Author's Notes: Whew, at long last, I'm back! Back from Japan, and finally ready to post a chapter that I've been working on for months. And there should be a continuation soon. Or at least some time.
I'd kind of like to bring Isis into this again, but I'm not sure how I could. She's very young, and I really can't bring her outside. She's not allowed to leave.
You know, there was a guy in my Japanese class named Ahmed, from Egypt. He was a nice guy, and very smart, but I kept thinking of crazy uncle Ahmed when I saw him, and I had to stop myself from laughing at him a couple of times. ^_^
The rants will return now that I'm back at school!
Scale: Heh, you don't really believe that Indigo owns Yu-Gi-Oh or makes money from this or ANYTHING, do you? Stupid mortals…
-
Millennial Inheritance
-
Shadi couldn't wait for his tenth birthday. He didn't know quite what to expect, but his father had given him some vague hints as to the surprise he could expect. It was some small ritual that the heir to the Guardianship went through on his tenth birthday. He didn't know anything about it, but it was supposed to be a mark of loyalty and endurance that would bring him closer to the Items. Shadi was fairly sure that it would give him close to the level of communication that his father had with them.
The future guardian was thrilled to finally be "let into the loop". In all his nearly ten years of wisdom, Shadi was pretty sure he had these things figured out. He knew the Items must have some kind of minds and voices for his father to argue with. They were both probably very annoying, since they were always putting his father in such a bad mood. The Ankh's friendly feeling made him think that it was probably a weaker mind, though the Item itself was quite strong. And it must be whiny, too. Why else would his father get so angry? He imagined the Scales as nasty, maybe even evil entity, bitter over their own weakness. That was no stretch of the imagination. But ignoring the annoyance he would no doubt end up having to live with, Shadi was eagerly anticipating his birthday.
The night before his birthday, Shadi could barely sleep. His father had gone out to get some things… Presents, Shadi was sure. He had gone quickly to see his mother, without the Items this time. She had been overjoyed to see him of course, though he didn't stay long. She gave him some new clothes, which were rather boring and would be outgrown soon, some books, and a pillow she had embroidered with an elaborate picture of a sphinx. Luckily the English classes he had been taking in town had just stopped for the summer.
During that night, Shadi's father had him sleep with the Items, apparently to strengthen his bond with them. He could use them to some degree, but it seemed more that they used him, but cooperated with his wishes. Most of the time. But supposedly this would make him close to them. His father stayed up in another room, praying to the gods and asking the eternal Pharaoh to accept his son as the future guardian.
Meanwhile, Shadi tried to sleep holding the Items, but they just poked into him, so he stuffed the Scales mostly under his pillow and the Ankh next to them, and fell asleep with his hand on them. He heard disembodied voices all through his dreams, one rough and one soft, but both rather carefully quiet. They would whisper, argue, and occasionally laugh. They sounded excited for the most part, though sometimes annoyed or nervous. Towards morning, they were especially clear in a strange, detached way.
//I guess another one's beginning.//
\\You don't sound too happy. Where's your eternal wellspring of optimism?\\
//It's not that… Even I'd be a fool to be blindly thrilled about this.//
\\Hmph, you've got that right…\\
//It'll be a change, at least. We can expect that much, and just that in itself will be beneficial.//
\\At least there's that much to look forward to…\\
//…And we'll just have to see what it brings…//
*********************************************************************
Shadi woke to find a cake in front of his face.
"Happy birthday!" Shedsunefertum exclaimed, taking a knife and beginning to cut the cake.
"Mmph… Cake for breakfast?" Shadi mumbled sleepily, yawning and noting that the Ankh and Scales were still next to his pillow.
"I know it's not good for you, but we ought to have a little celebrating now. You'll need your stomach nice and settled later."
Shadi frowned slightly as he took a piece of vanilla cake. First of all, he couldn't understand why he felt such disappointment that it wasn't chocolate. He really almost preferred vanilla. And secondly…
"Why will I need a settled stomach?" he asked before taking a big bite.
