The Foust Chronicles: The Red Pyramid Scheme

The Foust Chronicles: The Red Pyramid Scheme
By SF_THRAWN

Just Another Ordinary Day.
 By- Arthur Foust

I woke up to the sound of an obnoxious baby yelling in my ear. This had happened quite a few times so I had found a way to adapt to it. I closed my eyes and began to concentrate on the hum of the engine. At two thousand feet above sea level you need to find other solutions to problems, it was just a part of my life.

My name is Arthur Foust, son of the infamous Dr. Foust, world renown archeologist and failed father, well, that’s what my mom thinks. After the divorce he got into a massive legal battle over custody of me and my estranged sister. Thanks to her, he can’t be in Italy on any day of the year except for, well, today (and April fools). He does some pretty cool stuff if you ask me, that means that I get to go to some pretty cool places, from the deep parts of the Yunnan Rainforest to inside the Pyramids in Mexico. I was pulled out of my head by the man himself, it was time. We walked out of the Airport to be greeted by a rundown taxi that reeked of sweat and broken dreams. You know, the usual stuff.
 
My ‘Brother’ Is One Dumb [REDACTED].
 By- Sopia Foust

I’m going to make this short and sweet, I hate my entire family. My name is Sopia Foust and as soon as I turn 18 I’m going to change my last name to anything other than Foust. The world we live in is twisted and I hate it so my plan is to drop off the map as soon as I get my degree in an ACTUAL line of work. But until then I’m stuck with a family in a china shop. 

The visitation starts with a knock on the door and me screaming into a pillow. As soon as I pull it together and open the door my mom starts a long line of swears in and ONLY IN italian. Arthur pulls me out of my house because he thinks he is saving me, I might need to shave off some of his excess skull because he is SO dense.

“How are you?” He asked

“Why do you care?” I snapped back

“I care because we are siblings.” He sounded hurt.

“What a model pair we are.” I retorted.

Then Dr. Foust walked up to me.

“Good morning dear daughter.” He said to me.

“So what boring museum are you going to drag me to today?” I asked.

“The Italian museum of natural history.” He said, sort of like I would enjoy it.

Then my mom ran out and threw a high heel at him.

Orisiris.
  By- Dr. Foust

It’s been some time. I sent letters out to the pantheon, who knows if we will actually meet. I can feel him, well not really because magic is just cave-person for science, but the point still stands. I can’t do this via conventional means so what I am doing just might suffice. This is very unlike me…

A Terrible Time.
  By- Sopia Foust

The car ride was a genuine waist of time. Arthur was talking about all of his adventures and Dr. Foust was as still as a dead body. We rolled into the parking structure, I looked up at the massive dinosaur that towered over the cars and down at the bored school kids that lingered by its feet. We walked into the main atrium and past the oddly calm taxidermy polar bear. He pulled us off to the side of another taxidermy creature, this time it was a mammoth.

“I have some news that I need to break to both of you.” Dr. Foust announced.

Arthur looked up at him but I was just focused on the mammoth and how I could make it to it’s back.

“Me and your Mother have agreed to some terms. Sopia, from this day on you are under my official supervision.”

This snapped me out of my schemes.

“Go on.” I forced out, suppressing the crack in my voice.

“You will be joining me and Arthur in our move to Brooklyn. I know a few people over there, they will be your teachers for the foreseeable future.” He announced.

“And the mammoth?” Arthur asked.

“It’s extinct.” He said plainly.

Back On A Plane.
  By- Arthur Foust

I was deep in the pages of a book, but I wasn’t reading, I was in thought. Sopia would be joining me as we go to a mystery school. This mystery school was full of people that my father ‘knew’ and the last time I had met someone that my father ‘knew’ he asked me if I was willing to part with one of my molars. Also as far as I knew Brooklyn was not a great place, and his opinions of the schools there were pretty clear. He claims to have seen a few kids from a school in Williamsburg, (‘B.A.R.F.’, for the record. The school known as B.AR.F. It is a school that has its own stories.) fight over a bag of Doritos at the top of the Empire State Building. After this incident he became fiercely determined to improve his childhood school; in under a month’s time he accomplished his goal and placed himself as the History teacher. (although he never got any time to teach because of his job.) Turbulence rippled through the cabin and I figured now would be the best time to rest. I leaned back and turned to my side, Sopia looked at me and promptly slapped me like it was her birth right. I suppose it was.

Dumbo.
  By- Sopia Foust

Dumbo was a name I called Arthur, but it also turned out to be a place in Brooklyn. Dr. Foust pushed us out of the airport and into a limo that he had called up. I decided to take that time to try and sleep.

