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Not part of Riordanverse
The following article/section is from the Sikander Aziz series continuity under Rick Riordan Presents and not the Riordanverse canon. |
| “ | I know what it’s like to lose the one person you love more than anything. Mo was my world. Everything I looked up to, everything I wanted to be. Then he was gone, and I was so angry. Angry at him for going, at my parents for letting him, at everyone and everything. Myself most of all, for not making more of every moment we'd shared. But don’t let that anger eat you up, it’ll destroy you. | ” |
–Sik to Belet on losing a close loved one in City of the Plague God. | ||
Sikander "Sik" Aziz is a fourteen year old boy and the protagonist and narrator of the Sikander Aziz series under Rick Riordan Presents.
History[]
Sikander was born to Iraqi immigrants. When he was younger, he enjoyed reading the Arabian Nights stories. He had an older brother named Mohammed. When the two were younger, they would reenact the Epic of Gilgamesh in Central Park. Mo would be Gilgamesh and he would be Gilgamesh's sidekick Enkidu. The pair even went trick or treating as the hero and sidekick for Halloween when he was five.
At one point his brother forced him to watch JAWS with him and he became terrified of the water. The following day they went canoeing in Central Park, and half an hour in he became petrified and his father had to wade through the pond to get him. On the way back to shore his father tripped and they both fell into the water.
His brother would send back seeds of whatever plant specimens he would find, one of these plants unknowingly being the Flower of Immortality. Somehow the plant got into his system and Sik slowly became immortal.
When he was eleven, Mo died in a motorcycle accident in Iraq. Later, Mo's friend Daoud moved in with the Aziz family and stayed in Mo's room. Sometimes, Sik will start talking to Mo even though he's not there.
Sikander Aziz series[]
City of the Plague God[]
Sikander is closing down Mo's, his family's deli, with not much help from Daoud, his brother's friend who moved in with them. As Daoud talks about an after party for Hamilton Sikander says he has a zit and he rushes to the bathroom. When he is alone he has a conversation with a memorial wall his parents set up after Mo's death while he wipes down the tables. He hears something in the back alley and he grabs a wok and goes to investigate. After seeing a white-eyed tabby cat, he sees two strange looking men in the dumpster and over hears them looking for him. He swings the wok at them when he hears they want to kill his family. He locks them in the dumpster and calls for Daoud to call the police. The two reveal they're Asakku, Mesopotamian demons, as one of them uses his tongue to unlock the lid and they break out, soon a figure starts to form at the end of the ally and they tell him their boss has arrived. When Sik sees the boss, a man made of shadows, he bolts inside. He tries to convince Daoud to help him, but Daoud panics and runs away to call the police. To stop the intruders, he barricades the door with a refrigerator. Flies and cockroaches swarm into the deli, and the shadowy man gets in. He and his demons trash the deli looking for something, tearing Mo's flowers off the walls. He chokes Sik, demanding he tell where it is. Then a girl dressed as a ninja. She demands Nergal to let Sik go. Instead, the shadowy man tells his demons to take care of her. She then proceeds to beat up Nergal's Asakku, and Nergal decides to release Sik and leave. He collapses from exhaustion as Mina and Nadeem Aziz barge in to help Sik. When they see he's alright, Mr. Aziz yells at Sik for fighting Nergal, while Mina hugs Sik to make him feel better. Sik watches as Daoud sees the destruction of Mo's flowers. Daoud tries to take a flower out of a broken frame, but it crumbles in his hands.
After speaking with police and making an appointment to look at mugshots, he and his parents clearly up to rotted food and dead insects. Mr. Georiou, the owner of the pizzeria across the street, drops by with four pizzas and asks how they are going, when Sik says he is doing fine, his mother makes him go to school. He sneaks in half way through social studies while the teacher, Mr. Grant, is arguing with the new student, Belet Amari, about Thomas Jefferson stealing his ideas from Cicero. He runs into his friend Jake, who begs him to hang out with their friend group again. After he laughs at something Belet says, Grant sends him and Belet to the principal's office. As they walk, Belet gets a call from her mother and they are harassed by three bullies, Zack, Hobbs, and Clyde. As Zack demands Belet's phone, she spin kicks him in the head and knocks him out and Hobbs and Clyde let them pass. As they exit the school, her mother arrives and Sik is captivated by her beauty. The woman introduces herself as Ishtar. Sik is shocked that he is speaking to someone named after a Mesopotamian goddess and he mentions what happened to his family's deli last night. She confirms that her brother-in-law was responsible and offers to tell him more, if he comes with her and Belet. Sik is hesitant at first but agrees when Belet says it is his only chance. He and Belet get in the backseat of Ishtar's Jaguar and he is taken to their house.
When they arrive, Sik is mesmerized by the layout of the mansion. When they enter, he sees many cats and recognizes one from the night before. Belet informs him that his name is Sargon. As Ishtar tries to find the kitchen, Belet reluctantly shows him around. They get separated and he finds a room full of weapons and armor dating back to the Stone Age. He picks up a sword and cats start to swarm him as he hears a voice telling him to put the sword back. Soon Belet arrives and introduces him to the first sword, Kasusu. After realizing it was the sword that was talking and he realizes Belet's mother is an actual goddess, he thinks they crazy and goes to leave. However Ishtar stops him and shows him a vision of different wars she was a part of. He collapses in shock as Belet looks him over. Ishtar offers to pay for the damages as they ask him what Nergal might have been looking for. He becomes angry when they suggest Mo might have smuggled something out of Iraq and refuses to help them. He takes the subway home but when he arrives he sees his parents being put in ambulances. When he tells the paramedics he is their son, they ask how he is feeling and have him put on protective gear and take him with them. As his parents are put on life support and placed in quarantine, Sik is tested for any illnesses but they find nothing wrong with him but is placed under twenty-four hours observation. As he paces around his room, Ishtar and Belet barge in and tell Sik he must come with them if Nergal is to be defeated. He is hesitant about leaving his parents, but they reassure him Nergal will keep them alive as a bargaining chip. He agrees to go with them. He wakes up at Ishtar's house to find Daoud making pancakes. Daoud informs him that his patents are stable but nothing has changed as he reveals the only reason he was working at Mo's is because he promised Mo that he would look after Sik. But before Sik can pry more, Ishtar and Belet arrive and the goddess gets Daoud to leave by saying a modeling agent for France is there to see him. When Daoud leaves, she tells Sik that they must defeat Nergal to save his parents. As she leaves to look for Nergal alone, he and Belet decide to search for Nergal themselves.
As they travel, he learns that the same sickness that his parents have is going through the school with Zack being hospitalized and the students blaming him. They arrive in a masjid in Little Egypt in Queens and meets with his local imam and starts to serve food to the disenfranchised. Soon Ada, a homeless girl his age with knowledge of bizarre current events in the city, arrives and he serves her food to get her to talk. After she eats, she informs him of a shipping container filled with dead refugees at Gravesend in Brooklyn. They arrive at the docks and sneak in. They reach the shipping container and inspect it. They find cuneiform etching that reads “Gilgamesh lied” and some couplets by Sidana. Soon they are found by three dockworkers and the pair realize they have been transformed into minions of Nergal. As Belet fights them, he sees one about to hit her with a chain and uses his body to shield her. After taking out the last of the minions, she checks on him and is surprised that he is still alive. She helps him up and they leave. When he tells her the ballet lessons paid off, Belet laughs but quickly catches herself and stops.
The following morning, Belet wakes Sik up for combat training and is bewildered by his lack of combat training. She leaves to get equipment and he speaks with Kasusu. The sword tells him the feats of Gilgamesh were watered down and that he once rejected Ishtar. Kasusu tells him to fight Sargon, but Sik refuses and cat attacks and overpowers him just as Belet returns with wooden swords. Later he meets up with Daoud and tells him he wants to see his parents. Daoud agrees to get him in and out unnoticed. As they ride the subway, he tries to contact his friends but they don’t reply. Due to massive track shutdowns, they end up walking through Washington Square Park and see city workers cutting down diseased trees and flowers covered in sludge. When they arrive they find the waiting room packed and set people waiting inline for vaccines. Daoud distracts a nurse while he goes to see his parents. As he watches them Idiptu arrives with a threatening message, give Nergal what he wants or his parents die. Still not sure about what the Plague God is after, he slams the demon against the wall and says he will stop Nergal.
