Tuya: I found a kid.
Seti: ….
Songs
Moses: The Pyramid Texts (Assassin's Creed Origins Curse of the Pharaohs OST)
Walk to Ramesses/Memories/Talk With Him: Osiris Suite, Act 3 (Halo 5 OST)
Vs. Ramesses: Osiris Suite, Act 4 (Halo 5 OST)
Gilgamesh Appears: Before Dawn (Fate/Apocrypha OST)
Vs. Ramesses Again: The Battle is to the Strong (Fate/Zero OST)
Vs. Ramesses Chariot: The Battle of Kadesh (Assassin's Creed Origins Curse of the Pharaohs OST)
Vs. Ramesseum/Ramesses Finale: Namae No Kaibutsu (EGOIST)
Ramesses Defeated/Regrets: Por Que Llorax Blanca Niña [Sarajevo] (Hesperion XXI, Jordi Savall)
A few short points going into this about the Moses story. Ramesses II is often the most used Pharaoh for the Pharaoh of the Exodus because of his long and successful reign and incredible power and influence. However, there are many conflicts with the story in general that many scholars believe that it never really happened, to which I agree, even though I myself am Jewish. Moses was supposed to have lived in the 1500s BCE, but Ramesses lived in the 1200s BCE. Ramesses II had many children, and his firstborn son lasted until the 25th year of his father's reign. Pharaoh's daughter, that is supposed to have rescued Moses, might have been Ramesses' older sister Tia, but she is rarely ever mentioned other than a few of her brother's monuments due to her early marriage and leaving the life of a princess behind. The Israelites were never really enslaved, as Egypt was well known for compensating their workers if they themselves were not doing it, if not in money than in another resource. The Israelites were mostly gone by the time Ramesses ascended the Throne as well. Also, Ramesses lived to be in his early 90s. However, this is Fate, and most legends were real with the existence of Mystery. So I'll be playing off of a bit of the actual biblical narrative, The Prince of Egypt movie, and also Nasu's own background, which is:
Pharaoh's (Seti I) daughter (Tia) found Moses, she and Queen Tuya adopt him and raise him alongside Ramesses like a brother, Ramesses marries Nefertari as a teenager and the three are good friends, then Moses leaves because he finds out the truth about his past, returns to liberate the people, sets the 10 plagues upon them, they leave, Ramesses gives chase, decides not to pursue Moses through the Red Sea, and his reign continues on until his historical death. So here we go.
"Do you enjoy playing in the water, brother?" Tia giggled, watching her baby brother splash in the shallow pool they were in, while their mother sat nearby. She looked out upon the water and noticed a small wicker basket slowly floating towards them.
"Tia? Do you see that basket?" She pointed, and the young girl turned around and walked over curiously, grabbing it as it came to her. She opened it, gasping as she saw an infant boy crying softly, before looking back at her mother for help. Tuya walked over and picked the basket up herself, while Tia went back over to her brother and held him.
"It's a baby boy."
"Why would anyone put a baby in a basket like that, Mother?"
'I wonder if it's because of Seti's drownings…' Tuya thought to herself.
"Perhaps the mother and father just couldn't afford to keep him. Lives can be complicated sometimes." She shook her head and lied to her children.
"In that case...do you think we could keep him?" She asked with a sparkle in her eye.
"Keep him? He's not an object, Tia, he's a human being."
"I know, I know, I meant...raise him!" Tuya sighed and looked at her children.
"I suppose we can. Look Ramesses. Your new baby brother." She bent down to her son and showed him the infant, the young prince exhibiting happiness when looking upon him.
"Make sure to look after him. His name is...Moses. Yes, that's it."
X
Walking through the streets of Luxor towards Karnak Temple, the group of Servants were now fully healed once again, though they all knew that their time as Grand Servants was diminishing. It would take all they had to defeat the Pharaoh, and it might be the end of their new powers by the time they get to fight Angra. But similarly to the other cities they liberated, none of the citizens seemed to be in a state of distress or peril. People went about their daily business as usual, and seemed to be happy.
Once reaching Karnak's entrance, they noticed that nobody was walking through, curiously.
"For the largest attraction in the city, it's strange that no one is exploring it." Jeanne looked around.
"...That's because they can't. Look there." Scathach pointed to the main corridor, and shortly in, there was an altered bit of space.
"It's a Reality Marble…" Nero mumbled.
"...I suppose we have no choice but to enter it." Jeanne took a deep breath, and they went after it, passing through and finding themselves in a much more Ancient Egypt, seemingly during Ramesses' own reign.
Continuing to walk through, they noticed that many phantoms dressed in Ancient Egyptian robes were walking through. They took notice of the servants, yet quickly got out of their way, scampering to safety, knowing why they were there.
In the distance, at the end of the pathway, Karnak ended and a slight incline began, leading up to a massive and lavish palace that shone golden in the sun.
"There. He's up there." Jeanne pointed. They all nodded and began to walk towards it again, before suddenly stopping, almost stumbling over themselves when memories began to flood into their minds.
