Chapter 3: Capital of Knowledge
Alexandria, a city of adventures and intrigues. A center of cultures and learning for the Eastern Mediterranean world. What was once a simple village by the seaside was now a bustling metropolis by the Greeks and Egyptians coexisting and building the city from the ground ups. Now governed by both Greeks and Egyptians, they live in harmony with Ra and Thoth ruling from the Palace of Pharos Island near the Alexandrian Lighthouse.
As Anubis led Taiyou and Kassandra into the city from its western edge, they saw the sun rose from the east with the silhouette of Khepri the divine scarab raising the sun on his back. Before their eyes they saw the majestic marvels of Greek architect under the rays of Ra's glory. The city walls were to the eyes of commoners as tall as the Titans could be and layered in a manner that can withstand sieges for 8 months and more.
The trio were on a bridge heading into the downtown area of the mostly Greek metropolis and already Taiyou can see the bridge was built to be an overarching gateway over the Nile river leading out into the Mediterranean Sea. When he looked back to the South, it was lake Mareotis that was connected to the Nile, then a stream from the lake led out to the open sea to the North.
The city planning and design clearly had the intention of keeping continuous and undisrupted trade almost like a canal itself. Of course, Kassandra and Taiyou also saw the sight of a hillside Egyptian village tucked to the riverbanks, this one seems to be antiquated and presumably before the Greeks built the city.
As the trio of canines rode into the central plaza of the city, passing by the parks and public squares, they saw the immense impact Hellenic culture left on the city's design with the Greek shrines, statues and mosaics sidewalks on both sides of the granite stone roads. The group would soon pass by the famous Library of Alexandria along with the nearby amphitheater of the city to arrive at the front of Royal Palace near the Jewish Quarter and the Serapeaum of the city.
Anubis was now leading his companions towards the palace's facade where he was expecting someone to greet them. True to his expectation, he saw Horus at the front of the palace apparently having his morning exercises to crack his bones and spread his wings gracefully. "Ah brother! You're back to Alexandria, how have you been?" The falcon crown prince screech out excitingly as he ran towards Anubis's side. "Fine as usual, I have some friends here." Said Anubis and jerked his head to the side to show Horus the companions the jackal had.
"Why hello there weary travelers! Welcome to my future palace, as soon as Ra step down from the throne that is." Said Horus with a tone that was fueled with eccentric mannerism and his apparent excitement to be crowned Pharaoh of Egypt. Taiyou and Kassandra were the first to pick up on Horus's excitement for the throne and his future position. "So how are Ra and Thoth?" The Jackal deity asked gently and in a more relaxed tone as he dismounted from the horse's back and helped Kassandra to her feet.
"They've been fine as usual brother, life has never been better in fact. Ever since you took Antioch from the Seleucid, you've put us in a better position on the map of the known World than you would like to care!" Said Horus with his avian taloned hands held up high in the air to show his excitement and enthusiasm of the situation to Anubis and Taiyou in particular. "And who's this young wolf here? You don't seem to look like anyone of high social stature are you?" Horus asked Taiyou before poking at his chest with a talon on his right hand.
"I'm...something of a traveler," Taiyou said, before bowing a little. "My name is Taiyou, son of Amaterasu. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Horus."
Horus's falcon eye widened as his beak fell open and he stood up in total disbelief seeing that he was talking to what amounted to his counterpart to the Japanese Shinto Pantheon. "Oh my goodness!" He exclaimed holding his cheeks with both hands. He felt his feather nearly incinerated by the stark realization. "Forgive me, but I didn't realize that you would be well...this light on divine runes and markings." Said Horus as he flabbergasted in front of Taiyou. However, when he said that, Taiyou winced. "...did I say something I shouldn't have?" Horus blinked when he noticed the reaction.
At that, Anubis held up his paw in front of Horus's face to calm his brother down. "Calm down Horus, long story short, Taiyou here was ambushed and had his power taken. Here we're just going to meet Thoth to find a way to get it back. Got me?" He asked Horus who then nodded to his elder brother and sighed out. He composed himself for a moment before looking back at Taiyou and Kassandra. "Then follow me I'll show you the palace and meet Thoth in the process. You'll see some rather interesting records of my brother as well." Said Horus as he led them inside the palace with an aura of excitement that can only be attributed to hospitality.
As the group ventured inside the palace, the first thing they saw was a massive limestone statue of Ra showing off his muscles and abs while holding his scepter high to summon the power of the sun and its heat down on his enemies. The statue was obviously sculpted by the Greeks who had a massive fetish to manly male bodies, a strange fetish but a distinctive hallmark of the Greeks nonetheless.
As they went further down the halls of the palace, Taiyou and Issun saw various hieroglyphic and Greek mural reliefs of what appeared to be Anubis in battle, not on a chariot riding down his enemies like great pharaohs or generals but dressed in Hellenic armor riding on Ramiel's back with his Sarissa lance thrust through the formations of the enemies. Following him in the murals were an elite cavalry force known as Hetairoi with the battle being featured as the battle of Antioch. "Impressive don't you think?" Horus asked Taiyou and Issun proudly apparently in an attempt to play up Anubis's talents.
"Yeah, it is," Taiyou nodded. "My brother and I are premiere generals of the Egyptian military, we bring victories like the harvest of farmers. Usually against the Seleucids and their Persian lackeys." Stated Horus with a cocky smile on his face as he patted the wall painting and portraits. The falcon crown prince then led the group into the library of the Palace, a place where X shaped shelves were full to the brim with parchments of papyrus scrolls while other shelves had various Roman styled flipped page books on vertical shelves.
