He'd walked for days.
Crawled for days.
The darkness of the caves absolute.
Yet…he was not despairing. There was little need to.
He should feel thirst.
Hunger.
He felt neither.
The only thing he felt was the remnants of pain that stemmed of his should-have-been mortal wounds and it left him quite a way from his strongest.
Even so, he was still stronger than most normal humans.
He hadn't truly thought about it before, not even when his body was pierced and his heart and lungs and chest all but destroyed. But now, as days felt like they turned weeks and months…he had to truly consider what he was now…
He was no longer fully human. At least in the conventional way. The skin. The lips. The eyes. None of it lessened his idea of human. But lack of hunger? Lack of thirst?
Even the lack of the need to sleep?
He'd felt all of that still when he was a child in this life. Now, he felt like he could live a lifetime without ever eating again. Drinking again. Sleeping again.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the caves before he followed the breeze that he'd felt grow stronger as he'd walked and he wasn't sure how long it had been when he'd seen the first ember of light and he'd breached the ground.
He sighed satisfied as he closed his eyes and felt the hot sun wash over his body.
When he reopened his eyes, he saw someone approach in the far distance. Some twelve hundred metres or so away, and when that someone approached closer, enough to make out who it was, a cloaked man with a walking stick, he decided to simply wait for the man to come to him.
He saw the path the man had taken and the man was coming this way. There were other, easier paths to take to pass the desert. That man could only be here for him.
He doubted Kang would send only one man.
The fact that Kang's army was not in the man's stead in search of him suggested that this was likely a rebel within Kang's camp, someone had their own interests in mind.
'Interesting…'
He closed his eyes once more and waited.
Some time later…
"I thought you'd be dead!" the man exclaimed as he arrived by Nur.
He opened his eyes and turned them towards the man.
He was bald, thin and there was much about the man that En Sabah Nur did not like. He especially didn't like the sharp eyes that looked a little too closely, a little too familiar, and he expected what lay behind them was undoubtedly a conniving mind.
"Do you need wa-"
"Who sent you?" he interrupted, his hard eyes fixed on the man.
The man startled back, gulping at the hard cold look.
"T-The Pharoah expected you would be here. I'm Logos. I'm here to help as you are to help me." The man named Logos said before the fear in the man's eyes made way for disdain but also respect. "I cannot believe you are here. The Pharaoh's knowledge of events is unnatural." Logos shook his head, the tones of fear and disdain clear.
"You're here on the Pharaoh's order?" Nur's voice was low, dangerous.
Logos' eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly.
"No, no, I'm here not on the Pharaoh's behalf! I do not work for the Pharaoh! Not truly!" the vehemence in Logos' was sincere.
Hmm. So Logos gotten a hold of information he probably should not have gotten and wanted to use him against the Pharaoh…
And Kang can possibly still actively see the future, enough to know where exactly he'd be?
…That was problematic.
He'd thought that this Kang had lost that ability now that he was without the artefact.
Now that everyone was without the artefact, buried in rubble as it was.
Or was it that all this happened anyway, regardless, and that was how he knew where to find him? He scowled faintly. He was starting to hate time manipulation.
He also decided to shelf the question he had about why Kang was allowing this schemer the opportunity to work against him if his knowledge of his whereabouts was that accurate for now.
"I cannot believe you still live." Logos said and En Sabah Nur saw the gleam in the bald-headed man that quickly went away when he spoke next.
"Follow me. I will take you to the capital Tjenu."
He'd heard of Tjenu though he'd never been.
The Sandstormers avoided the Pharaoh's lands but stories of Tjenu had been plenty amongst the tribe. He was unfamiliar with Tjenu, unlike Memphis or otherwise known as Men-Nefer in this time, a settlement that he knew would be important in the millennia to come, so he was curious to see it.
And he needed information. Urgently.
Hours later, En Sabah Nur continued to follow Logos to the capital, a journey that would take several days, his mind deep in thought as he thought on how he was going to approach the problem that was Kang.
He knew a little about Kang, the madman who ended up going to war with himself across universes – Once more he thanked Bishop's need to share his obsessions with him – and this Kang he was certain was weak at a point that he didn't think he'd ever find him in again.
Logos ended up chattering ceaselessly to him and he resigned himself to just listen to the untrustworthy man. Admittedly, and unfortunately, this was the best course of action as the man was a fountain of information, even if dubious.
