Disclaimer- I don't own anything apart from the plot and my OC's (Kiya, Nefer, Tal and Aten)
Notes- I just started playing through this game again and the plot bunny just had to give me an idea so here it is!
The Rise of Set
Chapter 1
Nefer smiled as he looked at the group of children waiting for him in the courtyard of the royal palace at Thebes. The children never failed to brighten his day; they made it worthwhile to drag his tired old bones to the sunny spot by the fountain everyday. His faithful tame jackal, Aten licked his master's hand and bounded ahead to where the oldest child was setting out a plate of food for the old storyteller.
Aten jumped up at her, yipping excitedly, nose twitching as he smelled the plate she held above her head, "Aten get down!" Kiya laughed; her sloe black eyes, made darker by the application of kohl twinkled with laughter, "I got you the bones from the Pharaoh's dinner."
Aten obediently sat by Nefer's chair, tail twitching impatiently.
Nefer smiled as he eased himself into the decorative chair, Kiya was his favourite, she was hardly a child any longer; sixteen and showing signs of the great beauty she would become. She was half sister to the prince regent and unlike the other older royal children she was not interested in court intrigues, she just wanted to learn all she could about the history of their great country and she loved to hear about the exploits of the gods and of heroes.
"Nefer, what story are you going to tell us today?" asked one of the youngest children, a boy named Mentumehni stroked Aten's glossy black fur before popping his thumb in his mouth.
"Oh please tell us one about the adventures of Sphinx!" Kiya begged
"Kiya, you're such a baby, those are only fairy tales." Tal, a fair-skinned boy of Kiya's age pulled one of her gold-tipped braids, "Shouldn't you be playing with dolls?"
Kiya scowled and yanked her head away, "I don't care; they're good stories!" she balled up one fist, ready to defend Nefer's stories if she had to.
Nefer frowned, he had been planning on telling the story of Sphinx today anyway, what with next week heralding the festival of gateways and guardians, but the boy, Tal worried him. He was a Hittite prince sent to Thebes as a gesture of goodwill between the two countries.
Tal was tall, taller than other boys his age and he had the pale skin of those not from the desert, there was something in those pale blue eyes Nefer simply didn't trust.
Kiya felt the same; normally the most easy going of people something about Tal just rubbed her up the wrong way.
"Now, now don't fight," Nefer set aside his plate and the ever opportunistic Aten licked it clean, "today I shall tell you all about how Sphinx became the hero of two worlds."
Kiya sat back, lost in the magic of Nefer's story-telling. she could see the scenes he was describing and almost hear the sounds of the battle between Sphinx, his human ally from Thebes and the evil god of chaos, Set.
"I wish I could have an adventure like that," she breathed, resting her head on her cupped hands.
Tal snorted at Kiya's sentiment; the old man was well past his useful days and should have retired years ago instead of filling children's heads with nonsense.
"And with a mighty blow from the blade of Osiris Sphinx cut off the dark god's sword arm and Set, realising the battle was lost fled back to the underworld and our world was saved from the everlasting night." Nefer smiled as he finished his story; he knew it was Kiya's favourite and one day soon he'd tell her the truth behind the fable. "Now then little ones, it's time for your lessons." he shooed them away as the nurse arrived to take them to their tutor.
Kiya gathered up Nefer's empty plate, obviously waiting 'til the others had gone. Tal left reluctantly, staring over his shoulder at Kiya as he left.
"Nefer, is that story really true?" Kiya looked up at him with worry in her eyes, Tal's barb had hit home.
Nefer sighed; it seemed like the time to tell all had come sooner than he'd wanted, "Come with me child, I have something to show you." He stiffly got to his feet and supporting himself on his staff hobbled back to his small apartments followed by Aten and Kiya.
Nefer sat down on his bed and absently stroked Aten's head as the jackal jumped up beside him, tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth.
"Now then Kiya I have something to say, Tal is wrong, the gods I tell you about are real. Years ago I was a young priest in training when I met a man in the street; he was hurt, badly, and I stopped to help him. He told me a fantastic story; one about the battle between light and darkness, of heroes and villains and humans and immortals." He paused and studied Kiya for a moment before continuing, "He was the man from the Sphinx stories his name was Amun and he gave me something and made me promise to make sure his story was never forgotten."
Kiya looked up from her seat on the floor in fascination, "What did he give you Nefer? Was it a sword?" she grinned and waved an imaginary sword at Aten who barked happily at Kiya and rolled over onto his back for her to scratch his belly.
"I'll show you if you promise to keep it a secret. Fetch the box from the desk Kiya." Nefer pointed out an ornate golden box decorated with ankhs half-hidden behind a writing set.
Kiya walked over to the desk and examined the box curiously; it was made of wood covered in gold leaf, but it was heavy, "Maybe there's gold or jewels inside!" thought Kiya excited by the possibility of treasure.
She carried it carefully back to Nefer who ran his gnarled hands over the lid before opening the box and gently extracted the contents. It was... disappointing, Kiya had been expecting something impressive or beautiful, the object in Nefer's hands was neither.
It was an amulet made of brown and grey stone; it depicted a baboon holding a palm leaf and a pair of crescent horns on the top of the handle held a polished bronze mirror, the baboon had tiny chips of emerald for eyes and Kiya felt uneasy; it seemed to be watching her somehow.
Confused she looked up at her old friend, "Nefer, what is it?" she reached out and gingerly touched the stone; it felt warm to the touch, like it had been lying in the sun.
Nefer smiled, "It doesn't look like much does it?"
"Well, I was hoping for a sword or something exciting." Kiya blushed as she admitted her disappointment.
"Ah, I thought as much," Nefer patted her hand, "I thought exactly the same thing when Amun gave it to me. Now here is the secret, promise you won't breathe a word to anyone?"
Kiya placed a hand over her heart, making the beads on her necklace jingle, "I swear!"
"This amulet is a key,"
"A key? To what?" Kiya interrupted "Treasure?"
Nefer laughed, "No such luck I'm afraid. It is a key to another world, to the world where the gods live. Sphinx found Amun in a place called Uruk, Uruk is a bad place Kiya, it's the place where Set had his stronghold before he was banished to the underworld. Amun told me that the statue in the Inner Sanctum of the temple where I was training was in fact a facet of the God of gateways and portals and that one day when Set rose again a new hero of Thebes would be able to use the amulet to find their way to Heliopolis and fight against the Dark Lord once more."
"Wow," Kiya touched the amulet once more before Nefer tucked it back in its hiding place. "I knew Tal was wrong! A story that good just has to be true!" she brushed her shoulder-length black hair back from her face, "Did you ever try to get to the Otherworld?" she asked.
Nefer shook his head sadly, "Yes I did, but the portal god did not accept my offering, it was not meant to be, so I returned to the temple master and asked if I could leave to become a story-teller. At first he was reluctant but after I had told him Amun's story and showed him the amulet he arranged for me to become story-teller to the Royal Children."
"What happened to Amun?" Kiya asked.
"No one knows, after I went to see the temple master he disappeared and he was never seen in Thebes again."
Nefer's head began to nod and he began to snore, Aten yawned, intent on following his master's example, Kiya dropped a kiss on Nefer's wrinkled forehead before slipping away, her thoughts filled with adventures, treasure, daring deeds and a strapping young demi-god.
AN: Well here is chapter 1, I'm not really expecting much from y'all, this is just a way of getting the plot bunny to leave me alone! But any reviews would be appreciated none the less.
Hope you enjoyed it!