Chapter 4:Veiling of the Forbidden Soul
I want to use this time before the story to address an important issue. A reader of this story e-mailed me and corrected my mistake in a previous chapter. Remember when I mistakenly told you that the Pharaoh was believed to be the incarnation of Horus on earth? Well, he's actually supposed to be Ra in an earth form. Now you know!
Now *rubs hands eagerly* to get down to business. First on the agenda is to remind all you readers out there (Don't try to hide, I know you're there *Fixes terror-stricken people with the evil eye*) to Review!!!!!!! *Smiles sweetly* Did you hear me? I just have one solitary review sitting desolately in my inbox and it's lonely. Please Review!!!!
Second item on the agenda. This is just a little poll to dish in reviews. Do you think Celestia should:
A) Go on a long journey and eventually go to the capital, where she meets Seth and the Pharaoh and reveals, unwillingly, her identity?
B) Travel through Egypt, doing many deeds that gain her fame and then go to the capital and enter triumphantly to Priest Akenadin and do something horribly gruesome?
C) Go through with her training, take up residence in some forsaken town and live out her life without so much as a glimpse of the capital and never fulfill her mother's vow?
Vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that relates to Yu-Gi-Oh. But I would have something from suing the lawyers for suing me without a permit and reason (If they sued me at all)!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Training began that very day, and it wasn't as easy as one might imagine. Mas-Ne-Ra caused to appear a scroll of papyrus on the mahogany table. "This is your schedule for the week," she said. Celestia looked at it and blanched. Every single day was filled with work except for a day in the middle of the week, where only half the lessons would be covered. It looked something like this.
5:00 AM: Morning Rituals (getting up, dressing, cleaning, etc.) 5:30 AM: Divine preparation (the ritual of attending the deity's statue) 6:00 AM: Breakfast or "Perfuming of the Mouth" 7:00 AM: Physical Training (Learning how to defend oneself) 8:00 AM: Lessons with a priestess of Isis 9:00 AM: Lessons with a priest of Osiris 10:00 AM: Lessons with a priestess of Bast and Sekhmet, goddess of war. 11:00 AM: Lessons with a priest of Set 12:00 PM: Lunch break 12:30 PM: Study session (to review all that has been learned in the morning.) 1:00 PM: Lessons with Mas-Ne-Ra or a representative 7:00 PM: Dinner meal 7:30 PM: Evening Rituals 8:00 PM: Study Session (to review all the afternoon lessons) 9:00 PM: Bedtime
Celestia looked up at her newly acquired friend. "Why do I have lessons with all the major gods' representatives?" she asked. "You have to be versatile and able to perform all of their duties in the case that a priest is not available for them. Also, to be able to travel freely without cause for concern, you must keep good relationships with the rest of the gods." Mas-Ne-Ra answered. "Oh," Celestia said in a small voice. All this work seemed frightening, and this routine was to be carried on for eight years!
"One more thing, Celestia. You have to be disguised, or in other words, veiled with an illusion. You see, Akenadin doesn't want you alive, remember? You have to look differently so that no one will recognize you or mistake you for Seth." This was said because Celestia had hair as short as a boy's. "I will veil you now with this illusion." The goddess made a rotating figure appear. Celestia examined it.
The girl had darker skin than her, black hair instead of her brown, shorter by two inches, and had brown eyes instead of Celestia's vivid blue, which was an unnatural color. However, the girl had an almost emotionless face, except for a trace of superiority and mocking knowledge in her eyes and the set of determination in her face. "This may seem strange for the first few days, but you'll grow into it." Mas-Ne-Ra said quickly. Celestia looked at the illusion for a minute longer, memorizing the details, because there were no mirrors in the temple.
"She's fine. I like her." Celestia said simply. "Good, now watch the movements I make," the deity said. She extended a single finger. "First imagine energy gathering at the tip of your finger, like so" immediately the finger was enveloped in a single flare of red fire. "Draw an hourglass's basic shape, two triangles with the points facing towards the middle," When she finished, a real hourglass was there in her hand.
