Chapter 6
Revered yet Feared
— The River Nile, many a millenia ago —
The cries of a child could be heard from the tall reeds on the banks of the Nile, as a woman's voice was heard gently trying to placate the infant's wails. kneeling over the baby was a goddess dressed in the typical outfit of an ancient Egyptian woman. Save for what she wore atop her head, the Deshret, the crown of northern (lower) Egypt. One half of the Pschent (Double Crown) of Egypt that symbolized the wearers rule over the whole country.
This was Neith, the primordial Egyptian goddess of the cosmos, fate, rivers, childbirth, hunting and many other things. And the child she had just given birth to and was trying to soothe into slumber was none other than the future Beast God of the Duat, Sobek. Like his adult self, Sobek as a baby had the head of a crocodile, toothless albeit. As well as still having a tongue in his mouth at this point.
One might assume that this child was destined to be feared by his peers solely due to his crocodilian head, but they would be wrong. Many Egyptian gods were born with the heads of equally, if not more terrifying animal heads. Sekhmet wore the fierce head of a lioness, Horus, the head of a falcon. No one knew what animal Set was supposed to be. And Babi was just a straight up Baboon.
So why was Sobek so feared and shunned by others? Alas, this all resulted not from any traits of the River God himself at first. But rather Neith's second child who lay in the reeds not too far away from the goddess and Sobek. Unlike Sobek, this newborn was not a god with an animal's head, but rather he was a cobra. He had dark coppery scales with intricate reddish black patterns, his fangs were long and barbed, full of deadly poison already dripping from the tips. His head had two rows of sharp tiny scutes above its eye sockets, and said eye sockets contained not one, but two eyeballs each. All four of them with green scleras, and a black reptilian iris.
Even though Neith was the one who had given birth to him, this god stuck out its forked black tongue, hissing aggressively at his own mother, even trying to bite her when she reached out to him with her hand, eventually Neith gave up trying to interact with her child, choosing to return to Sobek, who was much more receptive to his mother's affections than his brother. Allowing the Cobra god to slip away into the Nile. But he would return, bearing infamy and fear to his name, for he was Apophis, the Chaos Serpent, The Egyptian God of Destruction and Disorder. Who, through the means of devouring Ra on his nightly journeys through the underworld in his Sun Barge where he was the most vulnerable. Made it his life's mission to overthrow the Sun God and bring darkness to all realms.
As one would imagine, having a sibling with such a nightmarish career option, caused many of Sobek's peers to not take a liking to him in his youth.
In an idyllic garden somewhere in Valhalla
Many young gods and goddesses from different pantheons frolicked together, with some playing a sort of ball game together, whilst the others watched from the sidelines cheering on the players.
Then from one side of the field, entered Sobek, unlike his grown up self, Sobek was now relatively scrawny, his crocodile head looked more awkward than terrifying, due to it looking too big for his skinny figure. His teeth were also just growing in, adding to his hilarious look. The other godlings certainly thought so too, pointing and sniggering at the River God, whilst a few others nervously backed away, wondering why the brother of Apophis was in their midst.
"Um, uh. Hey guys, I-i was just w-walking around over there, and c-couldn't help but n-notice that you all were playing some b-ball game. It looks really f-fun. C-can I join you guys to p-play?" Even though Sobek was around the age of a Ten year old human child at this point. He sounded like a Teenager with a stutter going through puberty, a fact that many of his peers mocked and ridiculed him for. His tendency to sweat heavily also did not earn him any popularity points with others.
"PFFFT! YOU want to play with us? FAT chance tooth face! We don't want the brother of the Chaos Serpent anywhere NEAR us! For all we know you could just be trying to tire us out, and then EAT us when we are least expecting it! Get your sweaty, scaly face OUT of our playing field!" Came the biting reply from one of the players in the game. Whilst the other gods began jeering at the young god.
