{Heliopolis, Ancient Egypt; Ten Years Later}
"Close Perseus, but you must rid your mind of all other thoughts if you wish to channel the elements." I heard Hemetre shout as I combated the shabti infront of me. It lunged at me with it's trident and I barely dodged, dropping to the ground and quickly rolling out of the way to avoid further attacks. My wand had already been shattered when I deflect a glancing blow that would have gutted me early in the battle. All I had left was my spruce staff topped with a flawless sapphire which I tried desperately to channel water out of. "Iai khaw!" I yelled and the sapphire began to glow with a blinding light, and water burst from the staff in a powerful jet stream punching a hole straight through the shabti's chest and into the wall behind it. The clay creature looked down at the wound and then collapsed into a pile of pottery shards.
"Well done, well done!" Hemetre clapped as he walked down into the arena to congratulate me. "Already you advance much further then any of your fellow initiates." With a flick of his wrist a gold glowing hieroglyph, Hi-nehm, flew towards the rubble and the pile of pottery began to fly together.
"I am proud of you my boy, I knew that the House made a wise decision when we decided to bring you under our care. Even as a baby I knew you had greatness inside of you." He praised leading me down the tunnel back to the city. Once we ascended out of the dimly lit tunnel, my eyes adjusted to the bright sun beaming down on the marketplace and I saw the fullness of life around me. Here shopkeepers had set up their stalls bartering with passerby's selling magical remedies and holy amulets. People, magical and non, jostled around going this way in a constant mesh of chaos. I even saw a man leading a lion on a leash as it struggled against it's owners pull. Hemetre led me in that direction stopping to put his hand on the beast's head and a Ha-tep appeared above its head calming the beast until it was dormant. The man offered a quick prayer of thanks to Hemetre before pulling the beast away.
"Why did you do that?" I asked, "You always teach me to use magic sparingly and only in dire need."
"Yes my boy, but anytime our magic can help others even in the smallest of ways it is our duty to do so. Such is the way of the House." He answered without a hint of doubt in his voice. I pondered this the entire walk to back to the headquarters of the House. Stopping at the feet of the sphinx Hemetre looked back at me and asked, "Would you do the honors?"
Excitedly I ran to smooth sandstone wall between the paws and traced the frame of a doorway with my staff, then planted it in the sand. A ghostly sphinx phased out of the wall and looked at me with knowing eyes, "What is your business here young one."
"My name is Perseus, initiate of the First Nome and this is Hemetre, Sem Priest to Chief Lector Ammon. We seek passage into the halls of the Chief Lector and the study of the House students." I answered with full confidence.
"Pass young one, and I bid you good luck on your destiny"
The outlined area began to shake as the block of sandstone sunk into the sand revealing a brightly lit antechamber with doors leading off to different rooms. "Go to your class Perseus, I will meet you when the day is done."
Rushing to the second to last door on the end of the hall, I mentally prepared myself for a scolding. After doing several sets of deep breathing I opened the door as quietly as possible and shut it without causing a disturbance. The other initiates were still scrying and peering deeply into the bowls while Scribe Abysa laid back against the wall. Creeping to my usual seat I thought I had gotten away with my lateness, but as I was sitting down the scrying bowl got bumped and made a long gong like noise.
"Look who decided to actually participate in class, Perseus I'm certain you have an excellent excuse for your tardiness this time as well?" Abysa said with disdain dripping from her voice.
"I was training with my uncle and time slipped away from us, I apologize Mistress it will not happen again." I replied, but at the time I didn't realize I would never have the chance to be late again.
"Oh yes the great magician Hemetre, how is he? Still licking the sandal straps of Chief Lector Ammon?" She taunted knowing it would push me to get myself in greater trouble.
I felt a tug in my gut that I hadn't felt before and the oil in all of the scrying bowls began to ripple and overflow onto the ground. Somehow I knew that it was me that was controlling the liquid, but I had no clue as to how. As far as I knew there was no spell for complete control over liquids, unless perhaps for a water elementalist expert. And I would've doused her with it if a hand had not grabbed mine breaking my concentration.
"Percy, please stop. She's just trying to goad you on so she had another thing to hold over your uncle." Jade pleaded with me. Before I go on I should probably tell you more about her. Jade was of royal blood, second daughter of Hor-Aha and she looked the part. Her deep carmel skin radiated with warmth and her obsidian jet black hair adorned with different gems flowed to her hips. Her eyes were a pure purple, and they always had concern in them, most of the time directed towards me. She and I had met during a palace parade whenever she may have saved my hand from getting chopped off because I may have borrowed an orange from the sacrificial brazier. In all honesty why did the god's need it anyway they couldn't eat smoke, and most of the time ignored us here on Earth.
I calmed down, and the liquids returned to their placid state, and settled with simply giving her a nasty glare. Everyone returned to scrying now that the excitement had passed and I whispered the spell while touching the bowl to activate it. "Yaraa!" and the bowl flickered to life, I became completely engrossed in it as the images changed before me at a constant pace. I saw the farms being tilled, the Nile flooding bringing nutrients to the soil, the endless desert with it's cavernous wasteland. The images begin to flip faster until I could only catch glimpses; great pyramids being built, a flaming boat arising into the heavens, sand blowing over an ancient city burying it, a boat carrying brave heroes on an adventure, a city under siege and then presented a great horse, the collapse of a civilization as golden plated warriors pillaged a city. Building of large colosseums, constructs with large pillars and a painted roof, emperors leading their people. Then it turned into a blur zooming past until it came to rest on a single frozen image of a blonde haired girl with stormy gray eyes. Then of course my bowl erupted into flames and would have singed my face if Jade hadn't kicked it out of the way.
I later realized that I had been sitting there in a trance for pretty much the entire day and towards the end smoke started to come off my skin. Apparently I was burning up from the inside out, but they had been unable to move me or the scrying bowl.
Glancing up I saw the concerned faces of Jade and Hemetre, while the entire class gathered behind them. "Um, hey guys. How are you?" I asked before I proceeded to pass out.