When he returns he finds Belet demanding Ishtar tell reveals her plan, she remains tight lipped and asks Sik if Mo took something from Nergal. He becomes defensive and says his brother would never steal anything. Ishtar becomes offended by his tone but Belet calms her down. Later he and Belet move his mattress into her bedroom and she is shocked to learn how small and sparse it is. Belet says she and Ishtar move around a lot and tells him about her birth parents. When he learns she is from the same district of Baghdad as his grandfather, he tells her about the time his grandfather asks the occupying American troops for water in his underwear. Later he walks around the halls and runs into Ishtar and asks about the other war orphans she adopted. She takes him to a room filled with paintings and photographs of all the children she adopted through the ages. She gives him a ring with the king's seal on it and tells him to return it to it’s owner in Central Park and to look out for Belet. Just then Sargon and the other cats alert her to Nergal's arrival. Sik realizes she was using Daoud as bait to lure Nergal to them and Ishtar tells him to get Kasusu. He gets Belet and he chases after her and they exit the house. They find Nergal and his demons at the end of the block street and the Plague God demands Sik, as Sik tries to talk his way out of things the cats transform into big cats with wings and Belet reveals they are actually guardian spirits called Lamassu. Soon Ishtar arrives and, after Belet hands over Kasusu, the two gods fight. As the fighting destroys the block, he and Belet urge the neighbors and Daoud to evacuate. They encounter a few demons, but Sargon and Belet take them out. Unfortunately, Ishtar is wounded and turns into stardust soon after. Sik urges a distraught Belet to run and, when she is out of sight, he surrenders.
He is brought to a junkyard in Queens and Nergal demands he give him what his brother stole, which he denies and has no idea what it is. As the demons suggest different methods of torture, he looks for an escape route and finds a hole in the fence. He lies and says Idiptu had it all alone and Nergal's forces start fighting among themselves. He uses the opportunity to escape, he gets through the fence but he trips on a set of trains tracks and is hit by an oncoming train. He drifts in and out of consciousness, hearing the voices of the track workers and Belet talking to someone. When he comes to he finds himself in a body bag in a morgue and gets out, startling the coroner and finds a pair of scrubs and sneakers to wear. He calls Belet, who thinks it is a prank, but he gets her to believe him and she reveals they are having funeral prayers for him at the masjid. They agree to meet at a restaurant. After that she hugs him and they head to a hotel owned by a friend of Ishtar's and head to the penthouse. She explains the the train accident was three days ago and that Nergal's plague is transforming those infected with it into his servants. Just then Daoud emerges from the bathroom and hugs Sik. He is happy to see him until he learns he had Belet identify his "corpse" when he chickened out. He berates him for it until Daoud gets a call from his agent about auditioning for a Mexican drug lord and leaves. Sik gives his condolences and says he knows what Belet is going through, but she says a God's death is much more devastating than a mortal's. Kasusu gives Belet a pep talk and says they need a plan, and Sik soon thinks of one.
They head to Central Park to find the owner of the ring and find it converted in a camp for those trying to escape the plague. They find Sidana and Idiptu with some plague dogs and hide. Unfortunately the plague dogs find their sent and they run, with him pulling Belet with him, while the demons are in shock over seeing someone they thought was dead. He and Belet take shelter in a glass ziggurat that the demons and plague hounds can't detect. As they explore, they come across a gardener who reveals the ring Sik has belongs to him. They ask for help defeating Nergal, but he refuses. When Sik asks for his name, he says he is Gilgamesh. Sik is awestruck that he is face to face with Gilgamesh and the King of Uruk invites him and Beltran for vegan sweets. He explains how he actually did eat part of the Flower of Immortality and fed the rest to a snake before faking his death. He and Belet plead with him to help them defeat Nergal, but he reveals he gave up fighting and took up gardening instead. He also tells Sik that the snake he fed the flower to helped create more and the his brother took one and it somehow made its way into his system, making him immortal. Ski says he planted the seeds in the community garden and he and Belet head out. Before heading out, he is told by Gilgamesh that Nergal needs the flower to regain his former self and not vanish and the Sik will have to pay a price for cheating death. As they walk, it starts to rain he wonders if his not being born in Iraq made him an outcast in his own family. Belet gets a cab and they ride to the garden, however they find a news segment calling Sik patient zero and the cabdriver freaks out and a crowd forms around the cab, only disbursing when he threatens to cough on them. When they make it to the garden, find it bulldozed into a parking lot for new condos. As he thinks of their next move, Belet heads out to fight Nergal herself as he tries to stop her. She blames him for not tending to the garden enough and he blurts out he promised Ishtar he would look after her. Belet starts to tear up and takes out the picture of her birth parents and rips it up. He is stunned as she reveals it is a magazine clipping of actors from a soap opera, something she knew for years but faked not knowing to give Ishtar a sense that the girl was not alone. She gets in a cab and he chases after her. He loses her but finds a working subway and decides to see his parents. He runs into an old man named Harry who refers to himself in the past tense and they walk on to the platform with other people referring to themselves in the past tense. Soon a subway with cuneiform graffiti pulls up and he is dragged on, realizing to late that it is a train to the afterlife.
The doors close and the train takes off as Sik becomes horrified and tries to think of how he might have died. The ghosts depart to their own afterlives until it is just him and Harry. The train stops in a desert and Sik disembarks after saying goodbye to Harry. He finds the remnants of long eroded buildings before a figure says his name from behind. As the figure reveals his face, Sik is happy to see Mo again. They talk in some ruins and he explains how Mo's final shipment contained the Flower of Immortality and that Nergal has brought a plague to the city. When Mo asks about the garden, he reluctantly reveals that it was turned into a parking lot. His brother berates him for not tending to it and he fires back by saying he always left him behind while he went on adventures. Soon a pride of Ugallu arrive with the ruler of Kurnugi, Erishkigal, and someone else. They tell the brothers to bow and just before the goddess of death can order their deaths, Ishtar stops her. As he explains everything that happened since Nergal attacked them, the Queen of Night wants to kill him while Ishtar pulls her aside and thinks of an alternative. They decide to have the brothers go to the Sea of Tiamat to find the original flower in a cave in the Rock of Nisir, but they need to fight Humbaba, a creature immune to attacks. Later he and Ishtar talk about Belet and the girl's desire to trade places with her and warns Sik not to get a second exposure to to the flower would do it him. He and Mo fall asleep and wake up in a forest with Gilgamesh's boat where they run into Humbaba. The brother try to think of their next move as the giant thinks of eating them. Mo thinks of the Baghdad sauce Sik unknowingly has been offering him all this time and they trick the giant into drinking it. When he drinks it, he becomes overwhelmed by the taste and searches for water. The brothers try and fail to move the boat as the sea comes to them. They cling to the boat as they are pummeled by waved and they pull themselves up when the current calms down. When they find the Rock of Nisir, the water gets rough again and they abandon ship. While he makes it to shore, Mo gets swept out to sea and he throws his bag at Mo, which turns into a net, and he pulls his brother to safety. Mo examines the bag and finds the symbol of Shamash, the patron god of kings, who had a net that can catch anything. They brace themselves and dive into calmer waters. He losses his breath for a second but he quickly realize he doesn’t need to break. They swim deeper until they find a hole leading to a grotto with a tree and find the flower. He picks it and puts it in his jacket as Mo senses something outside, they proceed with caution as they encounter a shiver of sharks and the Basmu Serpent. The brothers do what they can to evade the beast until he uses the bag and successfully tangles the serpent in it and they head to the surface as the serpent sinks. When they arrive, a Raven appears to guide Sik back to the land of the living. Sik is reluctant to go and offers to trade places with his brother, but Mo talks him out of it and vanishes. He follows the raven back home.