Frightened and ashamed, Sobek began backing away, "Oh, uh ok, s-sorry for i-interrupting your game anyway. I-I'll be going now." He stuttered before turning and dashing away from the group as the rest of the gods laughed and pointed at his fleeing figure.
This situation would repeat many more times over the course of Sobek's childhood, him trying to play with other gods of his age. And then getting bullied and mocked till he fled back to the arms of his mother. However, following an incident in Sobek's adolescents, The Crocodile God would go from being despised by his fellow peers, to being feared and shunned by them.
And it wasn't because of Apophis.
A few years later, somewhere down in Egypt
An older Sobek sat by the banks of the Nile. He was taller, and still relatively skinny, save for small muscles on his arms that he was slowly building through exercise. His teeth had also grown in, making him seem slightly more intimidating to his former bullies, that they would choose to ignore him entirely rather than insult him. However, he was still a child in godly terms, and like a child, he still hoped to be accepted and admired by his fellow gods.
The Nile was Sobek's safe haven, it was where he felt at home. With him being a River God and all. He would spend his time swimming with the Crocodiles, hunting for fish and sunbathing amongst the reeds. It was also an area his peers did not frequent, especially now since they knew that it had become his regular haunts. However, the Niles isolated location would soon result in the horrific incident that would lead to the Crocodile God's feared reputation.
Whilst eating some fish he had just caught from the river, Sobek heard the voices of multiple individuals coming his way. Fearing that it was the same gods who always tormented and bullied him. He dived into the Nile to hide, With only his eyes and snout above the water level, observing who was the source of the noise.
Said source, were a dozen or so rowdy men, dressed in tattered rags and having seemingly poor personal hygiene. In their hands they held daggers, clubs and a few rode camels which had sacks slung across them. Sobek narrowed his eyes, these men were most definitely mortal, but what were they doing in such a secluded area?
Sobek didn't have to wait long for his answer, the men found a place to rest near the river banks. sitting down and taking out loaves of bread and multiple fruits to feast upon. Whilst others began greedily rifling through the large sacks that their mounts carried, from it they produced golden cups, ornate weapons, and sparkling jewelry. All items Sobek knew very well these men could not have come about through normal means with how they were dressed and acted. These men were undoubtedly grave robbers, who had most probably just plundered the tombs that Sobek knew were located nearby.
Watching the bandits whooping, and throwing their ill gotten goods around, Sobek was filled with a sense of righteous fury. These men had no respect for the dead! Their heinous act could not go unpunished. As a god, he would teach them a lesson they would not soon forget. Deep beneath these thoughts, Sobek also secretly hoped that this noble deed would earn him the admiration of his peers.
And with that, Sobek rose from the river, mustering his most intimidating voice, he spoke as deep as he could. "MORTAL SCUM! You DARE raid the tombs of the deceased? I, SOBEK, God of Rivers and Crocodiles shall punish you for your transgression, unless you RETURN your ill gotten gains to whence you had plundered them from!"
Sobek thought that he had put on a pretty good display of power, but unfortunately, the bandits didn't seem to think so. They all began roaring with laughter at the skinny crocodile boy who was sweating buckets in front of them, the bandits leader, a giant of a man with a missing front tooth sneered at Sobek.
"YOU? A GOD? YEAH RIGHT! You're so scrawny that my WIFE could wrestle you to the floor with one hand tied behind her BACK! Run away little deity, before we crush your skull into the earth." He said while hoisting up a large ax and waving it threateningly at Sobek.
Infuriated by the leader's words, Sobek let loose a battle cry and charged at the tomb raiders with just his fist as his only means of attacking. Still laughing, the bandits raised their own weapons and simply stayed where they were, awaiting the young god's attack. Which proved to be their first and last mistake. For even though they outnumbered him, were larger and armed, they were still ordinary humans with mortal weapons, which could not hurt a god, even one as young and scrawny as Sobek.