On the hall, Taiyou and Issun saw a massive map of the world with Egypt being depicted as a massive empire stretching from the Nile valley and the oasis of North eastern Africa such as Siwa to many directions. To the west, it held the coast of Libya and the city of Cyrene. To the South, Egypt held the lands of the Nubian, Kush, Blemyes, Aksum were all part of the empire's vast expanses.
To the East, the Egyptian had Nabatea, the Sinai Peninsula and Judea in firm grips. To the North, the country had control of the province known as Syria with the Capital of Antioch, and the island of Cyprus, there were also oversea colonies in the south of Asia Minor, which includes Halicarnassus with its Mausoleum and the island of Rhodos and the Colossus of Rhodes.
Taiyou himself saw that some of the cartographers and geographers working on the grand map of the world drawing a long snake like line in red paint from the reaches of the East as far as Baktria towards the city of Antioch that was under Egyptian control. It was the silk road that he heard about from as far as China all the way to the Mediterranean. The road would then branch off heading south to the city of Palmyra and Damascus towards Jerusalem and eventually into Alexandria itself.
This was clearly Ra's intentions with Anubis executing it, an expansion of Egypt's borders, a land route from the heartland to its oversea colonies along the southern coast of Anatolia. "Impressive is it not? Such a brief war and yet so many casualties and traumas, makes one wonder if a conflict can truly be harmless by simply being short and brief." Said a calm and leveled voice from behind them, Anubis was the first to know whose voice was this and turned around to see who it was, Thoth, the ibis deity of moon and scribes.
"I am Thoth, Arbiter of the Damned, you must be the son of the Sun." Said the Ibis as he came to Taiyou and shook his hands gently. The Nomarchros's hand was a bird like hand with three long talons apparently to write the hieroglyphs. In his hands there was a large mystical book with gold and emerald cover sealed by a scarab ornament. "Taiyou this is Nomarchros Thoth, High Vizier of Egypt and Right hand to Ra." Said Anubis as he stepped aside for Taiyou to have his space to introduce himself to the High Vizier.
"It is an honor to meet you, sir Thoth," Taiyou bowed respectfully. "And as you say, I am Taiyou, son of Amaterasu of Nippon. We...I...came here in hopes you may be able to help me regarding a recent development…"
Thoth raised an eyebrow hearing this as he grew curious of the boy's statement before tilted his head to the side and asked Taiyou and Anubis. "Care to enlighten me of the current situation the boy is suffering from?"
Anubis sighed out to Thoth before clearing his throat to explain the situation. "The boy was ambushed by none other than Kek. The frog drained him of his power and stole his Divine Instruments save for the Reflector he still has on him. Right now we need a way to find and recover them as soon as possible." Said Anubis with a slightly more urgent tone to Thoth. This made the ibis gasped hearing the revelation.
"Oh my this is truly a crisis! We can't have any demons utilizing the power of Gods." Said Thoth as he opened his book apparently browsing through the pages to find a method to handle the situation. After a few moments, he asked them to follow him. Shortly after, Taiyou was lying on his back as Thoth examined him using one of his spells. "I am afraid there are no spells to fix the situation, as just as you said, the powers were taken rather than destroyed as is possible in some cases. As such, this makes it both easier and more difficult." he frowned.
"What do you mean?" Taiyou asked, before Thoth produced an Ankh, and recited several spells over it. "While rebinding the powers to you should be simple enough, as they still physically exist and are waiting to return. However, that means you need to find them all first. I need only attune this Ankh to them so that it may guide you to your lost powers when you are close to them."
"Wait, we encountered something, a Shadow I think, according to Anubis and he was using Thunderstrike. I managed to reclaim it so maybe you can use it as a sample." Taiyou exclaimed while shifting himself up to a sitting pose from lying down. His brush was still dipped in ink and Thoth saw this as a development he needed.
"Ah perfect, just one drop of your Brush on the Ankh, its senses will only home in on your missing power and techniques." Said Thoth as the ibis gently held Taiyou's wrist up in one hand and his brush in another. He then used the brush of Taiyou and dropped some ink on the ankh's top before handing the ankh to Taiyou. The white wolf would see the object morphed into a wrist gauntlet on his arm, securing itself in place.
"Thanks again for this. With this, I'll be able to go search for Kek to get my Brush Techniques back," Taiyou said. However, at that moment, Anubis placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Remember, the forces of evil are ever presence and come in many forms. They maybe a deity or a simply a demon. I'll have to accompany you the whole way in this strange land." Said Anubis to Taiyou in a cautious tone as he began to looked at Issun's scrolls.
"Right. I'll be sure to remember that," Taiyou nodded slowly. He HAD been fooled by Kek's little ruse afterall…
But as they were contemplating their plans and information to travel around the East Mediterranean Sea, they saw a bright sunlight with a brilliant radiant glow entering the room. This was followed by a hawk headed deity with an anthropomorphic body of a bird and feather on him. His hands were oddly human like with five small digits fingers instead of Thoth like Talons.
His scepter was long and curvy with an eye symbol at the top. His head dress was a red and gold garment denoting his position as a pharaoh with the signature sun disk on the top of his crown. He also had a large sun disk on his chest. "What's going on here Thoth? Why is Anubis here in a…" The booming male voice of the pharaoh hawk stopped as he soon paid attention to Taiyou in the room, he was quick to notice that he was Ammy's son and levitated over. "Ooohhhohoho! You must be Amaterasu's son am I right? I have heard many things about her and I must say I am honored to be your host!" Said Ra as he shook Taiyou's hand excitedly almost like a fanboy meeting his idol.