He follows the raven until he ends up in the Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. He pulls himself on dry land and comes face to face with a snow leopard. They stare each other down until Belet arrives and fills him in. She explains that he was gone for two weeks and the city has nearly been taken over by Nergal. They go back to the ziggurat and meet back up with Gilgamesh. He shows him the flower and talks about his time in Kurnugi. As Gilgamesh prepares to make an antidote to put in the City's water supply, Nergal's forces finds them. The three stand down the demons and poxies as they demand their surrender. As Gilgamesh warns them to leave and they ignore his warning, the demigod unleashes lightning and hurricane level winds to scare them off. He tries and fails to convince Belet to retreat with him as Sidana attacks him and Belet kills the rat demon, but not before being dowsed in his poison and scratched by his claws. As Sik tries to use one of the flower's petals to heal her, Idiptu snatches it out of his hand. He picks up Belet and runs out of the park. When he stops she chastises him for losing the flower and running away. He agrees and puts her in a shopping cart and sets a course of Manhattan General Hospital to treat Belet and, if worse comes to worse, be with his parents in the end. He passes the deli to find it boarded up after being burned and vandalized with hateful graffiti. He sees cats inside and calls out, only to be answered by Daoud. He goes around back and, when Daoud lets him in, he is shocked to see Daoud missing teeth and hair. When he says he needs to take Belet to the hospital, he says it is overrun with the infected and they patch her up in his parent's room and they eat dinner in Daoud's room. He is surprised that Daoud kept it as Mo had, with only a few fashion magazines and products around the room. He finally looks at Daoud's portfolio and sees pictures of Mo and the Flower of Immortality. Daoud says he took it before the garden was turned into a parking lot turned the rest into a fragrance called Mo's Promise. He puts some in an eye dropper and gives it to Belet, who looks like she is about to die. After a few seconds she is healed and they explain to Daoud that the flower grants immortality, which he did not get due being careful not to make skin contact with the flower. They wonder if they should give the meager amount of what is left to Daoud or try to make more to cure the city, they chose the latter and Daoud gets his kit. As Belet inspects her now healed wound, she asks him if she is immortal or not.
He and Belet wait in Ishtar's Jaguar for Daoud to make more perfume. He pushes a button and the car turns into a chariot. The lamassu are automatically hooked up just as a hoard of poxies attack. They take flight as the lamassu swat the infected away and he stops the flying big cats from killing them. Just as Daoud comes out with a pint of perfume, Sik tells him to get on the chariot as Idiptu emerges from Georiou's to kill them for killing Sidana. As they head to the hospital and avoid the poxies, he asks Daoud if he tested the perfume on himself, which he did not as he didn’t want to waist a drop. Soon they are ambushed by Idiptu and crash in an abandoned office building leaving two of the lamassu, Simba and Shere Khan, out of commission. As the fiat demon threatens to eat Daoud and the perfume is about to roll out a broken window, he and the other two lamassu, Sargon and Bagheera, kill Idiptu as Belet saves the perfume. They tell him to take the chariot to the hospital and he does so. As he rushes to the hospital, he encounters a rejuvenated Nergal, who asks Sik why he is waisting his time trying to heal those who hate him. When the god notices the jar and demands he hand it over, Sik refuses and is stabbed in the shoulder and thigh as he flies to the top of a nearby storm cloud and jumps in, opening the jar and watching the perfume mix with the rain as he falls. Sik wakes up to Belet nudging him as it rain. He soon realizes the perfume didn’t work as they are surrounded by Poxies and Nergal. As the Plague God is about to finish them off, his body starts to evaporate as the poxies are cured. He watches as Nergal begs Belet to spare him and evaporates before she can finish him off. He soon rushes to his parents at the hospital, which has been barricaded, and slips inside to meet them just as they are waking up.
About a month later, he, his parents, and Daoud are preparing the deli for its reopening. As he and his father are painting, his father tells him that he and his mother, while in their comas, had a dream about him and Mo in a boat in rough waters and their eldest son telling them to hang on for Sik. Soon his father and Daoud trade places just as a man selling water from the night Nergal was defeated, called by many as the Big Rain. He walks over to the deli and without realizing who he is talking to, tells them his desire to have Sik, who he believes to be dead, endorse him. As Daoud leaves after getting a call from his agent about him getting the lead role in something, Belet arrives and, blushing, hands him a box of flowers from Gilgamesh. She reveals her plan go to Kurnugi to get her mother back and she tells him to stay with his family. However Belet agrees to come in to pet Sargon, who is now living with Sik and his family, and to try a new sauce he made.
The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes[]
The Loneliest Demon[]
In the months following the Big Rain, he and Belet have been working on eradicating any of Nergal's demons that remain.
As he is preparing lunch for a customer, a demon stands outside Mo's, a demon demands Sik fight her to the death. After days of the demon demanding a fight, and annoyed that Sargon is sunning himself on the roof, his parents tell him to humor her. He tells his father he does not need the shovel and they head out back. After freeing herself from the dumpster lid, the demon introduces herself as Rabisu, a one of Nergal's followers and a demon associated with discomfort and back pain. As Sik tells her he is immortal, Rabisiu attacks. However he sidesteps and Rabisu hits three trash cans. Sik's mother comes out and scolds him for not showing compassion for Rabisu, referring to the demon as a Djinn, and takes her inside as she cries about not being able to kill anyone and has Sik clean up. As Sik protests, he questions how Rabisu was able to topple multiple trash cans at once. After finishing he returns to his apartment to find, to his horror, Rabisu wearing his best jeans and favorite Narvana T-shirt with a hole in the back. After asking what she wants, Rabisu explains how the other demons left for Kurnugi without her and how she was camped out at the Canal Street Subway station for weeks trying to open a gateway home. She asks Sik to help her and, at his mother’s silent urging, he reluctantly agrees. Sik calls Belet Amari, who is in London having tea with Elizabeth II, and asks for her advise on how to get to Kurnugi. She says Erishkigal has beefed up security and is not letting anyone in or out. After explaining that he encountered one of Nergal's demons and that he cannot kill her, she tells him to contact her brother Petar, a historian. She texts Sik his address and he and Rabisu head out.
Sik and Rabisu arrive at The House of Heroes, a comic book store, and enter. They are greeted by Petar and he takes them to his office. After explaining how modern heroes were inspired by myths around the world, he says that Gilgamesh was temporarily ruler of the land of the dead and anyone with his seal can pass through any realm he ruled over. Sik says he has the seal at home and Rabisu becomes overjoyed at the prospect that she could return home. Petar says to meet him at the United Nations building in an hour. They meet up in the visitors lobby and, in an attempt to get an elevator to themselves, they claim Rabisu is suffering from the sickness that infection New York the previous year. They succeed and Sik are Rabisu get in. Sik puts on the ring and pushes a button. Nothing happens and, after a series of prolonged sarcastic goodbyes, the doors close with Sik still inside. As the elevator descends, Sik tries desperately to get out. Soon it stops and the lights go out. They come back on and they hear countless heartbeats. Rabisu starts to panic, thinking they were banished for eternity. The doors start to open, and they see Petar in the United Nations lobby. After Petar says it did not work, they describe what they heard to him and Petar becomes unnerved. When Sik asks what “they” are, Rabisu says they are the Anunna. They head to a bench by the East River where Petar explains how the Anunna are beings who existed before the birth of the universe. After explaining the multiverse, Sik is surprised that it exists. Petar explains that the are safe as long as they do not meddle with the seven gates guarding the underworld. After telling Rabisu they can not take her home after all, she throws a tantrum and starts to cry when she learns Sik is immortal.
After thanking Petar, Sik and Rabisu head to Mo's. As they walk, Rabisu explains the fun times she and the other demons had together, such as one planting maggots in her head, another biting off her tail, and one throwing her in a lake of molten metal that turned her into a skeleton for a decade until her flesh grew back. Sik says her friends are toxic, but she says toxic friends are better then none. When they reach the deli, Sik is horrified to find it so backed up. He gives Rabisu the keys to let herself into the apartment and rushes over to help his parents, telling his mom he could not help Rabisu as a customer demands his food. After the last customer leaves, Sik and his mother head upstairs while his father cleans up. His mother asks him to check on Rabisu. He goes to his door and knocks, but gets no response. He goes to his mother, telling her Rabisu is asking for the impossible, but says he has done the impossible before. Sik goes back to his room and enters to find the window open. He searches for Gilgamesh's ring but does not find it. He realizes that Rabisu is going to Canel Street to get home.