I heard the pop of the car door and sat up. The man who had just driven us to wherever we were looked inside. He looked a little like Andy Serkis, so in short, not a pretty guy.

“Mr. F-Foust, welc-come bac-ck.” He stuttered.

“Thank you Bobby.” Dr. Foust thanked him and stepped out.

I followed suit and looked up at the building, we were at the corner of Adams and John, the brick and glass walls towered over us. To my left was a simple bike rack but what was behind it that really mattered. The bold Manhattan skyline. 

“Welcome to The Carter Institution.” Dr. Foust announced.

We walked into the brick building. Hanging over our head was a model of a woman with rainbow wings, they were casting a wide variety of color on the students that congregated in front of us. Extending past them were four humans with dog heads who looked at four hallways, each hall presumably leading to different classes. Past the dog-people a massive set of steps lead up to who knows where.

Set.
  By- Dr. Foust

I am here now. It’s also confirmed that Set has managed to come back from the brink. I feel that his continued involvement will only result in disaster.

Set Things In Motion.
  By- Arthur Foust.

Just hold on because this is where things speed up, for everyone.

I was sitting in the middle of Introduction, (which counted as a class. apparently.) when the projector started to puff red, plumes of smoke snaking out of it. I looked around to see if anyone was worried. They were, but more than anyone should normally be.

“Hey, is this a normal occurrence?” I asked the girl next to me, she looked ready to pull her hair out.

“They’re here. They’re here.” She repeated over and over again.

“Who is?”

“Set.”

Suddenly from around the room, from multiple people, a voice spoke. It was deep and gravely and it seemed to rock everyone to their core.

“We-I am-are Set,” multiple voices started to overlap, “and we-I am on the-a mission. we-I wish to reveal-unravel the great-only lie that these morons-fools-excuses that claim to be your teachers feed-inform to you. Follow the sound. Be free.”

Before any teacher could arrive the voice, Set, was gone. I looked over at the projector, it had stopped smoking but in its place was a new problem. A man in a red suit stood over me. 

Period 2
  By- Sopia Foust

I was in Mrs. Lauper’s room, (Science if you were wondering) when over the intercom an emergency assembly was called. You know, this really shows Dr. Foust’s priorities, bring his daughter to Brooklyn then drop her at a school with nothing. Real good Dad, nice going. 

Anywho, the assembly was smooth, if we ignore the whole cult ceremony. 

We were rushed into the lunch room, which looked like the Rainforest Cafe exploded and the janitors couldn’t clean it fast enough. We looked up at the stage. Past the smoke, two shadowy figures were holding down a third figure who was squirming with a bag over their head. Around me people covered their face with whatever they could find. The figures pulled the third to the edge of the stage and pulled off his bag. I looked at my brother and cheered.

“Your motivation is sickening and I love it,” Someone said from behind me, “But I would put that energy into your studies.”

I looked at whoever said that. He was lanky and tall, his black turtleneck paired well with his maroon blazer.

“What you have just seen is what we, the teachers, fear. Cults are on the rise in this school and in order to prevent that we plan on putting a system in place. So if you see something, say something. The more things you see and report, the more you get rewarded.”

He looked at the stage. The two figures had run off and Arthur was catching his breath. Dr. Foust ran up to him and helped him off the stage. The teacher who made the announcement walked up to me.

“Really shows you where his priorities lie.” he whispered to me. “You can call me Mr. Malifer.”

Triple Take.
  By- Arthur Foust

I felt like I had just been flashbanged. I took a deep breath in and looked at the odd face of Dr. Foust, he usually looks like an at peace corpse but in this instance he was scared. This snapped me back to reality and in that instance I stopped thinking about everything that had happened to me.

“Are- are you scared?” I asked.

“No. Fear is something that doesn’t exist within the body of people like us.” He said, his eyes relaxing.

“I’m calling your bluff.” Sopia said as she nonchalantly walked up to us, a mound of teachers following her, demanding to know what that one teacher told her.

Dr. Foust looked at the crowd behind her and just shrugged it off.

“Doctor!” my math teacher spoke up “Let’s face the music, this was the work of Set.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Still,” he looked at me, “better safe than sorry.”

Dr. Foust was silent for a while. Until he finally spoke up.

“Fine. We do it tonight.”

I’m Sorry?
  By- Sopia Foust

Once class was over I was told to meet Arthur and Dr. Foust at the front door. Once we were finally together they opened the door for me like I was some important person. I turned around and flipped them the bird. Arthur’s skin turned pailer than the moon and Dr. Foust let out a guttural laugh. I turned around to head to the limo when I saw a fairly young man. He looked like he was in his twenties, his cream colored khakis somehow blended seamlessly into his Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” shirt. He stood askew because of the cane that he needed to rely on.