"Y-yes, it is an honor to meet you as well, sir Ra," Taiyou nodded slowly, well aware of the...complicated...relationship between the sun god of Egypt with his own mother.
"Oh please if you need anything let me know. I am happy to offer assistance!" The eccentric sun god continued as Anubis was seen frowning over it and sighed out disapprovingly. Apparently well aware of Ra's intentions with Ammy were...less than dignified. "For years I've been trying to find a way to court your mother's love. But alas, she had been taken by a...a...a…" Ra began to choke on his words as he struggle to contain his emotional outrage at the thought of Ammy marrying something other than a deity.
Taiyou's eye twitched at the god's small tirade. As much as he wanted to go to his father's defense, even if figuratively….he stayed his tongue for now. He knew how bad it would look to pick a fight with his host, and the chief God of a pantheon at that. Add in the fact he was missing most of his powers, and this could only end badly for himself…
"But now that you are here I think we might have time to rekindle relationships with her!" Ra exclaimed excitedly, prompting Anubis to approach the sun god and elbowed him gently with a nudge. "Ahem...we have some urgent matters to take care of if you don't mind." Said Anubis with a stern voice that even Ra himself had to take seriously and nodded to him.
"Oh yes of course. Urgent businesses. Oh my judging by your look you seem to have been roughed up badly my dear guest." Said Ra as he knelt down to examine Taiyou's apparent lack of divine runes and markings similar to his mother. "Oh dear it seems you have a nasty case of power theft. Fear not, you'll be safe as long as you have the almighty Ra, and his wise Thoth, the noble Anubis and the Heroic Horus by your side." Ra exclaimed in almost squealing manner to Taiyou showing his apparent efforts to advertise his pantheons most telling perks and qualities. The sun deity then looked to Anubis and made a more casual request. "Now then Anubis, would you mind taking our guests here to their accommodation? The finest one in the palace no less."
"Understood. I'll take him to his room here in the palace of Pharos. In the meantime I'll prep a ship to ferry him in case we have to go to Greece." Said Anubis with a nod to Thoth before he then grabbed hold of Taiyou's hand and lead him out of the library to get him away from Ra's eccentric ego and his apparent infatuation with Ammy that was making Taiyou increasingly uncomfortable.
But of course, much to Taiyou's discomfort, his personal room prepared by Ra in anticipation of his arrival appeared to have portraits of Ra with glowing radiant sunlight from his sun disk basking the world of mortals and beyond with his light and warmth for life to grow. His portraits were hieroglyphic depiction with him sitting on a barge traveling the realms of mortals, the heavens and the underworld.
Much to Taiyou's discomfort however was the fact that there were hieroglyphic depictions of Ra and Ammy in regal King and Queen positions next to each other on a throne worshipped by mortals with him depicted as step brother or cousin of sort to Anubis and Horus. From the looks of it perhaps he was meant to be an heir to the throne of a hypothesized unified kingdom between Egypt and Nippon.
"Mom wasn't kidding when she said Ra had his eye on her. While I'm flattered he wouldn't mind me as the hypothetical heir...I can see why Mom isn't interested…Dad may have been...very forward...but even he wasn't this creepy..." Taiyou sweatdropped. Really, there wasn't anything stopping the possibility of his mom having multiple husbands...but it was clear why she always turned Ra down. Yep, he wasn't getting much sleep tonight. And he knew he was going to do his level best to stay out of this room as much as possible…
As he was getting his luggage sorted into the room by the various servants, Kassandra came into the room with a pair of feline servants, two grey tabby cats in fact carrying her rather lightweight luggage and bags into the room to help her sort her outfits into the wardrobes of the room and to Taiyou and Kassandra's fortune, the bed they had was a master size bedroom for the two of them.
But the drawback was the fact the bed itself was underneath a portrait of a hypothetical wedding day between Ra and Ammy. "Zeus is lecherous. Ra is eccentric, perhaps the chieftains of Pantheons are the only ones allowed to indulge in debauchery." Said Kassandra as she sighed out looking at the portrait.
"To be fair, at least Ra hasn't been leaving Demigods by the dozens…" Taiyou said lamely in a half hearted defense of their current host.
Kassandra sighed out as she sat down on the bed and let her white dress be bask in the sunlight of Egypt. Taiyou saw that the servants had put some jewelry and necklaces as well as bracelets on her wrists to give her a full regal appearance of a priestess. There was still her physical prowess that captured his curiosity as she seemed to be well toned and built. Perhaps she had been athletic and taught various sports to keep fit and healthy when she was young.
"So...Kassandra," Taiyou started. "I was wondering...since we're traveling together...mind if I ask a bit about you?" he asked carefully.
"What do you want to know?" Kassandra asked Taiyou feeling slightly unpleasant by the fact that he would without a shadow of a doubt ask her where she come from first and foremost.
"Well...I guess where you're from first," Taiyou started. Truth be told, from the first time he'd laid eyes on her, he'd been...interested in her. He was no stranger to what most would call beautiful women (his friends from his childhood adventure had grown up into fine young humans (and mermaid), with Kagu and Nanami being what most males would call beautiful. However, Cassandra was unique in her own way.
To Taiyou's eyes she somehow reminded him a lot of his own mother, though that was likely cause she was a wolf too...albeit one that didn't quite have his mother's otherworldly beauty (understandable since there was a notable gap between god and mortal), not to mention she had a rather unique fit and healthy look that seemed more akin to a warrior, but didn't quite carry herself that way...he really couldn't help but want to understand her better.