And so, Sobek tore into their ranks, beating up his opponents with his fist, pummeling them on their heads, all whilst shrugging off their weapons and attacks. Soon enough, all of the Bandits laid unconscious at Sobek's feet, save for their leader, who lay battered and bruised before the god. Begging for mercy ,"PLEASE ALMIGHTY GOD! I'm SORRY for mocking you! me and my men were only trying to provide for ourselves and our families! I BEG YOU! Let us go! We didn't know that we were in the presence of such a mighty being! I promise to return ALL our stolen treasure back where we had found it before, I SWEAR TO IT!"
Sobek nodded, seemingly satisfied with the bandit's promise. turning to walk away, much to the relief of the Bandit leader. However, just as he was about to leave, he noticed something on the ground. Glistening under the sun, was the puddle of crimson blood that pooled from one of the fallen bandits, who unlike his companions, had lost his life in the brawl with Sobek.
Now Sobek was no stranger to blood, having the head of a crocodile meant that he often ate raw meat from different animals and had tasted their blood. Fish, livestock, and even hippopotamus if he was lucky during a hunt. But never before had he seen fresh human blood nor tasted their flesh, and for some reason, he felt tempted by the scent of it. Slowly approaching the puddle, Sobek knelt and dipped his finger into it. Much to the horror of the Bandit Leader, who stared at the god in fearful silence as Sobek slowly inspected the blood closely. Before finally tasting it, causing the man to scream in absolute terror.
As soon as the blood touched his tongue, Sobek felt intoxicated, it was unlike anything he had ever tasted before. it was overpowering and flooded his senses, yet sweet and juicy. He needed to have more, he glanced towards the other bandits, who were all now conscious and backing away from him. He stood up and slowly approached the now shrieking men, who were throwing their broken weapons at him in a feeble attempt to ward him off. He knew that what he was doing was abhorrent and monstrous. But he couldn't help himself, he felt pulled towards the delicious blood that flowed through their veins, as he closed the distance between him and them. He felt his bones cracking and shifting, his teeth and claws slowly becoming more elongating without warning. As he got closer and closer to the men, his vision became more distorted and his eyes heavier, eventually reaching a point where his vision blacked out, with no memory of what he was about to do to those men.
….
When Sobek came to, he found himself crouching above the now dead Bandit leader, his green scales now smeared with blood, and his hands covered in the stuff. As he surveyed the scene around him, he saw the broken forms of the other bandits, all of them with their chest ripped open, and their insides dined upon. Sobek staggered backwards in a daze, what happened? Had he done this? Why couldn't he remember anything?
As Sobek's mind raced, trying to figure out just what had occurred, a battalion of guardian angels descended from the Heavens. Called here by the commotion of Sobek and the tomb raiders brawl. The captain took one look at the bloody mess before him, before sneering at Sobek, "Well, WELL! It seems that the Chaos Serpent's brother has finally shown his true colors. TAKE HIM AWAY BOYS! I can't WAIT to see what kind of a sentence this bastard will get from the court."
Poor Sobek was chained up and fitted with a muzzle, before being dragged back to Valhalla, where he would stand trial for his crimes.
In the court of Valhalla a few days later, Sobek was tried for the murder of twelve men in Egypt, who he had brutally maimed and eviscerated, before feasting on their organs and drinking their blood. These claims were backed up by the bandits who had made it to Valhalla after their deaths as well as the guardian angels who had arrived at the scene of the crime. Although Neith argued that her son would have never done something like this, the evidence was concrete. Whether he had unknowingly done it or not. Sobek had murdered these men and feasted on their remains, and would thus face the punishment of his actions.
Normally, the gods could not have cared less about one of them murdering a few lowly humans, but since the culprit was Sobek, who they only ever saw as a monster due to his relationship with Apophis. They were more than glad to sentence him to the highest degree of punishment possible. Being flung into Tartarus for the rest of eternity.
Sobek and his mother were in tears, it seemed like there was nothing that could be done, the young god would be harshly dealt with for a crime he had no memory of. All seemed hopeless as the judge raised his gavel to make the sentence final.
