"R-Rabi? Is that you?" The voice whispered again, sending ripples through the thick air around them. The young boy came out of the sleeping coffin and stood up straight, revealing the mystic costume that he wore so elegantly: the small but study headdress called the Nemes shown itself proudly, and the Shendyt, also known as the royal garment, was made of the finest silk money can buy. Both the Nemes and Shendyt told Lavi one thing: this boy was of royal blood.
Lenalee was admiring the delicate curves of the boy's tattoos on his arms and exposed clear chest. The beautiful drawings on ancient times were painted with red ink, a clear view on the boy's milky skin color. The boy's fair skin color was contrary to the usual brown Egyptians used to have, which struck to her as strange since she knew that most Egyptians tend to spend their time out in the sun. Lenalee was the first to speak up against the dizzy boy/prince.
"He's not Rabi, whoever he is. My name is Lenalee, and this is Lavi. What's yours?"
The young prince blinked out of his musing and for once took a good look around him. As if the staring spell had broken, Lavi took a step back as he recollected his thoughts. There was something that struck Lavi deep inside him when he gazed into those silverish-grey eyes; like it had awoken something in his inner mind. The young boy pulled himself up and gave a polite bow to Lenalee.
"I am Prince Allenthor-Su the 5th, royal son of the Great Pharaoh AhMana'Khe the 2nd," Looking at the lost faces of his new companions, he chuckled inwardly. People always had his name and title confused, so his once-closest friend entitled him a nickname that he will forever carry with him,
"But you may call me Allen, if you wish,"
"H-How the heck can you speak English? I thought Egyptians only knew their mother tongue," Lavi asked, still entrapped in his own world. The Prince called Allen shrug in reply, wearing a confused look.
"Ever since Julius Caesar came to my place, we had the chance to learn the English language.. But I thought you knew that, since you can speak English too. Did Julius teach you as well?"
Lavi stopped his questioning when he heard Prince Allen's words. He knew Julius Caesar? The one and only infamous Roman dictator? Wait.. Wouldn't that also means...
"Pr-Allen, do you know where you are now? I mean, do you know when you are right now?" Lavi asked slowly, trying hard not to hear that ringing conclusion he had just made. Prince Allen tilted his head, more buried in his confusion at this strange person's question.
"Why, of course. I'm in Egypt, my Father's home. In answer to your 2nd question, I have no answer. But I assumed I'm still in the 48th half-moon of the 12th West. Why?"
Lavi practically cringed at Allen's answer. He had absolutely no idea what Allen had just said, and turning to face Lenalee, he saw that she too had reached the same conclusion.
"Allen, I don't know how to tell you this... But you've been asleep for a very very VERY long time. We're in the year 2012 now, and Julius Caesar is dead," Lavi tried to break it to the naive boy gently, afraid of the poor boy's reaction.
Allen's eyes wet wide so quickly that his head tumbled over the large weight that was casted onto him. The year 2012 that was like, what, 50 years ahead? No, more than that. Allen sat down as he started to mumble. Years.. What had Julius Caesar said about that? One year is equivalent to how many Wests? His mind whirled in confusion. What about his earth father? What about his servants? What had happened to them? All these questions were thrown into Allen's unprepared mind mercilessly, and it left Allen with a major headache.
Lavi had never seen a young noble Prince of Egypt alive before. He also had never seen a young noble Prince, as vulnerable as Allen was showing himself right now. The helplessness and confused look made Lavi take back his words, wishing that he had never come to this cursed place at first. Lavi had wanted to turn away and leave him, but his sleeping instincts that brought him here took this moment to wake up and pushed him to the right direction; towards the sorrowful Prince.
"Allen, you can follow us if you want. It's lonely down here and I think the last feeling you want to feel right now is loneliness," Lavi offered, his hand outstretched for the young Prince to take.