“Darling. You really must be kinder to your loving father.” he leaned in and stared me down with his golden eyes, “You know that he does love you right?”

He leaned back and opened the door for me but this time I wasn’t mad. I stepped in and looked right into the eyes of another stranger, the librarian. Unlike the gentleman that opened the door his eyes were emerald; and disgusting. They shook as if they were tracing me so he could dissect me in his head when he got the time.

“Foust.” he announced, “Your daughter puts on a strong facade in order to hide her true feelings about this situation. She wants you to think that she is just going with it but in truth she hates you for your favoritism of Arthur.”

“This your professional opinion?” he asked, I had no clue he and Arthur had climbed in.

“Sir. I have been right every time.”

“Hmm, Bobby! Everyone is present!”

The lights inside of the limo dimmed and eventually shut off. 

“Get some sleep because it’s going to be a long minute.”

[A LONG MINUTE LATER]

I don’t think shaken is the right word in this case. My foot was repeatedly poked until I woke up from my slumber. I stepped out of the car and looked up at a set of pillars. I knew off the bat that we were at a museum because Arthur was having a hard time keeping himself together. I walked past him and jogged up the steps where the cream khakis dude was waiting by the door with some of the other teachers. I noticed that they had these things loosely attached to paper-clips on their lapels. 

Life Changing.
  By- Arthur Foust

Once I had collected myself, I finally walked up the stairs to the American Museum of Natural History. I was excited about going to this place for one reason, this museum was famous, its inclusion in movies is the driving force behind its popularity and that drove me to want to know everything I could about this place so visiting it was, well, inspirational.

I walked up the steps, counting them as I went. I soon realised that everyone was looking. I hurried up the remaining ten and faced the perpetually annoying face of Sopia.

“Get your quips out now.” I told her.

“I’ll hold off. Geek.” She said.

Dr. Foust and Mr. Gates (Or as Sopia knows him, cream khakis dude.) opened up the front doors for us. They then lead us through the halls and past the massive whale to the egyptian hall of artifacts.

“All right. Me and the teachers need you two to wait out here for a couple of minutes while we get things ready. Some people might join you in the wait.” Mr. Gates told us as he closed the doors.

The Wait
  By- Sopia Foust

Ok so Mr. Gates is full of [REDACTED]. He talked about the wait like it was just some little thing but after an hour Arthur and I were starting to get a little tired. Mr. Gates also said that we should be expecting other people to join us and even then it took a minute. Soon enough though people did walk around the corner. The one guy was about as tall as me, he looked like that one dude from Black Panther, Daniel Kaluuya. The other person, a girl (who would make any person looking for a life-partner smitten) had a gaze that made you feel like the most important person in the world. Although the guy’s body language told us that she was a force to recon with.

“Hey, my name is Arthur. How are you today?” He asked the girl innocently enough.

“My day got ten times worse now that I met you.” She chirped.

I took a shocked step back. I was certainly not a lady-like person but I certainly wasn’t a total [REDACTED].

“Only I am allowed to ruin this moron’s day.” I spoke up.

“Gee thanks, sis.” Arthur said, sarcastically.

“Well in that case I will beat you now and claim that honor.” she said right before she swung at me.

For some absurd reason that I care not to know, Arthur pulled me back and took the hit for me.

“Whoa!” The guy finally spoke up. “This is not a great way to make friends. Allow me to teach you two. My name is Alexander Jones Jr. and I feel like it is a personal honor to meet the son of the infamous Dr. Foust.”

“Well sir,” Arthur said after he stopped grabbing his jaw “it’s an honor to meet the son of Alexander Jones.”

“Who?” me and the brat asked at the same time.

“A founding board member of the Society of Black Archeologists. My father worked with this group to verify some Olmec artifacts in the past.” Arthur proclaimed.

“He sends his regards by the way.” Alexander said. “Now it’s your turn Nina.”

“My name is Nina Reiss and I suppose that it’s an honor to meet you.” Nina introduced herself to me.

“Feelings mutual.” I coldly responded.

Not a second later the doors to the hall opened up with Mr. Gates on the other side of them, a massive smile on his face.

“I’m so glad that you four where able to set aside your differences. We feel that we can now have this meeting without any commotion or in-fighting between you all!” He said, sounding pretty chipper for a guy who just manipulated a couple of kids.

