Titel: For Destiny or Desire
Type: AR; Ancient Egypt
Rating: PG-NC-17
Chapter Rating: PG
Pairings: love/lust shapes between Yami, Kaiba, Jounouchi and thief-king Bakura, various others
Warnings (overall): yaoi, het, lemon, death, mutilation, dark, angst...those who know the legend of Horus and Seth know what to exspect
Warnings (chapter): none...well, maybe I should add one warning: nice Anzu with an important role
Name changes: Jounouchi Katsuya - Katsura
Kaiba Seto - Sethos
Mazaki Anzu - An-suh
Honda Hiroto - Hirotet
more following
A/N: My first fic in five years, gods, I am feeling all jittery. It's like being a newbie all over again *sighs*. Anyway, I put a lot of work into this fic, research took me about 4 months, and I hope it shows. The idea for this spawned from one too many Ancient Egypt fic were Jounouchi was some kind of slave. As good as some of them are, I am getting sick of them and the general characterisation of him as a crybaby. It's annoying me to no end, as Jou is my favourite character of the YGO lot and I see him as rather strong, though he definitely has problems with his self confidence. So, I am trying to give his history in Ancient Egypt a new spin with this story, Jounouchi as priest... .; Why do I suddenly feel like pitying the god he is worshipping? The main inspiration came from the legend of Seth and Horus and people who know it will notice the similiarities between it and this story at it draws on.
Also, Anzu will play one of the major roles in this. I do not like her in the TV show, heck, I do not like the TV show period. The German version of YGO hurts. The only fun thing about it is that Kaiba is spoken by the same person who also does the german synch of Leonardo DiCaprio.
But I digress. I will mostly try to stick with manga Anzu, I don´t know how good a characterisation I will manage, but I have to admit I came to like her while writting this. So I hope people wont run screaming as soon as she takes spotlight or demand bashing of her character. Not going to happen. I don´t do character bashing (with one expection, which is Hilda from Seimaden. DIE!).
Finally, I want to excuse any mistakes, spelling or grammar errors. I know that it is no excuse that English isn´t my first language and that my Windows does not have an English spell check, but I did not yet have the time to find a beta reader. If anyone reading this is willing to take the job I would be ever so gratefull. Also I have no problems if anyone wants to point out mistakes or something that could be written better I am open for suggestions. Comments and Criticism are welcomed. Just be polite about it, please.
*Edit: Thanks to Uber Monkey 5000 from aff.net for pointing out two mistakes. I have fixed the spelling one and will look up the equivalent to corn in Ancient Egypt and correct it as soon as possible.
Also I want to thank sabrina, ryanookami and Uber Monkey 5000 for their reviews at aff.net. Tey gave me the curage to post this here.
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There was a time, troughout the first few dynasties, as Upper and Lower Egypt were still seperated, that the god Seth reigned supreme over the South. He was known as the eternal destroyer of Apep, the evil serpent that treatened to devour the boat of Ra on its journey, the lord of the desert and the storms and the patron of travelers. He was a moody god, his temper unpredictable like the sandstorms that holwed through the dunes and if angered just as dangerous. But Seth could also be generous and kept the explorers save on their paths, helped them to establish trading routes that reached as far as Asia and it was his rain that more than once saved his followers harvests. The people of Upper Egypt were contend with their chosen god.
In Lower Egypt though a other god rose to honour and might. Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, had been chosen by their pharaos as their main deity. The falcon headed man was the patron of young men and virtues, order and truth. His words were true, his judgement harsh but right. He reigned above all other gods, the rightful ruler by his heritage. A glorious being with no dark side. At least in the eyes of his followers.
For the rulers of Lower Egypt weren´t content for long and would not accept the heretics in the South, who worshipped the, in their eyes at least, evil Seth, not to mention the envy for their rich fields of corn and wine that lined the Nile and lakes. War was short to follow and the years long struggle between Horus and Seth, which should cost many lives, began. For a long time noone could tell who would win in the end, but as the pharao of Upper Egypt fell they had to accept their defeat by the hands of the followers of Horus. The rest of the southern royal family was killed, the temples of Seth destroyed, his highpriests strangled and his name was ereased from the tablets. In their stead temples for Horus were erected and priests for his cult were elected. Soon the falcon headed god was established as the patron of the new, united Egypt and his pharao accepted as the earthly ruler. His cult prospered, many riches were collected in his numerous temples and his faithful followers were many and powerful. It was seldom that a pharao would choose a other patron, but even if it happened the religion of Horus was never negleted.
Seth though was only remembered in stories, which did not speak of his good aspects. Many people had forgotten that it was him who kept the sun boat save on its journey, that his storms were not only of biting sand and unbearable heat that destroyed all in their path, but also brought rain and cool wind that helped to nurture life. They had forgotten that it were his followers who established the route to Asia, which was now called the Path of Horus. In those stories he was portayed as an evil and bitter god, one that had tried to take the throne of the gods by all means, even murder, but had failed every time he tried, because of his nephew, the golden Horus. Many tales spoke of their battles, with weapons, wits and seduction, and every time it was Seth who lost to the falcon-headed god. Always it was him who was made out as the fool. For Horus was the rightful ruler, the light to Seth's dark, the good to his evil and as that would always win.
The once powerful god had become the laughing stock, and would stay it for many, many years. But then the shadow games reached Egypt and spread like a plague.
This so called game had been played by other countries before, only by different names. But all had ended in the same selfdestructive way. War had spread over those lands, battles had been fought, with lives and souls at stake. Masters of it had managed to harass powers unrivaled with its help, but lost their minds and hearts to it. Imperiums had been build and destroyed. No one knew where it had originated. Some said it was dark magic that came from the East, others called it a revenge from the forgotten gods. But no matter what it really was, it was known to be deadly.
And still, this knowledge did not stop the people, the lure of power was too strong and the game was played. First by the pharao and his family only, but soon its knowledge had spread and the priests learned to use the shadow powers, followed shortly by a few other strong willed individuals that had managed to tame it to do their bidding.
It was only a matter of time until the wars started.
Struggles for power shook the very foundation of Egypt, fights with neighbouring lands tore established borders apart, battles destroyed miles of lands and countless villages, many died and even more families were torn apart.
The most fierce enemies of Egypt were the Libyens, a folk of desert dwellers of the north, that had gathered under the command of a council of talented leaders, warriors and players of the shadow game alike. They terrorized the villages in the Delta of the Nile, bathed the golden corn fields in the blood of innocents as they tried to establish their reign and spread it towards the south. Cruel battles wedged back and forth between them and the bordercities of the countries. Sais, Wadi Natrun, Tura and Alexandria were in a constant state of war.
And among all this hardships rose one god, which pushed Horus from his throne and took over the reign over the earthly and heavenly sphere.
Seth, now known as the god of chaos and darkness, had finally won over his rival Horus.
In those dark ages he had come to power once more, crueler and mightier than ever before. Now it was him who was the patron of the pharao, who was worshipped in countless temples, it was him to whom the masses prayed to grant them their desires. And just like he had lost influence as Egypt was united, Horus lost most of his power now. Many of his temples were plundered, if not destroyed, and their rations were cut. But not only the followers of the falcon fell victim to the new order, but also others. Isis and Nephthys, his traitorous wife, had to struggle under Seth's religion too, for both had been on Horus' side during their fights.
As it was to be exspected though, the other gods did not allow this for long. It couldn´t be accepted that Seth was to reign supreme over them, the balance was upset with his forceful oppression of the other religions. And so, with every pharao who had chosen the god of chaos as his patron, two priests would be chosen, that were to be his advisiors. They were to be called the General of the Eastern Desert and the General of the Western Desert. Marked by their gods those two were supposed to counter balance the influence of Seth.
This position was highly thought after, for not only would it guarantee rich amounts of gold and corn for the temple the priest belong too, but with it came also powers only rivaled by the pharao himself. The possibility to influence the politics directly, to have armies at ones beg and call and the riches that could be aquired tempted as many as the fact that only those three, the pharao and his two generals, were able to call the power of the gods to do their bidding in the shadow games.