"There's a saying from where I came from. Sparta is home to women, whereas Argos is to Warriors. Women such as myself in Sparta are expected to be healthy mothers to give birth to healthy warriors. All that and no significant earnings to live. Living cost there were too high so I had to run away from it for my own sake." Said Cassandra with a sigh as she felt her mind drifting into memory lanes that would no doubt be filled with various misadventures, hardships and other kinds of traumatic experiences that she had been through.
"Ah...I see," Taiyou nodded slowly. That would explain a lot as he'd heard about the Spartans. They were generally followers of Ares, and were known as fierce and powerful warriors. "Well...I guess before I say about where I'm from...how much do you know about the Nippon Pantheon, or more specifically my mother?" he asked. It was often a touchy subject regarding his father's less than ideal past.
"As far as my ears can hear. Not much. Just that rumors about an island beyond the circling ocean and a sun deity. But that was it. Anything you would like to enlighten me about?" She asked him in a surprisingly dry tone but still relaxed. Seeing that she was from Sparta, it would be of no surprises that her Laconic tongue would rise up every now and then.
"Well...okay...that makes things a bit harder…" Taiyou sighed. "Now before I say anything, I want to be very clear that I love my dad and so does my mom, and he loves us. He's been the best dad I could ask for, so I am in no way ashamed of him. Unfortunately that...doesn't change his...complex...past…" he explained slowly.
Kassandra quirked her eyebrow at that, but nodded all the same, silently telling him to continue. Considering the stuffs the Pantheon from her homeland had been up to, she doubted it would be anything too shocking.
"Okay, in Nippon, there are what we call 'Youkai'. They're...an odd bunch. Depending on which species and a number of other things, they can range from harmless, to what many would accurately call 'Demons'. A long time ago, my mother set out to defeat several powerful Demons that had plunged the land into darkness for a time. She managed to defeat many of them, even when due to a sacrifice she made 100 years prior, she had been stripped of many of her powers, and little by little, she started to restore the land," he said, recounting the great adventure his mother underwent shortly before he was born.
"Now...thing is, as I said, not everyone is cut from the same cloth. Many think Demons are evil cause they're evil...but that's not always the case. Some of them were driven to that path due to things that happened to them in the past. And well...one such demon she encountered, a Demon Lord who called himself the 'Dark Lord of Ryoshima', was one such demon. See...he was a Kitsune, a neutral species of Youkai who can often be good or evil depending on a number of circumstances, and unlike the others she fought...he was a crafty one too. He knew a head on approach would yield...questionable...results, so he fought against my mother with cunning and well…" Taiyou trailed off.
"Allow me to cut this short. They consummate their love instead and resulted in your birth." The quick witted Kassandra raised an eyebrow to it finding that the affair of the two was rather questionable to begin with and to think that it was a Kitsune and a Goddess making out with each other to enjoy their love with one another. "Beasts and monsters of this part consummate with a blade." Said Kassandra in a dry tone apparently reminiscent to her native home of Sparta.
"Well...it was a little more...complex than that. Mother isn't ashamed to admit what happened, but its still not easy to say she lost to father," Taiyou sighed. "Now just to be clear, I'm sure you're thinking how its possible for a chief goddess, even one weakened, to lose to a Youkai, and you'd be right...if my dad was a normal one. Kitsune are unique, as they grow in strength as they gain more tails. When a Kitsune gains 9 tails, which my father did through a powerful artifact of his clan, he was actually to the level of a deity himself, even being able to use the Celestial Brush," Taiyou explained. "So yeah...they were on equal grounds in that sense."
"I see. Their strength cancel each other out in battles. So it comes down to one with the wits of Hermes." Said Kassandra with a smirk at the story finding it somewhat reminiscent of a Greek mythology that she was raised with. Apparently the idea of a deity, a chief deity to find love with a demon of sort wasn't too far out of the realm of possibilities. "So then Taiyou, tell me if you've ever been thinking about settling down with anyone? I certainly hope your pantheon has no one that Hera would identify with." Said Kassandra as she began to groom her fur with a brush.
"Well, no. Not to my knowledge anyway. Even with the...rocky...start...mom is actually rather thankful for what happened. Dad aside, it allowed her to see things in a clearer way. There were two sides of everything so to speak, and even if she WAS being held prisoner, it let her see things from a new perspective. And while polygamy is possible, mom has only ever been honest with dad and vice versa. So yeah, not saying I have any siblings, half or otherwise, but if I did get one, I'm sure it would have been with them being aware of them."
Kassandra nodded slowly, accepting the answer. She had her doubts, but Taiyou had been honest so far, so she had no reason to doubt his words. That and she wasn't stupid enough to try and accuse a deity, even one as well mannered as Taiyou, of lying when she doesn't even have proof of whether his words are true or false.
[hr]
As the two youngsters were busy with one another, Ra and Thoth were in the throne room contemplating their plans with one another, busied as always was the image Ra wishes to project to the world. Though Thoth can tell that the image was busy in a different sense, busy with love. "Oh Thoth this is just perfect, can't you see? The sun prince of the Orient, here in our palace, I'll finally be able to court her love again! I can feel my glow becomes brighter." Ra exclaimed as he let out a love struck sigh reclining on his throne.
Thoth sighed out at Ra seeing that the Pharaoh and chief god of the pantheon was not focusing on the truly important matters of the state as he was supposed to. "Ra focus, please! The boy is tired, he had his power stolen from him and to make matters worse. He is probably frighten by the room decoration you arranged by now." The ibis huffed out disapprovingly making a stern statement with his index finger lifted up.