"Moses, where are you going in such a hurry?!"
"I cannot stay here!"
"What do you mean? You are a prince of the Royal Family!"
"I was saved from being drowned by your father and your mother found me. I cannot continue to live here...I'm sorry." Moses ran off into the desert, out of the city.
"Moses, wait! I'm sure this is all just a misunderstanding, and father can clear it all up! Moses!"
X
"My Pharaoh, this may be difficult to believe, but...your brother has returned."
"What…? Do not test my patience by joking about such matters."
"It is no joke, Ramesses." Moses walked in.
"Moses…! Welcome back, my brother!" He got up and ran down the steps to hug him, the two embracing.
"It is so good to see you!"
"Where have you been all this time?"
"I'll tell you. Could we speak alone?"
"...Of course. Leave us." The two walked out behind the throne and out the doors onto the Pharaoh's private balcony.
"So? For years and years you were gone. Where were you?"
"I was living in the Sinai desert, living with a tribe of Kenites. I've married since then, too. A woman named Zipporah."
"I see. Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"But if that's the case, then why return after so much time away?"
"Because I've come to ask a favor of you. Release the Israelites. They should not be enslaved like this."
"...Oh, I see. That's what this is about. I'm afraid I can't do that. Our society depends on their labor. I can have new rules instituted to prevent my overseers from being so harsh to them, but-"
"That's not good enough, brother. They will just continue their treatment behind your back. They need to be let go."
"Moses, you know I can't do that."
"This is a task bestowed upon me by the one true God. I cannot take no for an answer."
"One true God? What's that all about? You no longer believe in our gods?"
"No, I do not. Your gods are false. God sent me a message and spoke with me directly. He sent me here to deliver my people from you, and should you refuse, he will inflict the people of Egypt with ten plagues until you change your mind."
"So your 'God' is threatening me...your so-called 'God' is using you, Moses. Making you think that he's the only one? Even if he is real, have you forgotten everything that father taught us? The Egyptian Gods are real, and grant the Pharaoh their power in their time of need!"
"I tried to reason with you, but...so be it. I'll take my leave now." Moses turned around and walked back through the palace, Ramesses staring after him angrily.
X
"Ramesses, are you ready for our boat ride?" Nefertari asked, sitting on one of the thrones on the royal ferry.
"Yes…" He walked up onto the ferry along with her and sat down, Nefertari sitting on his lap, snuggling into him.
"Is something bothering you?"
"Moses is back…"
"What?! Really?!"
"Yes. But he wants to liberate the Israelites."
"And you won't?"
"I can't." He shook his head. "And they've been compensated. Yet somehow he still takes it as slavery."
"You're refusing to let them go...wouldn't you call that slavery?"
"..." Ramesses sighed heavily, seeing the blueness of the sky as their boat finally made it out of the tunnel and into the openness of the Egyptian capital.
As they came around the corner of the palace, they noticed Moses standing on the bank across from them.
"Were you waiting for us?" The Pharaoh asked, a slight hint of anger in his voice.
"I told you that I cannot take no for an answer. I apologize to both of you, but...this is something I have to do. You have earned a plague."
Moses held his staff out in front of him, and began to recite an incantation.
"This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hands I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water." He tapped the staff onto the water, and the ripples sent throughout turned it into blood, people beginning to scream, and the smell turning from one of purity into one of foulness.
The only one not surprised by this was Ramesses.
"It will pass. Your God does not scare me, brother."
X
"Let them go, brother!"
"No."
"...This is what the great Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs." Once again Moses tapped his staff on the ground, and the deafening sound of croaking came soon after, with thousands of frogs beginning to hop around and overrun everything.
"You've made a mistake, brother. The water went back to normal days ago. If your God truly wanted his 'people' to leave faster, then he would have had these plagues active together."
"He is merciful, he would never do that to anyone." Moses shook his head. "And besides, with all of these frogs now, more than just the water is unavailable to you."
"If the blood passed, the frogs will as well." Ramesses went back to his palace.
"But they will continue to get worse and worse as they go along!" Moses called after him, with a worried look on his face.
X
The frogs left after a few days, and once again, Moses was standing at the riverbank in front of the palace. Ramesses walked out and gave him a knowing glance, the two deciding to no longer speak to each other their wills.
Moses sighed once again, and this time lifted his staff into the air, beginning to recite the incantation for calling the next plague.
"And the Lord said...stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become gnats throughout the land of Egypt." When he finished, gnats began to swarm around the city, bugging the citizens, who were swatting them out of their face, but being unsuccessful because of the sheer number of them.
A few of them began to buzz around Ramesses, but they quickly burst into flames, surprising Moses, while the Pharaoh remained unfazed.
"I told you that your God is not the only one in this world. Ra always protects me." He turned around and went back inside the palace.
X
The next plague was wild animals, which came in droves to attack the livestock of the Egyptians. Ramesses did his best to have the army fend them off, but there were too many.
"Ramesses...we can't keep doing this...for the sake of our subjects...they can't keep going through these plagues…" Nefertari whispered, lying against him.