"BANG!" The doors to the court burst open as a man walked inside. All the attendants immediately gasped, and dropped to their knees to pay their respect. For Ra, one of the oldest and most powerful Sun Gods and current Chairman of the Council of Valhalla, had just entered the premises.
Ra waved his hand, indicating for his groveling subjects to rise, The judge swallowed, before addressing the Chairman. "Lord Ra! It is an HONOR to have you join us for this court session, you need not worry, this savage beast will get his just desserts for the unjustified murder of these poor innocent mortals in Egypt. I assure you, he will NOT be a problem to the Heavens any longer!"
Sobek shouted in protest, "THEY WEREN'T INNOCENT! They had just ROBBED some tombs before I managed to stop them! I mean I DID accidentally kill one when we were all fighting one another, but I CERTAINLY don't remember murdering ANY of them whilst they were unarmed!"
No sooner had Sobek spoken these words, was he beaten on the head by one of the guards standing next to him. "YOU LIE YOU FILTHY BEAST! The victims of your savage actions have all already testified AGAINST you, and their story checks out with the reports from the squad of guardian angels that brought you here. It's your untrustworthy word against all of them! Stop trying to weasel your way out of punishment!"
Ra snorted, before replying in a dry voice," Well that is VERY interesting to hear, for when I heard of this so-called senseless murder of twelve mortals by a young god from my own pantheon, I knew that I would have to PERSONALLY look into matters myself and did a bit of sleuthing. And when I heard that these men were apparently tomb raiders, I immediately went to check on the tombs NEAR the scene of the crime, and would anyone like to GUESS what I discovered?"
The whole courtroom nervously awaited in silence, none daring to reply to the Chairman's question. "I found NOT ONE, NOT TWO, NOT THREE. But HALF a dozen tombs all RAIDED and STRIPPED of all their treasures. All of them were EMPTY and bare save for the body. It seems to me that young Sobek here is telling the truth, and that he was INDEED trying to stop these rapscallions from getting away scot free. That alone should deserve praise RATHER than a trial don't you all think?" He questioned the murmuring crowd who all reluctantly nodded their heads out of fear and obedience.
The guard who had hit Sobek nervously spoke, "B-but Lord Ra, p-perhaps those tombs were already EMPTY to begin with, a-and the brother of the Chaos Serpent was using this knowledge as an alibi to escape the g-gravity of his actions?" No sooner had he said that, a blinding flash of light pierced through his chest, causing him to topple to the floor dead.
All eyes turned to Ra, who was holding out his index finger, which smoked at the tip. He had just shot a bullet of pure sunlight into the guard's heart, killing him. "Would anyone ELSE like to question the legitimacy of my words? Or can we wrap up this poorly executed Trial? Honestly, a biased jury and judge, unreliable eyewitnesses, and not EVEN a proper sweep of the crime scene. What is our justice system COMING to?"
The judge let out a small whimper, carefully considering his words before speaking once more. "Uhm, ah, y-yes of course Lord Ra, I-I apologize for the court's tardiness. A-and I would also like to h-humbly thank you for s-shedding light onto this case, and s-saving this p-poor young boy from an u-unjust fate." Ra rolled his eyes and motioned for the judge to declare Sobek innocent.
"B-but Lord Ra, if I-I MAY i-interject, there is still undeniable evidence that Sobek DID indeed k-kill these men in c-cold blood. I-I feel that it is n-necessary to punish him for this no m-matter his reasons to ensure he NEVER does this a-again." The judge continued, cowering in fear, hoping that he had not just incurred Ra's wrath.
Ra scratched his head uncomfortably, the judge did have a point. The crime scene did indicate that he was the only one there at the time who could have possibly murdered all those men. And Sobek himself could not recall whether or not he had indeed committed the crime. so perhaps the boy was indeed guilty of such an act. Reluctantly Ra nodded, signaling his approval for the punishment to commence. Before looking apologetically at Neith and Sobek, who were graciously bowing their heads in thanks to the Sun God for his help.