The Meeting
  By- Arthur Foust

Nina, Alexander, Sopia and I walked into the hall. Both sides were covered in priceless valuables and placards explaining their significance. In the back where a couple of glass cases with mummies inside. In front of the mummies the teachers were standing shoulder to shoulder around a table. Behind the teachers that were the farthest apart two massive statues towered over them, one was the avian god Horus watching diligently over the other, the dog-like god Set. Above us was a dark blue tapestry with holes poked in it, looming over the four of us where the brightest points. (it would be after the meeting that I realized that I was staring at Nut, the egyptain goddess of the sky.) 

“Gates. If you ever do that to my kids again I’ll forcibly take your job.” Dr. Foust threatened him.

“Take it easy man. It was for the better.” Mr. Gates said.

Dr. Foust shrugged and continued.

“We are gathered here for a very important reason. The re-emergence of the cult known as Set.” Dr. Foust exclaimed.

“Pardon the interruption,” Nina butted in, “but Set is, and has always been, one body. So with this being said, there is no way that Set can be a cult.”

“I wish it was that way.” our librarian answered, “In the past Set has been the name given to the leader of the cult. From there he would give orders to his lakies and his lakies would repeat the order down the line. Hence a cult, or if you prefer other words, a pyramid scheme of evil.” 

“Ok. why don’t you deal with it then?” Sopia asked.

“Great question. If we were to it would be highly frowned upon. Ever wonder why bullying is still a thing? Or why D.A.R.E. didn’t work? We could get involved anytime we want but we can’t because parents would probably sue.” My math teacher, Mr. Allan, explained.

“But we can defeat it through you.” our silent geography teacher, Ms. Kenyon, spoke up. “We are your power; with our permission you will be able to do more risky things during your time as the protectors of our school.”

“Well said.” Dr. Foust said “But not all of us can fully interact with your mission. Take me for example. Set has destroyed my puppet in the past and so I can now only interact by pushing you all in the right direction.”

“What would we need to do to have you at ‘full power’?” Nina asked.

“You would need to raise the sun…” Mr. Gates muttered.

“No, they aren’t ready for that death mission.” Mr. Allan told him.

“To have me at full power you would need to find the final piece of Orisirus but I fear that Set already has that.” Dr. Foust answered, ignoring Mr. Gates and Mr. Allan

“So now we know why you all need us. But how are we going to take down an entire cult?” I asked.

“By slicing off the head.” Sopia’s science teacher, Mrs. Lauper told us.

“As one does.” Nina muttered.

“Once the cult falls, who will take the credit? Because if it’s all up for grabs then I call dibs.” Sopia asked.

“Another excellent question. Alex, if you would please.” Dr. Foust said.

“Understood.” he said as he stepped forward, “As I am sure you have all noted; our school is dominated by Egyptian iconography, sorta like a Cheesecake Factory of knowledge. This has sparked many things but the most important of them all, and the problem that we now face, is Set. So in order to conceal our identities from the teachers that are not currently in this room the ones that are present have decided that we will be using puppetry so the teachers have a thing that they can pin the blame on once Set falls.”

“So they made scapegoats.” I said.

“We did not. You will.” Our librarian said.

“I feel like I keep on having more questions than answers.” Nina said while she rubbed her temples.

“I think what she is trying to say is this, what exactly is it that we are making? Is it our own gods because I think the teachers got it covered.” Sopia pointed to the teacher’s lapels where small recreations of Egyptian gods rested, everyone had one except for Dr. Foust and Mr. Gates.

“Alex please continue.” Dr. Foust said.

“You got it. There is a popular book series written by Rick Riordan featuring kids who are vessels for the powers of the Egyptian gods. We are to make these characters as puppets and once we complete the mission of destroying the cult of Set we will leave these puppets behind as a calling card.” Alex explained.

“I will also be available if you find yourself at a roadblock or if you believe that your alias has been discovered and traced back to you.” Our librarian finished.

“Sounds simple right?” Mr. Gates asked.

Slow Down
  By- Sopia Foust

After that meaty chapter I think people might need a break right? How about you enjoy this nice relaxing video of some waves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_O7nl0Ii0 

Arthur’s comment: What is this?

Sopia’s comment: Well after your word vomit above I think people deserve a break.

Arthur’s comment: Fine. Please just continue with the re-telling.

I don’t remember the drive back to my sleeping arrangement, or where my sleeping arrangement even is for that matter. 

I woke up and looked at the white ceiling. To my right where a pile of clean clothes and a paper person on top of them all. I looked at its perpetually pissed face and decided to take it with me. I walked out of the door and got a good look around. Each door was like mine and that probably meant that others also lived here. I closed my door and walked down the hall. Once I got to the end I walked down the first set of steps to the landing that was between the two sets. I looked around at my surroundings and I then realised that we were at the school.

“Pretty cool huh?” Arthur asked from behind me.