Kang went by the name Tut and Logos was the Vizier for Kang.
A blatant, traitorous vizier that fervently believed Kang to be a grave danger to Egypt, an assessment that was hardly wrong, and it was obvious that Logos sought to use him as a weapon against Kang.
His image of Kang was getting murkier.
He remembered Bishop's love-hate of Kang but one thing that had been abundantly clear was that Kang was clever, monstrously so. So why was this vizier allowed to operate so freely?
Surely Kang would have noticed the disdain this man held for Kang? No man in this era was irreplaceable and for Kang to let such rebellious highly placed officials such free reign was an image that was dichotomous.
He continued to listen to Logos, asking only a few questions when Logos had reached the end of his tirades and it was during one of these tirades that he learnt that Ozymandias – a name given by Kang and whose true name was Sekhen, the son of the uniter of Egypt – was as responsible for the death of Baal as Kang was.
On the second day of the journey, he'd asked Logos about other civilisations and Logos avidly spoke of the trade network that extended far south of the river Nile where the Kerma peoples bordered Egypt – Nur thought they were probable the Nubians or at least the people who'd become the Nubians – and to the east beyond Khetiu Mafkat, the Ancient Egyptians' name for the Sinai Peninsula, and it was the East that he was most interested in.
He'd thought he'd be able to date when he exactly he was in.
He was right.
Logos had talked himself hoarse that day.
He'd learnt of the Retjenu tribes that resided east of the Sinai who Egypt exported potteries and art stuffs in exchange for copper. He wasn't sure who these peoples were but he suspected they were probably the precursors to the Phoenicians maybe?
In any case, the more interesting point about the East was the trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia, something that Logos was keen to highlight…albeit with an unhealthy dose of disdain…and very clear envy.
Logos had been reluctant to explain further but it seemed like Egypt was, effectively, the new kid on the block. At least in the eyes of the Mesopotamians.
And to say he was surprised to learn what kind of Mesopotamians they were would be putting it lightly. He'd barely restrained his reactions when he'd heard Logos utter the name of the city the Mesopotamians hailed from.
Uruk.
Sumerians.
He was very, very far in the past. Farther than he'd even suspected he was.
It was one thing suspecting it – his visions only showed him blurs of the future towards the Egypt he'd seen – but it was an entirely thing to have it confirmed.
He was very lucky that he was probably biologically immortal.
In any case, the Mesopotamians, as far as Logos knew, had come to Egypt first on the Dashret, the Red Sea many, many years ago, before even the time of Logos' grandsire which would have been anything north of half a century ago.
Nur was mightily impressed by that.
They were circumventing the coast of Arabia to come to Egypt probably on barely floating boats and they were doing it for potentially centuries.
Part of Logos' disdain and envy was in relation to the ease of access the Mesopotamians had to wood suitable for sturdier boat building, and it was one of the materials that Egypt often requested and traded the Mesopotamians for though Logos mentioned that they'd heard of another peoples further up the coast of the Levant that had access to the wood.
Logos was pushing for there to be set up trading posts and forts to secure the woods.
It was another half a day before they reached the capital Tjenu under the cloak of the dying rays of the sun. Nur was grateful that they'd made it before night had fallen, he mused to himself silently. Even if he was forced to hide his appearance with cloth.
If he disliked one thing about his appearance, it was that there no chance of him being discreet. As Abssamad, he'd been fortunate enough to inherit light brown skin, light brown eyes that in certain lights could appear to possess greens and light brown hair.
He could pass for a Southern European and he could pass as Arab with relative ease.
Now, he barely passed as a human.
As Tjenu came into view in the distance, the gaze was immediately caught on the structures that were on the other side of the capital across the Nile…sights that he very much suspected did not belong in Egypt, not this early in the civilisation.
A Sphinx stood beside a half-built pyramid amongst two distant even less built pyramids, with a face that Nur suspected was very much a face of Kang's.
What an egomaniac…
He'd already knew the man was half-insane with the sphinx shaped star ship and this was just another sign that the man Nur would be dealing with was…problematic.
Unstable egomaniacs and disturbing intellect was a potent and dangerous mixture.
Unpredictable.