"Oh you'll find out…" Shedsunefertum said a bit distractedly. Shadi couldn't tell if he was excited or sad, it looked like both. Then a thought seemed to strike him just before he bit into his own slice of cake. "Did you have any… dreams last night?"
"Kind of," Shadi said thoughtfully. "Two people talking. Just the voices, though. I don't remember everything, but they seemed almost sad in the end. Why?"
Shadi's father nodded. "That's what my first night with them was like, too. Only one went back and forth between being happy and afraid, and the other was just mad. Do you understand about them now?"
Shadi nodded. "The first is the Ankh and the angry one is the Scales. Why are they afraid and angry, though?"
Shedsunefertum frowned. "Because they'll always be trying to take you over, and they can't. Hopefully. They're both too weak to do anything about it, and that's just how they react."
Shadi frowned, thinking of how the Ankh had slipped into control of him before. "So… I always have to keep them from controlling me, then."
"Right," his father agreed. "you've got to keep them down as far as you can. I've tried to give you all the options of how to think of them. My father brought me up believing there was nothing in them with any sort of mind, but I figured that out when they came to me. That's how some of the guardians have handled it, but it's not the safest thing if you start actually believing it. They you let your guard down, and even weak ones like these can get to you without much trouble."
Shadi nodded slowly, chewing his cake then swallowing. "…I don't want to do that. I don't see the point, and it doesn't make sense."
"Good plan. It's a bad way to handle it. Just keep them beaten back well enough, and you should have no problem."
"So does this mean… they are mine now?" Shadi asked, gazing at the shining Items.
Shedsunefertum frowned. "I'm still alive, or didn't you notice? They're mine until I'm gone. But since you're getting older, you need to be able to use them as well as possible. Besides, with bastards like Ishtar around, we have to be as prepared as we can be."
Shadi swallowed the last of his cake morosely, thinking of his friend Rishid. "I guess so…"
Shadi's father sighed and picked up the cake plate to take it back to the kitchen. "…There's more to your tenth birthday than sleeping with the Items and eating cake. You have to prove your courage and loyalty to the Pharaoh. In the old days I could have knocked you out or even gotten you really drunk for this, but I'm not about to do something like that." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "…So you're going to have to trust me, the Pharaoh, and the Guardians' line completely. No matter what. I can tell you, it'll be painful. Your uncle Ahmed passed out from fear before anything had been done. But he was never much good anyway. You've come a long way, and I know you can do this. All right?"
Shadi bit his lip and nodded nervously.
"Good. I guess the first step is shaving your head," said Shedsunefertum.
Shadi's hands flew to his hair. "Wh… what!?"
"You'll see why when we get farther along. And you can let it grow back afterwards," his father said, lighting some more torches and getting out a razor blade, towel, and scissors. "Remember, this is your destiny."
Shadi nodded shakily, still fingering the ends of his hair as he got up and went reluctantly to sit in front of his father. The large white towel was wrapped around his neck and shoulders, and then Shadi sat completely still, clenching his teeth and scrunching his eyes shut, trying to ignore the snipping noises and the light feel of clumps of hair falling onto the towel. After a while, this was replaced by the cold razor blade scraping across his head. Shadi wasn't vain, but he had to bite back tears at the loss of his hair… and at what was to follow.
Finally Shedsunefertum carefully took the towel away, catching most of the hair in it. "There. You can rinse off in the sink, and I'll be back when I've cleaned this up." He went outside to shake out the towel.
Shadi slowly walked over to the sink and looked in the mirror. Then he quickly turned on the water and ducked his head under it, brushing off the last bits of hair. It felt so unnatural… This must be how Rishid felt, but at least he had a ponytail. Shadi looked morosely at his now-shining head and glared at himself in the mirror before turning away. His father was sweeping up the hair on the floor.
"I hope this is worth it…" Shadi muttered bitterly.
"It's necessary. You'll get used to it. And you can wear a turban or some other head-covering if it bothers you so much." Shedsunefertum tossed the last bits of hair in the trash and then went over to carefully place the Ankh and Scales in their places on the tablet. Shadi walked over cautiously to watch his father affixing ropes to the sides of the tablet and then bring out a wooden box. He opened it to reveal a few small clay pots and some herbs and powders. There was also a row of needles of various sizes.