Ski grabs Abubu and rushes to the ruined subway station as fast as he can. He hopes on a train on Spring Street and not long after the car stops and the power goes out. The riders remain calm for a few minutes before some start to get sick. Everyone starts to panic as Sik uses the shovel to break a window. Everyone gets out as Sik hears a noise and goes towards it. The father in he goes, the colder it gets. He bumps into something, upon inspection he realizes it is Rabisu covered in fresh brand marks. She tells Sik the Anunna were waiting in the space between words and attacks her when she opened a portal. She tells Sik they are still trying to figure out his world and to run, but he asks where the ring is. Rabisu says she dropped it and he says he will get it. Impressed by his heroism, she agrees to help Sik. After a mischief of rats passes them, they find the portal. As the Anunna take physical forms, Sik attacks as he looks for a ring. Rabisu finds it and goes for it. After nearly hitting a kid on a unicorn, Rabisu causes back pain in on the the Anunna before grabbing the ring. Sik falls into the multiverse, he uses Abubu to destroy the ring. Sik wakes up singed and missing his hair to Rabisu slapping him and the demon helps him to a nearby bench. After promising Rabisu he will get her home one day, he tells her to come with him.
When Sik returns home, his horrified mother practically shaves his head to give him a better haircut. Rabisu stays with Petar for a few days before heading to the deli. She pets Sargon while saying he disemboweled and ate her fellow demons. She returns his shirt, mended, and says she is going to explore the country. Sik gives her a Statue of Liberty T-shirt, her first ever present, and welcomes her to the United States of America
Fury of the Dragon Goddess[]
In the summer following his defeat of Nergal, Sik and his parents are is invited to London by Daoud as his brother's friend is doing a photoshoot. While his parents are unable to travel because of work, Sik and Rabisu go on their own. The two hug each other and, after Sik stops Rabisu from eating a dog, he introduces the demon to the model. After Sik expresses his desire to visit the Tower of London, Daoud says he can get tickets through his agency, but wonders if there will be heightened security after a recent break-in at the Louvre. Soon someone knows on the door and Daoud answered to reveal an invited guest, Belet Amari. As Sik stares at her, Daoud urges him to stop and greet her. The teenagers say hello and, when Belet and Rabisu sees each other, things become tense. Rabisu and Belet begin fighting, trashing the hotel room in the process as Daoud has Sik stop the two. He does so just as the manager arrives and Daoud apologizes. However, the manager reveals this is a common occurrence and reassures Daoud it will be taken care of. When the manager leaves, Daoud convinces Belet and Rabisu to not fight for three days. After Rabisu goes off to scream, Sik and Belet go to a private room to talk. He berates Belet for her behavior while she chastises Sik for befriending a demon. After Sik explains how he and Rabisu met, Belet agrees to be civil. Belet then reveals she is in London to find a tablet that her mother has spent millennia searching for. After revealing it is in the possession of a black market dealer who will auction it off, Sik asks what her plan of action is. She pulls out a dress and reveals she is going in through the front door as part of the auction. After revealing Daoud got her in, he insists he go as well and Belet gives him a tuxedo.
After changing, Sik calls his parents. After they mention that Mo wanted to visit London, things became solum and he hangs up. Daoud asks about Mo, who Sik still speaks with occasionally, and Sik says Mo talks about him. After Belet walks out, Sik is stunned by how she looks and, after he snaps out of it, everyone heads down. As Daoud and Belet get the car, Sik and Rabisu wait by the front door and a van driven by a hippie pulls up. Sik speaks with the driver and, when his companions arrive, the van vanishes. He tells this to Belet, who looks fearful upon hearing of it, but does not say anything. When they enter Fitzroy Castle, Rabisu goes to search for game to hunt as Lady Fitzroy arrives and greets Daoud. The two go off to talk and Belet insists Sik keep a low profile as they are among war criminals and arms dealers. Not long after, the auction starts. As the auction is underway, he is surprised to find that Mona Lisa up for sale as Belet informs him it is fake and Ishtar has the real one. After the painting is bought and a Serbian war criminal is thrown out for causing a scene, the item Belet is looking for is brought up. She outbids everyone and is about to get it when Lady Fitzroy goes on stage and withdraws the item, saying someone has already bought it. Sik leaves to speak with Lady Fitzroy, who appears shaken, as she repeats what she said earlier. Belet meets up with him soon after and Sik tells her what he knows and they go to get the tablet. The two make their way to the upper levels and come across a hallway full of doors. Sik opens them one by one until he finds a locked door. He asks Belet if she can pick a lock and she angrily says no before handing him a mace. Sik berates her for the comment and Belet apologizes, saying she sensed something in the air. She instructs Sik on how to break in and, after doing so, find a storage room full of looted artifacts. After finding the tablet, Sik sees a magpie in the window and Belet finds a man blocking their exit. She subdues him and the teenagers exit to find that the auction has become an all out brawl. The two find weapons and make their way down stairs, taking out attackers as they descend. After subduing Lady Fitzroy, Sik and Belet find Daoud clinging to a chandelier. Rabisu saves him and the four head to the car. Belet grabs Kasusu from the backseat and nearly attacks Sik. He calms her down as he notices a guard about to shoot Belet and he tackles the man into a nearby moat, holding him underwater until the guard becomes unconscious. Daoud pulls the two out of the water just as flames erupt from the second floor windows. As everyone calls his name, Sik is fixated on a man on fire as he runs out. The others convince him to get in and they drive off. As they leave, Sik sees the man staring at them.
They drive back to the hotel in silence as emergency vehicles rush past them. After inspecting the tablet, Sik tries to lighten the mood by finding an easy listening station on the radio, but stops after finding a news story about the fire stating there are multiple casualties. Belet expresses relief that at least some of the criminals present have died as Sik scolds her. When they return to the hotel, Belet retreats to her room as Daoud yells at him for causing the calamity. Daoud goes into his room as Rabisu forces Sik to apologize. Sik goes into Daoud's room and they start to talk about Mo. Daoud mention how the two had planned to come to London together and Sik mentions how Mo applied for a job at Kew Gardens, something he feels could have saved his brother's life if he got the job.
The following day, he wakes up after smelling breakfast. He enters to find a try of waffles and takes some as Daoud tries to get tickets to Kew Gardens, speaking to the Chief Botanist, Sarah Anderson. Upon hearing Sik is present, she asks to speak to him. Daoud hands him the phone and she says someone wants to see him. Thinking it is Gilgamesh, Sik agrees. Before leaving, he finds Rabisu eating a pidgin sandwich and she gives him a letter from Belet, who went to get the tablet translated and will be back in a couple of days. Sik heads to Kew Gardens and meets Dr. Anderson, who points him to the person who wanted to see him, Mohammed Aziz. He is in shock as he looks upon his brother, noticing scars and patches of hair on Mo's scalp and face. Mo hugs Sik and he finally accepts that the man before him is his brother. Dr. Anderson tells Mo to take Sik to the cafe to catch up. As the brothers have tea, Mo explains that he was in an accident three years back that left him with severe head trauma. He was patched up at a refugee camp before being transferred to an American military hospital where his papers were lost in the system and was tagged as unidentifiable. He woke up with amnesia and spent the last three years slowly regaining his memory before getting a job at Kew Gardens and, upon hearing Sik's name, remembered him. He is happy that his brother is back, however he becomes confused when Mo mentions their adventure in Kurnugi, but he brushes it aside. Sik tries to call their parents to tell them the news, but Mo seems uncertain. After dialing the number, a bagel place picks up, thinking he dialed it in the wrong number. He then mentions Daoud, but Mo does not remember his best friend. He is confused, but brushes it off as amnesia.
He returns to the hotel and breaks the news to Daoud, who is elated. After Sik mentions a bagel place picking up when he tried calling his parents, Daoud says the bagel place was the deli before his parents bought it. Soon Mo comes up and to their surprise, greets Daoud like a fan and compliments the model's clothing down to the finest detail, recognizing it from an exclusive store. Soon Rabisu comes out of her room and exclaims that Mo should be dead. To change the topic, Sik suggests they check out the British Museum. Mo goes to clean up and Daoud expresses doubt that this is the Mo they both remember, citing Mo's recent interest in and knowledge of fashion. Rabisu joins in as she questions how Mo could have gotten out of Kurnugi. He dismisses them as he spots a magpie. Rabisu scares it away and Sik takes the tablet with him for safe keeping.