A few reigns this worked, even though many tried to acquire the role of one of the chosen ones by treachery and illusion. But all of the imposers failed the required tests, the path of Ma'at, and Anubis made sure that their treacherous souls were torn apart by the demon. The true priests fullfilled their roles, and the influence of the other gods changed with them. Sometimes the power their temples held wasn´t even worth mentioning, but others prospered and reached their old splendor.
Until two of them were corrupted, blinded by the power they were offered by their pharao, the possibility to gather the very essence of the shadow realm so that it would only do their bidding. Those three, whose names were ereased so that their evil souls might never find peace, performed a ritual that bound the realm of darkness to seven items. At least in this they succeeded. Those items of gold were bound to the energy of the game and granted their owner great power over it. To be in the possession of even one would allow the owner to control the vicioust and mightist beasts that dwelled within the shadow realm, to rip a soul from its body, to control or read minds. Many had to loose their lives and souls for this to be accomblished, and by the will of Ma'at the pharao and his two generals included. They had been successful, but for an awful high price.
The so called Sennen Items came into the possession of the pharaos eldest son, who took his place. Yami was still young as he became ruler over Egypt, but the remaining advisors of his father were sadly mistaken in their hopes that he would be easy to manipulate. Consequently he had them removed, with threats, promises and murder alike and replaced by people of his choice, confidants of his youth, teachers and relatives that would pose no treat to his throne. He took possession of one of the items and to those most trusted he gave one too, to use them to defend and strengthen his reign.
Barely two years into his reign the first of the two god send advisors was found. The General of the Eastern Desert.
A young man, barely out of boyhood, had recieved the mark as he had been initiated into the circle of priesthood. The revealation of this lead to outrage throughout the other temples. But it wasn´t his age that startled them, for he was deemed more than competent enough for his destiny. He was thaught to inherited the title of Highpriest from his father. Raised from his birth to fill this role to perfection. The youth was of startling intellegence and a master of the shadow game only matched by the pharao, paired with an iron will and an underlying cruelty, perfect for the role he was supposed to fill. But the young man, Sethos, was a Follower of Seth, a priest of the god he was supposed to help counter balance.
Few dared to raise their voices and protested the choice, but could nothing be done about it. The first one was chosen and Seth had played them for a fool and had used the rules that should have restricted his powers to obtain even more. The displeasure rose even more as the newly made Highpriest was handed one of the Sennen Items, cementing his position and the power of his patron.
Their only hope for change was that the other one chosen would be strong enough to withstand the heavy influence of the Serpent God, to bring back the splendour to the other religions. Especially the priests of Horus hoped that one of their own would be chosen, for their cult had been damaged greatly under the continous reign of Seth. Only few of their temples had managed to remain over time, mostly through the kindness of the local villagers, who brought them food and wine and sometimes an offering of gold. Even the city of Heliopolis, were light came into existance and Horus had set foot on the mortal plain, one of the three crowning places of the pharao, had suffered greatly. Their power was dimnishing rapidly, and his followers were fighting a loosing battle against the oppressing cult of its rival. The priests prayed for a wonder that might just save them, but their hope vanished as the time that had passed since the first chosing turned from days, to months, to years.
But history is bound to repeat itself, and even gods can´t change destinies path.
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The first watery light of dawn tinted the dunes a soft golden colour, slowly the stars faded from the gradually brightening sky and the first bit of the sun could be seen peeking over the horizon. Softly its shine spilled over hills and valleys of sand, over sparse vegetation that turned into lush greenery and gently swaying fields of corn as its rays reached the delta of the Nile. Copper highlights danced on the slowly moving river, its water was sinking again and the small channels that ran through the fields were dry.
Not too far away from the river a city was nestled against the gentle slops of a small mountain. The morning sun had not yet reached it completely and white buildings were still mostly swatted in shadows. High balustrades surrounded Heliopolis, the smooth, white walls only disturbed by two large portals, facing north and south, and an stone inforced waterchannel that seperated it in two halfes. The crown of the wall lay empty of guards and signs of abandonment could be seen under closer inspection. The houses were scatterd seemingly at will, simple one story dwellings standing right next to glorious mansions with sweeping collums and fragrant gardens. Groves of date and acacia trees grew within and temples and shrines were build everywhere. Broad streets and small, dang alleys alike could be found. But what caught they eye were the two obelisks that throned on a platue of the mountain, overlooking the whole city and framing the entrance to the holy shrine of Horus. Their golden tips were aglow in the morning light. In the middle of the city lay two more master pieces of architecture. White and rose marble made up two breathstealing temples. Carvings inlaid with gold and precious gems, delicate statues and reilings and also countless hieroglyphs made up their walls and throning before their entrance were statues of Ramses II. and Ramses III. in all their glory. It were their temples. But those glorious buildings, no matter how beautiful they were, looked dead and cold. Like tombs they lay in the center of Heliopolis, no life within them. No movement could be seen within their range, while the small, dusty streets that were near by slowly started to come alive.
Curtains of linnen and beads were swept aside and people started to go after their business in the grey light of the morning dawn. Women and a few children were busy getting water, for breakfast or to wash clothes, men setting up tables in front of their shops, while others just enjoyed the relative coolness of the vanishing night. Soon it would be too hot to go after the more straining tasks, still, most of the people would have to work on the fields. The time for the harvest had come today, the busiest and most straining time of the year. But the people looked forward to it, the last few years the fields had barely provided enough corn for the citizens of Heliopolis and Ker-Ahas, the fortress that kept the valley Heliopolis was build in save. This year though the flood of the Nile had been especially high and had provided a wide spread of fertile earth. The seeds had thrived and this years harvest promised to be one of the richest in a long time. If no vermins got to the crop noone would have to fear hunger the coming year. They had to make do with what the fields provided them. It had been a long time that the pharao had sent them food, wine, gold or other wares, for the temples or villagers alike. The once proud Heliopolis lay forgotten, which was not surprising. The city of Horus, the archnemesis of Seth, naturally was a thorn in the eye of his two highest priests, the General of the Eastern Desert and the pharao himself. When the gong sounded they would gather on the fields that lay along the Nile and its smaller side rivers and start to work to bring the harvest in as soon as possible. Young and old alike would participate, all those that did have no work within the shops or the temples, but even from those some would be around to help, it was simple too important a task. And so they savoured the last few minutes of peace and quiet, before the hustle and bustle of regular life would catch up with them.
"Out of my way!!"
The yell rang out loudly, effectively shattering the peacefulness that had smothered the city like a blanket. People looked up from what they had been doing, startled at the sudden disturbance. A woman, carrying a pot of water on her head barely managed to jump out of the way, trying desperately to balance her burden, as a young man dashed past her.
"Sorry!"
He hadn´t stopped running, did not even bother to turn around and check if she was alright, but continued on on his way, dodging tables and peoples more or less sucessful. One couldn´t even be sure if he meant her as he called out his apology, or the owner of the dishes he had just broken as he had run into him or maybe the old woman down the street that yelled bloody murder after his retreating back. At the moment though Katsura couldn´t have cared less about the damage he caused and the curses raining down upon his head. Oh, he wasn´t normally so careless and unthoughtful about others, quite the opposite on regular days, though just as clumsy.
But that was were the problem lay. Today wasn´t a regular day. Nope, today was the day when he would finally be fully accepted as a man into the circle of adulthood and, most importantly to him, recieve the ordination as a priest of Horus. He had been studying and training for this day ever since he had been accepted into his family, had spend hours reading over the old scrolls and memorizing their content... Well, mostly at least.
You couldn´t ask a young, energetic boy like him to spend all of his days cramped into a musty room studying, the only ones to keep him company a couple of old, nearly deaf priests and sour tempered teachers, while outside his friends played... Okay, truthfully he had not spend all that much time over his lessons and most often than not Katsura had to be dragged back into the room by his father. But he had always been present during the sword lessons or when the working of the shadow games had been explained to him.
That was at least something, wasn´t it?
And he had wished for this day to come, directed feverish prayers to the falcon god so that he may be accepted into the rows of his worshippers on this important day and, especially, that everything would run smoothly. Gods, just this once he had hoped that he would be able to jump over his own shadow and get things right. In Katsuras eyes this was the least he could do for the people that had adopted him into their home as he had been alone and lost.