Shadi shifted nervously from one foot to the other, rubbing his head self-consciously.
Shedsunefertum turned grimly to his son and walked over, taking Shadi's hand and leading him over to the tablet. He lifted Shadi to sit on it, and took his sandals off, putting them aside.
"…Take off your shirt. You'll hate this. You might even never forgive me for this. But it's your duty and destiny. All guardians endure it. Be brave, you're an adult in the eyes of the family now. And this is the will of the Pharaoh."
//The will of the Pharaoh…//
\\The will of the Pharaoh…\\
Shadi nervously took his shirt off, hearing strange and familiar voices echoing in his head. He didn't like this at all…
…But there was nothing he could do. Shedsunefertum tied him to the tablet firmly, a steely but apologetic look in his eyes. He was careful that no part of Shadi touched the Ankh. Shadi clamped his eyes shut in terror as his father stepped towards him, a large black-tipped needle in his hand…
*********************************************************************
\\YOU! You call yourself a healer! Get to work you useless dung pile!\\
//I can't! I'm not touching him, the bond's not strong enough to heal him or even possess him without touching him right now! It hurts me just as much!//
\\Damn him… Fine time to start being careful about your stupid chunk of tin! A lot of good you do!\\
//…If it were touching him, we all know I'd heal him, at least enough to ease the pain… and then the ink wouldn't stay. It would make all of this useless.//
\\Can't you just… go to sleep or something? Can I knock you out? Ra, it's bad enough without you here to amplify every nasty little feeling!\\
//You think I could go to sleep with THIS going on!? If you want to knock me out and save us both some pain, go ahead, please!//
\\Good! Come on, get into your room so no one finds you later.\\
//Thanks…//
\\Don't thank me, you fool! I'm knocking you out! By Osiris, what an idiot…\\
… … ….THUNK.
\\Stupid, lazy, useless, ugly swine-fly… Didn't even have the spine to do that on your own… What a wimp.\\
I'd kind of like to bring Isis into this again, but I'm not sure how I could. She's very young, and I really can't bring her outside. She's not allowed to leave.
You know, there was a guy in my Japanese class named Ahmed, from Egypt. He was a nice guy, and very smart, but I kept thinking of crazy uncle Ahmed when I saw him, and I had to stop myself from laughing at him a couple of times. ^_^
The rants will return now that I'm back at school!
Scale: Heh, you don't really believe that Indigo owns Yu-Gi-Oh or makes money from this or ANYTHING, do you? Stupid mortals…
-
Millennial Inheritance
-
Shadi couldn't wait for his tenth birthday. He didn't know quite what to expect, but his father had given him some vague hints as to the surprise he could expect. It was some small ritual that the heir to the Guardianship went through on his tenth birthday. He didn't know anything about it, but it was supposed to be a mark of loyalty and endurance that would bring him closer to the Items. Shadi was fairly sure that it would give him close to the level of communication that his father had with them.
The future guardian was thrilled to finally be "let into the loop". In all his nearly ten years of wisdom, Shadi was pretty sure he had these things figured out. He knew the Items must have some kind of minds and voices for his father to argue with. They were both probably very annoying, since they were always putting his father in such a bad mood. The Ankh's friendly feeling made him think that it was probably a weaker mind, though the Item itself was quite strong. And it must be whiny, too. Why else would his father get so angry? He imagined the Scales as nasty, maybe even evil entity, bitter over their own weakness. That was no stretch of the imagination. But ignoring the annoyance he would no doubt end up having to live with, Shadi was eagerly anticipating his birthday.
The night before his birthday, Shadi could barely sleep. His father had gone out to get some things… Presents, Shadi was sure. He had gone quickly to see his mother, without the Items this time. She had been overjoyed to see him of course, though he didn't stay long. She gave him some new clothes, which were rather boring and would be outgrown soon, some books, and a pillow she had embroidered with an elaborate picture of a sphinx. Luckily the English classes he had been taking in town had just stopped for the summer.