Perhaps if he knew exactly what Kang would have done and perhaps if he knew exactly what Apocalypse had done, maybe he could have worked things out in such a way to counter the unpredictability of Kang in the right moment.
As it was now…
He'd need to be careful.
He might be biologically immortal but he was not invincible. Nor was he in any kind strong in comparison to the aliens and the enhanced humans and even other mutants.
He doubted he was even as strong as Rogers who could fight toe to toe with Thanos (Bishop loved to complain about that moment saying it didn't make sense).
Kang might not be as strong as them but he would make it up with technology.
They continued on their way to Tjenu and as they neared, they came to view a magnificent building, a palace that stood as large as the dunes of Western Egypt and towered over the rest of Tjenu as it sat at the bank of the Nile.
"Ah, the palace." Logos voiced out and Nur glanced at the man.
Logos sported a proud smile on his knowing face.
"Impressive, no? Ozymandias' sire, the Great Iry-Hor, the unifier of Egypt – may he forever be honoured by the Gods – had the palace built. He wanted all that came to Tjenu to know of his Majesty and the favour the gods bestowed upon him and his line before anyone set foot in the hallowed city." He added proudly "My grandsire had been the vizier that completed the great Iry-Hor's command."
Logos tapped his stick onto the dusty ground before he began to walk towards the city and let of a great sigh and grumbled. "Now their legacy is being tarnished as a usurper sits on the throne. May Horus spare us for the blasphemy."
Nur didn't respond to Logos' dismayed mutterings, instead choosing to take in the sight of lavish and simple homes made out sun baked mud brick and stone but with ornate decorations with greens and yellow the most prominent.
He eagerly consumed all of the sight, silently amazed by the marvel that was before him as they walked through the sparsely filled streets though his gaze was fixated onto the temple when it came into sight.
It stood almost as high as the palace itself but what drew him in the most were the pale columns on which the roof stood. Their surfaces were carved to resemble papyrus, lotus and palm, painted richly with brown-red, green and yellow colours.
These people…
These people were magnificent.
To think that this was probably prehistory. He wasn't sure how far back he was in time but it was at the very least four or five thousand years in the past. Likely longer.
Probably far longer, Nur thought to himself as he remembered the mention of Uruk, a name he remembered being one of the very first cities in history, and the comments by Logos of what 'Egypt' consisted, which wasn't from Nubia all the way to the Delta…not yet.
He also didn't recognise the names of Sekhen or Iry-Hor…nor was he familiar with Tjenu. Although he considered that perhaps these were local time names…not the names he and those of his time were familiar with.
"Ah…" Nur heard Logos whisper drawing Nur's attentions.
There was a knowing look on his face. "I forget you are but young."
Logos waved his stick across towards the temple.
"This is the birthplace of all of creation and the cradle of civilisation as so willed by the Gods, young one." Logos exclaimed before silencing himself and bowing his head away as guards came into view.
"And it is by our hands that we shall restore it as the universe had originally written it so." Logos proclaimed with a kind of fervour and anger that shook the man from his feet to his very shoulders.
After they passed by the guards, Logos hurried them along, all way towards the Logos' laboratory and Nur raised his guard as he heard the presence of another in the room they were headed towards and Nur slowed his approach behind Logos.
Logos made a noise, one that rang with displeasure and Nur kept himself out of sight.
"You're not allowed in my laboratory. You know this." Logos said with a voice that tinged with dislike as the sound of his stick, staff, hit the ground in agitation.
"You have no place here, in this hall of studies. It has been tiring journey from my studies in the waste. Leave…now!" Logos was forceful in his voice, angry too, but there was also a kind of urgency that rang of unease and perhaps some fear.
"I'm not here to decipher your rambling scribblings, I'm not one of your hapless engineers." The disdain in the other's voice was clear just as the contempt and fury was in his next words "I would rather break your hands to stop these projects of yours once and for all."
"And yet we both know that such wants are never to be fulfilled."
"For now." The other's voice was low and full of unsaid promise.
It seemed to set off Logos and the man hurried into his laboratory and Nur decided to follow the old man into the laboratory. It wouldn't do for the man to get himself killed, not when he was the only 'ally' he had in Tjenu.
Nur narrowed his eyes as he came to see the other. He was old looking, perhaps in his forties and he bore a headdress, golden and blue in colour with a golden serpent rising. This…was this Sekhen?