Ramesses closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, looked to his left, seeing Moses standing at the room's entrance, beginning to walk towards them.
"Take them." Ramesses said, making Moses stop.
"After seeing the first plague come true, you could have told me what the others were in advance instead of putting these onto us."
"It doesn't work that way...I don't know what the plague is until he tells me-"
"Do you really expect me to believe that? I don't want you anywhere near us after everything you've done. Take them and go. And never come back here."
Moses looked at them sadly before turning around and heading out of the palace towards the construction area, where most of the Israelites were working.
Ramesses put his hand on his face and sighed, sitting up.
"You did nothing wrong."
"I did. A Pharaoh is supposed to be invincible in the eyes of his people, so I refused to agree to his terms, but he tortured and even killed some of our citizens with his plagues….I'll be back soon. I'm going to watch." He stood up and began heading upstairs towards the balcony, but felt something, a sort of outward force, affect him on the way up there, making him hold his head before continuing on with a glare upon his face. Slamming the doors open and looking down upon all of the Israelites, including Moses.
"None of you are free! You're all going to remain here in service to me until the day you die! And even after that, your children and grandchildren will serve my children and grandchildren! Now get back to work!" He bellowed out, surprising Moses and all of them, even tears starting to run down a few of the Israelites' faces.
"I thought you said that you were letting them go!" Moses shouted up.
"I changed my mind. Go ahead, summon another plague. I care not." He turned back around and closed the doors, cutting off contact between them again.
Moses, with a look of fury upon his face, slammed the tip of his staff upon the ground, and recited:
"This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field- on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats."
X
"Why did you suddenly change your mind like that?" Nefertari asked worriedly.
"I will not allow Egypt to fall to a mere shepherd hailing from a people that we've had control over for hundreds of years! Not when our empire is where it is now. I refuse to be the one known as the one who lost power!"
"..." Nefertari looked out the window at the people, who were watching their livestock die, unable to do anything to stop it.
"I feel...too angry...what's happening…?" Ramesses began to walk to their bed before collapsing onto the ground.
"Ah! Ramesses! Guards!" Nefertari cried out.
X
"Mm….?" Ramesses stirred, slowly opening his eyes, finding Nefertari lying next to him.
"Ramesses! You're awake!" She kissed and embraced him suddenly.
"What...happened?"
"You fell unconscious. You've been asleep for a little over two days now. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm...I don't know...ever since I changed my mind, my head has felt clouded. Like I'm not fully in control of my own actions."
Nefertari tilted her head, confused, before handing him a bowl of fresh water, which he washed his face with.
"What has happened with the plagues?"
"The livestock plague ended just yesterday. Most people have been trying to find and tame new animals outside of the city, but they've been pretty unsuccessful. It seems that the plague is affecting things outside of the city borders as well…"
"...Where is Moses?"
"He's been waiting for you at the palace gate once again." Ramesses nodded and went off towards there, finding Moses standing there again.
"I don't know what your God did to me...but he's making this harder for you and your people…" Ramesses muttered.
"The Lord did not do anything to you. You are being delusional." Moses shook his head.
"Are you so blinded by your own faith that you are ignoring facts? I agreed to let your people go, and suddenly, something affects me and makes me feel angrier and uncertain, and I decide to change my mind, making more plagues befall us! I just fell unconscious for two days and Nefertari has been worried sick about me!"
Moses' eyes widened for a moment before he sighed, staring back at him, determined.
"Are you going to let them go then? You can end this now."
"I'm not going to let them go until your abn haram of a God does something irreversible. At this point, it's out of spite for what he did to us and to you." He turned around and walked back to his bedroom, rubbing his face.
Moses walked through the palace and into the kitchen, which was empty. He walked to the furnace, picked up handfuls of soot, and tossed them out the window, where they were transformed into fine dust, spreading out throughout the sand in the city.
"...And the Lord said there shall be boils." Moses walked out of the palace.
X
Once again, Ramesses and Nefertari were confined to their room so that they were not afflicted with the boils that everyone else had. And once again, it passed after a few days. It seemed like the Egyptians were beginning to make a comeback: they were acquiring more livestock, the water was fully clean and drinkable once again, and the crops were doing well again. However, because they knew that another plague would be upon them soon enough.
And sure enough, Ramesses and Moses did not even bother to speak to each other anymore. When one plague ended, Moses gave them a day of freedom before unleashing the next one upon them.
He walked outside and held his staff up into the air, hearing God's voice in his ear again, beginning to chant the summoning spell for the next plague.
"Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die." Moses slowly lowered his staff, reluctant to go through with it, but shaking his head, realizing that it was a necessary sacrifice.
The next day, as promised, a massive storm of thunder, lightning and hail, the worst since the nation's founding, rained down upon them nonstop for an entire day, killing some people and animals alike. Once again, the people became restless because they were stuck inside for the day, and upset that their ruler was not doing more about it, and constantly being stubborn.
X
"How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians- something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now."