"Nonsense! I'm sure he's having a blast with the gold ornate furniture and the fact that the room is so spacious there's hardly enough things to fill it!" Ra objected making an even more outrageously over-the-top exaggeration of the palace grandeur. This of course earned Thoth's frown, the wise Ibis then sighed out to Ra as he rubbed his head in frustration.
"Clearly Ra, the time has come for Horus to take your throne and for you to step down." Said Thoth in a disappointing deadpan tone. Hearing this, Ra widened his eyes in shock as he stood up from the throne. "What! Horus? Now? That's ridiculous Thoth! He's too young to take the throne, only 2490 years old, he's still a single virgin to boot. He can't possibly take the throne when he hasn't planned his own marriage and suitors yet!" Ra ranted in an enraged ramble at Thoth trying to stall the ibis and possibly himself from summoning Horus to declare a succession ceremony.
However much to Ra's chagrin, his rambling had caught the attention of Horus and his mother Isis, the two came into the throne room of Ra with Isis now appearing as an anthro avian deity, a female peregrine falcon to be exact with a slender form and golden armor and helmet with the Wadjet cobra motifs on the top. "Ra, you apparently require a vacation. I believe that my son crown prince Horus is ready to take the throne after you've left." Said Isis as she slyly remarked at Ra's increasingly desperate denial.
"Of course Great Great Great Grandfather, I'm ready to take the throne, I've been preparing for this my whole life! You chose me yourself after all." Horus added with excitement, he was apparently anxious and his facial expression was showing the crown prince's hype for the moment was reaching its climax. "Quite right Ra, think about it, if you step down and let Horus take the throne, you would have time to invest on other matters. Such as courting Lady Amaterasu's love." Said Thoth in an enticing tone that caught Ra's ears, he quickly gasped out in stark realization as he came down from the throne.
"Very well then Thoth, although I have my resistance to this notion, seeing that the young like Horus is...reckless to say the least." Ra grumbled and paced back and forth. "However, If Horus is to take the throne then you Thoth would have to take responsibility as his High Vizier unless he appoints another. Just make sure that Egypt remains the top dog of the Mediterranean Sea." Ra hissed out in anxious stress as he sighed out defeatedly as Horus jumped into the air repeatedly in excitement before running on the throne and sat down comfortably on it. "Aaaaaaaah. This is the moment I've been waiting for. I need to invent something to record this moment, or maybe build something to mark my first achievement." Said Horus as he laid back on the throne and stretched himself out.
[hr]
Settling into Alexandria was the easy part for Taiyoun and Kassandra, of course the Oracle herself had it easier knowing the Greek culture that was predominant in the city. By now the two were taking a walk around the city for some sightseeing and to take in the splendors of Hellenic culture. Seeing that it had been two days since their arrival, it was about time they get to enjoy the city and fresh air. Kassandra was wearing her oracle dress in silky white fabric while Taiyou had his own Greek style toga dyed in purple from Carthage and golden buttons to secure the robe in place.
The two were now approaching the Library of Alexandria, by far the largest of any libraries in the world, worthy of the status of a world monument itself. The place had a grand boulevard with columns on both sides of the boulevards. On top of each pillars was a statue of a Greek Muse God. There were 4 pillars on each sides with a grand statue in the center of the boulevard to mark the first of the Muses.
Once the two were in front of the library, they saw a tall Egyptian styled structure with rectangular slope sides and flat tops. On either sides of the Library's entrance were statues of Thoth scribing on his papyrus papers and Ma'at as well as the statues of Amun, the Hidden One and wise creator God along with Ptah. The Library by design seems to be bore the fusion of two cultures coexisting in one country. "Here we are, where all scholars have their beginning. If you want to be a scholar you have to start here first." Said Kassandra to Taiyou.
True to her words, Taiyoun can see various scholars holding bundles of scrolls coming and leaving the library. Others were apparently bringing various papyrus parchments into the library for the scribes to make a copy of the parchments or compose their contents into a single book. Taiyou's eagle-eyes would pick up that the scholars there had books of two different formats.
There were those carrying parchments and scrolls, while others were carrying books with leather covers and the flip numbered pages pioneered by the Romans. It would seem that the books of the Romans were small in number, but a few of them can contain the contents of thousands of individual parchments in greater details.
Kassandra led Taiyou with her into the library where he saw a grand hall full of bookshelves, scholars hard at work reading and researching their contents while sitting down on their tables. "So then Prince of the Sun, does the ray of the brightest star show you the book you need?" Kassandra asked Taiyou in a half joking tone, though it sounded dry and sarcastic, fitting a Spartan.
Taiyou laughed all the same. "Among other things," he said. "I'd like to know about the geography, key locations, even some of the local customs. Wouldn't want to offend someone by accident," he grinned.
Kassandra nodded to him, "Wise choice, Athena may have granted you wisdom beforehand." Said Kassandra as she led him towards the Eastern wing of the Library, the two of them passed by a large statue of the Library's founder sitting on a throne greatly reminiscent of Zeus, a Greek general with the plaque underneath stating his name to be "Ptolemy I Soter tis Makedonia". The two came to a hallway similar in design to the first one, but here they saw the wall to have a mosaic map of the world as the Greeks and Romans have seen.
Taiyou could see that the furthest they have gone to under the Great was India, and the mountainous semi desert kingdom known as Baktria. Taiyou's homeland of Nippon and the surrounding regions ranging from the Middle Kingdom, Mongolia and the distant Eastern wilderness and the realms of Indochina were placed on a separate map next to the mosaic one. He saw that the map of the Orient was made from Japanese cartographers, using canvas and ink similar to the ones he used to draw out the world as they knew it.