"Do not touch that" Logos growled out as the man Nur suspected of being Sekhen took some scrolls in his hand and Logos walked up to the man and snatched it out of from his grasp.
"I warn you for the last time…leave!" Logos growled out "Or I will tell the Pharaoh you were looking upon these scrolls." The headdressed man scowled but before he could answer Logos continued "You wouldn't want the Pharaoh to suspect you any more misdoings, do you? Not when tales of your conspiring has been reaching his ears."
The man with the headdress scowled even further, his eyes descending into hate before he swivelled around, his cloak swinging from behind him, and before he left to leave, he looked to Logos after sparing Nur a dismissive glance.
"Tut has yet to attack me. We both know he does not dare. He needs my soldiers and he needs me, royalty of divine blood." The man in the headdress, now certainly Sekhen, Ozymandias, said with smugness in his voice.
Nur restrained himself from killing the fool, his cold eyes set on the man. The man was weak, a weak fool with an ego that was far above his means to justify it.
It would only take four seconds to cross the room and to take deliver a killing blow to his head with his hands. Two seconds if he threw his weapon and pierced his skull.
But it wasn't yet the time. All things considered, Sekhen was nothing more than a detail to be resolved. Kang was the prize scalp, the real menace to be rid of.
He'd focus on that and when he had Kang's scalp resting in the palm of his hand, he'd take his time exacting vengeance on Sekhen and all that he held dear.
"He does not need you. He has your sister." Logos retorted and Sekhen's face tightened and Nur noted that rather important detail, an important detail that Logos had exempted in his rants and raves about Sekhen and his traitorous actions.
It seems like the conniving man had a plan with the sister…the Princess.
"My sister is still mine. Mine to do and mine to give and Tut knows this. My sister knows and loves me for it. My sister may birth Tut his heirs but it is I who will make that happen." Sekhen said with a cold harsh tone before he straightened himself up.
"It is my armies and my soldiers who defeat the lesser kingdoms on the Nile and take them in the name of Egypt. It is my armies and my soldiers who carve up the borders, greater and grander than my sire and grandsire. I am the might of Egypt."
Sekhen's eyelids dropped slightly "I may have lost my crown to Tut for he is the son of Ra blessed with his gifts, but I am a descendant of Horus, God of Egypt, and in time, I will have power owed to me returned to me…by marriage or by arms."
Nur saw Logos hold onto his staff a little tighter and it seemed like Sekhen noticed it too. "Choose your side well, old man. Your grandsire served my father once upon a time. When the moment of change arrives, one that will come bloody and quickly, be sure to remember the bonds of history." Sekhen finished before leaving.
Nur watched Sekhen leave, cool eyes following the man out until he disappeared out of sight. The man was delusional. No…that wasn't right.
The man simply was ignorant. Ignorant of what Kang was, what means he possessed and the intellect the time-traveller possessed.
Bishop had often muttered that Kang could have won the Infinity Wars singlehandedly without a single casualty if he had been in Tony Stark's place.
And that Kang could do it without the resources of Stark Industries.
The fact that Sekhen was forced to bide his time despite his boasts about the size of his armies and use his sister as means to power, rather than use the soldiers to take the throne back, was indicative enough of the disparity of power between them.
"You think yourself ready to take your father's throne back? That you can wrest control back when your sister warms the bed of Tut? What a joke" Logos muttered to himself, seemingly forgetting that he is not alone.
Nur let loose the knot of the cloth and the cloth began to snake off of him.
"So that was Sekhen." Nur voiced out, more to remind Logos that he was alone and Logos remembered himself and turned quickly to face Nur.
"Ah…yes…yes it was." Logos said a little nervously and as he made to speak Nur raised his hand, stilling Logos instantly.
"Do not be so concerned. His time will come." Nur said to Logos who blinked in surprise before he eyed Nur sceptically.
"You knew and you didn't kill him on the spot? Why?" Logos asked before adding "The clan that raised you would have demanded an instant payment of blood."
"Sekhen isn't going anywhere and he isn't the problem that must be solved first...is it?" Nur said to Logos before he turned around and peered at the inscriptions on the wall. It was a shame he didn't know how to read hieroglyphs, not yet at least.
He recognised many of the hieroglyphs that had been in the cave.
"No, he is not." Logos agreed "Tut must be dealt with first." Nur turned towards Logos whose eyes were gleaming in the light of the torches.