The village he had been born in had been destroyed during the constant wars, he could only hazily remember that day, blurred images and the feeling of heartshattering fear and dread. He had been young back than, a small child that was suddenly alone and would have died for sure. A child could not survive on its own, specially not a Libyen one in the middle of a battle that the Egyptians were winning. But the gods had been with him. A Horus priest, that had joined the ranks of the soldiers, had found him and taken him under his wings, carried him out of the remains of his birth village and took him to Heliopolis into his house. His wife had given Katsura the name he now carried and he had been adopted and made their legitimate son, they raised him as their own, thaught him the ways of the Egyptian gods and their people. He thought of himself as a Egyptian, he had been too young to keep any ties to his past. But still, he often asked himself why. Why had he been saved? Why had they taken him in? Accepted him as their son? Katsura had asked his father more than once what moved him to his actions, but the answer had always been the same.
'I saw you and knew you were special. A gift of Horus send to me to take care of, until your destiny unfolds.'
A gift of Horus...he couldn´t exactly agree with his father. He didn´t feel special at all. The only thing about himself that might be attributed to the falcon god were his looks. He was of a tall, graceful build, his body defined by sinews and finely carved muscles, his skin had been burned to a soft bronze by the desert sun, just like it had bleached his hair of a rare dark blond colour to tarnished gold that matched his eyes. Horus was the patron of young men in the bloom of their life and his colour was gold, Katsura paired both to a pleasent image. But that was all that he might consider a gift of the falcon. For the only subjects he excelled in were those that had to do with the body. Sword fight, pratice with the spear, boxing, all kind of sports. He had even learned to swim. But as soon as it came to subjects of the mind Katsura had troubles. Not that he was stupid, not at all. If he found it in himself to sit down and study, to actually use the brain of his, he proofed to be quite bright. This though was were the problem lay. He just couldn´t sit still and concentrate, not to mention shut up. The youth had always been filled to the brim with energy and tended to infect others with his misdirected enthusiam and more than one lesson in religion had ended in utter chaos as Katsura and his childhood friend Hirotet just had to enact the epic battle of Seth and Horus or some other scene that had caught their fancy and in their play completely trashed the study. Beside all that he also was sometimes clumsy, nearly always loud and brash, had the habit to say the wrong things at the wrong time and most often than not made a fool out of himself. Not that he would complain about that, Katsura liked himself quite fine, he made friends easily and could enjoy himself, but all those traits didn´t exactly fit the description of a god send gift in his opinion. His teachers seemed to agree with him on that. In their eyes he was more of a godsent plague than anything else.
But his father seemed to think different, for he was quite adamant about Katsura joining the temple. Often his old man had told him that he would advance to much, that he was sure his son would surpass his position easily and would make the title of highpriest someday. His fathers friends had smiled at those braggings, it was no secret that Katsura had much in his head, mischief that is, but noone had the heart to tell him that the chances of the boy fullfilling his exspectations were as good as none existance. He himself had silently vowed though to try his best to live up to his fathers wishes, that he would repay him for his kindness the best he could by becoming a faithful priest. The day to proof himself had come...
And just on this day of days he had to oversleep!
A breathless curse left his lips as he continued on his way and dashed out of the sidestreets onto the main road that lead through the whole city towards the temple, which was carved into the stone of the mountain cliff. It wasn´t far anymore, just down the road and then the stairs that lead up towards the open entrance hall. Not far, not far at all, if one didn´t consider the hundred of stairs and he would have to pass until he was up there. He was so going to be late, even if he ran as if Am-Heh was nipping at his heels, never would he manage to be there before the disc of Ra was sounded.
As he had crossed onto the street he had managed to catch a glimps of the bronze dish that was situated on top of the court, the highest building in the city aside from the abandoned temples in the center. As soon as the sun was reflected completely in the polished bronze the gong would be sounded, which would announce the start of work and also the entrance of the priests into the temple. And from what he could tell already more than 3/4 of the disc of Ra was aglow in the morning light.
He barely dodged a couple of children that played with their ragdools on the streets, leaving them behind squealing in startelment. Katsuras lungs burned as he drew breath after breath of air down his starched throat, still he scratched together his last reserves of energy and upped his pace. Maybe Ra would be merciful and take just a bit longer to rise today.
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An-suh hid a yawn behind her hand as she stepped onto the porch of her home and stretched in a languid fashion. She had allowed herself to sleep a bit longer than usual today, as she would need to help out on the fields later on and would probably need every bit of rest and strength she was able to get. Her thoughts though weren´t concerned with the bone tiring work she would have to do soon, but strayed to one of her best friends, Katsura. She hadn´t seen him for a while, three days to be exact. The last time she had talked with him had been at the feast the boys father had held in honour of him reaching adulthood and his soon to be joining of priesthood. Her mother hadn´t been happy about her attending the celebration, a young, unmarried woman like her at a party like that, were alcohol would flow easily, men would joke roughly and whores would makes sure of the right entertainment for a young man coming of age. But in the end she had given in, after a lot of persuading, pouting and down right cursing, and allowed her daughter to go, probably in the hope that maybe an engagment would be made. An-suh was well past the marriage age of thirteen with her twenty summers and up till now she had not agreed to any of the numerous offers of marriage. Many had been interested in her, she was beautiful after all, startling wide eyes, the colour the seas, that stood out from the masses of dark almond shaped ones, a dancers build and a, for an Egyptian, light haircolour. A beauty indeed, paired with wit and manners, someone a man could be proud to call wife. But whoever had asked her, even those aboth her standing, had been gently but firmly rebuffed. Her mother assumed that the girl waited for one of her two friends, Katsura or Hirotet whom she had known since childhood, to reach adulthood and ask for her hand. The old woman would have liked to see her daughter with one of them, as both of the boys would have made for a desirable party. She had heard that Hirotet had plans to join the military and coming from a rich family like his, his parents were gold smiths of quite some skill, not to mention rich, he would make it quite far. And even though Katsura was obviously of forgein blood, he was still the adopted son of a priest and functionary and would inherit his fathers titles and land.
An-suh gladly left her in that belief. She had no intention to marry one of the two, though she loved both boys dearly. But she felt too much like a mother about them, taking care of them, scowling and accepting their antics with the patience of a saint. The three of them had been together as far as she could think back. Hirotet the muscles, Katsura the mischief and she was the brains of their little group. They had shared their childhood, knew each others secrets, had been together through the awkward years of puperty and dreamed together of the future.
No, she would never marry one of them.
She would wait for real love.
A small smile stole itself over her full lips as her thoughts turned back to all the fun they had had together, and the feast a few nights ago had been no exception. Her mothers worries had been unfounded mostly, there were no whores or dirty jokes, although wine and beer were drunken in quite impressive masses. She fondly remembered Katsu's anxious face as his father cut the long lock of blond hair that had marked him as child, before burning it together with Katsuras childhood toys in the herdfire and scattering the ashes, their laughter as he turned an embarrassed shade of red at a few lewd comment Hirotet had made, the dances, ritualistic or just for fun, the few games they played, the two young men play fighting against each other and their drinking contest that ended with her the winner while Katsura and Hirotet ended up on the floor.
She sighed and stepped out onto the streets, keeping to the shadows as she made her way towards the main road, where Hirotet would wait for her.
An-suh wished that the party would have lasted longer, but the feast had ended in the middle of the night and her blond friend had been ushered into a small Horus shrine, where he was supposed to spend the following three days in prayer and without any contact to women. They didn´t even have the chance to say a proper goodbye, as they admitely had been a bit too drunk at that moment to comprehend the full meaning of Katsuras sudden department. At that time they had not been able to comprehend, that not only Hirotet and her wouldn´t be able to see their friend for three days, but that they would be seperated for three months, the time that Katsura would have to serve in the temple, until he would be allowed to leave for the turn of one season. It hurt her to think about those months she wouldn´t be able to spend with her friend. It wouldn´t be the same without him. They had sworn as childs that they would always be together, but now adulthood was slowly forcing them apart.