Taking different cabs, he and Rabisu reach the museum before Mo and Daoud. The pair head to the Mesopotamian exhibit and, after Rabisu's comments draw unwanted attention, he sends her to the cafe. As Sik is looking at a statue of Tiamat, he notices a disheveled man approaching him. The man introduces himself as Lugal and Sik realizes he saw the man at Fitzroy Castle. Lugal complements the Tiamat statue and begins talking about the tablet Sik took, stating that it is his. Lugal gets a headache and Sik momentarily sees the madness in his mind. As screams and cheers erupt around the museum, Lugal explains that tourists are taking back their cultural treasures. A bird flies past Sik and transforms in a human. After the bird states Sik has the tablet on him, Lugal orders him to retrieve it. Sik runs off and, to his surprise, propels off the wall like a professional stunt artist. He sees artifacts being looted and feels conflicted about the events. As he runs, Lugal brings a pair of scorpion-human hybrid statues to life and tells them to go after Sik. As Sik runs, he sees tourists fleeing, dropping and destroying priceless artifacts as they run away. Sik reaches the cafe and is saved by Rabisu and a group of schoolchildren throwing pastries. As the children retreat, Rabisu takes on one of the scorpion people. It grabs her as the other one mortally wounds Sik. After an agonizing resurrection, Sik takes a tray and slices off one of the scorpion people's tails. Lugal then appears before Sik and, before he can attack, suffers another headache and one of the scorpion people come over to him. Before he can be killed again, the hippie from the night before appears and pacifies the creature before turning his attention to the other one, who is about to kill Rabisu. Belet arrives soon after and the Lugal and the scorpion people disappear. As Sik explains what happened and that his brother is back. As Belet takes in what he said, she notices the hippie. Belet begrudgingly introduces him and Dumuzi, God of Flowers and Istar's husband, making him her father.
Sik, Belet, and Rabisu exit the museum and find Daoud and Mo among a group of tourists. Daoud shows concern for Sik upon seeing the condition of his clothes and Sik berates Daoud for vanishing. Belet points at Dumuzi's van and they enter, driving away just as the police arrive. Dumizi takes them to a run down mansion he has been using as a commune and introduces the five to the residents. As they are being given a tour, Belet tells Sik that Istar married Dumuzi because he was not like the other suitors, but is too free spirited to commit to anything and expresses her frustration at the Flower God's coming and going throughout her life; wanting a father figure who was as present in her life as Ishtar was. After being given lentil soup for a snack, everyone does chores before dinner, with the Aziz brothers volunteer for kitchen duty. As they work, Mo comments on the various shades of green, causing him to see that Daoud was right. Sik tells Mo how he and Daoud first met, but Mo has no memory of the events. After mentioning Daoud's past in a refugee camp, Mo mentions the brother's time in a refugee camp and vividly describes their time there, he is confused and surprised when he remembers the events as well. Sik tries calling their parents again, double checking to make sure he has the country code correct, but gets the bagel store again. After the call ends, Sik looks up to deli but can only find the bagel store. He starts to panic as Daoud calms him down. After dinner, the five are brought to the attic to sleep. Sik and Mo take about the Mesopotamian gods, thinking what they might mean for them. Sik states that their mother believes they are djinn, and the brothers accept this. Sik dreams of Lugal standing on a beach speaking to his mother. After swearing he will avenge her, various creatures emerge from the surf, as well as the tablet, and Lugal swears vengeance on Sik.
He wakes up alone and hears Rabisu's voice coming from downstairs. Grabbing the tablet, he goes to meet his companions. He finds Belet, Mo, and Rabisu eating breakfast and they tell him Daoud went for a jog. Realizing something, Sik asks Belet to tell him the Mesopotamian story of creation. She states that the chief god, Aspu, was killed by one of his children, Ea, and their mother Tiamat declares war on her children in vengeance. She puts her most loyal son, Kingu, in charge of the forces she birthed. After Tiamat's forces were defeated, the younger gods take Kingu alive and use his blood to create humanity. Sik realizes that Kingu is Lugal as Belet mentions Tiamat gave Lugal an artifact to rewrite history. Sik pulls out the tablet and asks Mo what happened to their parents. Mo reluctantly reveals they died of tuberculosis at the refuge camp and Sik realizes he inadvertently used the tablet to resurrect his brother at the coast of killing their parents. Mo finds it hard to believe as Belet reveals the tablet is called the Tablet of Destinies. Belet explains that the tablet contains the histories of everyone who has ever and will be alive and even the slightest changes to it can have severe unintended consequences. After Sik speaks perfect Latin, Belet asks him about the day they met, such as the names of the teacher in their class and his oldest friend. Sik has trouble recalling their names and Belet states that, as the tablet has rewritten the events of Sik's life and the memories of his previous life. Because of this, the memories of everyone he knew will be rewritten to match the new time line as well. After revealing he has developed advanced fighting skills, Belet demands the tablet, stating her mother must have wanted to keep it out of the wrong hands. Upon hearing Ishtar mentioned, Sik suggests they could bring her back while Belet states the secondary events are too dangerous to let happen. A stand off persists as Mo tries to calm the two down, however Sik scares him into submission. Dumuzi enters the room and, upon hearing Sik has the tablet, has the boy come with him. As they walk, Sik asks Dumuzi what he thinks he is and, after Sik describes his god, Dumizi states he is the same before sending Sik into the earth.
He finds himself in the ruins of a city and, after looking around, realizes he is in Manhattan. Looking around, he takes in the destruction and hides when he sees Sidana and Idiptu, questioning how they could still be alive.as the two spot him. As they are about to attack, Ishtar arrives with Kasusu in hand. After killing the demons, Ishtar goes over to Sik and he asks her what happened. Ishtar states that Nergal's Plague has revenged the United States and the Plague God has since devastated Europe. He asks her about Belet and Ishtar does not say much. Sik leads the pair to Mo's, with Istar's presence keeping the demons at bay. Once they arrive, a sickly figure emerges and he is horrified to find that it is Belet. Belet laughs maniacally at the two, stating Nergal has given her his blessing. Ishtar apologizes for abandoning her daughter as Sik realizes Ishtar left Belet when Nergal attacked their home. Mother and daughter fight as Sik realizes Dumizi has trapped him in an illusion. He begins the Flower God to release him from the vision and Sik finds himself back in the garden. He recognizes the dangers of altering fate, but begs Dumizi to let him bring his parents back. Dumuzi refuses as it is too dangerous. The Flower God then asks Sik if he has feelings for Belet. In a state of shock, Sik does not answer. As the boy thinks of his feelings towards Belet, Rabisu- who is listening in, bursts out laughing. Sik chastises her for this as the three head back inside.
They return as a downpour starts to find Mo and Belet dancing, Sik watches Belet as she smiles. However when his brother asks Sik to take his place, he refuses and the mood shifts. Sik and Belet then wash the dishes. As they work, he tells Belet he agrees with her about the tablet and feels Lugal will use it for anarchy, After Belet mentions potential flooding and vanishing ships, Sik wonders if this is because of him. Belet states they will fix everything, but Sik insists he is keeping his brother and will find a way to bring his parents back as well. Belet reassures him they will find a way as they join the others. When they arrive, Dumuzi tells Belet he got in contact with the Apkallus, who can help them with the tablet.