"This is not an hourglass that keeps track of time. This is the hourglass of images. In fact, it's your hourglass. Concentrate really hard on the illusion you want and this will be saved on the hourglass until you want another image." A small copy of the illusion showed on the top half of the hourglass. "Right now, all the sand is at the bottom because you are in your true form now. Once you turn it over, you will be her." Mas-Ne-Ra turned it over and the sand started flowing. At the same time, Celestia felt a jolt like adrenaline running through her body. The tingling sensation spread throughout and abruptly disappeared.
"That's it?" Celestia said shakily. She had expected something more. "Yes, that's it. It won't do to perform any major works of magic on you right now while you're this young. When you grow older, I'll teach you to change your appearance to your tastes. Right now, this should serve the purpose." Mas- Ne-Ra stopped. Looking at the eight year old, she observed that Celestia was looking pale. "This is a lot for you to be absorbing right now. Go and sleep to recover your energy. The barrier you used took up a lot of it." She guided her through to the other side of the stone wall. Celestia gasped. Everything was back to normal. What if the goddess was all a dream? What if the feeling of being filled with unimaginable power was just a hallucination? She half expected a doctor to come running around the corner any moment now, alerted by the priests who informed him of a little girl who imagined she was talking to a goddess? Celestia turned around.
"I'll always be here for you, Celestia. No matter what," the deity was right behind her, with lips curved in a sad little smile. Celestia imagined she knew exactly what she was thinking before. "Come here tomorrow at nine and we'll begin your lessons." Celestia smiled and bowed formally. "There's no need for that." Mas-Ne-Ra said, looking flustered. Celestia grinned and ran off. After all, she had a friend now who would always help her. This was better than before, when none of the other students would speak to her, contemptuous of the girl who fit in nowhere. Maybe her fantasy of finally having a place where she belonged was beginning to form in reality.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That chapter was probably boring, wasn't it? Oh well, not all of these chapters are action-packed, but many will be. I must warn you that the storyline will be slightly alternate universe. After all, how exciting would it be without a little originality?
-Phoenixsoul.
I want to use this time before the story to address an important issue. A reader of this story e-mailed me and corrected my mistake in a previous chapter. Remember when I mistakenly told you that the Pharaoh was believed to be the incarnation of Horus on earth? Well, he's actually supposed to be Ra in an earth form. Now you know!
Now *rubs hands eagerly* to get down to business. First on the agenda is to remind all you readers out there (Don't try to hide, I know you're there *Fixes terror-stricken people with the evil eye*) to Review!!!!!!! *Smiles sweetly* Did you hear me? I just have one solitary review sitting desolately in my inbox and it's lonely. Please Review!!!!
Second item on the agenda. This is just a little poll to dish in reviews. Do you think Celestia should:
A) Go on a long journey and eventually go to the capital, where she meets Seth and the Pharaoh and reveals, unwillingly, her identity?
B) Travel through Egypt, doing many deeds that gain her fame and then go to the capital and enter triumphantly to Priest Akenadin and do something horribly gruesome?
C) Go through with her training, take up residence in some forsaken town and live out her life without so much as a glimpse of the capital and never fulfill her mother's vow?
Vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that relates to Yu-Gi-Oh. But I would have something from suing the lawyers for suing me without a permit and reason (If they sued me at all)!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Training began that very day, and it wasn't as easy as one might imagine. Mas-Ne-Ra caused to appear a scroll of papyrus on the mahogany table. "This is your schedule for the week," she said. Celestia looked at it and blanched. Every single day was filled with work except for a day in the middle of the week, where only half the lessons would be covered. It looked something like this.