The locusts came in massive swarms, and the crops were quickly getting devoured, with the Egyptian people really becoming stressed about their survival at this point.
"Ramesses...you need to do something about these plagues before our baby is born...they cannot grow up in a world where disasters like these befall us every day." Nefertari said weakly, heavy into pregnancy.
Ramesses sighed, kissing her on the nose before standing up.
"Very well. I wanted to win this battle on my own terms, but it seems things have escalated to the point that I have to ask the gods for help. I will fix this."
He went off, heading down into the lowest floor of the palace, where the paintings that caused Moses to leave originally were. Heading to the back of the hall, the final mural was of Ra blessing his power to a Pharaoh. He pressed the brick where the deity's hand was, and the entire wall followed suit, sliding down and revealing a hidden passageway going even further underground, something only Pharaohs knew about.
At the end of the stairs, there was a door that opened up into a shrine where statues of all of the Egyptian Gods were sitting. Walking up, Ramesses knelt down and closed his eyes.
"Great Ra, Lord and Protector of the Sun and the Egyptian people. I require your power for a time. A God from a different religion has brought catastrophe upon our society, including influencing my own decisions, all to make himself appear more powerful. He has sent another plague of locusts, consuming all of our crops. I require Mesektet to do away with these pests." A few seconds of silence before a golden aura enveloped him. Ramesses lowered his head further before standing up and leaving the room, going up to the roof, where Ra's giant floating ship was. A path of golden light was extended to him, and he walked up, sitting on the throne at the helm. The ship rose up higher into the air, and began to shoot golden beams of light through small cannons on the bow. They shot upwards in straight lines, incinerating the locusts on the crops, yet sparing the vegetation due to the protection of Ra's magic.
Moses stared up at the ship in wonder, gulping. Ramesses walked back off onto the roof and the ship disappeared. The Pharaoh looked over the edge and stared at his former brother condescendingly.
"I told you your God is lying to you. He is not the only one. His ego is far greater than that of Ra's." He walked back into the palace without another word.
X
"The sun is his strength…" Moses whispered up to God, standing outside of the palace once again later that night. He received another response, and Moses held his hand up into the air.
"Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt- darkness that can be felt."
For three days, no one could see anyone else or leave their home, falling further into despair, and preventing Ramesses from being able to fix it. When the plague ended and the sun returned, Moses stood outside waiting for an answer from Ramesses, but he received none, so God spoke to him again.
"About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl,who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt- worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. Before I do this, relay to the Israelites to mark a lamb's blood above their doors and I will pass over those houses. Once the plague is finished, make sure to leave, taking whatever you need. Guide them out."
Moses nodded, heading to tell the Israelites.
X
"You're done, Nefertari. Can you hear his cry?" Ramesses said happily, the baby being handed to him by one of the doctors.
"Let me see him…" Nefertari panted. The umbilical cord was cut, and Ramesses bent down, handing her the new baby.
"He's beautiful…" She smiled, still out of breath, but gently caressing her baby's head.
"What shall we name him?"
"How about-" A chilly gust of wind burst through the room and cut her off, and once it passed over the child, it's body went limp in Ramesses' hands. Just as soon as it had entered, it left, and they remained quiet once they had realized what had happened, since the baby was no longer crying or moving.
"Your Majesty…" The doctors began to apologize, but stopped them, putting the baby down next to his mother, who was crying.
"This is not a natural phenomenon. That gust of wind…" Looking out over the city, the screams of parents began to sound throughout the land, followed by the wails of their crying.
"...It is a plague." Ramesses' face twisted into one of rage, walking briskly off towards his war room.
"Ramesses…" Nefertari sobbed.
"He's gone too far this time. Ready the army. We're going after him. I do not care if we go against this God of his, our own Gods will humiliate him with their powers."
Ramesses walked into his war room and put on his personal armor, while grabbing his sword and bow, both kept locked up in a secret room. Sheathing his sword on his waist and the bow on his back, he headed down to the ground, where his horses were waiting for him, attached to his chariot.
"Are you both ready? Alnasr 'iilaa tayiba? Mut rad?" His horses neighed, and he climbed into the chariot, snapping the reigns while the army followed behind him, all riding on horse-driven chariots.
"Quickly, we must go!" Moses led the Israelite to the riverbank, blocked by the Nile.
"There's no way past the water!" His wife, Zipporah exclaimed.
"We can't just swim the whole way…!" Moses bit his lip.
"Raise your staff. I will do the rest." God spoke to him again, and Moses obeyed, raising his staff, and shortly after, the Nile rose up and was split in half, leaving a path for all of the Israelites to take.
"Moses!" Ramesses shouted out from behind them.
"Start going, I'll confront him!" Moses sent them forward into the river, crossing by the path, turning around and facing off against his former brother.
"It did not have to be this way, brother."
"No. It didn't. But you hurt Nefertari this time. And I'll never, EVER, FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT!" He took his bow out, and formed a giant arrow of light from Ra's blessings.
