R&R
Young Justice:
The Nile Chronicles
Chapter One
The arrival of the floating man had brought a great unease among my people, and as head priestess in training, it had been my duty to figure out his purpose on coming to our precious temple. A temple, may I add, that no outsider was supposed to know of. I could feel the negative energy radiating from him, and the constant frown on his face only seemed to reflect worse on his character. Not to mention his attire. Never before had I seen such an odd assemble of clothing before. It seemed to be some kind of skintight material, black as the night in some parts while as gold as that of Ra in others.
He had said something, but his tongue was unfamiliar to me, and all I could do was attempt at telling him such. He seemed to quickly grow irritated at the lack of a response and it wasn't long before he seemed to have lost his patience and began to attack the temple, this time exclaiming something. With a mix of disbelief and fear, I watched as he used some sort of glowing ring to attack the temples around me, I heard the screaming of the priestesses as they ran for cover, and it was fear that kept me from moving as I silently watched the Great Temple of Isis begin to crumble.
"Iteru!" the sound of my name being called broke through my senses and my head turned towards the source, immediately spotting the head priestess.
"Sma hisae' matak!" I forced herself to nod at the order, withdrawing my sai swords.
I called out and the man turned towards me, his eyes narrowing. He once more said something to me I could not comprehend, before aiming the glowing ring directly at me. My eyes widened as the blast hit and sent me flying backwards, pain immediately rushing though my system as I hit a temple wall.
I had never before had to engage into a battle such as this, and while I had been trained to use my sai swords by the priestesses I had never experienced something of such magnitude. I rushed to stand, and once more rushed to the figure as I attempted to block him from the temple. How could I stand up against this foreigner? But I had to, I had to protect the sacred land and holy temples of my Goddess.
"Sehampta!" I glared at him, placing the swords defensively between us in an effort to tell him to stay away but I knew he did not understand. He looked at me for a second before he laughed, and I attempted to quell the growing anger inside of me. I must always maintain a clear head. My eyes widened when I noticed from the corner of my eye that another group of foreigners had entered into the land, already they were attacking the others and entering the temples.
I was about to demand an answer to their actions, but as I once more turned to look at the man in front of me, the golden glow of the ring filled my vision as it landed directly on my chest, knocking the wind out of me. My head slammed directly against the wall of the temple behind me, a piercing pain making my vision blur and the edges darken as I fell to the ground. I attempted to look up through the pounding pain in my head, but my body soon failed me as I felt myself sink into the darkness.
When I woke I was in the arms of a dark men in a similar attire to the man that had attacked the temple, and that itself had me struggling to get out of his arms. While his outfit was different, a green color replacing the gold, it did nothing to appease me as I glared at him. He said something, but once more I could not understand his words. I looked around, only to see that the temples around me were in ruin, and I gasped at the sight.
No...
I had failed. I had failed my people and Goddess. I could not protect our sacred land. It had been my duty. I was the one who had been gifted by Isis. And I failed. My body began to tremble, and I fought the burning that rose in my throat. It was all my fault. The man put a hand on my shoulder, and I flinched, but the warm look in his eye made me relax. Somehow I knew he was not a danger. I looked up when a figure in the sky caught my attention. My eyes widened when I saw it was a woman, flying down towards us. I was amazed when she landed in front of us. This woman could fly. Had she been gifted by a God as well?
She spared me a look before she began to converse with the man in green. I wasn't sure if I should take this chance to run. I didn't. But I left them there as I walked to the ruins. How many years had these temples endured, only to fall in one day? I felt shame as I once more blamed myself. I should have been able to stop this.
"Iteru!" I looked up to see Jamila, one of the High Priestesses. With her seemed to be the rest of them. I felt relief fill me, they were alright. I don't know what I would have done if my incompetence had risked anyone's life. I made my way over to see that I had spoken too soon. In the center of the priestesses lay Meskhenet in a makeshift cot of robes. Her old eyes were closed and her breathing was labored. I immediately took action, rushing to her side and kneeling on the ground to be closer to her. I asked what happened and they told me how a stone had fallen atop of her, and she had not woken since then. I placed my hands over her chest, and felt the now familiar heat through my arms and hands as they began to glow, slowly enveloping her entire body in the surreal glow. It only remained for a few seconds before it began to fade, and Meskhenet took in a large breath, her eyes opening as she sat up.
I was still kneeling when a feminine voice caught my attention and I turned to look at the flying woman. While her attire might be considered indecent by some, there was an air around her that demanded respect. Perhaps it was her posture, the way she held herself high in a matter that was not arrogant.
"You're different," she said. My eyes widened.
"I can understand you," I couldn't help but voice my thoughts and she nodded.
"I can speak many tongues. And you are different, aren't you?" she looked at me with interest, and I nodded, already being used to such a question.