“Not really if I am to be truthful. I don’t really like school.” I answered.

“Huh? Oh! The living arrangement is just temporary so I wouldn’t freak out that much.” he responded. “Besides, I wasn’t talking about school.”

I looked at what he was talking about. In the palm of his hand was a small puppet, similar to the one in my pocket.

“Apparently it’s one of the characters from that book series that Alexander was talking about yesterday. Where is yours by the way?”

“I left it in my room.” I lied to him as I walked away to search for breakfast.

In truth I never found breakfast. I know that in order to end this I need to find the final piece of Orisirus. Dr. Foust said that Set was guarding it but I have the strangest feeling about that. I know that Set is multiple people and that ‘he’ can divide ‘his’ attention but to go to any length to protect a piece of paper is ridiculous. Plus, if I explain this predicament to a certain teacher who is very concerned with cult related activities he might give it to me after taking it from wherever Set hid it.

I know what this sounds like but just know that I want to go back to living my normal life and start putting all this junk behind me.

Back On Track (And Right Into A Roadblock)
  By- Arthur Foust

Arthur’s (passive aggressive) comment: I thought you were going to get to ‘the good stuff’.

Sopia’s comment: If you want something done then you do it yourself.

Arthur’s comment: Then why did you volunteer to help out on the ‘extra-credit assignment’?

Sopia’s comment: [NO COMMENT]

It was immediately after Sopia walked off to find breakfast that Alex and Nina appeared behind me.

“What was that all about?” Alex asked, sounding half-hearted.

“Oh it’s nothing. Why did you want to know?” I responded.

“It’s nothing.” He said, echoing me.

“Ok. Just don’t go off and develop feelings for my sister.”

Nina suffocated a laugh.

“My personal thoughts about your sister have nothing to do with what I was going to tell you.” he started, “I was going to suggest that we go and talk to the librarian before the first class of the day gets started that way we get a headstart and don’t miss any lessons.”

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” I mumbled.

We were on our way to the library when Alex and Nina finally pulled out their puppets. Nina had someone called “Zia” and Alex had “Walt”. I pulled out my puppet and looked at its squinty eyes, the tinfoil khopesh it held lightly poked my hand.

“So why did you give me this one?” I asked.

“Because Mr. Allan selected you.” Alex replied

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t see the way he looked at you?” Nina spoke up.

“No.”

“Well the character you have has the spirit of Horus within him, and, well, Mr. Allan is Horus.” Alex said nonchalantly, like it was common knowledge and not a big bombshell.

“Wha-, you can’t just- huh-?” I stuttered.

“You’re kinda cute when you find out you’re not all knowing.” Nina mocked me.

“C’mon Thoth- er- the Librarian will explain it all.” Alex said as he entered the library.

The True Set.
  By- Sopia Foust

I walked into Mr. Malifer’s room. The blood-red walls were covered in intricate tapestries with presumably motivational quotes on them. I say presumably because everything in here was in a different language. On his desk there was a half-eaten apple along with a lone phone. Behind his office chair was a rack full of busted projectors, next to the projectors was a jar full of capsules. I walked closer to the jar when the capsule on the top exploded producing red smoke. I jumped back and hit the desk, knocking over Mr. Malifers office phone. I looked at the phone on the floor and then at the space it should be. The wood that it sat on was weird because it’s lines were waving in a different direction than the rest of the desk. I inspected it closer and felt a notch on its right and left side.

“Remember our agreement? I allowed you two to get away with your kidnapping so I could advertise the new system I am putting in place in exchange for the final piece? Well, I got some good news. I found it.” A masculine voice from outside the room said.

“How can we be sure you’re not lying?” A gravelly voice asked him. 

As soon as I heard this I pulled up on the square. Attached to the bottom of it was a copper wire. I slowly started to pull on the wire while listening to the conversation.

“How can you be sure? Well, I’m a teacher, and as a teacher it is my job to develop a relationship built on trust with my students. So lying would get me knowhere in this situation.”

“Set, he brings up a good-great point.” Another voice spoke up, although he sounded more mechanical.

I continued to yank on the wire. A soft clank started to come from the hole.

“So are the two of you in agreement that I am telling the truth?” The teacher asked.

The two voices paused for what seemed to be an eternity.

“Yes.” They both said in unison.

At that very moment I realised that I had nothing left to pull on. I looked at the small black box in my hands and gently lifted the lid up. Inside, resting on a cotton ball, was the paper head of Orisirus. I took a cautious look up and into the fearsome eyes of the two people who were on the stage the day of Arthur’s ‘kidnapping’. 

“Kid, I really wish you had picked a better day.” Mr. Malifer said to me with crossed arms. “Set, deal with her.”