"With this single shot, I will split the Duat in half!" The arrow fired and sent walls of sand flying on both sides, speeding towards Moses, who pointed his staff outwards and fired a beam of red lightning, the two attacks colliding and threatening to overtake the other.
Both attacks culminated in an explosion, and the shockwave knocked Ramesses and his horses back, doing the same with Moses, making him fall down below where the others were. Getting up, he looked up for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing, turning around and running through the sea, making his way to the front of the group of those crossing.
Ramesses got up again, and looked out to see them finish their crossing.
"Shall we pursue them, Your Majesty?!" One of the commanders asked.
'They cannot grow up in a world where disasters like these befall us every day.' His wife's words ran through his head.
"...No. He was once my brother. And I promised Nefertari that I would do away with these dark times. We will have other children, as sad as it is. And Egypt's Empire will continue for long after I am gone. Let's go back."
Pulled out of the memories suddenly, Jeanne and the others found themselves standing at the foot of Ramesses' throne, outside of the palace on the front entryway.
Looking up at him, Ramesses slowly opened his eyes, looking down at them, the powerful gaze of his golden irises scaring Jeanne.
"So you have become more powerful after all, Holy Maiden." He spoke calmly, but with authority.
"Yes. Out of necessity. Admittedly, Solomon made some interesting arguments in your favor, but...we don't think that the world will be better off with you running it forever. I know we've never officially fought before, but that's why all of us will be fighting you!"
"So I see…but you're going to have to fight my companions first." Materializing next to him was a sphinx, the size of three lions, slowly walking up to them, making the others back up.
"You've never seen me fight before, and I assure you that I will be no easier to deal with than Solomon."
"So you know about that already…" Jeanne spoke.
"I have to admit...that I didn't think any of you would be able to defeat him. And now that he's gone, our plan has essentially failed. It will take at least three more years to summon him again, and then even longer to recreate the ritual. At this point, I'm fighting you out of spite, rather than for the sake of the world." He snapped his fingers, and the sphinx's claws heated up, turning red and steaming, raising its paws and bringing them down on Nero, who blocked it with her sword, struggling, but able to keep it at bay.
"I require you as well." Materializing next to him now was a much larger sphinx whose face was blank yet looked like the night sky. Its face lit up slightly before firing a massive beam of dark energy at the others, Jeanne using her barrier Noble Phantasm to block it, but still feeling the shockwave of it.
Nero had knocked the regular sphinx's claw away and slashed it in half, but now had to deal with the king sphinx.
"Sphinx Wehem-Mesut. Wipe them out." Ramesses ordered. A loud roaring sound emitted from the Cosmos Sphinx though it had no face or mouth. It seemed as though it couldn't move because of its size, and so it remained in front of Ramesses, protecting him. Bringing up one of its claws, it brought it down again, Nero blocking it like before but getting knocked away easily this time.
"Just attack all at once!" Nero, Jeanne, and Scathach flew at the Sphinx and slashed it, injuring it, but still unable to kill it, as it fired another beam and turned its head to hit all of them.
"I don't want to have to use a Noble Phantasm just to kill this thing…!" Scathach gritted her teeth and gripped Gae Bolg harder.
"I'll deal with it!" Jeanne summoned arrows of light and dropped them on the sphinx, finally obliterating it, but Ramesses was not fazed by it.
"It would seem that you possess more power than I initially thought. Though I suppose it was also a bit cocky of me to believe my sphinxes would do any serious damage to Grand Servants in the first place. But on the other hand, I am starting out small."
"You're bluffing." Jeanne smirked. Rider's smirk turned into a frown.
"What are you talking about?"
"It didn't take long to understand the extent and nature of your abilities. Summoning giant sphinxes and your ship as well...your immense power lies in your Noble Phantasms. Your physical strength is rather lacking compared to ours, isn't it?"
He did nothing but stare her down, and she ran at him, preparing to strike. He aimed one of his hands at her and blasted a huge, golden wave of energy at her, surprising her and sending her flying back.
"Congratulations, you've figured out how the old me worked. Now it's time to catch up, Jeanne. My physical capabilities are most definitely above your own in my Grand form. My strength does not lie solely in my Noble Phantasms. You would do well to not judge books by their cover." He stood up from his throne and held his hand out, summoning a gleaming silver khopesh with a gold hilt.
Musashi and Altera striked next, but he easily blocked the Photon Ray with his own sword, and Musashi's katana with the armor on his wrist, before knocking them both away and slashing them with his sword, dealing a heavy amount of damage to them.
Nero and Scathach went next, and Ramesses blocked Gae Bolg the same way and blasted energy straight into Nero's chest, knocking her down, while he kicked Scathach back and cut her down as well.
"You're all disappointing me. Did you really use up that much of your magic energy already?"
"How do you know about that…?!" Jeanne asked.
"Solomon informed me as soon as you all ascended. It was his spell after all, he would immediately tell if someone had interacted with it. He could tell that you had ascended and that the ritual had disappeared, but also that your transformations were only temporary. You didn't have enough magic to permanently achieve your new forms, even with your other companions sacrificing themselves."