The judge, now with Ra's permission, grinned sinisterly, his pretense of fear had fooled the Sun God, "I hereby CHANGE my sentence, Sobek will NOT be cast into the pit of Tartarus. But RATHER, I have decided that the BEST way to ensure such an incident does not occur once again. Will unfortunately be having Sobek's tongue REMOVED from his mouth, as a constant reminder for him to NEVER again fall for his own beastly desires, and lust for the flesh and blood of any living being ever AGAIN!" And with that, the judge slammed his gavel down.
Neith and Sobek looked absolutely horrified at this gruesome fate, and so did the other gods, with some of them looking sick to the stomach at such a barbaric punishment. Even Ra's eyes widened in shock at the judge's cruel streak, but it was too late for even him to overturn the judge's ruling, he had given his approval, there was nothing he could do to stop this without seeming like a tyrant to the other gods.
Two guards suddenly jumped Sobek, holding him in place whilst another guard grabbed the struggling and crying Crocodile God's jaws and held them apart, exposing the insides of his mouth, and more importantly his tongue. A fourth guard, armed with a pair of sharp iron pliers approached the frantic Sobek, who was thrashing about trying to break free of his captor's restraints. While a hysterical Neith was pulling at one of the guards shoulders, begging him to have mercy on her son. But there was no stopping the process, in one swift motion, the guard with the pliers thrusted his device into Sobek's open mouth, grabbing onto his tongue, causing the young god to scream. Then in another swift motion, he violently yanked his hand out, ripping out Sobek's tongue, which caused the young god to let out an unholy screech of pain as blood gushed out of the open wound.
Once the gruesome process was finished, the guards who were holding Sobek in place flung him roughly to the ground and left the young god writhing in pain on the floor, blood spilling from his mouth, tears flowing from his eyes. A sobbing Neith quickly scooped her son into her arms and ran out of the room to the nearest infirmary to seek medical attention. Meanwhile, the jury who had bayed for Sobek's blood before were left speechless and horrified at the disgusting and terrifying scene that they had indirectly caused.
The judge on the other hand, leaned back onto his chair with a smug and self satisfied grin, he was very pleased with his own cunning, being able to administer divine judgment on that horrible sibling of Apophis, as well as pulling a fast one on the Chairman of the Council of Valhalla himself! He was a genius if he said so himself.
The judge's smirk was soon wiped away from his face, when a bullet of pure sunlight pierced right through his forehead and passed his skull, brains and all before exiting his head and leaving a small burn mark on the headrest of his chair. His body gave one final twitch before he slumped over his table dead.
All heads in the room once again turned to Ra, whose smoking finger once again signified that he was the one who had fired that killing shot. The Sun God face was one of disgust and contempt, "Filth," he snarled, before addressing the rest of the people present in the room." Listen well, I want these bodies COMPLETELY destroyed, bastards like these don't DESERVE to be remembered. And to whoever here that has the highest authority, I want these twelve disrespectful grave robbers thrown into Tartarus at ONCE. And when you find those four guards who carried out that filthy procedure, do the SAME thing to them too. And if you don't carry out my orders at once." The Sun God's eyes now had a murderous glow to them, "I will not give you the luxury of experiencing a quick death, UNDERSTOOD?" The terrified captain of the battalion that had brought Sobek here quickly nodded his head, Ra scoffed, "In that case, I declare this session of court adjourned." Before quickly marching out of the room himself.
…
In an infirmary, Neith was gently trying to soothe poor Sobek, who was still crying and bleeding from the mouth most terribly, whilst the doctor poured some sort of concoction to stem the bleeding before cauterizing the wound. After the painful procedure was done, Sobek's mouth was now flaked with dry blood, swollen and red, with a bandage tied around it, keeping him from opening it for the next few weeks. "Will he be alright, doctor?" Neith asked with red puffy eyes, The doctor grimaced, "Well, fortunately he'll live, as well as still be able to properly talk and converse. But I'm afraid that he will still be in pain for the next few days and lose his sense of taste forever. I'm terribly sorry lady Neith, I wished I could have done more for your son." Neith choked back a sob, but thanked the doctor regardless.