My Gods
  By- Arthur Foust

The library of The Carter Institution was about as eclectic as the rest of the school. Its towering bookshelves were placed in such a way so that only the librarian knew where everything truly was. From somewhere deep in the mess a jukebox was playing western movie music.

“I thought that the puppet gods were just because we were in that part of the museum.” I said to Nina and Alex, still reeling.

“So you just up and ignored the part of the speech where I said ‘vessels for the powers of the Egyptian gods’?” she asked while quoting himself. “Also, knowing you this whole series of events will eventually be recorded so don’t go off and write like you knew it this whole time.”

Sopia’s (interrupting) comment: You totally did.

“Who goes here?!” Someone from the back yelled out.

“We do!” Nina yelled back “and we want to learn!”

We soon heard the steady patter of footsteps and the shuffling of books. Then before we knew it we were faced, literally, with the Librarian.

“Ok, but first you must answer a riddle.” he said, “what is taller than grass but shorter than a tree?”

“We don’t care! We just have questions!” I yelled before anyone could try and answer him.

He squinted at me and started to push through the pile that he was sticking out of. I assume that he didn’t care about the damage to the books that hit me.

“I suppose you have come to learn. So, what is it that you seek and how can Mr. Bogaard help?” He asked politely

“He was wondering if you can explain the history of the pantheon?” Alex asked.

“Well it’s now Lord Thoth and that would take more time than you think you have.” he looked at his watch “It’s 7:58 am and the first class starts at 9:00 am; the reason it starts that early is because people need time to get to The Carter Institute so in short I can’t explain it in long.”

“You never said in short.” Nina pointed out.

“I’m starting to like you a little more, you adorable traitor.” Mr. Bogaard said as he pinned his Thoth puppet on.

Alex and I shared looks but quickly forgot about it.

“Anywho, pantheon,” he said, quickly switching the topic like nothing had happened “stay there, I need to retrieve something.”

He grabbed a couple of kids books, game supplements, dictionaries and old binders full of loose leaf papers and made a rickety staircase out of them and walked off into the backrooms.

[SOMETIME LATER]

“This is bordering the time that Mr. Gates forced us to wait.” Nina complaned

“Easy, it’s a big library,” Alex said as he inspected the rickety staircase.

While he was looking at it a binder landed a few feet away from its top and then Mr. Bogaard landed on it and slid down the steps holding a black box.

“So have you figured out the answer to my riddle? Also, Arthur, where is your sister?” He asked.

“You know very well that I don’t care about her. Besides, what happened to you giving me the short?” I asked

“The short, ok, well I am Thoth. Your math teacher is Horus and he has taken a liking to you. Your science teacher is Isis and she has taken a liking to your sister. Your geography teacher is Nephthys but she doesn’t know who she may pick. Bobby, the person who drove us to the museum is Anubis and as far as I know he will offer Alex here personal driving lessons. The two most interesting gods you must know about are Osirus and Ra. You see, they can’t act because neither of them have a full puppet. I could go deeper but we do not have the time. Although I can tell you their identities, Osiris is Arthur’s father and Ra is the principal watching over us all.”

“That all?” Nina asked sarcastically

“Well no. I only listed everyone who was present at the pantheon meeting you all attended.” He said quite plainly.

I was starting to take it all in when the label on the black box shined in the light.

“The Serapis Saga.”

“Take it. It’s the long.” he said as he thrust the box to me. 

We all sat there for a minute, silently mulling over the box. Mr. Bogaard then suddenly perked up.

“Arthur, answer me honestly and seriously, what was the last thing your sister told you she was going to go and do?” He asked, his emerald eyes boring holes into my subconscious.

“She said that she was going to find breakfast.” I answered.

“The answer to my riddle, it’s a bush. Your sister, she is in imminent danger!” He yelled.

“How can you be sure?” Alex asked.

“Simple, I have been right every time.” He said right before he ran out.

I am in a Closet
  By- Sopia Foust

What happened? Well i’ll tell ya! Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-[REDACTED] decided to stick me in a closet with the last part of Orisirus. It was pretty dainty if I do say so. It was looking to my right, the blue ink was worn out so it looked blue-ish green, the while paper bowling pin looked useless but I figured if my father would want it gone he would have done something.

“What should we-I do with her-it?” Mechanical voice asked.
“Can’t think of anything right now. Maybe Mr. Malifer has a plan.” Gravely offered.

“We can’t let her go because then she would go right to her father and tell him about our deal, which would then drag me down with you two.” he said with an exasperated sigh. “We could just talk about it?”

“Not happening!” I yelled from inside the closet.

