The consequences were like an arrow shot into the wind. You could aim, calculate, even hesitate a moment before releasing the string, but you would never have complete control over its destination. Once fired, there was no turning back. The impact wasn't always immediate, but it was inevitable.
Ikki knew this. He knew it very well.
Consequences didn't disappear. They infiltrated, spread, taking root in every aspect of his life. Like a well-crafted curse, one of those ancient spells that no matter how hard you try to escape, always find you in the end.
Now, that weight was there, sitting on his shoulders like an irritated baboon.
He walked through the gray, lifeless space; a void between dimensions.
The floor was smooth, textureless, as if he were trapped in a blank canvas, and in the center, floated a planet Earth made of pure magic. An alternate version of Ma'at, created to fill the void he himself had left.
Cool, right? Creating a brand new Ma'at. As if it were a god game on "hard" mode.
And all because he decided that devouring the Egyptian gods and consuming the Duat was a great idea.
He hadn't planned it this way. He was never a classic story villain who wakes up one day and thinks: "Ah, today I'm going to challenge the cosmic order and reshape reality!"
But, well… here he was.
Pseudo-God. Over a thousand divine authorities. A force that, theoretically, could only be confronted by Primordials.
And yet, he didn't feel powerful.
He just felt… empty.
His goal had always been one thing: to bring his mother back. That's why he sacrificed so much. That's why he crossed lines that shouldn't have been crossed. Was it selfishness?
Yes.
But so what?
If the world denied him what he wanted most, why should he accept it? If he had the power to change the rules, why should he follow the ones imposed on him?
But, if everything was so simple…
Why did that irritating doubt continue to whisper in his head?
He closed his eyes, and his mind returned to Zia.
Zia.
The girl who, technically, spent a year by his side. Except that, in reality, it was only a single day.
A distortion in her perception. An illusion caused by Ikki's magic.
She didn't know.
She didn't know that her memories, her experiences, the time she spent with him, weren't real. At least, not in the conventional sense.
And the worst part? She loved him.
He didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to admit to himself what it meant.
But the question came, brutal and inevitable:
Was this magic's fault?
Ikki closed his eyes. He knew the answer. Of course he knew.
His right eye allowed him to see people's pasts, to understand their stories absolutely. He saw when Zia started to feel something for him long before that stolen "year."
So, it was real, right?
It was.
But it also wasn't.
And that was the problem.
The magic may have only deepened a feeling that already existed. Or it may have distorted everything, transforming something genuine into something that should never have been.
Ikki wanted to believe it wasn't that. That he hadn't stolen anything from her.
But what if he had?
He could erase that feeling. Easy. Use his authority and rip it out of her as if it were a coding error in a program.
But hadn't he done enough already?
People always talked as if it were simple.
"You have the power. Go ahead and do it."
But human emotions didn't work that way.
They weren't simple. They weren't logical.
He could force the situation. But then what? How would he know that Zia was by his side by her own choice? How would he know it wasn't just the invisible remnant of his magic, shaping her life without her ever realizing it?
It reminded him too much of Artemis. Of what fate had done to them.
The same suffocating feeling.
The same cruel doubt.
Where did truth end and manipulation begin?
He sighed and observed the ethereal glow of Ma'at before him.
His thoughts returned to the conversation with Zia earlier.
His friends thought he was a solution machine. That he had all the answers.
But there, in that moment, Ikki realized something uncomfortable.
Power didn't mean freedom.
Not when the weight of his choices continued to drag him into a sea of uncertainty.
In the end, he didn't know the answer.
And maybe he never would.
But what he did know was this:
The more he tried to fix things, the more they seemed to shatter into pieces impossible to put back together.
And, this time, he wasn't sure if he could handle the consequences.
If he were as smart as he liked to think, he would have foreseen this. Or rather, he wasn't in his right mind, he wasn't the most emotionally stable person at that point.
It was obvious, wasn't it? Using large-scale magic to forge an entire year of memories for everyone connected to Egyptian mythology… Creating experiences, moments that should never have existed. All to make his lie more convincing, to cement a story that justified his own goals.
Just like he should have foreseen that invoking Apophis would be a terrible idea.
"No, look, I'll just summon him and take care of this real quick" - Only he didn't. Instead, he brought forth the version that devoured Ra. Good move, genius.
Now he was here, stuck in the cycle of trying to fix things he himself had broken.
Created a new world for the souls of the Duat. Check. Established a new Ma'at to restore balance and make Egyptian magic work in a revolutionary way. Check. Saved Walt. Check.
And yet, the weight of the consequences didn't disappear.
He knew that, technically, he possessed the power to correct some things. But the fact that he had shaped the entire reality and manipulated people's lives, well, that wasn't something you could simply undo.