Kassandra herself bent over to one of the bookshelf and looked into the titles of each of the book, she then found one leather covered book tucked into the stacks of geography related books. She pulled it out and took a look at the title and found it to be written in Greek, her mother tongue. "Γενική Γεωγραφία της Ελλάδας και της Εγγύς Ανατολής." She read the title before handing it to Taiyou.
"Here, this is what you need. General Geography." Said Kassandra, it was at that point that Taiyou saw her eyes have spinning vortex as she was in a trance, she spoke of a prophecy, vague in details but shocking in content to him. "I see...I see...love in your life, a future uncertain but wracked with dangers and trials of rivals and enemies." Said Kassandra in a droning voice for a brief moment before she snapped out.
"You okay?" he asked with worry. "You had a vision."
Kassandra shook her head out and rubbed her temple, groaning as she felt her head dizzy by the experience. "That's usually what happened when I try to warn others. They never listen." Said Kassandra as she rubbed her forehead. "Some God or Goddess somewhere gave me this power but cursed me with no one believing. Almost like they want a rerun of the Iliads." She sarcastically remarked.
"I believe you," Taiyou said. "...not that it says much since your vision was kinda...vague…" he added, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"Really? I'm surprised that you do but very well...I'll believe it when I see the evidence." Said Kassandra as she sat down by a table with Taiyou and opened the book to read with Taiyou. The first page he ran into was an introduction of the Kingdom of Egypt, his host country and home of the most mystical pantheon in the Mediterranean.
In the first page alone, he saw a map of Egypt's main area, the land along the Nile and some outlying oasis. There was also the country's control of Judea province making it part of Egypt's proper. He found the book to mention that Egypt's demography is by far the most diverse in the region, with native Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Greeks, Hebrews and others living and working in the country.
Interestingly enough, he found that the country's desert also had various mountainous terrains dotted the country with rock formations, caves, even depression known as Qattara Depression to the West of the country separating the oasis of Siwa from the vibrant areas of the Metropolis of the Nile. "These maps are very well detailed," Taiyou mused.
But while Taiyou and Kassandra were busy in the Library of Alexandria, the populace of Alexandria were completely unaware of a strange saucer flying towards the city. The saucer itself looks like a disk with a slightly upward slope on the top portion with four antenna like landing gears around the bottom of it. As the saucer flew over the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, it was coming towards the harbor of the city, the Military Wharves there housed the main Egyptian Navy fleet in the region ready to defend Alexandria or take on any enemies from abroad.
On the ground, Anubis was walking along the piers to observe the docked ships there. On the bowl of each vessels were stylized Eye of Horus symbols drawn for the purpose of being the ships amulet. He came towards a freshly paint ship with the sail bearing the image of an eagle soaring in the sky.
"Phoxidas, how is the Icarus doing?" the deity asked the captain of the ship, an elderly Greek naval officer in light blue toga walking on the deck. "By the grace of fickle Poseidon, this ship is a new lady of the pier, she just departed Delos and already the God has broke her anchor!" Phoxidas growled frustratingly as he pointed to the missing anchor on the bowl of the ship.
"That bad?" Anubis asked and knelt down to inspect the damage, from the looks of things, the ocean waves might have caused the ship to rock too hard that some of the planks were twisted and snapped. The anchor's chain was even broken somehow, "Absolutely terrible, she's not seaworthy for at least a day until repairs are done. Malakia (Asshole) Poseidon's one upping acts are always chaotic." Phoxidas complained.
At that moment, the flying saucer was sputtering, its flight pattern was beginning to grow ever more out of control with altitude being raised and lowered at random. Then the moment of truth came, the flying saucer was now plummeting to the ground, hurling through the sky down to the docks below, it made some swipes and banking to make a gentle landing.
But the efforts were all for naught, as the saucer came crashing down on the Icarus's deck. "Look out!" Phoxidas hurled himself at Anubis, pushing the deity away from the wooden deck, the spot where the Jackal deity was standing on moments ago became the landing spot for the saucer.
The ship's deck now had a large hole on it with the saucer crashing into the lower rowing deck and stuck there. "What the devil?" Anubis growled frustratedly as he came towards the hole and glanced down at the crashed ship. "My ship! My ship! Now she's not seaworthy by a few weeks!" Phoxidas exclaimed in dismay, seeing that the repair cost for the brand new ship had just skyrocketed ten folds.
As the smoke settled, Anubis saw something came out of the glass bubble of the craft, it appeared to be a small, flea like creature with glowing green aura around him. The creature bounced off and hopped on the ground repeatedly as he was arousing Anubis's curiosity towards the sight.
"Ho boy, that landing wasn't the smoothest one. Ever. Should have checked the fuel tank before I left. But at least I'm here, I think." Said Issun as he hopped about up to the main deck, only to hear Anubis's booming baritone. "I did not recall fleas can fly, less so with man made crafts and infernal contraptions." Said Anubis as he grabbed Issun on his shirt's back and lifted the envoy up. Apparently the deity of the dead isn't quite aware of the Poncle being Amaterasu's envoy.
"What!? Hey who are you calling flea? Let me down you hear me, Dog Man! Don't you know I am the greatest traveling artist the World has ever seen! I, Issun, Envoy of the Sun of Amaterasu!" He exclaimed himself, his face turned red as he puffed up his stomach to appear strong and proud. Only for Anubis to nonchalantly huffed out at Issun, apparently not quite recognizing the Poncle or aware of what he was.