After the surgery, the doctors and nurses left Sobek's ward, leaving Sobek alone with Neith, who was gently holding his hand and whispering sweet encouragement to her son. At that moment there was a gentle knock on the door and Ra entered the room. Immediately Neith got to her feet, "Lord Ra! I didn't expect you to come here. I apologize for all the trouble you had to go through to help poor Sobek evade being thrown into Tartarus, we cannot thank you enough for all the help you have given us."
Ra smiled kindly, "No, no Neith, I should be the one apologizing, I didn't do enough to help young Sobek here escape such a torturous fate. I should have made that bastard of a judge swear to a fair and just punishment instead of just nodding. What did the doctors say? Will he still be able to talk even though he lost his tongue?"
Neith nodded, "Apparently so Lord Ra, the doctor said that he will still retain the ability to speak once the wound has healed.'' Ra sighed, "That is a great relief for me to hear Neith, now if you would so kindly excuse me, would it be alright if I had a few words with young Sobek alone?"
Neith apprehensively glanced at Sobek, with her son nodding his head, after the recent debacle, he trusted the Sun God who had saved his life fully. Neith sighed, before turning back to Ra, "Very well Lord Ra, I thank you once again for everything that you have done for my son. I beg of you to ensure that he does not come to any harm while you are with him."
Ra nodded, "It was only right of me as your Chief God Neith, and do not worry, I swear that he will not come to any harm whatsoever whilst I am with him." Satisfied by Ra's assurance, Neith left the room.
Once the doors closed, Ra turned back to Sobek, "Do you feel alright young one?" he asked kindly, Sobek shook his head miserably, his wound still paining him greatly. Ra sighed, "You are a strong lad Sobek, just try and endure it for a few days, it will get better soon, I promise." Sobek nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes in an attempt to not look weak in front of his savior.
Ra continued, "I would like to apologize once more for my carelessness, had i not been so impatient, I could have prevented that horrible man from hurting you, rest assured he will never hurt you or anyone ever again." Sobek nodded again, signifying that he did not blame Ra for his plight, rather he was forever grateful to the Sun God for being the only one willing to help in his time of need.
Ra chuckled, before his voice took on a more serious tone, "Now Sobek, if you don't mind me intruding but, are you for certain that you are unable to recall slaughtering those bandits?" Sobek thought for a while, struggling to come up with a way to answer Ra's question this time. Ra smiled before producing a piece of parchment and quill, "How about you write down what you want to say here. You have the strength to write yes?"
Sobek nodded before being handed the writing materials by Ra, who waited patiently whilst he filled out the paper with his response and handing it back to the Sun God, Ra thanked Sobek as he took the parchment from his hands and began to read it, on the piece of paper was written,
"Lord Ra, I was TRULY unable to recall doing any of those horrible acts to those men. However, I DO recall the events that lead to it, after forcing them to surrender. I for some unknown reason decided to TASTE some of the blood they spilled in our battle, the taste caused me to have an unnatural desire for MORE. As I approached them, my body felt weird and painful, and I soon blacked out before awakening surrounded by their bodies. I TRULY do not know what had happened and even if I DID commit those violent act of crime, I SWEAR I did not do it intentionally or out of bloodlust. PLEASE believe me."
Ra looked up after he finished reading Sobek's explanation, the Crocodile God 's head was hung shamefully and facing downwards, afraid of what Ra might say after reading his confession. Ra placed the parchment away on a side table next to Sobek's bed and paced a hand on the young god's shoulder, "Trust me when I say this Sobek, but even if you did act out of turn in a savage manner, there is a VERY good explanation for why you did so."