"I am deeply sorry for what happened here. We are from the Justice League. The man that attacked your temple was from an organization known as the Sinestro Corps. They were searching for an ancient artifact they believed was here that held immense power. Do you know of any such item like that?"
I slowly shook my head, already knowing there was no such thing in our temple. We had many sacred items, but none held such magic that was worth stealing, not that I knew off at least.
"Very well. Other members of our party are already in pursuit of the man, so you should have nothing to worry about," the man in green approached slowly and I spared him a glance. He said something and the woman nodded. By this point Nailah, the head priestess came to my side, possibly curious of these foreigner and more than a little cautious.
"Is there anything we could do to help?" this time the question from the red-clad woman was not directed at me, but at Nailah.
Nailah looked around, her eyes saddened as she looked at the ruins.
"We have no choice but to rebuild, but it is our own duty and burden to bring our sacred temples to their previous glory. We only ask that you will keep our location a secret, and hope that you may capture the men who did this." the woman in red nodded.
"Very well. We will try our hardest. And I wish you good luck, and farewell," the woman looked to the man in green and nodded, and the two began to fly, the panic that hit me was unexpected.
I felt as if I was watching something precious slip away.
"Wait!" I don't know why I called out, but something told me not to let them go.
They didn't. They stopped and the woman gave me a questioning look.
"What is it little one?" I bit my lip wondering where the thought that made itself known in my head came from.
"I want to be stronger," I voiced my thought, with more confidence then I really felt. Nailah turned to me with shock and the flying woman lowered herself back to the ground, "I want to be able to protect our sacred temples. I was told I was blessed by our Goddess Isis, but I was unable to do anything here today. Something tells me that you can help me."
She looked at me with an intense gaze, making me fight the urge to fidget under her stare.
"You are telling me you wish to leave this sacred land, the temples, the priestesses, in order to become stronger and protect it better?" the way she phrased it reminded me of what it would mean to leave. I would be leaving everything behind, but I understood, and nodded. Something inside me was sure of it.
"Yes. I would be willing to leave in order to be able to protect my people, if my head priestess would allow me," I looked to Nailah, hoping somehow she would understand what I felt. She still seemed shocked, but in the end she nodded.
"If it is what you feel you should do, as long as it will benefit that of Isis, I would accept such a proposal. After all, it has always been your choice."
"You have been blessed by Isis you said?" I looked at the woman, wondering what she knew of Isis. I nodded.
"Then you should be able to wield magic, am I correct?" I hesitated.
"I can heal. And I know how to wield Sai swords. But I cannot wield magic," there was a thoughtful look on her face.
"Something tells me you should be able to do more than that. Perhaps healing is only one form of magic you have learned, but there is no way of knowing for sure. One never knows what the Gods plan for us," there was a playful look on her face, and I smiled. She understood.
"If I took you with me little one, what exactly do you hope to accomplish?" I thought for a second. What did I hope to accomplish. Once more I spoke what I felt deep inside.
"I wish to learn more of the outside world and its dangers. So that I may know what may threaten my people. And I wish to grow stronger so that I may hold my own against those like the men that attacked and never let something like this happen again."
The woman seemed to process what I told her and nodded, turning to the man that had remained silent through the entire conversation. His facial expressions told me he was shocked and concerned, but he too nodded as he said something back to her.
"Very well little one. I will take you with me and teach you of the outside world. But I warn you, you might not like what you see, and the world beyond this land is very different. It might be overwhelming," I took in what she said, but I felt nothing could change my mind right now. I was willing to take any chance I could.
"I understand."
"Wait," we turned to look at Nailah, who seemed hesitant, "Perhaps there is something that could aid you, please, if you'll follow me."
I shared a look with the woman, who seemed just as confused as I felt, but we followed Nailah's retreating form as she led the way back to the ruins.
She took us to the back of the main temple that had remained untouched by the events that had taken place earlier. She knelt down to the ground and seeped to sweep the sand aside until it revealed what looked like a handle. I looked on curiously as she pulled at the handle, and what looked like a secret door on the ground rose up, revealing a pair of stairs that led underground. She walked down the steps and grabbed a torch that waited at the entrance, quickly lighting.
"This way."
I had never been here before, and I had never even known that this place existed. Why would the priestesses keep this place hidden? It only told me it must hold something of great importance. Something only some were considered worthy of knowing.
The corridors themselves seemed to be built as a labyrinth, as the priestesses took us through various twists and turns. I felt like we had walked for hours that made me wonder how far this underground maze reached compared to that of the land above us. Just when had this been made? But I did not ask, I felt it was not my place to ask of a place that had been kept a secret from me. I held in the many questions that littered my head until finally Nailah seemed to slow to a stop and face a dead end. For a moment I feared we had become lost, but those fears vanished when Nailah placed a hand against the wall and I stared in amazement as the a brick seemed to sink into it. The wall itself opened up to us.