Katsu was about to join the temple, Hirotet wanted to become a soldier and she was a temple dancer, secretly wishing nothing more than to be able to dance at the rites of Hathor on Elphantine. A dream that maybe would be true one day. She had been allowed to dance at the Celebration of the Flood last year and her teachers and fellow dancers had been quite impressed by her skill. With a bit of luck she would be allowed to travel to other temples next year. She would be able to see more of this glorious country and worship the gods at their main temples. Dance before highpriests and so many other people. But in her fantasies, Hirotet and Katsura had always been with her, to cheer her on or make her laugh with their antics. In those dreams their laughing faces had always been with her, never far away, watching her from the first row. But now she slowly came to realize that this would most likely never happen. Both boys, men she corrected herself, had reached adulthood and were building their own life, their chosen destinies leading them down different paths. They were drifting apart from each other, their dreams were no longer the same, maybe were never the same to begin with and they just had not noticed.
How long would their friendship survive this test?
How long until they forgot what they meant to each other and they would be nothing more than strangers to each other?
Her mood had darkened considerable as she reached her destination, the well on the main square. The place was surrounded by office buildings mainly, the court with the disc of Ra, the Ma'at temple, the school, the office of scribes and a few others. Four main roads met here, each leading into one of the cardinal points. She spotted Hirotet not too long after, the tall brunet with the distinct hairstyle was easy to find among the normally rather short citizens. An-suh rose onto her tip toes to make herself known and waved him over, a shout forming on her lips, but it got stuck in her throat as she nearly got ran over, she barely managed to catch herself. Hand still half way raised she stared after the young man that just dashed past her, yelling out apologies in between curses and begging for help from the gods. For a few seconds she was able to follow the blur of blond hair and white cloth with her eyes, until the boy was lost among the other people, but still An-suh looked stunned into the direction she had last seen him.
What was Katsura doing here? There was only one blond in Heliopolis, so she was fairly sure that it was her friend she had seen. But wasn´t he supposed to be at the temple by now? Then it clicked and she threw up her hands in a huff, silently cursing the youth, but really, why had she exspected anything different? Leave him to his own devices and something was bound to go wrong. She should have known that. Katsura, alone in a house with an important date coming up in the morning was sure to end with him oversleeping, coming too late and embarrassing his father and himself down to the bones. Typical Katsu.
Her bare feet slapped against the ground as she hurriedly moved towards the court house, ignoring Hirotet's greeting as he had come up to her. She just grabbed his arm and dragged him after herself, still silently cussing out Katsura under her breath.
"Whoa, An-suh? What's the hurry?"
"We are going to save Katsu's ass."
~ ~~*~~ ~
The muscles in his legs had cramped painfully by the time he had reached the platue and his breath came in short, irregular pants, the air he managed to force down burned his lunges like fire and even though he tried to breath deep the blond had the feeling to suffocate. Katsura had managed to run up the stairs at full speed, but now his knees quivered, the sinews in his legs felt like snapping and nearly gave way beneath him. For some weird reason the disk hadn´t be sounded and he took a moment to regain his breath in the shadows of the huge, white obelisks that stood on either side of him and turned to look over the city that lay beneath. His eyes searched over the patchwork of buildings and streets, seemingly without pattern, but he knew the system that lay beneath it all, that the roads were build to represent a five pointed star at which center points buildings of importance were aranged, and so it was easy for him to spot the disc of Ra, agleam in the morning light like a minature sun. Brown eyes narrowed to slits in concentration and the blond raised a hand to sheet his gaze from the glaring sun, though still barely over the horizon but already fierce, to see better. He had not been mistaken with his first impression, there were three people on top of the house instead of the one asigned. Two were struggling from what he could tell while a third was waving in his general direction. Strange...but who was he to question his luck, the gods seemed to have heard his prayer and given him a chance to be on time and he better made use of it.
He drew upon the last of his strenght, turned and sprinted the last few meters to the entrance of the temple, ignoring the painful pull in the muscles of his legs and his protesting lunge. Today he had no time to linger, though often he had spend hours admiring the outer walls of the building, which were broken out of the surface of the stone in years of hard work, its colour a faint rose that sometimes blended into gleaming white. Carvings littered every surface, illustrating the triumph of pharaos over heathens and the wild folks of the south, the battles of gods and scenes of myth and throning above them all was the falcon headed Horus, crowned with a sundisc of pure gold and the ornates of Lower Egypt. Often one had been able to find the blond here, engrossed into the tales the walls told and also hiding from his teachers. Today though Katsura did not bother to even briefly glance at them, but hastily made his way through the statue framed entrance into the first hall of the temple, the one open to everyone. The marble was cool under his bare feet and proofed a much needed, though short relief from the baked dirt of the road and the nearly burning stairs. Like the outside the temple the walls of the first sanctum were covered with carvings and paintings too, but here were more inlays of gold and precious gems that adorned the collumns and carvings, torches and small fires in low standings pans light the capacious hall in which center a sculpture of Horus stood, a altar at his feet. Hurriedly the blond stepped in front of it and fell to his knees, bowing until his forehead touched the cool ground. Silently he muttered a hurried prayer and jumped back to his feet to pass the statue and its altar. As he went past it he noted the offerings laid out in front of it, flowers, spices and dishes lay scattered on the table, among incense from which smoke curled lazily, a few gems, golden jewelry and even pieces of bloody meat and entrails. A frown ghosted over the young mans face. This offering had to be made by someone who must knew nothing of their gods, for the sight of blood was not meant for their eyes. Too many wars and catastrophes had stemed from a deity that found lust in the crimson liquid. At a later date Katsura could have slapped himself for not stopping to wonder that this might be a sign, a warning meant for his eyes. Now though he just assumed that a traveling forgeiner must have made a mistake and made a mental note to tell a priest of this so that the altar could be cleaned. Already the various offerings produced quite a heavy smell that filled the hall, a mixture of lotus, herbs and the meaty smell of coagulating blood, which created a heady perfume that hazed the senses, if the scent of rotting were to be added to it it would certainly be unbearable. He had nearly reached the end of the hall, where a curtain of white, blue and gold obscured the way to future halls as Katsura heard the sound of the disc of Ra and a heavy sigh escaped his lips, his shoulders slumped slightly as the tension left him. He had made it somehow.
The youth reached out for the cloth, but his fingers lingered for a moment on the soft fabric. He shook slightly, a bout of nerves making it nearly impossible for him to move on. Worries and doubt gnawed at his heart and an involuntary shiver passed through his frame. Was he really prepared for this? Did he remember everything? What were the most important parts of "Coming forth by Day" again? The spells? And most importantly The Declaration of Innocence! How did that go again? Oh gods, help! This was the most important part of the innitation ritual, were he had to swear his innocent infront of all the gods. Without that he would be screwed. An embarrassment that would haunt him until his heart would be weighted on the scales. 'Okay, calm down.' He had read that part until he could quote it in his sleep, he just needed to relax and let the words flow.
'Hail to you, great God, Lord of Justice! I have come to you, my lord, that you may bring me so that I may see your beauty, for I know you and I know your name, and I know the names of the forty-two gods of those who are with you in this Hall of Justice, who live ... who live... ARGH! Who live? Shitshitshit! Forty-two gods of those who are with you in this Hall of Justice, who live on what Apep damn it!? Bread and wine? No, no false. That was something different. Maybe ---'
"Katsura! Boy, are you dreaming?"
The blonds head snapped up in startlement at the gruff voice, his eyes were wide and the colour drained from his face. He let go of the curtain he had clutched onto as if it burned his skin to the bones and that hand settled onto the fabric of his kilt, clenching onto it, while the other held the bundle of white cloth firmly against his chest. Unmoving he stared at the man that had seperated the curtains to reveal the hall behind it and now stood not too far away from him. The other was of darker skin than him and slightly shorter, though his wide shoulders and generally broad build hinted at quite some strength and the life of a warrior, lines of age and hardship had forged itself into his face, dominated by a pair of narrowed eyes that were so dark they seemed black. His head was shorn bald and his clothes were simple. A white kilt and sandals of papyrus. The only adornment were the golden armplates he wore, one of them carefully engraved while the other was blank and unmarred. The clothes of a priest and the manacles of a player of the Shadow Game.
The youths face flushed darkly under the elders gaze, his former frozen state left him and he started to fidget nervously, shifting from one foot to the other and nearly losing the bundle he carried as he changed his hold on it.
"No, father ah, I mean priest! I am not dreamin', not at all! I was just uh...standing around here! Yeah...standing around here and minding my own business! Not dreaming at all, your lordship priest, sir...eehhh. Sorry?"