"Why you…!"
"You can't expect to defeat me like this, Holy Maiden." He fired a beam of energy in a circle around them, before exploding upwards into a geyser, injuring all of them further and preventing them from action.
"And now comes the end. How disappointing that you came this far only to lose. But even more disappointing for us that you set our plans back another three years." He looked down at them angrily, raising his sword up while placing his foot on Scathach's head.
"Goodbye." He began to bring the sword down.
But he stopped himself when he heard the sound of something flying through the air towards him, glancing outward where he saw another sword coming straight at him. His eyes widening, he knocked it away before he was slammed in the face with the hilt of another heavy sword, knocking him off balance and away from the others.
"Who did that…?! Show yourself!" he yelled out.
Across the ground, just coming up the stairs of the palace and entering into view, was none other than the King of Heroes himself, Gilgamesh.
"Well well well…" Ramesses snickered, Gilgamesh remaining silent and staring him down.
"...Gate of Babylon!" Gilgamesh opened numerous portals behind him, shooting out a plethora of weapons at Ramesses, who dodged them all by taking shelter inside of his palace.
Gilgamesh walked to the front of the group without looking down at a single one of them, keeping his eyes focused on the sky the entire time.
"Stand up, Mongrels. This is embarrassing!"
"Ungh…" The others slowly began to get up, feeling the energy of his voice uplifting them from his Charisma skill.
"Why are you here…? I thought you didn't want to help fight?" Altera asked.
"...That woman I now call my Master played me. However, she was right. No matter how much I may say it's hopeless, nothing changes the fact that I am Humanity's first hero! And therefore, the King of Kings is nothing more than my descendant, who owes his status as a Servant to me, to some degree. This world will always be mine, and if I allow them to take power now, then I will never take it back. And working with all of you is my best bet to achieve this."
Their strength continued to rise thanks to his speech, but Jeanne sighed.
"That's really the reason why you came back?"
"Yes, it is. I am not like you, Maiden of France. I do not simply do good for the sake of others. There must be something in it for me. You can call that selfish if you wish, but all beings are selfish at their core, even gods. Especially gods. We all want something for ourselves, and this is the way I decide whether or not to act. Even if I am inadvertently doing this for the world, at my core, I am doing this for myself. But it matters not. Seeing that pathetic attempt from before proves that you need me to keep your heads in the game! So just this once, I will assist you until your mission is over, and after we return to the Throne, it will be like nothing ever happened, since our memories of this summoning will be wiped. Understand?"
"...Yes. Thank you!" Jeanne smiled, and the others felt themselves fully rejuvenated.
"Good. I may not be Grand Class like some of you, but my new Master's magical circuits are the greatest I've ever seen in a mage, so I feel pretty damn close! I shouldn't even have too much trouble using my Noble Phantasms multiple times in a row while relying on Lorelei's mana reserve. So let's take advantage of it while we can."
"Whether you feel your strongest or not, you cannot change the fact that you are a Top Servant, and I am a Grand Servant, King of Heroes. You will fall to me, just as the others will." Ramesses stood up again, looking at Gilgamesh condescendingly.
"Let's see about that, King of Kings. Vimana!"
"...Mesektet!" Ramesses jumped on his ship and lifted off.
"Get on!" Gilgamesh sat in his throne and Nero and Jeanne got onto the ship, balancing themselves on the platform, before the ship took off after him.
"Fire!" Vimana shot out multiple rays of energy at Rider, who dodged them by controlling his ship to fly around faster than Vimana was.
"Take this!" The ship drifted around, and fired its own blasts of energy back at the others, who deflected them with their weapons.
Mesektet charged up again and fired a larger blast, Gilgamesh moving his ship to avoid the blast before firing again, this time the blasts hitting Mesektet and causing some damage to it. He then flew towards the ship again, trying to get the others close enough to jump on and fight Ramesses in close combat.
"Not good enough!" He fired blasts at them from the side, forcing Gilgamesh to fly away again.
"I'll do it myself!" Nero jumped off and flew after Mesektet, which was now taking off in the opposite direction.
Getting close enough at last, she landed at the helm, and swung her sword at him, but was surprised to find it blocked by Ramesses' own khopesh again. The two continued clashing while Gilgamesh pulled Vimana up alongside it and Jeanne jumped on, attacking him from the other side with her own sword.
Ramesses knocked Nero away and switched his focus to Jeanne, the two slashing at each other and blocking each others' swings.
"You really think you have the ability to take me on?! Foolish girl!" He knocked her off balance and slashed her across the stomach, making her fall to her knees while Nero went after him again, and began to overtake him with the strength of her own blade.
Gilgamesh had Vimana charge up multiple energy beams, and Ramesses took note of this, having Mesektet do the same with its full power blast. Nero knocked him away and flew over to Jeanne, carrying her away while the two ships fired, obliterating each other.
Landing on his feet, Gilgamesh watched as the others came back to the ground, and Nightingale healed Jeanne's sword wound.
