((Hello readers! Sorry for the long wait, I am not prone to doing sudden breaks like that! School was giving me a hard time, but now I am back on track! That you all for the watches and reviews! It really does mean a lot and I like to know what you are all thinking of the story! And just a quick note, if I do not answer a question that you asked in a review, it is probably because I cannot answer it without spoiling something that will happen later on. Patience my readers! Everything will come in time!
FUN FACT! In my Art History class we were studying Egyptian Art and it turns out that there was an Egyptian architect named Imhotep! He was famous for his work on temples and such and became a favorite of the pharaohs! Ironic, right? Anyway, I thought that would be fun to share! Please keeping reading and please review!))
Imhotep found that Amunet had fainted in his arms the moment the door had closed between them and the rest of her group. He was not surprised. She had been considerably weakened the closer they got to the chamber. Anubis had told him that it might happen. He had told him many things, but he had neglected to inform him that the Vessel would be a young, golden haired woman. He was simply told to search for someone with an Eye of Horus tattoo, something that he was instructed to remove as soon as they entered the chamber or else it would prevent Anubis from entering her body.
Imhotep carried Amunet's limp form to the large stone table that awaited them, setting her down gently, making sure her skull did not hit the hard surface. He stopped for a moment, stepping back and observing her form as it lay, almost lifeless before him. He grimaced. No, he had come this far. He was close to the end of his task. He would not risk the wrath of Anubis for a woman. He had risked everything else for a woman before and he would not permit himself to make the same mistake again.
Stepping forward again, he leaned down and opened a hidden door below the stone table. Everything was there. Everything he needed to perform the ritual. Lifting a tray full of jars and setting them beside Amunet. He opened each of them and took a small wiff until he found what he was looking for. Acid. Reaching across, Imhotep pulled down Amunet's brow robes to reveal her shoulder. The Eye of Horus seemed to stare back at him, either begging or scorning him, perhaps both. He glared back at it and tipped the jar, letting the burning liquid fall onto the tattoo.
Amunet's eyes snapped open and her mouth opened to scream in pain. Imhotep reacted quickly, pinning her down as she thrashed and screamed in pain. Imhotep watched as the liquid burned away the black tattoo, sizzling through Amunet's skin, making it bubble and turn a blood red. Tears streamed down Amunet's face, panting and crying out. Imhotep grabbed one of the other jars and checked to see that it was indeed water before pouring it on her shoulder, washing away the rest of the acid, leaving a large weld in her skin where her tattoo used to be. Amunet turned her head to look at her shoulder. Imhotep pulled back, closing the jars and looking down at her.
"Amunet-"
His sentence was cut off as Amunet's sent a sharp slap across his face. He didn't know why he was stunned by the blow, he should have expected it, but it shocked him none the less. Amunet was gripping her shoulder, her eyes red and puffy. The look of betrayal and pain on her face silenced Imhotep as she tried to get out her shaken words.
"How could you?" she whispered. She gripped her shoulder tighter, as if it would bring her tattoo back. "That was all I had left of…he had one just like it!"
"Yes," Imhotep said, trying to resist the urge to reach up and touch his stinging cheek. "Because your father was a Vessel, such as yourself. That was written magic, meant to prevent Anubis from ever entering your body." Amunet simply glared through the tears, shaking violently, either from anger or fatigue. "You need to relax," he said. "You soul is clinging to your body in desperation and it is causing you to become sick."
"Don't you dare tell me to relax!" she yelled. She lunged, which was well beyond her capabilities so Imhotep had not expected it. She clawed at his face, screaming and kicking. It was nothing like the warrior he had battled before. Instead, it was like trying to tie down a cornered and frightened animal. Gripping her wrists, Imhotep arched his head away from her. He had enough. He slammed Amunet down onto the table and secured her limbs in the rusting metal latches. She struggled until her body could hardly move. She lay there panting, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at cold stone ceiling in despair.
"It will be harder if you fight," Imhotep said, preparing the jars and avoiding looking at Amunet. She turned her gaze to him, face livid with fury and pain.
"You killed Lazarus," she whispered. "He wasn't even the Vessel and you still ended his life."
"Anubis offered a name for a decoy," Imhotep said as if they were having a casual conversation. "I had no use for it until the O'Connells got themselves involved, and I was not about to confide to them that you were the Vessel."
"But why kill him?!" Amunet cried, pulling against her restraints despite her better judgment. Imhotep stopped, paying an awful lot of attention to the jars in front of him.
"He was proving to be an annoyance." Amunet stared at him in disbelief. The man she had defended turned out to be what everyone else had been trying to tell her. A monster. The fight drained from her and all she could do was cry. Imhotep paid no attention to her and lit the wax candles that were present around the stone slab. Everything her father had done for her, making sure she was never alone, never talking to anyone without him, getting the tattoo…it all made sense now.
"Westings killed my parents." Amunet said. It was not a question. She knew it now.
"Yes," Imhotep replied. Amunet stared up at the ceiling, having cried all the moisture out of her body. She felt tired, so tired. Was giving herself over to Anubis really so bad? It would be like dying, wouldn't it? It was not as if she had anything else to live for anymore. At the same time, she wished there was something she could do, but she was too weak to fight back. So instead, she decided to try the only option she had.