TBC...
Type: AR; Ancient Egypt
Rating: PG-NC-17
Chapter Rating: PG
Pairings: love/lust shapes between Yami, Kaiba, Jounouchi and thief-king Bakura, various others
Warnings (overall): yaoi, het, lemon, death, mutilation, dark, angst...those who know the legend of Horus and Seth know what to exspect
Warnings (chapter): none...well, maybe I should add one warning: nice Anzu with an important role
Name changes: Jounouchi Katsuya - Katsura
Kaiba Seto - Sethos
Mazaki Anzu - An-suh
Honda Hiroto - Hirotet
more following
A/N: My first fic in five years, gods, I am feeling all jittery. It's like being a newbie all over again *sighs*. Anyway, I put a lot of work into this fic, research took me about 4 months, and I hope it shows. The idea for this spawned from one too many Ancient Egypt fic were Jounouchi was some kind of slave. As good as some of them are, I am getting sick of them and the general characterisation of him as a crybaby. It's annoying me to no end, as Jou is my favourite character of the YGO lot and I see him as rather strong, though he definitely has problems with his self confidence. So, I am trying to give his history in Ancient Egypt a new spin with this story, Jounouchi as priest... .; Why do I suddenly feel like pitying the god he is worshipping? The main inspiration came from the legend of Seth and Horus and people who know it will notice the similiarities between it and this story at it draws on.
Also, Anzu will play one of the major roles in this. I do not like her in the TV show, heck, I do not like the TV show period. The German version of YGO hurts. The only fun thing about it is that Kaiba is spoken by the same person who also does the german synch of Leonardo DiCaprio.
But I digress. I will mostly try to stick with manga Anzu, I don´t know how good a characterisation I will manage, but I have to admit I came to like her while writting this. So I hope people wont run screaming as soon as she takes spotlight or demand bashing of her character. Not going to happen. I don´t do character bashing (with one expection, which is Hilda from Seimaden. DIE!).
Finally, I want to excuse any mistakes, spelling or grammar errors. I know that it is no excuse that English isn´t my first language and that my Windows does not have an English spell check, but I did not yet have the time to find a beta reader. If anyone reading this is willing to take the job I would be ever so gratefull. Also I have no problems if anyone wants to point out mistakes or something that could be written better I am open for suggestions. Comments and Criticism are welcomed. Just be polite about it, please.
*Edit: Thanks to Uber Monkey 5000 from aff.net for pointing out two mistakes. I have fixed the spelling one and will look up the equivalent to corn in Ancient Egypt and correct it as soon as possible.
Also I want to thank sabrina, ryanookami and Uber Monkey 5000 for their reviews at aff.net. Tey gave me the curage to post this here.
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There was a time, troughout the first few dynasties, as Upper and Lower Egypt were still seperated, that the god Seth reigned supreme over the South. He was known as the eternal destroyer of Apep, the evil serpent that treatened to devour the boat of Ra on its journey, the lord of the desert and the storms and the patron of travelers. He was a moody god, his temper unpredictable like the sandstorms that holwed through the dunes and if angered just as dangerous. But Seth could also be generous and kept the explorers save on their paths, helped them to establish trading routes that reached as far as Asia and it was his rain that more than once saved his followers harvests. The people of Upper Egypt were contend with their chosen god.
In Lower Egypt though a other god rose to honour and might. Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, had been chosen by their pharaos as their main deity. The falcon headed man was the patron of young men and virtues, order and truth. His words were true, his judgement harsh but right. He reigned above all other gods, the rightful ruler by his heritage. A glorious being with no dark side. At least in the eyes of his followers.
For the rulers of Lower Egypt weren´t content for long and would not accept the heretics in the South, who worshipped the, in their eyes at least, evil Seth, not to mention the envy for their rich fields of corn and wine that lined the Nile and lakes. War was short to follow and the years long struggle between Horus and Seth, which should cost many lives, began. For a long time noone could tell who would win in the end, but as the pharao of Upper Egypt fell they had to accept their defeat by the hands of the followers of Horus. The rest of the southern royal family was killed, the temples of Seth destroyed, his highpriests strangled and his name was ereased from the tablets. In their stead temples for Horus were erected and priests for his cult were elected. Soon the falcon headed god was established as the patron of the new, united Egypt and his pharao accepted as the earthly ruler. His cult prospered, many riches were collected in his numerous temples and his faithful followers were many and powerful. It was seldom that a pharao would choose a other patron, but even if it happened the religion of Horus was never negleted.
Seth though was only remembered in stories, which did not speak of his good aspects. Many people had forgotten that it was him who kept the sun boat save on its journey, that his storms were not only of biting sand and unbearable heat that destroyed all in their path, but also brought rain and cool wind that helped to nurture life. They had forgotten that it were his followers who established the route to Asia, which was now called the Path of Horus. In those stories he was portayed as an evil and bitter god, one that had tried to take the throne of the gods by all means, even murder, but had failed every time he tried, because of his nephew, the golden Horus. Many tales spoke of their battles, with weapons, wits and seduction, and every time it was Seth who lost to the falcon-headed god. Always it was him who was made out as the fool. For Horus was the rightful ruler, the light to Seth's dark, the good to his evil and as that would always win.
The once powerful god had become the laughing stock, and would stay it for many, many years. But then the shadow games reached Egypt and spread like a plague.
This so called game had been played by other countries before, only by different names. But all had ended in the same selfdestructive way. War had spread over those lands, battles had been fought, with lives and souls at stake. Masters of it had managed to harass powers unrivaled with its help, but lost their minds and hearts to it. Imperiums had been build and destroyed. No one knew where it had originated. Some said it was dark magic that came from the East, others called it a revenge from the forgotten gods. But no matter what it really was, it was known to be deadly.
And still, this knowledge did not stop the people, the lure of power was too strong and the game was played. First by the pharao and his family only, but soon its knowledge had spread and the priests learned to use the shadow powers, followed shortly by a few other strong willed individuals that had managed to tame it to do their bidding.
It was only a matter of time until the wars started.
Struggles for power shook the very foundation of Egypt, fights with neighbouring lands tore established borders apart, battles destroyed miles of lands and countless villages, many died and even more families were torn apart.
The most fierce enemies of Egypt were the Libyens, a folk of desert dwellers of the north, that had gathered under the command of a council of talented leaders, warriors and players of the shadow game alike. They terrorized the villages in the Delta of the Nile, bathed the golden corn fields in the blood of innocents as they tried to establish their reign and spread it towards the south. Cruel battles wedged back and forth between them and the bordercities of the countries. Sais, Wadi Natrun, Tura and Alexandria were in a constant state of war.
And among all this hardships rose one god, which pushed Horus from his throne and took over the reign over the earthly and heavenly sphere.
Seth, now known as the god of chaos and darkness, had finally won over his rival Horus.
In those dark ages he had come to power once more, crueler and mightier than ever before. Now it was him who was the patron of the pharao, who was worshipped in countless temples, it was him to whom the masses prayed to grant them their desires. And just like he had lost influence as Egypt was united, Horus lost most of his power now. Many of his temples were plundered, if not destroyed, and their rations were cut. But not only the followers of the falcon fell victim to the new order, but also others. Isis and Nephthys, his traitorous wife, had to struggle under Seth's religion too, for both had been on Horus' side during their fights.
As it was to be exspected though, the other gods did not allow this for long. It couldn´t be accepted that Seth was to reign supreme over them, the balance was upset with his forceful oppression of the other religions. And so, with every pharao who had chosen the god of chaos as his patron, two priests would be chosen, that were to be his advisiors. They were to be called the General of the Eastern Desert and the General of the Western Desert. Marked by their gods those two were supposed to counter balance the influence of Seth.
This position was highly thought after, for not only would it guarantee rich amounts of gold and corn for the temple the priest belong too, but with it came also powers only rivaled by the pharao himself. The possibility to influence the politics directly, to have armies at ones beg and call and the riches that could be aquired tempted as many as the fact that only those three, the pharao and his two generals, were able to call the power of the gods to do their bidding in the shadow games.
A few reigns this worked, even though many tried to acquire the role of one of the chosen ones by treachery and illusion. But all of the imposers failed the required tests, the path of Ma'at, and Anubis made sure that their treacherous souls were torn apart by the demon. The true priests fullfilled their roles, and the influence of the other gods changed with them. Sometimes the power their temples held wasn´t even worth mentioning, but others prospered and reached their old splendor.