During that night, Shadi's father had him sleep with the Items, apparently to strengthen his bond with them. He could use them to some degree, but it seemed more that they used him, but cooperated with his wishes. Most of the time. But supposedly this would make him close to them. His father stayed up in another room, praying to the gods and asking the eternal Pharaoh to accept his son as the future guardian.
Meanwhile, Shadi tried to sleep holding the Items, but they just poked into him, so he stuffed the Scales mostly under his pillow and the Ankh next to them, and fell asleep with his hand on them. He heard disembodied voices all through his dreams, one rough and one soft, but both rather carefully quiet. They would whisper, argue, and occasionally laugh. They sounded excited for the most part, though sometimes annoyed or nervous. Towards morning, they were especially clear in a strange, detached way.
//I guess another one's beginning.//
\\You don't sound too happy. Where's your eternal wellspring of optimism?\\
//It's not that… Even I'd be a fool to be blindly thrilled about this.//
\\Hmph, you've got that right…\\
//It'll be a change, at least. We can expect that much, and just that in itself will be beneficial.//
\\At least there's that much to look forward to…\\
//…And we'll just have to see what it brings…//
*********************************************************************
Shadi woke to find a cake in front of his face.
"Happy birthday!" Shedsunefertum exclaimed, taking a knife and beginning to cut the cake.
"Mmph… Cake for breakfast?" Shadi mumbled sleepily, yawning and noting that the Ankh and Scales were still next to his pillow.
"I know it's not good for you, but we ought to have a little celebrating now. You'll need your stomach nice and settled later."
Shadi frowned slightly as he took a piece of vanilla cake. First of all, he couldn't understand why he felt such disappointment that it wasn't chocolate. He really almost preferred vanilla. And secondly…
"Why will I need a settled stomach?" he asked before taking a big bite.
"Oh you'll find out…" Shedsunefertum said a bit distractedly. Shadi couldn't tell if he was excited or sad, it looked like both. Then a thought seemed to strike him just before he bit into his own slice of cake. "Did you have any… dreams last night?"
"Kind of," Shadi said thoughtfully. "Two people talking. Just the voices, though. I don't remember everything, but they seemed almost sad in the end. Why?"
Shadi's father nodded. "That's what my first night with them was like, too. Only one went back and forth between being happy and afraid, and the other was just mad. Do you understand about them now?"
Shadi nodded. "The first is the Ankh and the angry one is the Scales. Why are they afraid and angry, though?"
Shedsunefertum frowned. "Because they'll always be trying to take you over, and they can't. Hopefully. They're both too weak to do anything about it, and that's just how they react."
Shadi frowned, thinking of how the Ankh had slipped into control of him before. "So… I always have to keep them from controlling me, then."
"Right," his father agreed. "you've got to keep them down as far as you can. I've tried to give you all the options of how to think of them. My father brought me up believing there was nothing in them with any sort of mind, but I figured that out when they came to me. That's how some of the guardians have handled it, but it's not the safest thing if you start actually believing it. They you let your guard down, and even weak ones like these can get to you without much trouble."
Shadi nodded slowly, chewing his cake then swallowing. "…I don't want to do that. I don't see the point, and it doesn't make sense."
"Good plan. It's a bad way to handle it. Just keep them beaten back well enough, and you should have no problem."
"So does this mean… they are mine now?" Shadi asked, gazing at the shining Items.
Shedsunefertum frowned. "I'm still alive, or didn't you notice? They're mine until I'm gone. But since you're getting older, you need to be able to use them as well as possible. Besides, with bastards like Ishtar around, we have to be as prepared as we can be."
Shadi swallowed the last of his cake morosely, thinking of his friend Rishid. "I guess so…"
Shadi's father sighed and picked up the cake plate to take it back to the kitchen. "…There's more to your tenth birthday than sleeping with the Items and eating cake. You have to prove your courage and loyalty to the Pharaoh. In the old days I could have knocked you out or even gotten you really drunk for this, but I'm not about to do something like that." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "…So you're going to have to trust me, the Pharaoh, and the Guardians' line completely. No matter what. I can tell you, it'll be painful. Your uncle Ahmed passed out from fear before anything had been done. But he was never much good anyway. You've come a long way, and I know you can do this. All right?"