Allen looked at Lavi in shock. Now that he was so close to him, Allen can see the similarity this man held with his old best friend. To the eyes, the smile and right down to the small dimples, every simple thing that Rabi had, now own by Lavi instead. If he could trust Rabi back then, why not he trusts Lavi? Because he betrayed you in the very end, don't forget! Shaking his head, Allen got rid of the negative thoughts. Taking a chance on the inevitable, Allen took the welcoming hand and followed out of his death room.
Lavi immediately felt a warm sensational feeling coursing through his veins when his hand came in contact with Allen's. It was as if he was touching God's Hand, and it felt wonderfully familiar. Thinking that he did this before, though he could not remember, Lavi closed his hand around the petite one, encasing it inside his protective cover. Lenalee gleamed as she took note of the slight blush those two had when they held each other's hands, but was wise enough to hold her tongue.
When they passed the Anubis Guardians (which still freaked Lavi out a tad bit), they were stopped by the windy sandstorm that still blew its mighty power through the rock-hard desert. The wind blew, making the sand to swerve with the storm and obstructing Lavi's point of vision. But all that changed when Allen took a small step outside.
The invincible sandstorm bowed down to its knees at his old master's silent command. All was calm, as if there wasn't any storm to begin with. Allen was bemused at the prospect of him still holding power over the land and was grateful that his land had not forsaken him in his time of need. Unlike a certain person.
Lavi and Lenalee still stood inside the tomb with their mouth gapping wide open. They had never set eyes on the magic in action that the Ancient Egyptians claimed they acquired. Now that they did, it made them think twice on how powerful and mysterious the Ancient Egyptians were. Suddenly, Lavi heard the flapping of wings coming from behind and turned to see a giant golden globe floating in front of him.
"ARGH! What is that?!" Lavi panicked, backing away at the recent cold contact. The magical floaty-thingy flew towards Allen like an old friend, and it landed onto his shoulders faithfully. Allen laughed lightly at his friend's antics as he caressed the globe lovingly.
"This is Timcampy. Rabi made it for me as my 15th birthday present," Allen mused, reminiscing those great times.
"Who is Rabi you've been talking about? Your father?"
"What, by Horus, no! Rabi was my best friend, my companion, my everything before he-" Allen swallowed his words, not bothering to disguise his disappointment and sadness from the two newcomers. Lavi tasted the tang of jealousy in his tongue and he decided that he hated that taste.
The walk home was heavily quiet. Lavi was deep in his thoughts trying to find out what this Allen had got to do with his vivid dreams and Allen was debating on whether he should be angry or sad that Rabi had abandoned him all alone in this cruel new world without even a single explanation. Lenalee followed behind carefully, not disturbing the two boys' train of thoughts. A smile lifted her long face as she saw the 2 boys unconsciously moved closer to each other, taking comfort on the other's brief but warm contact.
As the trio moved closer to the campsite, Lavi spotted his crew mates with his sharp eyesight. But instead of introducing him as Prince Allen that they had coincidently found in a sandstorm sleeping in a dead sarcophagus and was chased by giant Anubis Guardians (which sounded so much better in Lavi's head), their leader archeologist explained that they had found a lost boy in the desert. This serves the purpose of keeping things under wraps and avoids further questioning.
As Lavi took Allen into his private tent, Bookman stood by in the shadows. He was suspicious at the 'lost boy', and his frown marred his old wise face as he contemplates on this new topic of interest.
"Lavi, pllllllease? Can I pllllease go? I promise I'll be good!" Allen whined, making sure his puppy-dog eyes make contact with Lavi's withering bottle-green eye.
"Alright, alright! We'll go, okay? Stop wearing that face, it's bloody unfair!" Shouted Lavi, all his determination on finishing his paperwork leaving him in the dust. Allen had been bothering him about the current life in Egypt; about how things worked around here now, how his people were living their daily lives, do they still celebrate and worship the Gods and Goddesses as they should be doing. That sort of information. After Lavi had finished feeding Allen's insatiable appetite for the news, the Prince had moved to annoying Lavi into following him around Egypt. At first Lavi was resilient, his head focused on the amounting work that he piled up. But as time goes by, Allen's constant whining and the puppy-dog eyes that should be considered a way of torture, had been drilled into Lavi's head until he could take it no more. Grabbing his coat in one arm and taking the boy's hand in the other, the couple walked through the sands to the nearby town.