“Ma’am, I am trying to come to a suitable compromise so I need you to try and work with me.” He explained, his footsteps getting closer to the closet.

“I am going to open this up and when I do I want you to calmly sit down at a desk. If you can do that then I promise not to use my teacherly powers and send you to detention.” He continued.

“Wow, real negotiator you are,” I mumbled. “Deal!”

I pocketed the final piece right before he opened the closet doors and let me out. I looked around and figured it best that I don’t fight this one. I walked over to a desk and calmly sat down.

“I would like to start by saying that I am sincerely sorry for my actions, it was not my idea to trap you in that closet.” he looked over me and to the two people. “Don’t go and defend yourselves now. You put her in there when I told you two to do nothing of the sort. For your shameful actions I sentence the both of you to detention for a month. During that time you will be working on an essay that will go into great detail about why joining or creating a cult is harmful.” Mr. Malifer commanded as he walked up to the two.

“I thought you said you wanted a relationship of trust. You’re nothing but a lying sack of garbage!” Gravely yelled.

“Make that two months; and this was always the goal.” Mr. Malifer said. 

He turned back to me

“The truth is I only helped them so I would have definitive proof that they were guilty. You see, I’m not the bad guy here, I just want what is best for the school.” He said with a tone of truth running through his words.

It was then that I knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary school year.

Sator
  By- Arthur Foust

We were speed walking around the school, gathering the pantheon as we went. (Yes, even Bobby.)

“Where are we going?” Mr. Gates asked.

“To Mr. Malifer’s english room.” Mr. Bogaard said.

“Why?” Ms. Kenyon asked.

“Sopia Foust has fallen for a classic blunder.” Mr. Bogaard responded.

“And you thought to keep this to yourself?!” Dr. Foust shouted.

“You would find out eventually right?” He responded, not missing a beat.

“That’s not the point.” Dr. Foust mumbled.

“I’m with Foust on this one, also, why are we here?” Mr. Allan asked.

“You are here because one of you foolishly proclaimed to be their,” he pointed to Alex, Nina and I. “power.”

Silence fell over our power walking as everyone looked at Ms. Kenyon.

“You all know very well that I didn’t mean it that way.” She said, trying to defend herself.

“I think a better question is are you sure you are right and that we are going the right way?” Ms. Lauper asked.

Mr. Bogaard stopped in the middle of the hallway and leaned on one of the walls.

“I have proven myself to be always right on multiple occasions. So, to save you the embarrassment I am going to allow you to take that back.” He said.

At that same moment two kids walked out of the nearest door. They were complaining about grammar and a backstabbing teacher and his hurtful obsession with the color red.

“Malifer.” I whispered to Alex and Nina.

“Ok? It’s not like we can do anything.” Nina complained.

“We can always do something.” Alex argued.

“I-, shouldn’t we-, can-?” She stammered.

“You scared? Mr. Bogaard just insulted all of us and you, in all your ignorance, are just now taking this golden opportunity to prove him wrong and instead deciding to be scared?” I said.

I looked over to the huddle of teachers who were talking about their plan to storm the room.

“It’s now or never.” I told her.

“I hate both of you on completely different levels.” she said as she crouched outside the door.

Sator (Pt.2)
  By- Sopia Foust

I was talking to Mr. Malifer about his plans to rid the school of cults. It was pretty sound overall. He wanted them to slip up and out themselves to the world and then he would come in and do damage control. I leaned back and did my best Arthur impression, complimenting him on his work and all that jazz. I must have leaned back too far and hit my head because I thought I saw something I never would have dreamed. Arthur, Alex and Nina were peering into the room. They turned around and pointed to the mass of teachers across the hall. I leaned forward and looked back at Mr. Malifer. If the pantheon busted in right now it would only result in chaos.

“Say Mr. Malifer, how many of those smoke capsules do you think you have?” I asked, buying the pantheon a little more time.

“Can’t say.” he said as he walked over to the jar.

I quickly leaned back and slid my thumb along my throat. Arthur looked at me and gave me an interesting hand gesture, confirming that he didn’t get the message. He then stopped and looked at the teachers who were coming for the door.

“Whats up?” Mr. Malifer asked while he walked to the door.

“Nothing!” I shouted.

“No need to yell after the hectic morning that you just had.” He said, spinning on his heel to look out the door.

Now, I am doing a little break in this retelling so I can paint you a real quick picture. Imagine a speeding train that won’t stop because it knows its path is 100% clear. Then at a random point in its trip, in the middle of a perfectly clear field, a whale comes out of the sky and absolutely destroys the train in its entirety. That is precisely what happened to Mr. Malifer.