"And I am her cousin twice removed also husband. You're under arrest for sabotaging the Egyptian Navy fleet you'll be confined to the Royal Dungeon until your trial begins." Said Anubis in a more stern and assertive tone as he put Issun into what amounted to a wine amphora and buttoned up the lid.
"Hey you can't do this to me! Let me out now Dog Man! How dare you arrest and imprison me like this? Who gives you the right to sentence me like this!?" Issun struggled to break out to no avail as he was thrown about inside the wine amphora while Anubis walked away from the pier. Before he left, he picked up the flying saucer and head up to the streets.
[hr]
By now Taiyou and Kassandra were done with their studies in the Library and the two were heading back to the Palace with a large collections of maps and guidebooks in tow. As they were heading back to the palace however, Taiyou came across Anubis walking with an Amphora in one hand and the UFO in another. "Boy, our ship is...damaged. Phoxidas will be repairing it so we're stuck in Egypt until it's done." Said Anubis in a rather displeased tone.
Taiyou however noticed that for some reasons the Amphora Anubis was holding seem to have the front side of it being knocked from the inside as if somebody was fighting to get out. "Before you asked…" Anubis sighed out, a frown appeared on his head as he proceeded to open the lid of the amphora, letting a green glowing Poncle hopping out of its lid. The Poncle falling on the ground, drunk and daze apparently from the excess of wine inside it. "I found this...flea crashing this device into my ship." He held up the evidence being Issun's UFO in his other hand to Taiyou, his eyes glancing down apparently expecting Taiyou to perhaps know the subject.
"...I have no idea what to say to this other than wondering what Uncle Issun is doing all the way here…" Taiyou deadpanned.
"You know him?" Anubis raised an eyebrow to this, apparently not knowing whether to take insult or simply curiously cautious with the revelation. "High HO! High HooOoooo! We sail for the open sea! We sail under Ammy's grace and ride the waves of her glory!" Issun blabbered drunkenly while flailing around on the ground apparently lost his sense of direction and balance. His incoherent singing didn't help his position being an envoy of the sun either in Anubis's eyes, despite the obvious lack of a sober mind.
Taiyou sighed tiredly at the little display. "He's Mom's envoy who accompanied her during her journey several years ago. He's basically the one who spreads the word of our pantheon and does what he an to keep the faith up. Also, while I call him Uncle Issun out of respect, he's not actually related to me," he explained.
Anubis nodded slowly to Taiyou's explanation but Kassandra being the one who took the most offense to the appearance of Issun, almost right on instinct, she stood behind Taiyou's back looking at Issun's appearance apparently alarmed by his appearance. "He's your uncle? A flea? Don't you worry that he will make you itch or bury himself into your fur?" Kassandra asked alarmed by the sight as she kept an alert and somewhat frightened eyes on Issun.
"Kassandra!" Anubis sternly called her out, he was showing an expression radiating authoritative attitude of a God, befitting his position. "Do not speak to the Envoy of the Sun with such tongue. You are still under the Heavens, remember that." He stated to her, as Kassandra nodded to him before she sighed out.
Out of fear and concern by the alien creature, she took some steps back away from Issun to avoid his erratic behaviors while the Poncle was drunk. "Now let's get inside, we might want to introduce Issun's mind to a more sober state." Anubis sarcastically remarked as he then led the two young wolves into the palace.
After re entering the premises of the Royal Palace, Anubis led Issun and Taiyou to the garden where Anubis gently dipped Issun's head into a pond of fresh water before pulling him up. The cold water contrast with the heat of alcohol and the fresh, tasteless flavor drove out the sweet scent and grape flavor of the wine.
Issun's flailing soon ceased in a moment's notice as his head bobbled around and he slapped himself back to reality. "Wh-what happened? Where am I? I could have sworn I saw Ammy's boobs bouncing!" Issun stated lewdly causing Taiyou to blush in embarrassment at the Poncle's rather careless remark.
Anubis of course cleared his throat out to Issun as the Patron of the Dead stood over Issun as a towering figure. "Perhaps you can explain to me how did you fly this contraption here?" Anubis replied holding the UFO in his hand, once he caught sight of the UFO, Issun immediately hopped on the ship with a panic stricken face that was too small to notice.
"Oh no! My ship! I mean my ship that I borrowed! It's broken by the crash, and I don't even know how to repair it. Oh man this is bad I can't call Ammy with it either since it's broken!" Said Issun almost as if he was about to burst into tears by the finding.
"Calm down Uncle Issun," Taiyou sighed, putting a finger over Issun, holding him down. "We'll find a way to get it fixed...seeing as this isn't exactly the first time you've crashed that. At any rate, why are you here?"
Issun quickly rotated his head to face Taiyou and began his usual work of hopping endlessly in one place as he explained his presence to Taiyou. "Simple kiddo, your mom and dad got a letter about you having a hard time in Egypt. So I came here to see if you're doing well. I guess Dog Guy here is doing an OK job with it. So I'll send a letter home to let your mom and dad knows. Heck I'm betting that sooner or later they'll come to Egypt themselves for some reasons." Said Issun as he bounced up and down.
Taiyou sighed a bit at that, but couldn't help but smile anyway. "Yeah...I can see them doing that…" he chuckled lightly.
"If they do come, I hope to meet your mother again." Said Anubis in a slightly softer tone as he sighed out, seemingly infatuated somewhat of Ammy's beauty and character. "Oh brother, where art thou? 'Tis my time to shine on the throne!" Horus called out to Anubis as the young falcon prince ran excitingly to the garden to meet Anubis to deliver him the good news. But as the falcon prince arrived, he skidded to a halt upon noticing a bouncing green object on the ground.