And he would have to carry that with him for the rest of his life.
Sighing, Ikki made a gesture in the air, adding a new rule to Ma'at. He strengthened the magicians, accelerated their growth. The weight on his shoulders lessened slightly. Or maybe his conscience just calmed down, satisfied with this illusory exchange.
Leaving that aside, he dissolved into gray energy and appeared on the stairs of the Brooklyn House.
He climbed slowly, his thoughts still a whirlwind.
He wandered aimlessly until he found the training room door open.
The space was large, with a wooden floor and a vaulted ceiling decorated with images of Ancient Egypt. Statues of the gods adorned the walls, some adapted as basketball hoops. Of course. Because nothing says "ancient Egyptians" like a good three-point shot.
In the center of the room, Sadie was testing a new wand, or rather, a staff. A gleaming artifact, brimming with ancient power, that could probably reduce the room to ashes if used the wrong way. The golden glow pulsed as she murmured spells, creating small spheres of light around her.
Ikki stopped at the entrance to the hall, watching Sadie play with the new staff. He didn't need powers of prophecy to know this would end badly. Deciding to continue with his 'magic-created version', he swallowed hard and manipulated his expression perfectly...
"What are you up to now?" he asked, crossing his arms.
Sadie turned around, her face lighting up with a satisfied smile.
"Ikki! What a wonderful surprise!" She tilted her head. "What brings you here? Missed me?"
He rolled his eyes.
"Don't flatter yourself. I just heard suspicious noises and thought: 'Oh, it's definitely Sadie causing large-scale destruction again'."
She gasped dramatically. "How unfair! I am a refined magician, full of grace and precision!"
The staff glowed, and at the same moment, a golden sphere shot from its tip, ricocheting off the ceiling before flying straight at Ikki's face.
He conjured a bluish barrier at the last second, absorbing the impact. When the energy dissipated, Sadie whistled softly.
"Yeah… maybe only 90% refined."
Ikki massaged his temples.
"If that's refinement, I'd rather not be around when you're 'learning'."
Sadie smiled, twirling the staff on her shoulder. "Oh, stop complaining. Besides, you always save me. It's practically your obligation at this point."
"I didn't sign any contract for that."
"But if you did, you'd be doomed to be my personal knight forever. Have you ever thought about wearing shining armor? I think it would suit you."
Ikki sighed.
"If anyone has to wear armor here, it's you. Preferably blast-proof."
Sadie laughed, but her eyes didn't leave his.
He noticed.
Ikki knew she liked to tease him, it was Sadie, after all. But there was something in the way she looked at him now, a mischievous glint mixed with something harder to define. Something he preferred to ignore, he already knew… His right eye had already shown him the past and everything was understood by him.
"You know I'm too amazing to need protection," Sadie continued.
"Sure. Definitely." Ikki turned around. "Well, I'm going-"
"Hey." Sadie grabbed his wrist, the touch brief but warm. Ikki stopped.
She smiled, but this time without mockery. "Joking aside… it's good to see you."
For a moment, Ikki hesitated. Then, he spoke.
"Yeah. You too, Sadie."
She slowly released his hand. Then, she cleared her throat and went back to twirling her staff.
"Right! Now that my 'almost destroying the house' session has been interrupted, how about you help me test some spells? I promise I won't turn you into a frog."
Ikki just shrugged and agreed.
After entering the training room, he cracked his neck and took a step back, the energy around him condensing. His necklace glowed, a single bead with a lightning bolt engraved, before expanding and taking shape in his hand, the [Staff of Nisut], which was a seventy-centimeter rod with a twisted tip, something Egyptian, golden in color with blue details, flashed in the air.
Sadie rolled her eyes.
"There you go with that ridiculously flashy staff again."
Ikki raised an eyebrow.
"Jealous?"
"Pfft." Sadie twirled her own staff and pointed it at him. "I just think the Gods could have given you something more discreet. I don't know, an amulet, a ring… anything that didn't scream 'look at me, I'm special'."
Ikki smirked.
"But I am special."
Sadie snorted.
"Ugh, I'm going to punch that smug face of yours."
"You can try."
Sadie attacked first, as always.
Ikki smiled, but didn't respond. He just raised his staff and waited.
She muttered a spell and the floor beneath Ikki's feet exploded in blue flames, snaking around him in spirals. The smoke rose in swirls, obscuring his vision.
"Got you!" Sadie shouted, already chanting another spell.
But before her magic could manifest, a wave of wind swept through the fire, dissipating it as if it were nothing. Ikki emerged from the smoke, unharmed, his staff glowing.
Sadie gritted her teeth.
"Oh no, you're not getting away with that!"
She channeled the energy of Ma'at and threw a blast of pure force at him. An explosion of power that any other magician would have difficulty blocking.
