Yay! I'm glad to know you all are liking this so far. This next chapter is pretty light-hearted and happy compared to the first, but it will be pretty much the only happy chapter. This is the day that Malik went to see the world, and as everyone knows, his life pretty much goes down the toilet after that. So enjoy the happiness whilst you can! :maniacal laughter: And yeshu, I remember you, Julia; I'm glad you liked the picture =].
Chapter 2: First Glance of the World
It's talking to me again... it's been talking to me for a long time. I listened to it at first, but then tried to push it away as soon as I realised how powerful it was. I didn't want it to gain control over me--the things it talks about are too horrible for me to imagine.
My back still hurts. It's been nearly two months since it was cut open, and it still hurts. I heard from my sister that it will pain me for another four. I can barely do anything anymore without Rishid's help. For the first two weeks he had to carry me. I can walk and run now normally enough, but that's about it. It's not like I need to do anything else. I just need to exist now. I know the ancient scriptures, I have the pharaoh's secret upon my back, I have a big brother who would do anything to save me, I have a father who would lock me away to keep the information I hold hidden... I have a spirit inside me who tells me that it won't let anything happen to me, yet at the same time describes scenes of bloodshed for the pain we've had to endure.
I've found that if I think about the Initiation, it talks to me about bloodshed and makes me more enraged. It does that when I think about my father, too. When I'm happy, it still talks, but it takes a lot more to get me angered. That's why I've tried to keep myself happy. It is difficult, but I am trying as hard as I can with Rishid's help. It's nighttime now, and I am happy.
I just remembered something my sister had promised me.
She told me we can go to see the outside one day.
I quietly call for Rishid from my bed, and he comes in from the next room as though he had never fallen asleep. "Yes, Master Malik?" he asks.
"Rishid," I say, smiling. "I want to go and see the outside tonight. Sister promised me that she would take me."
He just looks at me, so I go on. "If she says she will take me, will you make sure Father doesn't find out?"
"Master Malik, it's dangerous," he says; I can practically taste the concern laced into his words.
"Please, Rishid." I sit up and look at him imploringly.
"I can't!"
"I've been thinking about it all these years… I've remembered it ever since she told me when I was seven… please, Rishid."
"No, Master Malik, I can't let you risk your life for that." He shakes his head, and I start to get angry.
"I have been waiting a long time to see the outside world… I have to see it sometime… I have to. I can't be happy if I don't get to see it at least once."
"You will be even more unhappy if you do go, Master Malik."
"I want to go!"
My servant practically flinches as my voice grows harsh towards him. Sometimes I wonder why I think he can protect me. Deep down he's just a cringing, ignorant slave… deep down, he's afraid that something will happen to him. Mother should have left him to die as a baby beside that well—
"If you want to go, Master Malik…" I stop thinking and look at him. "…I will help you."
"Good." I feel the anger ebbing away. "Thank you, Rishid… will you get Sister for me?"
He nods and walks out of the room quietly; I sit up and slightly wince at the ache my back gives. I've gotten used to it by now, but it's a little annoying at times. Sometimes the spirit makes it go away if I whine enough… it calls me weak, but it takes away the pain at least for a little while. For something that spawned from my hatred, it can be pretty sympathetic sometimes. I trust it in a way now.
You are my creator, after all…
You just happened. I didn't do anything.
You hated a lot. That's doing something.
Oh quiet.
I hear it sniggering darkly in the back of my mind as I hear the two come back in, and my face brightens considerably. "Sister!"
She comes to the side of my bed and puts her hands out. "Malik!" she whispers. "Lower your voice!"
"It's late, sister; Father's asleep by now," I say. "I want to see the outside, just like you promised!"
Her eyes widen slightly. "Malik… we can't. It's forbidden for Tombkeepers to see the outside world."
"But you promised! Please, Isis… dear sister… I want to see the outside so badly. Why can't we go now?"
"If Father catches us, we'll get in trouble," she says.
"Come on! Rishid will cover for us when we go! Won't you?" I turn to him and he nods, looking at my sister.
"Leave everything to me, Lady Isis."
She bites her lip and looks back at me. "But…"
"Please…" I take her hands in mine and feel a slight warmth rising inside me. "I want to go… just once! You promised! I still remember that you promised!"
Isis looks back at Rishid again, who in turn assures her again that he will take care of everything. When her eyes turn to mine again, she looks more serious than anything I had ever seen before. "Alright, brother… we'll go in the morning—"
"Thank you, sister!" I throw myself into her arms and hug her tightly, my happiness growing stronger. Instantly I feel something strange inside me. I think it's the spirit… it's not saying anything but I can feel something strong coming from it as I embrace my sister. I feel a great surge of it and it surprises me so much that I let go of her; fortunately she decides to let go at the same time, so she doesn't notice any hastiness on my part.