"What happened to the Sphinx?! By the great God Osiris, where is its nose?!" Shouted Allen in surprise, looking at the now ancient artifact of the great Egypt. Back then, the Sphinx was in its might and standard, standing proudly and welcoming to the Egyptians. With its nose intact! Now it was only a distant shadow of its former glory. Without its nose! Was he asleep for too long till this happened? Oh how the mighty had fallen!
Lavi had no answer to that outrageous question, since this Sphinx was one of the great unsolved mysteries of the planet. Taking the shocked Allen by the hand, he led him into the busty town square where life in Egypt bustled throughout the hearty day.
Allen was more than glad that at least some things never changed. There were still shop sellers selling their unique trinkets, each tiny stall different from the other. Luckily, Lavi had given Allen a long cloak for him to hide his identity, for he would be dead meat if anyone found out that he had just awakened their long-forgotten Prince. Taking him by the shoulders, he waded through the sea of crowds and making sure that Allen was safe in his side. He didn't know why, but Lavi had a slight paranoia of crowds, and take comfort in having someone he knew besides him. Lavi had a dreaded feeling that they were being followed, but could detect no one. Instinctually, he pulled Allen closer to his side. Allen could feel the protective aura emitting from Lavi and decided to lift his friend's worries away.
By taking him to the wondrous, most gracious, most magnificent, awe-strikingly beautiful Temple of Gods at Luxor. He smiled happily as his most fond memories made there appeared into his mind.
"-Should see the temple, Lavi. It'll the greatest thing you've ever seen! A long time ago, we used that temple to worship the Gods and Goddesses that gave us life and happiness. It was a gigantic temple, and there were prayer rooms, purification rooms, healing rooms," Allen quickly dragged Lavi up the slope, where the same wondrous doors awaited their return,
"-And there's a big fountain in the main garden where we used to play and have fun there and there were-" Impatiently, Allen pushed aside the twin doors, revealing the inside.
What Lavi and Allen saw had taken them by full force. What had been a temple, a pure Godly sanctuary, was now a marketplace for hawkers. Everywhere Lavi looked was people shouting at the top of their lungs, and the sounds of money exchanging echoed through the once hallowed hallways. Innocent animals of different sizes and kinds were lined up in the passage to the dead, and there were plenty of rubbish littered everywhere of the once kept-cleaned floors. This place was no more a safe haven for the faithful and the worshipped. Now a place to breed greed and dark intentions. Lavi could hardly breathe in here; the thick muskiness was suffocating him worse than inside of the tomb.
"Hey! Isn't this supposed to be the Temple of Gods? What are you doing here?!" Lavi bellowed, his anger rising at the sight of people ignoring his pleads. He could do no better here than those slaughtered animals, but he couldn't sit by and allow this to happen. Taking his stride, he pulled the nearby hawker by the collar and looked into his greedy eyes with steel.
"Do you know what you're doing? This is a temple, not a market place! Where is your religion?" Lavi scolded. The hawker cursed him with vulgar words as he pushed Lavi off to continue about his business. Lavi was not one to back down so easily and threaten the man again. The hawker saw red and was about to punch Lavi when a wooden chair was thrown right to his head. The heavy crashing of sounds rang through the busy market, and everyone stopped their workings to see a downed man.
The enraged hawker stood back up with his hackles up high as he shouted his rage out, "Who did that?!"
"I did," Sounded the quiet reply. All eyes were on the hooded boy standing at the doorstep of the once glorious temple. Allen was beside himself when he swallowed the dreadful scene before him. The Sphinx was once his most precious artifact, a once proud emblem to the Egyptian clan. Allen had graciously took that poor version of the Sphinx in stride, but what did not occurred to him is that the Sphinx was only a stepping stone on the new era that Allen was beginning to hate.