Sik, Belet, Mo, Daoud, Rabisu and Dumuzi drive to meet up with the Apkallus in the middle of the night as the downpour continues. As they pass Tower Bridge, Mo and Daoud exit to take pictures. Sik gets out as well and, after suggesting tossing the tablet in the River Thames, Belet notices no ships are coming despite the drawbridge being up. They see a wave coming towards them and notice Lugal standing by the bridge. As Dumuzi tries to talk Lugal down, monsters emerge from the river and attack the area. As his companions aid in evacuation, Sik manages to fight back against some of his attackers. Soon, the magpie serving Lugal goes over to Sik and, with the knowledge from his new life, recognizes him as Anzud, a thief who stole the tablet before. Sik manages to subdue Anzud and is about to finish the bird off when a rock hits him in the head. Anzud uses this moment break free and take the tablet. He then grabs Sik and throws the boy into the Thames. Sik is found by Mo, Daoud, and Rabisu down river and he notices Belet is missing. The others inform Sik that Lugal took her and everyone is searching. After failing to find Belet, they return to Dumuzi's commune. After realizing Lugal has the tablet as well, he questions their next move. Rabisu reveals she knows a pub where they might find information. While Sik is hesitant to go to a place that serves alcohol, he reluctantly agrees to go to find Belet. After going in circles, they reach an old contact of Rabisu's, Urshanabi and he takes them through the Thames to the pub. Rabisu explains the rules of the Pub to Sik as they arrive at their destination, the World's End. They enter the pub and spot various mythological creatures from all over the world. Rabisu goes to order drinks, leaving Sik alone. As he waits, a girl named Lily sits next to him and starts complimenting the boy. As she touches his hand, red flags start to go off in his head as Rabisu returns and attacks Lily. Lily leaves and Rabisu reveals her real identity as Lillitu, a blood drinker. They two manage to get an audience with the pud's owner, Siduri , and Sik tells her they need help finding Belet and the tablet. However, Siduri states that it would be for the best to do nothing on the matter. Sik tries to protest, but she remains firm. After leaving, Sik fumes over the meeting while Rabisu accepts what they were told. An argument breaks out and, upon Sik stating Rabisu is not his friend, she runs off as he instantly regrets his words.
As Sik wonders around London, he thinks of where Lugal might be hiding. Remembering him as a figure associated with madness and anarchy, Sik searches through the internet and comes across a notorious mental hospital in the city that has relocated multiple times, with one former building being the Imperial War Museum. Sik goes to the museum and, after a few minutes of scouting out the perimeter, sneaks in. While looking for a way into the building, he comes across an elderly Kusarikku. He is soon ambushed by a figure and, after a brief fight, realizes it is Belet. She orders the kusarikku to restrain Sik and take him to her father, Lugal. They meet up with Lugal in the museum's atrium and, seeing the god holding the tablet, Sik realizes he altered destiny so that he found Belet rather than Ishtar. As Lugal explains that his mission for peace might have some bumps in the road, he gets a headache. Belet goes to comfort him, but he pushes the girl away. After calming down, Lugal tells everyone to move out. As they walk, Lugal points out the ghosts of patients who died when the building was a mention hospital as Sik tries to get through to Belet. However as he starts to break through, Lugal tells her to go and scan the parameter. They reach a construction area and Sik struggles upon seeing a hole in the ground and realizes he is going to be buried alive. After Sik is thrown in, Lugal taunts the boy by guessing how long he will be sane as concrete is poured into the hole.
He tries to scream but fails, only hearing his screams inside his head, Eventually the ghosts of the patients tell him their stories. Eventually the ghosts of the patients tell him their stories. Eventually, Sik starts praying to find comfort and strength. Soon he hears a tapping sound coming from above him and, much to his joy, is dug out as the ghosts tell him he is delusional. After being pulled out from the hole, Sik finds himself before Belet and the kisarikku. She gives him a bottle of water and, after telling him Lugal has moved on from the museum, tells Sik to leave. He again tries to convince Belet to come with him, but she refuses to betray the man who raised her. She forces Sik into a maintenance tunnel and he wanders through it as the ghost of the patients tell him everything would be better if he were not around. Sik reaches the entrance and weakly makes it off the museum’s grounds. A woman in food truck takes pity on the boy and gives him a free pastry. After telling him it is Thursday, Sik is horrified to realize he has been buried for two days.
He makes his way back to the commune and suffers from post traumatic stress, questioning if he is still buried under the museum or not and smells concrete everywhere he goes. As he is resting, Mo enters and tries to convince Sik they need to stop Lugal before things get worse. However, Sik feels it is best to not intervene with the madness god as Mo says they have to stop him. Soon Daoud and Rabisu enter the room and when Sik mentions Belet, neither Mo or Daoud know who she is. Sik searches everyone’s phones for pictures of Belet but fails to find them. As Rabisu mentions their minds have adjusted to the new timeline, he mentions the deli and realizes he cannot remember his own address. After Sik is dragged out of bed, he realizes he has to keep going for the sake of his friends and loved ones. He searches the internet to find more natural disasters unfolding. At night, he goes to the rooftop to the commune to find Rabisu. He brings a bucket of compost as a peace offering and apologizes for what he said after leaving the World's End. She accepts the peace offering shortly before Dumuzi arrives. The flower god states he likes to go to the roof at night to look at the planet Venus, who is associated with Ishtar. However he notices that the planets and stars are not visible. Remembering the story of how the world was made, Sik asks Dumuzi to give him his account. After Dumuzi mentions the world being made from Tiamat, everyone realizes Lugal is resurrecting his mother. Sik suggests they call in the other gods and heroes, but Dumuzi knows Lugal would have erased any threat from existence and leaves after Sik suggests he attack, knowing he would not be good in battle. Rabisu goes to get a file and asks Sik to work on her horns. As he works, Rabisu informs Sik that Lugal has been to England once before, when William the Conqueror took control of the country, even aided the Norman King in building the Tower of London. At the mention of the Tower, he realizes it is where Lugal is.
Everyone gathers in the kitchen as Daoud monitors current events and Mo tries and fails to warn the authorities. Daoud calls everyone over as the Prime Minister is giving a speech. As the Prime Minister speaks in Latin, he translates. They notice something in the background of the address and the Basmu Serpent crashes through parliament. Rabisu laughs as the others scold her and Dumuzi tells everyone they have to act. In the attic, Sik takes Kasusu out of its scabbard and talks to it. The sword mentions Belet and Sik barely remembers her, taking a few seconds to put her face to her name. Sik states he will save her, but Kasusu states she will try everything in her power to kill him. As the sword senses Sik has feelings for Belet, he puts it back in its scabbard. Mo enters and states they are heading out and, once they find the tablet, they will reset everything to as it was originally. Realizing it would mean losing his brother again, Sik is against it, but Mo insists it is the only way. During an awkward silence, he questions how he could have acquired the skills he now possesses at his age. After Rabisu throws a rock at the window, the brothers join the others.
As the group drives through London, they watch the downpour and keep out of sight of the authorities. Once they reach Parliament Square, they notice a bus full of tourists teetering over the Thames. Sik tries to reassure the trapped passengers they will be fine and to not panic. However they panic and the bus falls into the river. However, Dumuzi creates branches to stop it from reaching the water and gets the bus on level with the ground. Sik calms the passengers and, with the help of Daoud and Mo, gets everyone off safely. Once the tourists take shelter, the sky clears and they notice a huluppa tree that Rabisu reveals is the flower god. After Ranisu states the huluppa trees are a source of wisdom, Sik goes to touch it. Rabisu tries to stop him, but Sik insists he needs to know who he is in this new reality. He touches the tree and finds himself before Ishtar. The goddess informs Sik that to defend Lugal, he must show the god the light. When he asks about Belet, Ishtar says not to give up on her. The goddess vanishes and he realizes that, in this new reality sets, Ishtar is his mother.