His falcon eyes focused on the object and his irises narrowed as his face turned pale in a sudden. "Eeeek! A flea! Quick let me get rid of it!" Horus overreacted as he held both his cheeks with his hands, he then grabbed his divine Was Scepter which had a falcon figure on the top to begin casting his spell on Issun. "No Horus! Don't!" Anubis moved in between Horus's Was Scepter and Issun as the Jackal deity moved his gauntlet to deflect the ray firing into the air.
"Bu-bu-but brother, it's a flea! This foul creature that infects you and give your rashes and itches!" Horus protested, trying to reason in utter confusion. "He may look like one and sounds as lewd as a pimp at a whore house." Anubis and Horus can then hear the sound of Issun making a loud "HEY!" in protest, defending his name's honor despite Anubis's apparent cynical comment. "But he's the Envoy of Amaterasu. Kill him, then you'll have to answer to her wrath." Said Anubis sternly to Horus.
"And I don't think ANY of us want an international incident," Taiyou agreed. "Speaking of which, what was that about the throne?"
"Perhaps Ra decided to step down," Kassandra mused with a shrug.
"Indeed he has, he has been growing senile over the years, always fawning and obsessing and even deluding himself to be Lady Amaterasu's future suitor as soon as she gets here. So now I'm going to be the Pharaoh before his next Heb Sed!" Horus exclaimed enthusiastically as he held his hands up in the air, rolling up muscles and showing off his masculinity.
"You've been waiting for this one a bit too long there." Anubis mused as he rolled his eyes. "Let's go then!" Horus then led the group into the palace's throne room, a large chamber overlooking the main entrance of the palace behind a set of doors connecting it to the Atrium. There, Taiyou met the full house of the Egyptian Pantheons, Isis, the Goddess of Magic and Queen Mother. Khepri, a sacred scarab, bringer of dawn whose appearance seem to suggest that he can easily give Taiyou and Kassandra both a ride on his back.
Anhur, the lion god of War, Slayer of Enemies the great son of Ra himself along with his sisters, Bastet and Sekhmet. There were also Thoth the High Vizier or Normarchros of Egypt along with Sobek the patron of the Nile and father of crocodiles. However, Taiyou can see two missing deities, Osiris and Set. Osiris, Taiyou knew would be residing as King of the Duat while Set was not a social figure or liked to be around others.
Ra was sitting on his throne, his a crock and flail crossed over his chest the regal appearance of the Pharaoh seem to be betrayed by the sniffling facial expression and his tears slowly falling down his eyelids seem to suggest a bitter farewell. Horus himself was now walking up towards the throne smiling and giving off a cocky flashy grin as he knelt down before Ra, he bowed his head as Ra stood up.
"Ahe-em...Hail to the Sun and Moon in your eyes. Hail to the Great Black One, he who soars forever in the Heavens (If he's not too busy finding a wife), I now proclaim you...Horus...son of Osiris and isis, Crown Prince of Egypt no more! For you shall be known as Pharaoh, Ozymandias and He who Upholds Balance and Justice for all!" Ra lifted the crown up from the pillow that it was resting on and gently put it on Horus's head naming him Pharaoh of Egypt. The hawk headed sun god reluctantly stepped down from his prized throne, sobbing slightly by the occasion as he melted into the crowd to hide his shame.
"Yes! Yes! I'm finally Pharaoh! My first act as Pharaoh is to decree the construction of a massive canal, linking the Mediterranean with the Red Sea!" Horus proclaimed at the top of his lungs, shocking the Egyptian Pantheons while Ra continued his sobbing behind a pillar. "There he goes and ruin the tradition of building Pyramids." He bitterly stated.
[hr]
Far from the sandy shores of Egypt and the Nile's lush landscapes, in the warm summer sun of Nippon, Ammy and Kaito were deep asleep in their home. After a night of their usual escapades, the two were exhausted with Ammy lying under Kaito, her breasts were still in melon size for their session as she didn't bother deflating them.
As they snooze casually, a portal opened in their room and through it, an express letter flew through it, falling on Kaito's back and rolled off into Ammy's outlying right hand. It felt warm and hot like her sun goddess power but this one had a definitive strange foreign feel to it. Once she came to, she saw the letter to be glowing with a golden sheen sparkling in the room. "Kaito look! It's a letter for us, but it seems to be written by…" She paused for a moment and sniffed the perfume embedded. She sighed out in disappointment knowing who would make an elaborate letter for her. "It's Ra…" Said Ammy.
Once she opened the letter to read it with Kaito, they saw the content being rather...desperate and exasperated by certain events.
Dearest Amaterasu,
Illuminous Mother of Nippon, I am writing to you in my most...dramatic hour possible. As of this writing I have abdicated the throne and left it for my Crown Prince Horus to take the mantle of Pharaoh and Ozymandias.
However, I am still the head of the Pantheons and Highest Priest in the Land and all power of Divine Interpretation rest in me. I therefore, invite you to Egypt to see for yourself the reforms that my Crown Prince shall enact. And no this is not about the wedding plans I've been hatching in my head.
With best regards,
Ra
Former Pharaoh and Ozymandia, God of the Sun and Divine Head of Kemet Pantheon
"...well...aside from him being as desperate as ever...at least he gave us an 'official' excuse to be in Egypt," Ammy mused.
"At least I get to see some place other than Nippon. Along with that Jackal friend with benefits of yours." Kaito grinned deviously to Ammy as he kissed her on her lips, groping her breasts and fondled her nipples. "I guess that means we'll be packing our luggage and teleport over then?" He asked her. "Sounds like we better get ready then. I'm sure you'll like Anubis a lot."