"But, we can only go for an hour, and we must never speak of it again, do you hear? Never."
I nod my head, smiling to cover up the uneasiness that has settled in my stomach.
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A few hours later, I'm following Isis up a flight of stone stairs that I had never seen before, shaking my hands at my sides to get out some of the adrenaline pumping through me. She pushes open the large trapdoor at the top and I run out.
I nearly stumble because of the light.What…what is that? My arm goes up to shield my eyes, and I can get a small look at the bright thing. It's so warm…this must be… this must be the Sun! Ra himself! I extend my arm to the god, taking in more of His glorious warmth as my sister comes beside me.
"This is wonderful, sister!" I say happily. My eyes travel down from the bright sphere in the sky to a little market a little ways across the dunes and I start to run to it. Ignoring my sister's calls to stay near her, I run into the crowd and take in all of the people. There are so many! They all look different! I never thought the world would be like this! I stop, seeing a book lying on the ground.
Opening it up, I'm shocked to see colour. Bright colour… and… pictures! Isis comes beside me as I start to flip through the pages, gawking at them. "Sister! These are nothing like the scriptures! They're fun!" I point to the pictures, even though I can sense that she's looking around us instead.
I suddenly stop on a picture of a man on a machine. It looks amazing… but what is it? I've never seen something like it before… A noise catches my attention and I look up to see some men watching a box.
Wait… it's not just a box… there are things moving in it! Upon looking closer, the things are moving on a glass surface… hey! There's that weird machine again! There's a man in strange clothing on it… and he's talking to a woman… now he's speeding off on the thing… Wow! What a cool sound!
One of the men watching looks instead at me. "What's the matter, kid?" he asks. "Never seen a TV before?"
"A TV?" I ask. Isis comes over and pulls me away hurriedly, saying we should be going home. I follow, a million questions racing through my head.
"What was that glass box back there, sister?"
"That was a TV," she says, tugging me along.
"T-V!" I repeat excitedly. "What was the man on the TV riding?"
"That's a motorcycle."
"Motorcycle! I wanna ride one!" I say eagerly, starting to make noises like the red machine.
"Malik, we must hurry! We need to get back home!"
"Already? But I want to stay!"
"No, Malik." She looks very worried. I wonder why. "We have to get home in case Father discovers that we're gone!"
"But—" I decide that it's pointless to argue. I still have the book in my hand. "Can I at least keep the picture of the moticocel?"
She stops and looks down at me, panting slightly. "No, Malik. If Father sees that, he'll be furious!"
"Please, Isis!" I practically beg. "I want something to remember! I'll hide it really well! I won't let him find it!"
"Alright, alright! Now come on!" She turns to go again, but stops. I look up to see a man in a light tan robe, a turban encircling his head. His eyes bore down into us, and he speaks in a deep voice.
"The pharaoh will soon return," he says.
"Who are you?" My sister is slightly in front of me and doing her best to look strong.
"I am one of the Tombkeepers," he replies. "If you do not fulfill your sacred duty, only tragedy will result."
"What do you mean? Who are you?" she asks again, but he merely turns away and disappears into the crowd. We run after him, but he seems to have evaporated or something, because we cannot see him.
"Sister!" I say suddenly. "He was wearing something that looked like the Millennium torque and rod! It looked like a key!"
My sister stops again and takes me by the shoulders. "We should never have come here!" she says, fear etched into every one of her words. "Forget everything you saw today! Forget about the stranger! We must go home, now!"
I fear she's going to have a heart attack or something with the way that she's looking at me, so we run back to the entrance to the tombkeeper lair. She hoists open the trapdoor and I look despairingly into the darkness beyond.
"Do we have to go back down there?" I ask. "Why do we need to live in darkness like that?"
Without waiting for an answer, I go and sit upon a low wall, holding up the picture of the amazing machine that I had torn out of the book. Someday… someday I'll get one just like it… I start making noises like it again, gazing across the horizon. I can hear the spirit mocking me, but I don't care. My sister calls for me and I heavily get up and go to her.
As we start down the stairs, I look to the side and see a small reel with loose rope dangling off it.
"What's that?" I ask, pointing to it.
Isis turns and her eyes go wide as she spots it."Oh no…that must have been an alarm of some kind! I didn't see it when we left!" The look of fear upon her face increases so much that I start to worry as well, and she suddenly dashes down the stairs.
Sister… sister… what is it?