“That’s what you get!” Mr. Allan yelled at a fallen Mr. Malifer

“It was so fast.” He mumbled as he touched his bloody nose.

“Are you hurt?” The Librarian and Ms. Lauper asked me.

I looked at Arthur. 

“I told you not to come in!” I yelled at him.

“I thought you told me to [REDACTED]!” He yelled back.

“Language!” All of the teachers yelled at him.

“Are you ok?” Nina asked Mr. Malifer.

“I am. Thanks for your concern, daughter.” He responded.

The room fell silent.

“Daughter?” Mr. Gates asked.

“I’ll answer that when one of you explains what is going on here.” He said.

“They wanted to fight cults like you. So they decided to make their own. Fight fire with fire.” Nina explained.

“So you’re not Nina Reiss?” Arthur asked.

“Riess was just a cover, along with my rude attitude. I am sorry if I hurt you Arthur. I do want to start over if you are wondering.” She asked.

“No.” Mr. Malifer started, “I refuse to let you be near the son of this- this- LIAR!”

“Hey, Nina just explained the situation.” Dr. Foust said.

“Don’t try to daughter. Just know that I am about to do is for the good of the school.” he started “Gates, as of now I am implementing the system, fully.”

Mr. Gates looked like he wanted to protest.
“I am going to stop you there so don’t even think of asking if I will go through you because I know that you will do everything in your power to stop me.”

The room got quiet again. This time it was so he would not get even more frustrated.

“So, what now?” Alex quietly asked.

“Now we leave.” Mr. Gates said, walking out the door.

Epilogue
  By- Arthur and Sopia Foust

‘The full system’ turned out to be a militant like plan. He started by forming his own public pantheon that he called the council. Unlike the original pantheon who operated in the shadows the council had public meetings every week. They also went wherever and opened whatever they saw fit. After he established that group he made it so he would have the final say in school related decisions. (similar to Dr. Foust) He effectively made himself a dictator.

Unknown to him though another power was brewing. After all, Orisirus was back. Plus the gods were only shunned, not destroyed.

Epilogue 2
  With- Dr. Foust, Mr. Gates, Mr. Allan, Ms. Lauper and Bobby (feat. Coach Blase de Morgan)

Mr. Gates: I think it’s time for this meeting to begin.

Mr. Allan: Agreed.

Ms. Lauper: Agreed.

Bobby: A- Agreed.

Dr. Foust: Agreed. I need to get back to my kids as soon as possible.

Mr. Gates: Ok. The topics of this meeting are the re-acquisition of the puppet Ra and my actions as a principal and not a member of the pantheon in order to prevent Mr. Malifer from taking any potentially damaging actions.

Dr. Foust, Mr. Allan, Ms. Lauper and Bobby: Agreed.

Mr. Gates: I believe that we don’t need to go in depth about my actions as a principal seeing as they are all dependent on my use of common knowledge and me knowing how to read the room.

Mr. Allan and Ms. Lauper: Makes sense.

Dr. Foust: Sound logic.

Bobby: T-This does-sn’t c-concern me so g-go for it-t.

Mr. Gates: Now onto Ra. I think we all know what must happen due to the current school environment. We must send them in.

Ms. Lauper: Yes. I think that it would be wise if me and Mr. Allan established a solid form of communication with the siblings and Alex so we can give them advice and updates on the school.

Mr. Allan: Agreed.

Dr. Foust: I really don’t want to do this because I can’t help but believe Mr. Bogaard’s analysis of my daughter’s thoughts about me. But I know that Arthur will find a way to explain the benefits of this mission to her. I agree.

Bobby: I-I hope you a-all und-derstand that I-I am not-t enough to keep them safe. T-The trip up to A-Athens is treacherous-s and that’s not ev-ven considering t-the potential thr-reats to their pup-ppets. I can’t a-agree to this.

Mr. Gates: Bobby, I understand. But in this instance you need to trust me. You will not be alone on the trip because I have brought someone who I know will stop at nothing to keep them safe. Afterall, his job depends on their health.

Mr. Allan: You’re joking right?

Mr. Gates: ‘Fraid not.

*Everybody is working for the weekend by Lover Boy starts to come from an unknown direction.*

Coach Blase de Morgan: Whats crack-a-lackin!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(thank you to Hades if you decide to keep this in.)
(You’re welcome.)
I know that this usually comes at the end of the saga/trilogy but I need to say it now. I am so glad to be adding on to this universe through this story and these characters. This OU is by far the most insane and crazy thing I have ever heard of and that makes writing these stories an absolute blast. I would hint at the future but if I did I think I would end up disappearing. So instead I’ll just say this much. You have no clue what is coming…

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