Owner Pose
Lydia Dietrich With the seal being mostly done (they just need to put in the finishing touches and actually /draw/ the sefirot in the city) Lydia has more time on her hands for other pursuits. Top of the priority is to find a way that she and the other members of the Justice League Dark to go down into the Egyptian underworld to help Jon fix whatever the hell is wrong with their universe.

Her first thought was to ask Isis. Her coven has her as their patron, so it only seemed appropriate. On the coffee table she's erected a small altar to the goddess. A statue of Isis, a sacrificial bowl, and an offering of rose petals, raisins, milk and bread. It's not... great, but it'll have to do until she can install something more permanent into her apartment.

Into the bowl goes the pages of the journal that contains the knowledge of how to call upon the void to trap an angel. She deemed this spell too dangerous to chance getting into the wrong hands. If done wrong it could tear open reality and let the void consume the universe. But still, being able to bind an angel, an archangel no less, is knowledge that shouldn't be lost to the ages, so she's offering this up to Isis as a sacrifice. If it's needed again in the mortal world, the goddess will find a way to get it back into human hands.

She takes a step back, eyeing her work. She's dressed for the part. Simple white linen robes, tied at the waist and knotted with a tjet. It took her a good hour to figure out how to tie one, and even then it's a poor representation. Again, time was her enemy, and hopefully the Goddess can see it in her heart to forgive her such a sloppy summoning.

She clutches the pendent hanging from her neck. A simple ankh with a moonstone scarab set in the middle. It was given to her by the coven, and through it connects her to her sisters. As she kneels, she closes her eyes and reaches out to them for aid. Through it she can feel the love and warmth they share as they answer her call, to bolster her summoning.

"Oh, Isis," she begins in English, setting the pages of the spell in the sacrificial bowl alight. "Great Mother and giver of life, keeper of ancient knowledge and Queen of Pharaohs, Please accept this offering." Already she can feel the power of her magic sing, the motes of light that dance about her burn brighter in their amber glow as more pop into existence. "I call upon you in our hour of great need.
Chas Chandler     The summoning usually results in the mind being given a portion of the notice of the divine being called to your aid. But that was under normal circumstances. Things as they are in the world are far from normal. Lydia's mind takes a journey.

    From her apartment before the alter crafted to her goddess, across open water. The Atlantic and then to the Mediteranea Sea before turning south over Egypt. Even further she goes. To the great city of Giza. Beyond the sky scrapers and cosmopolitan growth to the ancient outcropping of monoliths that define the area.

    The pyramids.

    They stretch before her eyes: the great triad of Menkaure, Khafre, and Khufu, along with their associated smaller pyriamids and the Great Sphinx and all assocaited temples. Her -ka- floats over the complex for a while before something tugs on it and she dives into the stones of Khufu. But she doesn't stop. Up and up and up she flies. Higher than the stars, beyond the night sky and into a great city in the heavens. The great land of the gods of Egypt: Heliopolis.

    Her soul mingles for a while, the marvels of the city laid out before her before she finds herself in a meeting hall before a large chair: more a throne and upon it a goddess. Her bronze skin shines with dinvine light and her eyes are dark pools of wisdom. She wears a sheath dress of red and gold. Behind her on either side of her throne is a great staff and an ankh. Above the throne is the great horns of a cow and the solar disk. Her eyes, deep pools of yellow gold regard the Acolyte before her and she smiles. "And once again you return to us, child. I greet you and bid you well in my chamber. To what end do you seek my council?"
Lydia Dietrich Lydia quirks an eyebrow. Once again? Curious. She would ask about that but more pressing matters are at hand. "Thank you for granting me this audience," she says, bowing deep at the waist. "As you no doubt know, the fate of our universe is in peril, and I am one of the ones who have been tasked with bringing it into balance. As I am about to conclude one step of our journey, the next will, I'm afraid, lead us into the Duat."

"One of our own will travel there through normal means, but the rest of us will need to travel there while still alive to assist him in his task," she explains. "Which is why I come to you, to beseech you to show us the way when the time comes."
Chas Chandler     Isis makes a silent 'ah' at the explanation. "A dangerous road, but I know of what you speak. The quest of the Feather Bearer." She rises and steps down from her place on the throne. As she approaches Lydia her size diminishes and while she is still quite tall for a woman, her stature is not as imposing. "There are a number of components you will need for this quest, you understand? You are to facilitate two of those components yourself."

    "Follow me," she says gesturing for Lydia to follow to a tall stand with a book and a quill on it. "You will first need a door. This is something I can give you with ease and something with your renewed strength can facilitate." She takes up the quill and begins to write. "For the other components. Three of them are the Champions. Getting the three of them to work together will be no small feat. But it -must- be accomplished."

    She pauses and writes a bit more. "You will need a Lightbearer. The path through Duat for those not ordained are dark as pitch and without a light you will be trapped forever. You will also need one who has overcome death to guide you back from the depths when you are finished." She regards Lydia and nods. "You can facilitate this as well." She writes this down as well and then stops.