Ramesses glanced behind him as he fell, watching his ship explode into mere planks of wood before looking down at the fast approaching sandy ground, closing his eyes.
"Come to me now and bring me victory! Alnasr 'iilaa tayiba!Mut rad!" His eyes snapped open as he called out the names of his horses, both of them materializing along with the war chariot that he rode in his own lifetime. Landing on it perfectly and snapping the reins, he sped around the sand towards the others at a blinding speed, outpacing even some of the fastest heroic spirits, even Achilles himself.
"Get ready!" Jeanne warned, all of them preparing to cut his chariot down.
"Bestow upon me your blessings, Great One. Many before me and many after me claimed to have been your descendants, but I am the only true Pharaoh deserving of your power! Give me your weapon now so that I may obliterate those who threaten the Egyptian Empire! Elect of Ra!"
A bow made out of pure sunlight manifested itself in his hands, and he drew the drawstring back with an arrow of fire and the sun's flare, aiming for the others.
"With this single shot, I split the Duat in half!" Letting his right hand go, the arrow shot across the dunes with a flurry of sand shooting behind it, speeding towards the others.
"Get away, now!" Gilgamesh yelled, the others looking at him, bewildered, before leaping out of harm's way. Archer himself summoned a large golden shield from his treasury and held it out to block the arrow, but it in fact split through the defensive measure as soon as it made contact, piercing through his armor and sending him flying backwards before landing on the ground injured.
'Impossible...that shield is strong enough to repel even the strongest of magical attacks, but that arrow just cut through it like it was nothing!' He gritted his teeth and glanced up at the King of Kings, who was drawing back another arrow.
"Not this time! Gae Bolg Alternative!" Scathach launched a copy of her spear at the chariot, causing his horses to panic and the arrow to get shot prematurely, missing them by a long shot.
"Take out his horses, it will render his chariot useless!" She commanded the others.
"Olympia Plaudere! Raise the stage of the festival! The theatre rises from within the sea! Extravagant! Magnificent! And elegant! Gaze upon it! This is the Illustrius, Praised in Song! That is, my Golden Theatre! Lauda Lentum Domus Illustrius!" Nero used one of her Noble Phantasms, her Pseudo-Reality Marble activating and the sea spreading over the desert, preventing the horses from going anywhere.
Her theatre rose out of the sea, and she stood on top of it, numerous beams of purple energy getting launched out of the pipes of the organs at her command, sending a stream of attacks at them and wiping out the horses, the chariot dispersing and leaving Ramesses with no outward defense once again. With her attack over, the scenery went back to the desert.
"I suppose it is time to finish this, then." His golden magic energy surged around him, weakening the others due to its sheer might.
"Do not shut your eyes. My brilliance now outshines even the sun, but I shall grant you the honor of gazing upon this exalted form. You'd do well to look closely. I shall grant you a gift, to you, without light. Almighty gods, witness my work! And then fall prostrate...My infinite brilliance, the sun descends now! Ramesseum Tentyris!"
A massive, shining pyramid complex rose up out of the sand, shaking the very earth as it towered over the others, and Ramesses went inside of it, becoming protected by its blessings.
Able to move again, Nightingale went over to Gilgamesh and healed him, all of them now standing face to face with Rider's strongest Noble Phantasm.
"Allow me to explain how this works." His voice was projected from within the pyramid.
"My Ramesseum Tentyris is my most powerful Noble Phantasm, a culmination of Egypt's most notable structures. Thanks to being Grand Class, it's now an Anti-World classification. While I'm inside of my pyramid, I am immortal. You'll have to completely destroy the pyramid to get to me again. It's made out of the Hittite's Divine Steel, meaning that anything of Anti-Fortress class or lower will bounce off like nothing. Your bodies will feel weaker because of the Divine Curse placed on enemy servants. In addition, your Noble Phantasms are sealed unless you have some connection to Divinity that negates it. While you're figuring out how to deal with all of that, the Dendera Electric Bulb will be firing an Anti-City blast at you."
At the top of the pyramid, a large blue sphere of energy began to concentrate, shining blindingly throughout the sky.
"Ah!" Jeanne, Nightingale, and Musashi fell to their knees, affected by the curse, but Nero, Altera, Scathach, and Gilgamesh remained unaffected due to their Divinity.
"We'll have to counter it using a combination of our own Noble Phantasms to overtake that one!" Nero called out, everyone preparing to launch their own.
"Lauda Lentum Domus Illustrius!"
"Star Photon Ray!"
"Gae Bolg Alternative!"
"Enuma Elish!"
The Dendera Light Bulb fired a huge blue beam of lightning at them, and all of them fought back with their own attacks, the combined strength clashing evenly with Ramesses' own blast, both struggling back and forth to overtake the other.
"We need more!" Scathach looked behind her at the others, who were having trouble standing up, but forced themselves to.
"La Grondement Du Haine!"
"Nightingale Pledge!"
"Ishana Daitenshou!"