Sobek looked up curiously, waiting for Ra to continue, "You see, when a young god like yourself matures, they slowly unlock their hidden dormant powers that they did not know they had. For some it can be control over elements," and to demonstrate, Ra conjured a ball made of light and fire in his palm, "Or strengths and abilities that they never knew of. In your case however, it seems that your dormant power is that of the Primal Force."
Sobek was now listening with wide eyes, hooked onto every word Ra was saying, "This power grants a god extreme raw power, speed, viciousness and most importantly bloodlust. Causing them to lose control of themselves and going on a bloodthirsty killing spree if they do not know how to properly control it, like what you did to those common thieves. They also forget what they have done whilst using the Primal Force, which is why you were unable to recall anything once it's effects wore off"
Sobek, after hearing this, stared at his hands in shock, so he had indeed murdered those men like a monster, it looked like his bullies were right after all, he was a mindless savage like his brother. Tears began to well up once again in the Crocodile God's eyes.
Seeing this Ra immediately reassured the crying Sobek, "Do not fret young Sobek, I did say that users of this ability only lose themselves if they do not know how to properly control the Primal Force, if you know how to properly use it, you will be able to use this immense power for good, and prevent yourself from committing any horrible incidents like this one. If you are willing to learn, you can come over to the Palace of the Duat for me to tutor you on how to do so. My daughter Sekhmet also possesses the Primal Force. And I think the two of you will get along as well, what do you say Sobek?"
Sobek looked up in awe at Ra, not only had the Chief God helped him in his time of need, but now he was offering to teach him how to harness his powers? Sobek's respect and admiration for the Sun god was through the roof at the moment. He nodded enthusiastically, earning Ra's amusement.
"Very well, once your injuries trouble you no longer, I will expect you to come over to the Palace of the Duat thrice a week for lessons on how to properly use your Primal Force, do not disappoint me Sobek." And with that, Ra bid a grateful Sobek farewell, and left the room.
And so it was, under Ra's tutelage, Sobek was able to learn how to better control his Pirmal Force and prevent himself from ever going on another bloodthirsty rampage. Eventually, he had so thoroughly mastered the ability, that Ra offered Sobek a position upon the Sun Barge, to earn a name for himself as a guardian of the Mandjet against his brother Apophis. However, even though he learnt how to control himself, the tales of that one fateful accident all those years ago, still lingered in the minds of the gods. Sobek was still alone and shunned by his peers even though he had tried his best to improve upon himself.
In turn, earning the respect and love from his fellow gods became almost all that Sobek cared about, while he still battled Apophis to protect his mentor Ra from being swallowed by him. He soon viewed his job as a way to earn that respect and love, but no matter how many time he pushed the Chaos Serpent back from devouring Ra, his peers would still whisper behind his back about the dreaded Beast God of the Duat who would mercilessly kill any who stood in his way and had no love in his heart, even for his brother. Albeit a brother who had evil plans of genocide, but to them that did not matter, to them he was still a savage merciless beast.
However, in the epic showdown between Ra and Apophis many a millenia ago, Ra finally managed to seal the evil god away in the depths of Niflheim. But the Chaos Serpent proved stronger than anticipated, rather than fade into dust in Niflheim, he was only trapped there, weakened and powerless. Still very much alive, yet unable to ever escape the void. Because of this, Ra was able to retire from guiding the sun through the underworld, as well as being Chairman of the Council of Valhalla. And while Sobek was happy for his mentor's achievement, this also meant that he was denied any more chances to prove himself, and earn the respect he so craved.
Thus when Ra was looking for participants in the second Ragnarok, Sobek was quick to volunteer, hoping to finally be able to prove to his fellow gods that he was not the monster they thought he was, and earn the respect and admiration he so desperately craved, thus leading us back to the arena where Sobek and Lenin sat, listening to Sobek tell the very tale you have been just told.
Wow, sorry for the wait, this chapter was the longest one by far, not to mention all those updates I had to do for previous chapters that really hindered my progress. Hope you all enjoyed this new chapter, and I hope to be able to bring Chapter 7 out as soon as possible.