As Sik clings to the memories of his old life, he starts to see memories from the new timeline. He was born in refugee camp in Iraq and he and Mo were taken in by Istar. While Mo took an interest in fashion, Sik took an interest in dance and fighting, mastering them quickly as Ishtar disguised the training as games. When he was eleven, Istar gave him Kasusu. He snaps back to the present and everyone makes their way to the Tower of London, watching civilians and tourists be rescued as the rain picks up again. When they arrive, they think of ways to get in and Daoud points out that the gates are wide open. They enter the grounds and divide into two teams; Daoud and Rabisu checks out the Waterloo Barracks while the Aziz brothers investigate the White Tower. When the brothers enter the tower, they are surprised by the lack of guards, but they soon emerge from the shadows. Mo takes cover as Sik draws Kasusu and attacks the guards. After taking out a few, he jumps and slices through a stone support beam. The brothers shelter under an arch as the ceiling collapses, taking out the guards. Sik and Mo then make their way to Lugal. The brothers reach the top and find Lugal and Belet, who have been expecting them. As Sik and Mo think of ways to deal with Lugal, Rabisu appears wearing the crown of the Queen Mother. After Sik scolds her for stealing the artifact, Rabisu asks if she can kill Belet as the three days are up. Hearing this, Sik remembers that a practice in Islam allows for visitors to be sheltered for three days and thinks of ways to use it to stop Lugal. However, before they can act, Tiamat awakens. As everyone watches the goddess phase in an out of existence, the structure starts to become unstable and Sik notices Belet standing still. Fearing for her safety, Sik goes over to Belet and tries getting her to retreat. Belet insists it is the only possible outcome as she believes life is cruel. Knowing she expects him to attack her, Sik throws Kasusu aside and, after a moment’s shock, Belet attacks him. He tries to get Belet to remember her old life, but she refuses to listen. She slashes Sik's arm and, much to his surprise, the wound does not heal. Belet reveals Lugal used the tablet to remove Sik's immortality, but he still refuses to fight. As he begins to get through to Belet, Lugal orders her to kill the boy and, after she hesitates, he floods her mind with madness to get her to obey him. Sik tells her to fight it as the floor gives way and he begins to fall, but Belet- who regains her original memories- saves him. Sik picks up Kasusu and, when Rabisu returns, the three attack the god. As they try to retrieve the tablet, they nearly succeed until Lugal catches Belet and slams her into a wall, rendering her unconscious. Just then Mo attacks the god and gets the tablet back and throws it towards his brother. However the second Sik grabs it, Lugal takes Mo hostage and threatens to kill him if Sik does not return the tablet. In response, he throws the tablet out the window and Lugal goes after it. Sik and the others watch as Lugal grabs the tablet and jumps on Tiamat's head. Watching everything be absorbed into Tiamat, they climb up the goddess’s back and try to convince Lugal to change his mind. Lugal sneers at them, believing it to be a trap. However they persist and Lugal humors them by momentarily becoming mortal. He shares the memory of Mo's last time at the deli with Lugal, with the god interacting with everyone in it and being welcomed to the Aziz family’s table. Lugal is both surprised and humbled by the act and, when the memory fades, he gives Sik the tablet and fades away.
However, Tiamat is still absorbing all of creation into herself and Sik and Mo realize their companions are fading out of existence. Sik turns towards Belet, who vanishes before his eyes, and questions how this is still happening. Mo realizes he is not supposed to be alive and tries to convince Sik it is the only way. Sik refuses and Mo takes the tablet and runs up to the goddess’s mouth, jumping in. Sik, in a state of shock, runs after Mo and jumps into the void of the goddess's mouth as well. As Sik plummets down Tiamat's throat, he sees entire universes being born and dying, and the people in them living their lives. He eventually stops falling and finds Mo, who scolds Sik for going after him. The tablet starts to fade and they realize they need to get it out of Tiamat to save the cosmos. Monsters come at the brothers and, after Sik kills one, he gives its fang to Mo and the brothers fighting as many of the monsters as they can. As they fight, they notice the tablet is solidifying, but the writing on it is vanishing. They believe it is a good thing as people can choose their own destiny. Soon Tiamat starts to attack herself in desperation, giving Sik and Mo more of an edge in battle. When the last monster attacks, the brothers see a light and change at the adversary, killing the goddess and restoring reality.
Sik finds himself in the ruins of the Tower of London, looking at the wreckage and debris to find no one in sight, other than half a dozen ravens. He finds the tablet hardening and, acting quickly, takes a twig and writes down in cuneiform that his brother is alive. At first, nothing happens. However after a moment he hears Mo scream and finds his brother struggling to get out of the Thames. Relieved, he goes to help Mo.
After finishing their vacation, Sik and Mo fly back to New York City while Rabisu and Daoud stay in Europe. Mo gets out of the taxi a block away from the deli and Sik goes ahead. After being greeted by his parents, he sees the last family picture they took and notices Lugal is now in it. As Sik tries to tell his parents that Mo is back, Mo walks through the doorway and, after a moment of disbelief, his parents hug him. Sik lets them have a moment alone and goes across the street when he notices Belet is at Georiou's. Belet apologizes for her behavior when Lugal altered her fate while Sik insists she did right in the end. To Sik's surprise, Belet takes his hand and insists he owes her a dance. Sik tries to talk her out of it, saying they do not have enough room, and she drags him in front of Mo's to dance instead. While he is still hesitant, Belet insists and wraps her arms around his shoulders. He gives in, taking her waist, and they dance.
Appearance[]
Sikander is a skinny teenager boy of Arabic descent with wavy black hair, dark eyes, and an olive complexion.
Personality[]
Sikander is a hard working teenager who cares greatly for his family, but is also resentful of his brother at the same time for not including him and stealing his spotlight. He has a tendency to worry for others, increasing his stress. He only wants to live a simple life and help out his family. Sik is friendly and calm with those he talks to, such as when he was getting information out of Ada. Sik also is not much of a fighter.
Despite his tendency to run rather then fight, he will fight is his loved ones are in danger. He is a tactical thinker, being able to manipulate moderate sized crowds and quickly find an escape route.
Abilities and Tools[]
- Multilingualism: Sikander speaks both English and Arabic.
- Culinary Arts: Raised at the Aziz family deli Mo's and helping out at the local kebab kitchen, Sikander possesses above average skills in cooking Middle Eastern cuisine. He also has a varied culinary palate, favored towards sweets and meat.
- Mathematics: Sikander's specialty at school is math because knowing numbers at Mo's cash register means business is better or not. He is even a member of his school's Math Club.
- Botany: Influenced by his brother's college major and childhood hobby, Sikander has a decent foundation in botany and can take care of a garden. Also, through his family's culinary arts, Sikander has a basic understanding of herbs.
- Self-Healing: Sik's immortality causes any non-fatal injuries to heal very quickly, especially after his immortality was boosted by getting a double dose of the flower. After regaining his immortality following the defeat of Lugal and Tiamat, Sik's injuries from the battle while he was mortal almost instantly heal.
- Superhuman Strength: During the brief surge of life force after reviving from death, Sik is able to throw a serving tray across a room hard enough to cut off a scorpion man's tail and embed the tray in the far wall.
- Immunity: Sik's immortality gives him a partial immunity to the powers of the Tablet of Destinies, allowing him to recall the original course of events even as everyone around him forgets anything but the altered destiny. However, as time goes on, this begins to wear off and Sik struggles to remember as the Sik from the altered destiny starts to overwrite the original Sik more and more. After using the Hulupuu Tree, Sik gains the memories and skills of his altered destiny self, but he still retains the memories and personality of his original self which doesn't get overwritten.
- Dreams: In Fury of the Dragon Goddess, Sik experiences the moment that Tiamat gave the Tablet of Destinies to Lugal in a dream. However, Lugal appeared to be aware of Sik's presence as he addressed him at the end of the dream.
Sik's use of the Tablet of Destinies temporarily granted him powerful abilities, although most of it was accidental.
- Reality Warping: Sik's use of the Tablet of Destinies altered destiny itself. Due to his powers from the Flower of Immortality, Sik was partially immune to the changes he wrought unlike everyone else around him.
- Chronokinesis: In order to fulfill Sik's wish that his brother Mo is still alive, the tablet alters time so that Mo is only severely injured in the accident that killed him and left with amnesia. However, the ripples through time cause Sik and Mo's parents to never get out of the refugee camp that they were living in and die of tuberculosis, altering Sik and Mo's destiny to be raised by Ishtar instead while Belet Amari is raised by Lugal.
- Resurrection: After the tablet is wiped clean, Sik is able to use it to resurrect Mo by writing "my brother lives" on it in cuneiform before the tablet sets which resurrected Mo without any consequences or time and destiny alterations.
Due to his destiny being altered by the Tablet of Destinies, Sik grows up as the adopted son of Ishtar and gains a number of skills that the original Sik lacks, turning Sik into a powerful fighter. At first, Sik doesn't have full access to these abilities as his two destinies clash, occasionally tapping into them subconsciously, but after speaking to Ishtar through the Huluppu Tree that Dumuzi turns into, Sik gains access to all of the abilities and knowledge of his altered destiny. Even with his immortality stripped by Lugal, Sik is able to take on Tiamat and her army of creations. Sik loses these abilities when the tablet is wiped clean. However, Sik believes that some memories of his upbringing as Ishtar's son still linger, although he no longer has the skills.
- Ballet: Growing up, Sik developed an interest in ballet, making him light-footed, flexible yet powerful, and he had perfect balance and muscle memory which was the perfect foundation to build on as a fighter. After being restored to his original destiny, Sik tells Belet Amari that his ballet skills are gone and with it, his knowledge of how to dance.