Until two of them were corrupted, blinded by the power they were offered by their pharao, the possibility to gather the very essence of the shadow realm so that it would only do their bidding. Those three, whose names were ereased so that their evil souls might never find peace, performed a ritual that bound the realm of darkness to seven items. At least in this they succeeded. Those items of gold were bound to the energy of the game and granted their owner great power over it. To be in the possession of even one would allow the owner to control the vicioust and mightist beasts that dwelled within the shadow realm, to rip a soul from its body, to control or read minds. Many had to loose their lives and souls for this to be accomblished, and by the will of Ma'at the pharao and his two generals included. They had been successful, but for an awful high price.
The so called Sennen Items came into the possession of the pharaos eldest son, who took his place. Yami was still young as he became ruler over Egypt, but the remaining advisors of his father were sadly mistaken in their hopes that he would be easy to manipulate. Consequently he had them removed, with threats, promises and murder alike and replaced by people of his choice, confidants of his youth, teachers and relatives that would pose no treat to his throne. He took possession of one of the items and to those most trusted he gave one too, to use them to defend and strengthen his reign.
Barely two years into his reign the first of the two god send advisors was found. The General of the Eastern Desert.
A young man, barely out of boyhood, had recieved the mark as he had been initiated into the circle of priesthood. The revealation of this lead to outrage throughout the other temples. But it wasn´t his age that startled them, for he was deemed more than competent enough for his destiny. He was thaught to inherited the title of Highpriest from his father. Raised from his birth to fill this role to perfection. The youth was of startling intellegence and a master of the shadow game only matched by the pharao, paired with an iron will and an underlying cruelty, perfect for the role he was supposed to fill. But the young man, Sethos, was a Follower of Seth, a priest of the god he was supposed to help counter balance.
Few dared to raise their voices and protested the choice, but could nothing be done about it. The first one was chosen and Seth had played them for a fool and had used the rules that should have restricted his powers to obtain even more. The displeasure rose even more as the newly made Highpriest was handed one of the Sennen Items, cementing his position and the power of his patron.
Their only hope for change was that the other one chosen would be strong enough to withstand the heavy influence of the Serpent God, to bring back the splendour to the other religions. Especially the priests of Horus hoped that one of their own would be chosen, for their cult had been damaged greatly under the continous reign of Seth. Only few of their temples had managed to remain over time, mostly through the kindness of the local villagers, who brought them food and wine and sometimes an offering of gold. Even the city of Heliopolis, were light came into existance and Horus had set foot on the mortal plain, one of the three crowning places of the pharao, had suffered greatly. Their power was dimnishing rapidly, and his followers were fighting a loosing battle against the oppressing cult of its rival. The priests prayed for a wonder that might just save them, but their hope vanished as the time that had passed since the first chosing turned from days, to months, to years.
But history is bound to repeat itself, and even gods can´t change destinies path.
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The first watery light of dawn tinted the dunes a soft golden colour, slowly the stars faded from the gradually brightening sky and the first bit of the sun could be seen peeking over the horizon. Softly its shine spilled over hills and valleys of sand, over sparse vegetation that turned into lush greenery and gently swaying fields of corn as its rays reached the delta of the Nile. Copper highlights danced on the slowly moving river, its water was sinking again and the small channels that ran through the fields were dry.
Not too far away from the river a city was nestled against the gentle slops of a small mountain. The morning sun had not yet reached it completely and white buildings were still mostly swatted in shadows. High balustrades surrounded Heliopolis, the smooth, white walls only disturbed by two large portals, facing north and south, and an stone inforced waterchannel that seperated it in two halfes. The crown of the wall lay empty of guards and signs of abandonment could be seen under closer inspection. The houses were scatterd seemingly at will, simple one story dwellings standing right next to glorious mansions with sweeping collums and fragrant gardens. Groves of date and acacia trees grew within and temples and shrines were build everywhere. Broad streets and small, dang alleys alike could be found. But what caught they eye were the two obelisks that throned on a platue of the mountain, overlooking the whole city and framing the entrance to the holy shrine of Horus. Their golden tips were aglow in the morning light. In the middle of the city lay two more master pieces of architecture. White and rose marble made up two breathstealing temples. Carvings inlaid with gold and precious gems, delicate statues and reilings and also countless hieroglyphs made up their walls and throning before their entrance were statues of Ramses II. and Ramses III. in all their glory. It were their temples. But those glorious buildings, no matter how beautiful they were, looked dead and cold. Like tombs they lay in the center of Heliopolis, no life within them. No movement could be seen within their range, while the small, dusty streets that were near by slowly started to come alive.
Curtains of linnen and beads were swept aside and people started to go after their business in the grey light of the morning dawn. Women and a few children were busy getting water, for breakfast or to wash clothes, men setting up tables in front of their shops, while others just enjoyed the relative coolness of the vanishing night. Soon it would be too hot to go after the more straining tasks, still, most of the people would have to work on the fields. The time for the harvest had come today, the busiest and most straining time of the year. But the people looked forward to it, the last few years the fields had barely provided enough corn for the citizens of Heliopolis and Ker-Ahas, the fortress that kept the valley Heliopolis was build in save. This year though the flood of the Nile had been especially high and had provided a wide spread of fertile earth. The seeds had thrived and this years harvest promised to be one of the richest in a long time. If no vermins got to the crop noone would have to fear hunger the coming year. They had to make do with what the fields provided them. It had been a long time that the pharao had sent them food, wine, gold or other wares, for the temples or villagers alike. The once proud Heliopolis lay forgotten, which was not surprising. The city of Horus, the archnemesis of Seth, naturally was a thorn in the eye of his two highest priests, the General of the Eastern Desert and the pharao himself. When the gong sounded they would gather on the fields that lay along the Nile and its smaller side rivers and start to work to bring the harvest in as soon as possible. Young and old alike would participate, all those that did have no work within the shops or the temples, but even from those some would be around to help, it was simple too important a task. And so they savoured the last few minutes of peace and quiet, before the hustle and bustle of regular life would catch up with them.
"Out of my way!!"
The yell rang out loudly, effectively shattering the peacefulness that had smothered the city like a blanket. People looked up from what they had been doing, startled at the sudden disturbance. A woman, carrying a pot of water on her head barely managed to jump out of the way, trying desperately to balance her burden, as a young man dashed past her.
"Sorry!"
He hadn´t stopped running, did not even bother to turn around and check if she was alright, but continued on on his way, dodging tables and peoples more or less sucessful. One couldn´t even be sure if he meant her as he called out his apology, or the owner of the dishes he had just broken as he had run into him or maybe the old woman down the street that yelled bloody murder after his retreating back. At the moment though Katsura couldn´t have cared less about the damage he caused and the curses raining down upon his head. Oh, he wasn´t normally so careless and unthoughtful about others, quite the opposite on regular days, though just as clumsy.
But that was were the problem lay. Today wasn´t a regular day. Nope, today was the day when he would finally be fully accepted as a man into the circle of adulthood and, most importantly to him, recieve the ordination as a priest of Horus. He had been studying and training for this day ever since he had been accepted into his family, had spend hours reading over the old scrolls and memorizing their content... Well, mostly at least.
You couldn´t ask a young, energetic boy like him to spend all of his days cramped into a musty room studying, the only ones to keep him company a couple of old, nearly deaf priests and sour tempered teachers, while outside his friends played... Okay, truthfully he had not spend all that much time over his lessons and most often than not Katsura had to be dragged back into the room by his father. But he had always been present during the sword lessons or when the working of the shadow games had been explained to him.
That was at least something, wasn´t it?
And he had wished for this day to come, directed feverish prayers to the falcon god so that he may be accepted into the rows of his worshippers on this important day and, especially, that everything would run smoothly. Gods, just this once he had hoped that he would be able to jump over his own shadow and get things right. In Katsuras eyes this was the least he could do for the people that had adopted him into their home as he had been alone and lost.