Ikki raised his staff and twirled it in the air as if it were nothing. The blast ricocheted like a harmless gust of wind.
Sadie blinked.
"You're kidding."
Ikki attacked.
He advanced leisurely, each movement calculated. His staff cut through the air and Sadie was forced to retreat, narrowly dodging a series of blows that seemed light, but carried absurd precision.
She tried to invoke a shield. Ikki just moved his hand and the barrier shattered like cracking glass.
She tried an imprisonment spell. Ikki touched the ground with his staff and the symbols she conjured reversed, the magic collapsing on itself.
Sadie started to sweat.
She went on the offensive again, summoning lightning bolts that sliced through the air. Ikki dodged each one effortlessly, his silhouette moving with an almost supernatural fluidity.
At some point, Sadie realized she hadn't landed a single hit on him.
An hour later, she fell to her knees, panting, her face gleaming with sweat. Her whole body ached.
Ikki, on the other hand, didn't even seem affected.
He walked up to her, grabbed a bottle of water, and held it out.
Sadie grabbed the bottle and drank desperately, not caring about dignity.
After a few gulps, she pulled the bottle away and looked at him, taking a deep breath.
"I… hate you."
Ikki smiled…
"You say that every time you lose…"
"No, this time I'm serious." Sadie pointed a finger at him, still catching her breath. "You held back. I know you held back!"
Ikki tilted his head.
"Proof?"
Sadie groaned.
"Oh, please! You acted like you were playing with me! Every time I cast a spell, you just… turned it off! Like it was easy!"
"Well… it was easy."
Sadie threw the water bottle at him. Ikki dodged effortlessly.
"Ugh! I should have known! The all-powerful Ikki, humiliating poor mortal magicians with his magnificence!"
He shrugged.
"You're exaggerating. You've improved."
Sadie crossed her arms, still grumbling softly, but Ikki noticed a small smile playing on her lips.
And then that suffocating feeling came again.
He knew.
He knew what he had done.
Sadie Kane hadn't fallen in love with him naturally.
She liked him before, of course. She thought he was cute, funny, maybe even intriguing. But that was it.
It wasn't like Zia, who already loved him before the forged year.
Sadie, on the other hand, was dragged into something that should never have happened. Something that he, consciously or not, had caused.
She didn't know. Nobody knew.
But Ikki knew.
He knew that his presence, his magic, his very existence had taken root within her in a way that it shouldn't have. That the love she felt now, the way her eyes shone when she looked at him, how her frustration mixed with such genuine affection that it hurt - wasn't real.
It wasn't fair.
And that weighed on him more than any battle.
Sadie, of course, had no idea.
She just huffed, still catching her breath, and took another gulp of water before pointing her finger at him again.
"Next time, I'll win."
Ikki forced a smile.
"Of course you will."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Was that sarcasm?"
"You'll never know."
Sadie rolled her eyes and laughed, shoving him lightly.
Ikki laughed too. But inside, the guilt was accumulating like an invisible weight.
Because he knew that no matter how hard he tried to ignore it…
It would never stop being his fault.
Sadie was still breathing deeply, sweat dripping down her forehead, but her expression was pure determination. Ikki watched as she took her wand, twirled it between her fingers, and then tucked it into her coat pocket. Her gaze was fixed on him, a mischievous glint mixed with something deeper, harder to define.
"Come here, you softie. I'm exhausted. Let's sit." Sadie said, sitting down on a couch in the corner of the training room.
Ikki followed without protest, sitting beside her.
The silence between them was comfortable, only the sound of Sadie taking another sip of water filling the space. But, inevitably, she broke the silence.
"You've been doing a lot of thinking lately," she commented, without looking at him. "I don't know, you seem kind of… distant. Even for you."
Ikki needed all his self-control to show nothing. He was still pretending to be the version from the memories he had created.
The "Ikki" that Sadie knew, that his friends knew. But, increasingly, this facet was becoming difficult to maintain.
He let out a short laugh.
"Me? Thoughtful? Sadie, I'm a genius. My brain is always busy with lofty thoughts. You should try it."
She snorted, but gave a smile.
"Oh, right. Because the all-powerful Ikki never gets worried or anxious. Never has doubts. Always knows exactly what to do."
He looked away.
"Something like that."
Sadie studied him for a moment, and Ikki realized she wasn't completely convinced. But, instead of pressing the issue, she changed the subject.
"You know, sometimes I forget you have a past. Like, you just popped into my life as if you'd always been there."
Ikki swallowed hard.
Because, in a way… it was true.
She didn't know that this entire year had been forged by him. That the memories she had of adventures, conversations, and shared moments weren't entirely real. At least, not in the conventional sense. But for Sadie, that time with him was real.
Ikki tried to sound casual.
