myself too.”

“That sounds weird…” I said. “Anyways, I bet you want me to avenge you or something now.”

“Hm? Why, of course not,” she said. “I don’t really desire anything from you, Anna. I’ve already died technically… I’ve decided to embrace this new life at your side and be of help. I don’t really even need to ask you for it, eventually, as you progress. Ennead will stop your path. They’re that type of family. They love stomping young constellations! They either assimilate them by infecting their Stories with their own, or they kill them before they become too big of a trouble. They’re not the third largest Nebula for nothing.”

“The third largest…” I sighed. “The other two are…?”

“Of course, Olympus at first, then Asgard,” said Sepa. “It’s like… common sense; everyone knows it! Fourth would be… I think it could be Zipangu.”

Zipangu, that’s where the Chinese Myth Constellations are... Sun Wu Kong is a member there. To think they’re beneath Ennead. Is this because Ennead has been much more aggressive in terms of growth than the rest?

“Ennead… or well, as it was called before, Papyrus, was much lower,” said Bastet. “However, as Set and Anubis took over, their approach and growth have been incredibly aggressive. As I explained before, they don’t let new constellations advance. Always hunting them, forcing them to join them, or they kill them… I was lucky to have been raised back when it was called Papyrus, my father, the former Ruler of our Nebula, was a just king. Powerful, yet wise and merciful… but perhaps because of this, he was slain.”

“Did Set do it?” I wondered.

“No, father was slain in the Ragnarök, it was a time when every Nebula waged war against each other as the resources of the Realm Beyond became scarce due to the overpopulation of Constellations and the lack of assimilated Worlds,” she said. “That… got resolved in that giant war. Many died; it was… horrible, beyond comprehension.”

That’s where Fenrir was also betrayed by Uroboros and became a Fallen Constellation.

Technically, Bastet is very similar to Fenrir, betrayed and then killed.

“After that, the new generations took over,” Bastet said. “Olympus was governed by Zeus after Chronos was killed. Asgard was governed by Odin as Ymir was slain. And Papyrus… was called Ennead, and I was given the task to continue my father’s legacy, yet I was simply unable to; I lacked his wisdom and experience. Set and Anubis then saw this as an opportunity to take over, something they couldn’t do when father was alive.”

“Like father like son, huh?” I sighed, crossing my arms. “Anyways, I’m ready for breakfast; I’ll go eat… Thanks for sharing these things with me, Bastet. I now get more of what happened, and I can empathize more, I suppose.”

“I knew you would; you’re such a good-natured girl,” smiled Bastet. “You remind me so much of myself in my younger years… We’re practically identical. I guess that’s why you were so compatible with me.”

“No… We are definitely not the same!”

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