    "But Jonathan will need one more thing if he is to remember what he must do. He needs an achor. One intrisicly fitted to his heart. One he loves that will remind him of that heart and rekindle his -ba- when faced with the decision he must make." She turns to write this down as well. "That is quite a bit to remember and so I have written it down. Even so, do you have questions?"
Lydia Dietrich Lydia obediently follows the goddess as she makes her way to the book. She nods along as Isis speaks, making mental note of each of the components that are needed. "Let me make sure I have this right. Three champions," she repeats. "One to light the way, that'd be Phoebe. She's light incarnate. One who has overcome death, that would be myself. I'm not sure how I'll lead them back but I'm sure it'll become obvious once I'm there. And one to rekindle Jon's heart. That would be either Martin or Cael, and since Martin can't go... we'll have to take Cael."

"Yes. One question, as relating to my soul. Since I'm undead.... how will that work down there?" She squinches her eyes shut, remembering all that she can about the Egyptian views of the soul. "If I were Egyptian, I would have no -ka-. Does that not apply to me since I'm... well... Jewish, I guess, for now." She hasn't put much thought into it lately, she hasn't had time, but when she /does/ think about it the less faith she seems to have in God. Not for the first time she's thought about turning her back on Them and focusing on Isis.
Chas Chandler     Isis makes a note on her page. "The three champions -in addition to- those figures I spoke of. Jonathan is the one chosen by Gaea. The one chosen by Michael needs to be with you as well as the one who walks the path of Freedom. Six individuals in total. Hence why unifying them will be likely the hardest of the tasks to acquire these compnents. But all six are necessary for this to work, otherwise, it is all for naught."

    She smiles at Lydia. "What makes you think your -ka- is non existent?" She gestures to the meeting hall around them. That you stand here, in this place, where only gods and those with -ka- of sufficient strength may stand should be enough evidence to let you know your -ka- is quite intact. It may not exist in the nature of what it once did. But you should know by now that there is far more to -life- than a beating heart and expanding lungs."
Lydia Dietrich Lydia nods, glad that she asked for clarification. "Okay. I know who Michael's chosen is, but the one who walks the path of Freedom? Can you tell me who that might be, or is that something we have to discover ourselves?"

"I..." she stammers at Isis's rebuttal of the state of her soul. She shakes her head and chuckles, "I guess I get too wrapped up in the fiction that I enjoy writing so much."
Chas Chandler     "I dare not speak her name here lest it attract her notice" Isis says. It's not fear in her tone, but caution. Whoever this 'Champion of Freedom' is must be quite powerful. "Neith's Chosen knows her... give the name I have given to him and he will understand who it is you must seek."

    She smiles again. "One's -ka- is more than simply a physical description of life. It is the concept of vital essence. You don't breath and your heart does not beat. But you love. You eat. You exist in a way that makes ripples along the lives of others. That alone is enough to give you a -ka-."

    "When you travel down into Duat, you will find it difficult but you have things that tie you to the surface. Those you love. Things you must see to. Purpose that you must fulfill. Decision you must make." She takes one of Lydia's hands into her own. "Think of these things and you will find you strength to leave renewed."
Lydia Dietrich Lydia nods. "If Jon knows who you speak of then that's good enough for me," she says. She's silent for a moment as Isis talks about what makes one have -ka-. "I..." she isn't sure what to say, to have her humanity reaffirmed like this. "Thank you for your wisdom."

The things that tie her to the surface. Her mind immediately goes to Raven and the all-but-in-name proposal she gave the other night. Normally she wouldn't be able to blush but here in Heliopolis, her soul remembers her warm body better than she does. The hand that isn't taken by Isis goes to her cheek to feel the warmth. "I have a family to get back to." She shakes her head. "Families. How could I have been so blessed to have three?" she muses. "If I need an anchor to bring me back, I have many to choose from, but only one for which my heart sings. I promised her that I will always be there for her. It's not a promise I intend on breaking."
Chas Chandler     "Of course child." Isis replies and tears the page with the instructions on what is needed and the words needed to open a Gate to Duat. She presses the page into Lydia's other hand.

    "You have all you need then." She smiles and gives the vampire a nod of respect. I trust you will succeed. Know that I am always near should you need me. I promise, in normal circumstances the trip is not as... direct as this one. But your world is flooded with circumstance that is far from normal." Isis then takes both of Lydia's hands and grasps them by the forearms and kisses the vampiress on each cheek. "Go and spend time with your own anchor. Strengthen the bond you share to make your return all the easier."

    The city of Heliopolis fades away and Lydia is once again in her apartment, but in her hand is a piece of parchment written in a flowing hand in English. Proof that her time with the goddess was more than simply a vision of the mind.
Lydia Dietrich Lydia opens her strange golden eyes and looks down at her hands. How strange it is that her soul remembers how it is to be alive in the traditional sense. She remembers the blush, the beat of the heart, the pumping of the lungs, and shock of that all gone again stings somewhat. How long will it take before her soul gets used to this changed vessel?

She looks at the parchment that's been handed to her by her Goddess, and carefully folds it in quarters. She pauses, to touch her cheek where Isis had kissed her. She could still feel the warmth of it. How can a distant and largely uncaring God compare to this, she muses as she gets up to stow the paper away in her purse. They can't, she concludes.

She decides that the rest of the night is going to be an off night. Tonight is going to be a night to reaffirm her love for Raven. After all, her Goddess all but demanded it.