The village he had been born in had been destroyed during the constant wars, he could only hazily remember that day, blurred images and the feeling of heartshattering fear and dread. He had been young back than, a small child that was suddenly alone and would have died for sure. A child could not survive on its own, specially not a Libyen one in the middle of a battle that the Egyptians were winning. But the gods had been with him. A Horus priest, that had joined the ranks of the soldiers, had found him and taken him under his wings, carried him out of the remains of his birth village and took him to Heliopolis into his house. His wife had given Katsura the name he now carried and he had been adopted and made their legitimate son, they raised him as their own, thaught him the ways of the Egyptian gods and their people. He thought of himself as a Egyptian, he had been too young to keep any ties to his past. But still, he often asked himself why. Why had he been saved? Why had they taken him in? Accepted him as their son? Katsura had asked his father more than once what moved him to his actions, but the answer had always been the same.
'I saw you and knew you were special. A gift of Horus send to me to take care of, until your destiny unfolds.'
A gift of Horus...he couldn´t exactly agree with his father. He didn´t feel special at all. The only thing about himself that might be attributed to the falcon god were his looks. He was of a tall, graceful build, his body defined by sinews and finely carved muscles, his skin had been burned to a soft bronze by the desert sun, just like it had bleached his hair of a rare dark blond colour to tarnished gold that matched his eyes. Horus was the patron of young men in the bloom of their life and his colour was gold, Katsura paired both to a pleasent image. But that was all that he might consider a gift of the falcon. For the only subjects he excelled in were those that had to do with the body. Sword fight, pratice with the spear, boxing, all kind of sports. He had even learned to swim. But as soon as it came to subjects of the mind Katsura had troubles. Not that he was stupid, not at all. If he found it in himself to sit down and study, to actually use the brain of his, he proofed to be quite bright. This though was were the problem lay. He just couldn´t sit still and concentrate, not to mention shut up. The youth had always been filled to the brim with energy and tended to infect others with his misdirected enthusiam and more than one lesson in religion had ended in utter chaos as Katsura and his childhood friend Hirotet just had to enact the epic battle of Seth and Horus or some other scene that had caught their fancy and in their play completely trashed the study. Beside all that he also was sometimes clumsy, nearly always loud and brash, had the habit to say the wrong things at the wrong time and most often than not made a fool out of himself. Not that he would complain about that, Katsura liked himself quite fine, he made friends easily and could enjoy himself, but all those traits didn´t exactly fit the description of a god send gift in his opinion. His teachers seemed to agree with him on that. In their eyes he was more of a godsent plague than anything else.
But his father seemed to think different, for he was quite adamant about Katsura joining the temple. Often his old man had told him that he would advance to much, that he was sure his son would surpass his position easily and would make the title of highpriest someday. His fathers friends had smiled at those braggings, it was no secret that Katsura had much in his head, mischief that is, but noone had the heart to tell him that the chances of the boy fullfilling his exspectations were as good as none existance. He himself had silently vowed though to try his best to live up to his fathers wishes, that he would repay him for his kindness the best he could by becoming a faithful priest. The day to proof himself had come...
And just on this day of days he had to oversleep!
A breathless curse left his lips as he continued on his way and dashed out of the sidestreets onto the main road that lead through the whole city towards the temple, which was carved into the stone of the mountain cliff. It wasn´t far anymore, just down the road and then the stairs that lead up towards the open entrance hall. Not far, not far at all, if one didn´t consider the hundred of stairs and he would have to pass until he was up there. He was so going to be late, even if he ran as if Am-Heh was nipping at his heels, never would he manage to be there before the disc of Ra was sounded.
As he had crossed onto the street he had managed to catch a glimps of the bronze dish that was situated on top of the court, the highest building in the city aside from the abandoned temples in the center. As soon as the sun was reflected completely in the polished bronze the gong would be sounded, which would announce the start of work and also the entrance of the priests into the temple. And from what he could tell already more than 3/4 of the disc of Ra was aglow in the morning light.
He barely dodged a couple of children that played with their ragdools on the streets, leaving them behind squealing in startelment. Katsuras lungs burned as he drew breath after breath of air down his starched throat, still he scratched together his last reserves of energy and upped his pace. Maybe Ra would be merciful and take just a bit longer to rise today.
~_~~*~~_~
An-suh hid a yawn behind her hand as she stepped onto the porch of her home and stretched in a languid fashion. She had allowed herself to sleep a bit longer than usual today, as she would need to help out on the fields later on and would probably need every bit of rest and strength she was able to get. Her thoughts though weren´t concerned with the bone tiring work she would have to do soon, but strayed to one of her best friends, Katsura. She hadn´t seen him for a while, three days to be exact. The last time she had talked with him had been at the feast the boys father had held in honour of him reaching adulthood and his soon to be joining of priesthood. Her mother hadn´t been happy about her attending the celebration, a young, unmarried woman like her at a party like that, were alcohol would flow easily, men would joke roughly and whores would makes sure of the right entertainment for a young man coming of age. But in the end she had given in, after a lot of persuading, pouting and down right cursing, and allowed her daughter to go, probably in the hope that maybe an engagment would be made. An-suh was well past the marriage age of thirteen with her twenty summers and up till now she had not agreed to any of the numerous offers of marriage. Many had been interested in her, she was beautiful after all, startling wide eyes, the colour the seas, that stood out from the masses of dark almond shaped ones, a dancers build and a, for an Egyptian, light haircolour. A beauty indeed, paired with wit and manners, someone a man could be proud to call wife. But whoever had asked her, even those aboth her standing, had been gently but firmly rebuffed. Her mother assumed that the girl waited for one of her two friends, Katsura or Hirotet whom she had known since childhood, to reach adulthood and ask for her hand. The old woman would have liked to see her daughter with one of them, as both of the boys would have made for a desirable party. She had heard that Hirotet had plans to join the military and coming from a rich family like his, his parents were gold smiths of quite some skill, not to mention rich, he would make it quite far. And even though Katsura was obviously of forgein blood, he was still the adopted son of a priest and functionary and would inherit his fathers titles and land.
An-suh gladly left her in that belief. She had no intention to marry one of the two, though she loved both boys dearly. But she felt too much like a mother about them, taking care of them, scowling and accepting their antics with the patience of a saint. The three of them had been together as far as she could think back. Hirotet the muscles, Katsura the mischief and she was the brains of their little group. They had shared their childhood, knew each others secrets, had been together through the awkward years of puperty and dreamed together of the future.
No, she would never marry one of them.
She would wait for real love.
A small smile stole itself over her full lips as her thoughts turned back to all the fun they had had together, and the feast a few nights ago had been no exception. Her mothers worries had been unfounded mostly, there were no whores or dirty jokes, although wine and beer were drunken in quite impressive masses. She fondly remembered Katsu's anxious face as his father cut the long lock of blond hair that had marked him as child, before burning it together with Katsuras childhood toys in the herdfire and scattering the ashes, their laughter as he turned an embarrassed shade of red at a few lewd comment Hirotet had made, the dances, ritualistic or just for fun, the few games they played, the two young men play fighting against each other and their drinking contest that ended with her the winner while Katsura and Hirotet ended up on the floor.
She sighed and stepped out onto the streets, keeping to the shadows as she made her way towards the main road, where Hirotet would wait for her.
An-suh wished that the party would have lasted longer, but the feast had ended in the middle of the night and her blond friend had been ushered into a small Horus shrine, where he was supposed to spend the following three days in prayer and without any contact to women. They didn´t even have the chance to say a proper goodbye, as they admitely had been a bit too drunk at that moment to comprehend the full meaning of Katsuras sudden department. At that time they had not been able to comprehend, that not only Hirotet and her wouldn´t be able to see their friend for three days, but that they would be seperated for three months, the time that Katsura would have to serve in the temple, until he would be allowed to leave for the turn of one season. It hurt her to think about those months she wouldn´t be able to spend with her friend. It wouldn´t be the same without him. They had sworn as childs that they would always be together, but now adulthood was slowly forcing them apart.