The room that lay inside was not very large, but it was littered with statues and walls dedicated to Isis. Horus and Osiris were as common as the Goddess herself in many of the hieroglyphs that decorated the walls. The torches in the room seemed to light themselves up as soon as we entered, illuminating each item such that it looked majestic. But no item was as eye catching as the one that lay in the center of the room. It was a golden statue of Isis herself.
She towered over every other item as she stood standing, dressed in a long sheath dress, a throne sat atop her head and wings grew out of her back. She was shown to cradle her child Horus on one arm and in the other held a staff with what looked like the Headdress of Hathor sitting atop of it. The staff seemed off in her hand, since the statue was all gold but the staff was not. The sun that made up Headdress of Hathor was the red while the horns of the cow were a black that spread down the staff.
I could feel the magic radiating from the room. It was almost suffocating and I wondered if the others could feel it as well.
"This is the most sacred item in our possessing. The Great Statue of Isis and the Staff of Hathor. This has been our most closely guarded secret for generations. Only the head priestess and a chosen few are aware that it exists."
I looked at the statue in wonderment.
"Then why lead us here?"
I could not help but agree with the woman. If this was such a closely guarded item, why would she bring foreigners into such a chamber? My respect for such sacred items was uneasy at the thought, but I trusted her, so I waited for her response.
"From the moment that we heard of Iteru and her healing abilities, we felt it would be she that would be the next wielder of the Staff of Hathor. Only those that have been blessed by Isis have the ability to wield such a powerful magic."
She turned her gaze to me, a small smile on her features.
"We brought you to our temples to train you in the way of honoring our goddess, but we also hoped that one day you would wield this sacred item. We had hoped to introduce you to it when you had come of age, when we felt the time is right. It seems that time is now."
"Why now?" I fought to keep my voice straight as I looked at the head priestess. A weapon? Just what exactly could it do? Was this what that man had been searching for when he came into our city?
"It seems that the outside world has reached out sacred city. We don't know how this will affect us, but if anything threatens our sanctuary, then it is time that you can wield the true magic of Isis. Only you can be our savior. It is why I do not object to your leaving with these strangers. I too feel they would train you and help you hone your abilities better than anyone here can. Fate has chosen you, and fate has brought these strangers here for a reason, do you not feel it Iteru?"
I couldn't help but nod slowly. Yes, something told me this was fate. I could feel it inside of me, the instinct that told me to leave with people I had never met before, but that I already felt I could trust.
"Now go to it Iteru, wield the sacred staff. Only then will we know if you have truly been chosen by Isis."
I looked at the staff. With a sudden boost of determination, I boldly stepped forward until I was right in front of the statue. I looked into the golden eyes of Isis, who seemed to stare back with its empty eyes, and I slowly reached towards the staff, firmly wrapping my hand around it.
The shock I received through my system was unexpected as I felt burning hot magic flow into my system. My eyes automatically shut as my entire body tensed. It felt as if I would once more lose consciousness as the red hot pain continued to flow into me, making me double over and into my knees. Something told me to fight it, and and I fought to stand back up against the force that held me down. My teeth grit against each other as I stood and when I was firmly on my feet once more felt the magic cool, and rather than pain a soothing feeling took over.
When I opened my eyes I gasped at what lay in front of me. Rather than the golden statue of Isis, there stood a beautiful woman. She was dressed in a red sheath dress, her bronze skin contrasting beautifully against it. Her eyes were a dark obsidian surrounded by kohl and her pale lips were in a firm line.
She stared at me with a hard gaze that I found hard to look away from, and she nodded her head. She said nothing else and as quickly as the image appeared it disappeared and once more the golden statue took its place, making me wonder if all I had witnessed had been an illusion.
But in my hand now lay the Staff of Hathor.
T B C
A/N: Well i sure didn't expect to get as much feedback as I did with this story. Thanks so much to those that added my story to their favorites, alerts, and of course those that actually took the time to review my story:
WOOT WOOT
ColdClutch
Ominous Blue
Wonderfully written
QueenyLeAcH
Orange21
Jaguara jag-wahr-ah
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Its you guys that help me type out these chapters. The language they spoke is in fact made up, because c'mon, I don't speak ancient Egyptian and while I know most speak Arabic in Egypt, how do I put that in here? So the language is my little secret. And I borrowed the sai swords mostly because of the movie The Mummy Returns and how they make it look kick-ass, if you haven't watched it, then I highly recommend it. And if you are curious about Isis and Hathor then I encourage to look it up, it all interesting. I actually went back and made it longer, for those that might have received two alerts rather than one, so I apologize for that. I just wanted a longer chapter haha. Remember to tell me how I do my faithful supporters;)