- Fighting Skills: Unlike the original Sik, this Sik has expert skills in fighting from Ishtar's training. By playing with Ishtar's cats, Sik learned speed, grace and deadly reaction as well as perfect poise and how to go from utter stillness to explosive action from the ballet classes. Ishtar taught Sik everything from how to make a fist to how to pirouette when delivering a hook kick to the head.
- Swordsmanship: Sik was trained by Ishtar in how to properly wield a sword with the goddess giving him Kasusu on his eleventh birthday. While inside of Tiamat, Sik was able to take on her army of creations with the sword and a fang-armed Mo as his only backup. This was a skill that the original destiny Sik was lacking with Sik having only ever been able to clumsily wield a sword before he gained access to his altered destiny self's skills and knowledge.
- Latin: Sik has a knowledge of Latin and is able to understand it. Even when Sik doesn't have conscious access to these knowledge and skills, he occasionally sprouts a Latin phrase in conversation. When his original destiny is restored, Sik appears to retain this to at least some degree, recalling a Latin phrase while looking out at the restored world.
- Cuneiform: Sik is shown to have some knowledge of cuneiform, able to write "my brother lives" in it on the Tablet of Destinies. It's most likely a holdover from his altered destiny as Ishtar's son like Sik appears to have held onto his knowledge of Latin since he previously only had knowledge of English and Arabic.
Relationships[]
Love Interest[]
Belet Amari[]
Belet Amari, his love interest.
At first, Sik thought Belet was just a rich girl who attended his school, but as he spent time with her trying to stop Nergal, the two quickly grew close. When they were at the harbor Sik shielded her from a chain that was going to hit her, showing his concern for her. Shortly before the goddess is killed by Nergal, Ishtar made him promise to look out for her.
They got into a small fight after they supposedly lost the Flower of Immortality and she becomes upset after Sik says her mother made him promise to look after her, he chases after Belet when she gets into a taxi. After he was revealed to have survived being run over by a train, she hugs him, and again after he returns from Kurnugi. When she is poisoned by a demon, he gets her to safety and manages to find a cure for her, who Daoud's help. He thanks Belet for funding the restoration of the deli and offers to join her in saving her Ishtar from the afterlife, but she tells him to stay with his family.
The summer following Nergal's Plague, Sik is reunited with Belet in London, where she recruits him in obtaining the Tablet of Destinies. He watches out for her during battles and becomes concerned when Lugal took her, and shocked upon learning the god altered her past. When wielding Kasusu, the sword realizes that Sik has fallen in love with Belet, something that he at first denies, but later admits to himself. During the battle with Lugal and Tiamat, Sik refuses to fight Belet and convinces her not to give in to her adoptive father. After the defeat of the two gods, Sik and Belet share a dance in front of the deli.
Family[]
Sikander is close with his father, often giving up time to hang out with friends to help him and his mother out with the deli. After he is stricken with Nergal's plague, Sik worries that his father won’t survive.
Sinander is close with his mother, often giving up time to hang out with friends to help her and his father out with the deli. After she is stricken with Nergal's plague, Sik is concerned that she won’t survive.
Sikander misses his older brother since his death and thinks of him often. He has imaginary conversations with his memorial at the deli. While he has idealized Mo his entire life, Sik has a slight resentment towards his older brother for not taking him on his trips with him. When they meet up again in Kurnugi, he is exited to see Mo again, but also berates him for leaving him behind to travel the world. After getting the Flower of Immortality, he is reluctant to leave his brother in the afterlife and only goes when Mo urges him to.
When Sik uses the Tablet of Destinies to resurrect Mo, setting off a devastating chain of events. After defeating Lugal and Tiamat with Mo's help, Sik uses the tablet, now wiped clean, to resurrect Mo again before it sets and brings Mo home to his parents.Friends[]
Prior to Mo's death, Sik would hang out with Aaron and their other friends, but he stopped to help out with the deli. He misses his friends, but feels he is needed more at the deli.
Sik and Jake miss hanging out together with their friends, but he feels he is more needed at the deli. Jake often begs him to hang out but Sik rejects him.
Rabisu, a demon Sik befriended.
At first, Sik was annoyed by Rabisu's constant demands that he fight her to the death. After he easily defeats her, Sik decides to help the demon return home. After coming face to face with the Anunna when Rabisu fails to return home, they fight them off together. After the battle, the two grow closer with the demon deciding to explore the United States and Sik giving her a t-shirt with the Statue of Liberty on it as a welcome gift.
During their fight against Lugal and Tiamat, Sik often finds himself annoyed at Rabisu, snapping at her at one point. However, they eventually make up and become closer friends.Gods[]
Ishtar, the goddess of love and war.
When he first met Ishtar, Sikander did not believe she was a Mesopotamian goddess. After she proves that she is who she says she is and shows him her past, he ran back home. After he and his family were hospitalized, she and Belet liberated him and brought him to their house. As the goddess brought Daoud to various upscale venues and events to find Nergal, he questioned her methods. Shortly before she was killed by Nergal, he promised the goddess that he would look after Belet.
After the two reunite in Kurnugi, the two greeted each other warmly after she stopped her sister from killing him and warned him about a double exposure to the Flower of Immortality.
After inadvertently resurrecting Mo, Ishtar is his adoptive mother in an altered destiny.
Nergal, the god of disease and destruction.
Lugal, the god who he went up against to save existence.
Others[]
Gilgamesh, a figure Sik has idealized through out his life.
Daoud Hassan, his brother's friend.
Sik feels that Daoud is a lazy dreamer. He is annoyed by his focusing on wanting fame and finds it makes him vain. After learning he chickened out on identifying his "corpse" and having Belet do it in his place, he becomes enraged by it. Despite his hatred of Daoud, Sik is jealous of his closer relationship to his brother than him. After finding out that he kept Mo's room as it was and that he kept pictures of Mo in his portfolio, Sik starts to lighten up on Daoud.
Half a year later, they have become close friends.Etymology[]
- Sikander is a Persian name derived from Alexander, which is often translated as "defender of the people", but which is translated in the book as "defender of the world".
- Aziz is a masculine given name and surname of Arabic origin meaning "strong, powerful".
Trivia[]
- Sikander is the first main character in a work under Rick Riordan Presents to share a hometown with a main Riordanverse character (Percy Jackson).
- Sikander's immortality was initially degraded due to the difference between the desert hybrid and the original flower of immortality, until the end of the City of the Plague God.
- Sikander is the second protagonist in a Rick Riordan Presents book to deal with the death of a close friend or relative, the first being Tristan Strong in the Tristan Strong Trilogy.
- He is on his school's math team.
- Sik's favorite food is kofte wrapped in homemade pita.
- He is a fan of the Indiana Jones films, his favorite being The Last Crusade.
- Sik plays Dungeons and Dragons.
- Aside from his flower granted immortality, Sik possesses no extraordinary powers of his own as he was just a regular mortal before encountering the flower of immortality.
- In Fury of the Dragon Goddess, Sik gains fighting abilities that he originally lacks when he alters destiny. However, Sik loses these abilities when his original destiny is restored.
| Sikander Aziz series | |
| Books: | City of the Plague God | Fury of the Dragon Goddess |
| Main Characters: | Sikander Aziz | Belet Amari | Mohammed Aziz | Daoud Hassan | Rabisu |
| Secondary Characters: | Gilgamesh | Kasusu | Sidana | Idiptu | Nadeem Aziz | Mina Aziz | Sargon |
| Minor Characters: | Tirid | Ada | Humbaba | Zack | Hobbs | Clyde | Mr. Georiou | Bagheera | Shere Khan | Simba | Achilles | Florence | Saghulhaza | Mr. Khan | Farouk Khan | Duncan | Charlie Yen | Jake | Mr. Grant | Brian Walker | Helen of Troy | Elenor Fitzroy |
| Mesopotamian Gods: | Nergal | Ishtar | Erishkigal | Dumuzi | Lugal | Tiamat |
| Magical Creatures: | Asakku | Lamassu | Ugallu | Poxie | Basmu Serpent | Humbaba | Kusarikku |
| Related Content: | Sarwat Chadda | Rick Riordan Presents | The Loneliest Demon |