Katsu was about to join the temple, Hirotet wanted to become a soldier and she was a temple dancer, secretly wishing nothing more than to be able to dance at the rites of Hathor on Elphantine. A dream that maybe would be true one day. She had been allowed to dance at the Celebration of the Flood last year and her teachers and fellow dancers had been quite impressed by her skill. With a bit of luck she would be allowed to travel to other temples next year. She would be able to see more of this glorious country and worship the gods at their main temples. Dance before highpriests and so many other people. But in her fantasies, Hirotet and Katsura had always been with her, to cheer her on or make her laugh with their antics. In those dreams their laughing faces had always been with her, never far away, watching her from the first row. But now she slowly came to realize that this would most likely never happen. Both boys, men she corrected herself, had reached adulthood and were building their own life, their chosen destinies leading them down different paths. They were drifting apart from each other, their dreams were no longer the same, maybe were never the same to begin with and they just had not noticed.
How long would their friendship survive this test?
How long until they forgot what they meant to each other and they would be nothing more than strangers to each other?
Her mood had darkened considerable as she reached her destination, the well on the main square. The place was surrounded by office buildings mainly, the court with the disc of Ra, the Ma'at temple, the school, the office of scribes and a few others. Four main roads met here, each leading into one of the cardinal points. She spotted Hirotet not too long after, the tall brunet with the distinct hairstyle was easy to find among the normally rather short citizens. An-suh rose onto her tip toes to make herself known and waved him over, a shout forming on her lips, but it got stuck in her throat as she nearly got ran over, she barely managed to catch herself. Hand still half way raised she stared after the young man that just dashed past her, yelling out apologies in between curses and begging for help from the gods. For a few seconds she was able to follow the blur of blond hair and white cloth with her eyes, until the boy was lost among the other people, but still An-suh looked stunned into the direction she had last seen him.
What was Katsura doing here? There was only one blond in Heliopolis, so she was fairly sure that it was her friend she had seen. But wasn´t he supposed to be at the temple by now? Then it clicked and she threw up her hands in a huff, silently cursing the youth, but really, why had she exspected anything different? Leave him to his own devices and something was bound to go wrong. She should have known that. Katsura, alone in a house with an important date coming up in the morning was sure to end with him oversleeping, coming too late and embarrassing his father and himself down to the bones. Typical Katsu.
Her bare feet slapped against the ground as she hurriedly moved towards the court house, ignoring Hirotet's greeting as he had come up to her. She just grabbed his arm and dragged him after herself, still silently cussing out Katsura under her breath.
"Whoa, An-suh? What's the hurry?"
"We are going to save Katsu's ass."
~ ~~*~~ ~
The muscles in his legs had cramped painfully by the time he had reached the platue and his breath came in short, irregular pants, the air he managed to force down burned his lunges like fire and even though he tried to breath deep the blond had the feeling to suffocate. Katsura had managed to run up the stairs at full speed, but now his knees quivered, the sinews in his legs felt like snapping and nearly gave way beneath him. For some weird reason the disk hadn´t be sounded and he took a moment to regain his breath in the shadows of the huge, white obelisks that stood on either side of him and turned to look over the city that lay beneath. His eyes searched over the patchwork of buildings and streets, seemingly without pattern, but he knew the system that lay beneath it all, that the roads were build to represent a five pointed star at which center points buildings of importance were aranged, and so it was easy for him to spot the disc of Ra, agleam in the morning light like a minature sun. Brown eyes narrowed to slits in concentration and the blond raised a hand to sheet his gaze from the glaring sun, though still barely over the horizon but already fierce, to see better. He had not been mistaken with his first impression, there were three people on top of the house instead of the one asigned. Two were struggling from what he could tell while a third was waving in his general direction. Strange...but who was he to question his luck, the gods seemed to have heard his prayer and given him a chance to be on time and he better made use of it.
He drew upon the last of his strenght, turned and sprinted the last few meters to the entrance of the temple, ignoring the painful pull in the muscles of his legs and his protesting lunge. Today he had no time to linger, though often he had spend hours admiring the outer walls of the building, which were broken out of the surface of the stone in years of hard work, its colour a faint rose that sometimes blended into gleaming white. Carvings littered every surface, illustrating the triumph of pharaos over heathens and the wild folks of the south, the battles of gods and scenes of myth and throning above them all was the falcon headed Horus, crowned with a sundisc of pure gold and the ornates of Lower Egypt. Often one had been able to find the blond here, engrossed into the tales the walls told and also hiding from his teachers. Today though Katsura did not bother to even briefly glance at them, but hastily made his way through the statue framed entrance into the first hall of the temple, the one open to everyone. The marble was cool under his bare feet and proofed a much needed, though short relief from the baked dirt of the road and the nearly burning stairs. Like the outside the temple the walls of the first sanctum were covered with carvings and paintings too, but here were more inlays of gold and precious gems that adorned the collumns and carvings, torches and small fires in low standings pans light the capacious hall in which center a sculpture of Horus stood, a altar at his feet. Hurriedly the blond stepped in front of it and fell to his knees, bowing until his forehead touched the cool ground. Silently he muttered a hurried prayer and jumped back to his feet to pass the statue and its altar. As he went past it he noted the offerings laid out in front of it, flowers, spices and dishes lay scattered on the table, among incense from which smoke curled lazily, a few gems, golden jewelry and even pieces of bloody meat and entrails. A frown ghosted over the young mans face. This offering had to be made by someone who must knew nothing of their gods, for the sight of blood was not meant for their eyes. Too many wars and catastrophes had stemed from a deity that found lust in the crimson liquid. At a later date Katsura could have slapped himself for not stopping to wonder that this might be a sign, a warning meant for his eyes. Now though he just assumed that a traveling forgeiner must have made a mistake and made a mental note to tell a priest of this so that the altar could be cleaned. Already the various offerings produced quite a heavy smell that filled the hall, a mixture of lotus, herbs and the meaty smell of coagulating blood, which created a heady perfume that hazed the senses, if the scent of rotting were to be added to it it would certainly be unbearable. He had nearly reached the end of the hall, where a curtain of white, blue and gold obscured the way to future halls as Katsura heard the sound of the disc of Ra and a heavy sigh escaped his lips, his shoulders slumped slightly as the tension left him. He had made it somehow.
The youth reached out for the cloth, but his fingers lingered for a moment on the soft fabric. He shook slightly, a bout of nerves making it nearly impossible for him to move on. Worries and doubt gnawed at his heart and an involuntary shiver passed through his frame. Was he really prepared for this? Did he remember everything? What were the most important parts of "Coming forth by Day" again? The spells? And most importantly The Declaration of Innocence! How did that go again? Oh gods, help! This was the most important part of the innitation ritual, were he had to swear his innocent infront of all the gods. Without that he would be screwed. An embarrassment that would haunt him until his heart would be weighted on the scales. 'Okay, calm down.' He had read that part until he could quote it in his sleep, he just needed to relax and let the words flow.
'Hail to you, great God, Lord of Justice! I have come to you, my lord, that you may bring me so that I may see your beauty, for I know you and I know your name, and I know the names of the forty-two gods of those who are with you in this Hall of Justice, who live ... who live... ARGH! Who live? Shitshitshit! Forty-two gods of those who are with you in this Hall of Justice, who live on what Apep damn it!? Bread and wine? No, no false. That was something different. Maybe ---'
"Katsura! Boy, are you dreaming?"
The blonds head snapped up in startlement at the gruff voice, his eyes were wide and the colour drained from his face. He let go of the curtain he had clutched onto as if it burned his skin to the bones and that hand settled onto the fabric of his kilt, clenching onto it, while the other held the bundle of white cloth firmly against his chest. Unmoving he stared at the man that had seperated the curtains to reveal the hall behind it and now stood not too far away from him. The other was of darker skin than him and slightly shorter, though his wide shoulders and generally broad build hinted at quite some strength and the life of a warrior, lines of age and hardship had forged itself into his face, dominated by a pair of narrowed eyes that were so dark they seemed black. His head was shorn bald and his clothes were simple. A white kilt and sandals of papyrus. The only adornment were the golden armplates he wore, one of them carefully engraved while the other was blank and unmarred. The clothes of a priest and the manacles of a player of the Shadow Game.
The youths face flushed darkly under the elders gaze, his former frozen state left him and he started to fidget nervously, shifting from one foot to the other and nearly losing the bundle he carried as he changed his hold on it.
"No, father ah, I mean priest! I am not dreamin', not at all! I was just uh...standing around here! Yeah...standing around here and minding my own business! Not dreaming at all, your lordship priest, sir...eehhh. Sorry?"
TBC...