Adding their powers to their side, the combined attack finally overtook the Dendera's blast, crashing against the pyramid, nullifying the curses and beginning to crack through some of the Divine Steel.
Jeanne, Nightingale, and Musashi felt their strength return to them, and all of them prepared to fire their strongest attacks again in order to finally defeat him.
"Damn it...then this is my final resort!" The Ramesseum lifted up off of the ground and launched itself at them, the group standing their ground and only becoming more determined.
"Treatment start. I will abstain from everything that is harmful and everything that is poisonous. I will stop them with all my strength and guide everybody to happiness! Nightingale Pledge!"
"I'll show you the true essence of the Five Rings! Amen. I place my trust in Tenjin of the Tenman Shrine, deity of absolute freedom. My sword shall sever your spirit! This one blade is my path of emptiness, the culmination of my life! Ishana Daitenshou!"
"For my master! Dance through the night sky and annihilate any trace left of my enemy! I am the one who commands you, and you are the one who obeys! Star Photon Ray!"
"I shall take you to the Land of Shadows! Gae Bolg Alternative!"
"O Dragon of three heads, plunge the world into darkness! Destroy your ties and tear the chains of destiny! Völkermord Feuerdrachen!"
"Olympia Plaudere! Raise the stage of the festival! The theatre rises from within the sea- Extravagant! Magnificent! And elegant! Gaze upon it! This is the Illustrius, Praised in Song! That is, my Golden Theatre! Lauda Lentum Domus Illustrius!"
"I shall offer this one strike as the ceremony of separation! I speak of the beginning. Heaven and earth are divided and nothingness celebrates Creation. My Sword of Rupture rends the world apart. The vortex that turns the stars, this heavenly hell signifies the end of the eve of genesis! Subside with death! Enuma Elish!"
Though their combined efforts were enough to stop the Dendera Bulb's attack, it was getting pushed back by the pyramid itself, not strong enough to destroy it.
"Altera!" Nero looked at her, and she nodded, handing her the Sword of Mars once again, Nero flying up so she was directly behind the other attacks.
"This is the power of all those who wish for the world to be led by normal people, not Servants! This is your sin, and this is our response! Aurora! Theater of the Delirium! Charitas Domus Aurora!" Launching her most powerful Noble Phantasm, the Anti-Planet beam collided into the others, pushing them forward and eradicating the pyramid, blowing it away and leaving just Ramesses in the wake of the blast, screaming out as it consumed him.
As the light dissipated and the smoke cleared, Nero, Jeanne, and Scathach found themselves cloaked in blue, yellow, and red light as their Grand forms left them, returning them back to normal.
"It's over...there wasn't enough mana left to maintain them anymore…" Jeanne gasped, her broadsword returning to St. Catherine's rapier on her hip, and her flag re-materializing. Scathach's armor and veil disappeared and left her in her regular bodysuit and skirt. Nero's armor left her and she returned to her red imperial dress, though her sword remained in its silver form.
Out of the sky fell Ramesses, landing on the nearby sand with a thump, his headdress and cape gone, his armor partially burned. Walking over to him, Jeanne knelt down, looking at him sadly.
"Power? Is that really why you wanted to do all of this?"
"One could argue that you did the same for France when you were alive…" he coughed.
"I did it for liberty and freedom from the English!"
"To give France power." Jeanne stopped herself and moved back, thinking about her own motives during her lifetime.
"Perhaps my motive was power for my own country, but I was not misusing it, was I? I was not instigating wars, I was revolutionizing my government internally. Let us see how this world of yours works out, Holy Maiden. If it does not, then perhaps we were right all along…"
"You were never 'right'." She shook her head.
"No? And what of you?" He looked over to Gilgamesh.
"Your motives for fighting with them were selfish, but I bet if you had been summoned by our side instead, you would have fought for us without question."
"No." He shook his head, surprising Rider.
"I take no interest in the politics of today. Our time was long, long ago. As Servants, we are blessed with immortality on the Throne, but we should not use it to influence the regular world if we are summoned."
"You were given a physical form years ago and lived on earth for ten years!"
"And I had nothing to do with the lives of regular humans. I stuck to my own motives and those of magical presence who interested me. It is up to them to learn about magic, not us."
"...It doesn't matter now...look what you all did to me…I must be going now...back to Nefertari…" His body began to disperse, going back to the Throne.
"...Is that why you did all of this? To make her happy, to be with her again?" Jeanne asked.
"...No. I did this of my own accord. If I had not wanted it, I would have destroyed Angra and the rest of them. But I thought that if I could achieve this, then I could perhaps make up...for...our son…." His body completely disappeared, and he was gone at last, after all that happened.
"...I don't know that I fully believe him. I don't know that he even believed himself…" Jeanne thought out loud.
"The motivations of others can be quite simple, or quite complex sometimes. Are you happy with the decision you all made to stand against them?" Gilgamesh asked.
"...Yes. I believe this is what's best for the world." She answered back.
"Then that's all that matters."
"Yeah...you're right. Now let's go get Master back."
End.