"Imhotep…"
The High Priest looked down at her and was taken aback by her expression. The young woman from the museum had eroded away, leaving behind a sickly, pale, girl with dark circle under her eyes. She was shaking, eyes red, lines along her face were the tears had carved through the dirt and sand caked onto her skin. His eyes narrowed and she looked up at him, wet eyes pleading. "Please…let me go. You don't have to do this."
"I do not have to do anything," he replied coldly. "I choose what I do. I am immortal. I am not bound by anyone."
"You will be if Anubis rises," Amunet pointed out, her voice cracking. "How is raising a God going to give you any freedom at all?"
"By giving him his Vessel, I assure my position by his side," Imhotep replied. Amunet's pleading vanished from her face.
"So a simple life isn't enough for you? When did you give up on having something as simple as a family or love?"
"The moment Anuk-su-namun tossed me into the pits of the Underworld!" Imhotep roared, making the entire chamber quiver. He leaned down over Amunet, eyes wild with anger. "You think this is simple for me. You think my motives are clear. You know nothing. You are but a mortal child, who is naive enough to believe she has the power to rid a man of his sins! I have been hunted, tortured, and left behind more times than I would care to count. You expect me to simply leave all potential for power behind because you ask it of me? Look at where you are, Amunet. Anubis will take your body for his own and perhaps then I will finally be rid of you!"
Amunet stared up at him, eyes wide and mouth open slightly. His words cut deeper than the acid, and it left her stripped of any hope. Imhotep, breathing rapidly, leaned back and began to pour the contents of the jars onto the slab of stone, sprinkling it in the air, onto Amunet, and around the stone. He chanted words that even Amunet could not understand, the spell that would be her undoing.
Imhotep raised his arms and tilted his head back, calling out and making the chamber shiver once again. Amunet heard a cracking noise and saw the ceiling had earned a fracture. For a moment she feared that it would fall on her and crush her to death, until the cracks began to glow gold. From everywhere and nowhere, wind began to kick up, sending sand into the air and spinning around them. The light above Amunet grew brighter and something in her chest made her body convulse.
Gasping for breath, Amunet looked down the length of her body. Something inside her was tearing and banging about. Nothing physical, but spiritual. The light began to pour out of the crack and spill onto the chamber floor. Amunet could hardly see anything with the spinning sand, until the golden form of a man stepped forward, only with the head of a jackal. Amunet opened her mouth and let out a scream as the God Anubis stepped forward, his canine mouth splitting to show a cruel smile of jagged teeth. He leaned down and materialized, seeping into Amunet's mouth, eyes, nostrils, pores, any opening the golden light might touch.
Imhotep chanted louder, closing his eyes so as not to see what happened next. Amunet continued to scream, her entire body thrashing and convulsing violently, her soul fighting desperately against Anubis as he sank into her form. He vanished into her completely, the last amount of golden light seeping into her chest. Then everything stopped. The sand dropped to the floor, the candles snuffing out, Amunet going silent, leaving Imhotep alone in the dark chamber. He lowered his arms, chest rising and falling from exertion. A moment or two of silence before he stepped forward to lean over Amunet. Her eyes were closed and she remained still. For a moment he thought that it had not worked, until he noticed a slight glow emanating from Amunet's body.
Her skin slowly turned clean and smooth, the burnt patch of skin on her shoulder healing itself slowly. Her face became more beautiful and curved, her lashes darker. Her hair to became almost a liquid gold, and she looked more beautiful and stunning than Imhotep had ever seen her before. It was then her eyes opened. Only instead of the warm brown, her pupils were surrounded by gold, making them unnervingly piercing. Her expression was calm and controlled, making Imhotep realize that she was no longer Amunet, but Anubis.
"Imhotep," she said, her voice powerful, but oddly musical. "Unchain me." Imhotep quickly obeyed, unclasping the chains around her wrists and ankles and stepping back. Anubis moved her legs over the side of the stone table, swinging them gently before slipping off the table and standing. Imhotep stared for a moment before quickly bending one knee and lowering his head before the God of Death.
"Master," he whispered, suddenly unsure as to what to say. Anubis paid him no attention and looked down at the frumpy brown robes that Amunet had been wearing.
"This will never do," she said, picking at the clothes. She then reached up and pulled a strand of her hair in front of her face. "Curious hair color. That will be remedied as well." Running a hand through her smooth hair, Anubis finally looked down at Imhotep. "Rise." Imhotep obeyed, making sure to look down at the ground as he did so. Anubis stepped forward, taking her finger and lifting Imhotep's head up to look him in the eye.
"You did your part very well," Anubis said, smiling slightly. "I must say I did have fun watching as you manipulated the little mortal. For all her fighting abilities your 'charm' really did the trick." Imhotep said nothing to this, simply looked back at his Master. Smiling again, Anubis dropped her hand. "Now," she said. "I do believe that I have a kingdom to build. It should not take long, although I would like to avoid killing very many people or there will be no one to offer to me for sacrifice later." Again, Imhotep was silent. Anubis turned towards the chamber door before turning back and glancing at Imhotep with her shimmering gold eyes.
"You are very silent Imhotep. I wonder…do you suddenly regret this? I should hope not, your plan went perfectly and I would say that there is very little to regret." Imhotep's face hardened and he straightened his back.
"Of course not," he said. Anubis chuckled, a wicked grin coming across the once timid face.
"Excellent."
Go and check out my profile for my 'Up Coming Story" list for anything you might be interested in eventually reading!
((This Chapter's Question: Do you think we will ever see Lazarus or Amunet again?))