The Temple of Gods. It was his birthplace, where he had sent up his prayers to the Gods, where he was first blessed by the Sacred Waters. It was a place that mere mortals can take the chance to communicate with the Gods in heaven. To see such a blessed place fall into the pits of hell... It practically tore Allen's heart into two.
"-Hear me? Hey, I'm talking to you!" The hawker got no reply and stepped forward with a butcher's knife in his hand. Lavi was pushed back when he had tried getting to the now shivering Allen's side. The hawker was one step away from Allen when he heard a silent whisper coming from under the darkened hood.
"What did you say, pipsqueak? Speak up, I can't hear you!" He taunted. The other spectators laughed with glee.
"Is this how you treat my Father's house?"Allen's voice a deep resonance that sent chills straight into everyone's spines.
The next thing the tormentor knew, he was thrown aside into the nearby wall. The force pushing him a bone-crushing power he could not think of fighting. The light effect was quickly turning into a heavy one.
It was as if someone had released the Hounds of Hell upon them. Allen was destroying precious goods, releasing trapped animals and throwing unnecessary items out of the temple. He was enraged, his power invoking the rage of Gods high in the heavens. Using his hidden powers granted to him as the Prince of Ancient Egypt, Allen obliterated everything that was considered impure to the Gods' eyes. People began to scream and stumble to the doorway, searching for a route to escape this crazy person. But the doors forbid them to escape the Gods' Fury as their only way to escape slammed shut before them. They were as trapped as the animals they had trapped for slaughter.
"How dare you defile the Temple of Gods? Who are you to spit on my Father's eyes and dishonor His name?"Taking off his hood, he revealed his face to his blinded people, his eyes filled with dark wrath. Lavi's blood curled as Allen's voice stood out with the authority not of men, but of Gods.
"You are nothing but dust and sand to Him! Kneel and beg the Gods for mercy and forgiveness!"Commanded Allen out of his usual polite character. The people kneeled, afraid of the powerful magician that was speaking for the Gods.
"There would be no place for the wicked here, only the strong. Come back to the path of righteousness, my people, and do not fear anything,
For I am Prince Allenthor-Su!"
Lavi face-palmed himself. So much for keeping the secret undercover... Lavi kept watched as his object of limitless surprises was showered by praises and happiness. Everyone had turned over a new leaf at that instant, clearing away the burdens and purifying the place to its original image. Lavi laughed aloud, thinking about that intriguing and mysterious Prince.
Meanwhile, deep in the shadows, a figure too obscure for people to see also stood watching the self-proclaimed Prince of Egypt. Unlike Lavi who was laughing at relief and amusement, this figure laughed at his achievement at finally finding his target. As quiet as a mouse, he slid away, wanting to report to his master at this amazing discovery that he had been searching for centuries now.
Due to the great amount of response (I LOVE YOU GUYS!WOOOOHHHH!), I'll continue this story, dont'cha worry :) Just a warning, if my History's a bit fuzzy and you go, "hey, this isn't suppose to be there," I want to apologize beforehand. But let me remind you that this is a fanfiction, so I'm obliged to add in weird and crazy stuff in it :P I want to shout out to the ones who motivated me to continue this story:
Loving Laven,
kitsune630,
DGrayManFanatic,
velli9,
RhiannonWolf,
1o1,
Mizunou,
BeastlyB,
Killfith,
Xxgrayheartxx,
Kiara Walker,
Shattered Teacup,
Silver Hummingbird,
Lenore91,
Pharaohyamifan,
neko1998,
happy-synthesiser,
Princess Merleen,
Hanashi o suru,
TheWhatNinja,
wasurenaide-bolero,
for all your wonder support and love! Please leave a review before you leave *Allen's puppy-dog eyes* and have a great day =D