Shadi bit his lip and nodded nervously.
"Good. I guess the first step is shaving your head," said Shedsunefertum.
Shadi's hands flew to his hair. "Wh… what!?"
"You'll see why when we get farther along. And you can let it grow back afterwards," his father said, lighting some more torches and getting out a razor blade, towel, and scissors. "Remember, this is your destiny."
Shadi nodded shakily, still fingering the ends of his hair as he got up and went reluctantly to sit in front of his father. The large white towel was wrapped around his neck and shoulders, and then Shadi sat completely still, clenching his teeth and scrunching his eyes shut, trying to ignore the snipping noises and the light feel of clumps of hair falling onto the towel. After a while, this was replaced by the cold razor blade scraping across his head. Shadi wasn't vain, but he had to bite back tears at the loss of his hair… and at what was to follow.
Finally Shedsunefertum carefully took the towel away, catching most of the hair in it. "There. You can rinse off in the sink, and I'll be back when I've cleaned this up." He went outside to shake out the towel.
Shadi slowly walked over to the sink and looked in the mirror. Then he quickly turned on the water and ducked his head under it, brushing off the last bits of hair. It felt so unnatural… This must be how Rishid felt, but at least he had a ponytail. Shadi looked morosely at his now-shining head and glared at himself in the mirror before turning away. His father was sweeping up the hair on the floor.
"I hope this is worth it…" Shadi muttered bitterly.
"It's necessary. You'll get used to it. And you can wear a turban or some other head-covering if it bothers you so much." Shedsunefertum tossed the last bits of hair in the trash and then went over to carefully place the Ankh and Scales in their places on the tablet. Shadi walked over cautiously to watch his father affixing ropes to the sides of the tablet and then bring out a wooden box. He opened it to reveal a few small clay pots and some herbs and powders. There was also a row of needles of various sizes.
Shadi shifted nervously from one foot to the other, rubbing his head self-consciously.
Shedsunefertum turned grimly to his son and walked over, taking Shadi's hand and leading him over to the tablet. He lifted Shadi to sit on it, and took his sandals off, putting them aside.
"…Take off your shirt. You'll hate this. You might even never forgive me for this. But it's your duty and destiny. All guardians endure it. Be brave, you're an adult in the eyes of the family now. And this is the will of the Pharaoh."
//The will of the Pharaoh…//
\\The will of the Pharaoh…\\
Shadi nervously took his shirt off, hearing strange and familiar voices echoing in his head. He didn't like this at all…
…But there was nothing he could do. Shedsunefertum tied him to the tablet firmly, a steely but apologetic look in his eyes. He was careful that no part of Shadi touched the Ankh. Shadi clamped his eyes shut in terror as his father stepped towards him, a large black-tipped needle in his hand…
*********************************************************************
\\YOU! You call yourself a healer! Get to work you useless dung pile!\\
//I can't! I'm not touching him, the bond's not strong enough to heal him or even possess him without touching him right now! It hurts me just as much!//
\\Damn him… Fine time to start being careful about your stupid chunk of tin! A lot of good you do!\\
//…If it were touching him, we all know I'd heal him, at least enough to ease the pain… and then the ink wouldn't stay. It would make all of this useless.//
\\Can't you just… go to sleep or something? Can I knock you out? Ra, it's bad enough without you here to amplify every nasty little feeling!\\
//You think I could go to sleep with THIS going on!? If you want to knock me out and save us both some pain, go ahead, please!//
\\Good! Come on, get into your room so no one finds you later.\\
//Thanks…//
\\Don't thank me, you fool! I'm knocking you out! By Osiris, what an idiot…\\
… … ….THUNK.
\\Stupid, lazy, useless, ugly swine-fly… Didn't even have the spine to do that on your own… What a wimp.\\