5:00 AM: Morning Rituals (getting up, dressing, cleaning, etc.) 5:30 AM: Divine preparation (the ritual of attending the deity's statue) 6:00 AM: Breakfast or "Perfuming of the Mouth" 7:00 AM: Physical Training (Learning how to defend oneself) 8:00 AM: Lessons with a priestess of Isis 9:00 AM: Lessons with a priest of Osiris 10:00 AM: Lessons with a priestess of Bast and Sekhmet, goddess of war. 11:00 AM: Lessons with a priest of Set 12:00 PM: Lunch break 12:30 PM: Study session (to review all that has been learned in the morning.) 1:00 PM: Lessons with Mas-Ne-Ra or a representative 7:00 PM: Dinner meal 7:30 PM: Evening Rituals 8:00 PM: Study Session (to review all the afternoon lessons) 9:00 PM: Bedtime
Celestia looked up at her newly acquired friend. "Why do I have lessons with all the major gods' representatives?" she asked. "You have to be versatile and able to perform all of their duties in the case that a priest is not available for them. Also, to be able to travel freely without cause for concern, you must keep good relationships with the rest of the gods." Mas-Ne-Ra answered. "Oh," Celestia said in a small voice. All this work seemed frightening, and this routine was to be carried on for eight years!
"One more thing, Celestia. You have to be disguised, or in other words, veiled with an illusion. You see, Akenadin doesn't want you alive, remember? You have to look differently so that no one will recognize you or mistake you for Seth." This was said because Celestia had hair as short as a boy's. "I will veil you now with this illusion." The goddess made a rotating figure appear. Celestia examined it.
The girl had darker skin than her, black hair instead of her brown, shorter by two inches, and had brown eyes instead of Celestia's vivid blue, which was an unnatural color. However, the girl had an almost emotionless face, except for a trace of superiority and mocking knowledge in her eyes and the set of determination in her face. "This may seem strange for the first few days, but you'll grow into it." Mas-Ne-Ra said quickly. Celestia looked at the illusion for a minute longer, memorizing the details, because there were no mirrors in the temple.
"She's fine. I like her." Celestia said simply. "Good, now watch the movements I make," the deity said. She extended a single finger. "First imagine energy gathering at the tip of your finger, like so" immediately the finger was enveloped in a single flare of red fire. "Draw an hourglass's basic shape, two triangles with the points facing towards the middle," When she finished, a real hourglass was there in her hand.
"This is not an hourglass that keeps track of time. This is the hourglass of images. In fact, it's your hourglass. Concentrate really hard on the illusion you want and this will be saved on the hourglass until you want another image." A small copy of the illusion showed on the top half of the hourglass. "Right now, all the sand is at the bottom because you are in your true form now. Once you turn it over, you will be her." Mas-Ne-Ra turned it over and the sand started flowing. At the same time, Celestia felt a jolt like adrenaline running through her body. The tingling sensation spread throughout and abruptly disappeared.
"That's it?" Celestia said shakily. She had expected something more. "Yes, that's it. It won't do to perform any major works of magic on you right now while you're this young. When you grow older, I'll teach you to change your appearance to your tastes. Right now, this should serve the purpose." Mas- Ne-Ra stopped. Looking at the eight year old, she observed that Celestia was looking pale. "This is a lot for you to be absorbing right now. Go and sleep to recover your energy. The barrier you used took up a lot of it." She guided her through to the other side of the stone wall. Celestia gasped. Everything was back to normal. What if the goddess was all a dream? What if the feeling of being filled with unimaginable power was just a hallucination? She half expected a doctor to come running around the corner any moment now, alerted by the priests who informed him of a little girl who imagined she was talking to a goddess? Celestia turned around.
"I'll always be here for you, Celestia. No matter what," the deity was right behind her, with lips curved in a sad little smile. Celestia imagined she knew exactly what she was thinking before. "Come here tomorrow at nine and we'll begin your lessons." Celestia smiled and bowed formally. "There's no need for that." Mas-Ne-Ra said, looking flustered. Celestia grinned and ran off. After all, she had a friend now who would always help her. This was better than before, when none of the other students would speak to her, contemptuous of the girl who fit in nowhere. Maybe her fantasy of finally having a place where she belonged was beginning to form in reality.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That chapter was probably boring, wasn't it? Oh well, not all of these chapters are action-packed, but many will be. I must warn you that the storyline will be slightly alternate universe. After all, how exciting would it be without a little originality?
-Phoenixsoul.