"Everyone has a past, Sadie. Even me. But what about you? Let's talk about you. What don't I know yet?"
She laughed.
"Oh, please. You probably know every detail of my life."
He smiled, but didn't answer. Because, in fact, he did know. His right eye gave him the ability to see people's pasts, to understand them completely. He knew Sadie Kane was born in California on March 17, 1997. He knew she was the daughter of Julius and Ruby Kane. He knew that two years before she was born, came Carter, her older brother.
He knew that, on her sixth birthday, she and Carter fought over the candles on the cake, and that activated each other's powers, causing the cake to explode.
He knew that, in that same year, her life turned upside down when her mother died freeing Bast from the Duat, facing Apophis.
He knew that Sadie wanted to stay with her father and Carter, but was taken by her maternal grandparents, who gained custody. That she grew up in London, living as an English schoolgirl. That she lost her American accent and learned to fend for herself.
He knew that, despite her strong personality and the habit of acting as if nothing fazed her, she felt lonely.
He knew she wanted to be loved, wanted to feel important to someone.
He knew that sometimes she went to the Egyptian section of bookstores and read her father's books, trying to feel a connection with him.
He knew all of this.
Sadie let out a theatrical sigh and threw herself back on the couch.
"Okay, I'll tell you something you might not know."
Ikki raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I want to see this."
She smiled sideways.
"I hated living with my grandparents at first. They were so strict, so British. You know, always serious, always worried about etiquette, tradition, 'Sadie, sit up straight', 'Sadie, don't chew with your mouth open'…"
Ikki laughed.
"Yeah, I can imagine."
"But then…" Sadie hesitated, and her gaze became a little more distant. "Over time, I kind of started to like it. Like, I had my friends, Liz and Emma. We got into a lot of trouble. Once, we broke into the principal's office to swap the sound system for a playlist of only bad 80s music."
Ikki smiled.
"Genius."
"I know, right? The point is… London became my home. As much as I wanted the opposite, I got used to it. And, deep down, I always had this strange feeling that I was living two different lives. One was the girl who grew up in London, went to school, had a normal life. And the other was… well, this."
She gestured towards the room, to the magical world that was now part of her.
"And then… you showed up."
Ikki froze.
Sadie smiled, but there was something different in her expression. Something softer.
"I remember when I met you. You punched out Seth, it was amazing, and when I learned about your goal, I sympathized and wanted to help you because it reminded me of a part of me that also wanted to revive my mother and father, even though I didn't have the courage or didn't want to admit it to myself..."
"And then, you saved the world, and a year went by. It was incredible, even though you seemed so out of place at first, like you didn't know what to do with us. But, somehow, you always knew what to say."
Ikki swallowed hard.
He knew why.
Because all those memories she had, all that familiarity, all that history between them… he was the one who built it.
It wasn't natural.
It wasn't real.
But she believed it was.
And he let her believe it.
Sadie continued, unaware of his inner turmoil.
"Remember when we faced that Ifrit in Alexandria? I swear, I've never seen anyone so calm while being chased by a giant fire creature."
Ikki forced a smile.
"Oh, right. And who was it that saved you when you got trapped in an alley?"
Sadie rolled her eyes.
"I almost solved that myself."
"Almost."
She snorted.
"Okay, and that time at the British Museum? When we stole that artifact to stop a demon from performing a ritual?"
Ikki laughed.
"You stole it. I just provided cover."
"Details."
Sadie laughed along. But soon her expression softened, and she looked at him in a way that made something clench inside him.
"Those were good times, weren't they?"
Ikki hesitated.
His instincts screamed for him not to answer. To change the subject, make a joke, anything.
But, in the end, he just nodded.
"They were."
Sadie talked as though they had always been together.
"Remember that soup you made when I had that horrible cold?"
Ikki nodded slowly.
"I remember."
Except that he didn't remember. He just knew it had happened.
Sadie looked at him in a way that made him uneasy. "It was one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me. I was feeling awful, and you stayed with me until I got better."
Ikki opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say to something that had never really happened.
He looked away.
"Well, someone had to make sure you didn't die from a cold..." He tried to joke....
Sadie smiled, but something in her expression seemed… contemplative.
For a moment, they sat there, just basking in the comfortable silence of the training room. But Ikki knew he was pushing it. Every second that passed, he felt the weight of it all growing heavier.
He stood up. "I think I better go. It's getting late."
Sadie seemed surprised by the sudden shift, but she nodded. "Yeah… I guess so."
Ikki hesitated for a beat before giving a small nod. "Good night, Sadie."
She smirked. "Night, softie."
And with that, he turned and left.
The hallway was silent as he walked towards his room. His boots echoed on the floor, and he felt every beat of his heart as a cruel reminder of what he'd done…