"Save us, En Sabah Nur, from the horror of a royal alliance. Save us from both Tut and Sekhen, the defiler of the legacy of his forebearers, lest Egypt be drowned in blood with foul evil means, and be the man Egypt needs you to be, the preserver of our people, our civilisation!" Logos said theatrically, dramatic undertones in his voice as distasteful as the words that carried overtures to his ego were.
Still.
Nur had to admit however…Logos was not a terrible orator…or manipulator.
He'd be useful in the long term if only Nur could figure out how to permanently tie his loyalties to Nur. The man could be a competent second when he took Egypt and probably would help him do it in ways that was far less bloody.
He already knew that the man valued legacy and power. Granting him a position of authority would of course help in tying the man to aid him in his conquest.
But, again, this news of a sister of Sekhen was something Logos believed was a matter that could well complicate things. Especially if Logos has a plan.
Nur looked around, his eyes falling on the scrolls.
Logos was a planner and a schemer and likely had been planning for some time to undermine if not destroy Kang's rule.
Quite likely as soon as Logos found out about him, the man had worked to fit Nur in his plans to overthrow Kang…and Sekhen.
Preserver of our civilisation
Not quite the rings of swearing fealty to a Pharaoh, was it?
A term of great honour, perhaps, but nothing meaningful and Nur suspected that it was all Logos intended Nur to be. Would Logos try and kill him later? Perhaps.
Was he planning on marrying this Princess and become ruler of Eypt?
Or would he elevate her and be her vizier and rule from the shadows?
At present, he favoured the latter. There were some hints of true belief when Logos had talked of the Gods days ago just as there was true belief and a sense of affront at the actions of Kang and Sekhen when it came to Egypt.
A man like that could be loyal enough to the bloodline of the family his grandfather had served and this sister would be a way to honour that whilst at the same time secure power for his purposes.
If this was the case…it would take some effort to convince Logos to be loyal to him.
"But you must wait." Logos continued, his expression falling into a look of zeal and determination. "We must bide our time until the moment is right."
Nur was already considering that anyway. He knew he wasn't at full strength and the food he'd shared with Logos seemed to work somewhat in lessening the effects of his wounds. If he continued to eat regularly, he suspected he'd be fully healed.
Perhaps sleeping would help speed up healing too.
Plus, he needed to have a better understanding of the people in this era and what to be amongst the people he was looking to rule over?
"And…what do you suggest I do?"
Logos turned and gestured towards the half built pyramid in the distance and Nur's expression fell into a shadow and Logos saw his unhappiness.
"You wish for me to be amongst the slaves and the commoners?"
Logos let off a nervous laugh "You only need to pretend to be a slave for a small amongst of time."
"You want me to be a slave?"
"Pretend! Pretend!" Logos said quickly "None of the city dwellers or villagers know you so you can only be – pretend to be a slave. Anything else rouses suspicions."
Nur resisted the urge to let off an exasperated sigh and instead levied a look at the man who was increasingly more foolish than Nur estimated him to be.
"You do see me, do you not?" Nur said as he raised his arms and showed off his grey skin. "I am too different for people not to question where I am from. Tut will come to hear of me before the day is out."
Logos rapidly shook his head.
"He won't." Logos said fervently before he gestured towards the pyramid again "That construction…is my construction. My legacy. It is within my complete control. From the slaves to the commoners. To the guards and to the engineers. I am in complete control and no one will come to hear of you without my say so. Though it may be better if you hide your face and your skin with the rags"
Nur only stared at the man, his eyes searching the man's face for any deception.
There was none.
Logos truly believed he could keep Nur a secret.
And damnably…
Nur was considering accepting anyway despite his better judgment gnawing at him. Eventually Kang would find him, whether it was through espionage or through his technological means, but this way he could gather information independently from both Logos and Kang during the night where he'd assess the situation when the city was asleep, perhaps finding a way forward without depending on mercurial Logos.
It wasn't as if he needed to sleep anyway.
Nur broke off eye contact and turned towards the pyramid. It was small, barely more than a mount of rocks compared to the sphinx and the better known pyramids that had still stood in Egypt in the future. "Are there many more of these pyramids?"
"Pyramid?" Logos parroted with a frown and Nur realised that he called it 'harim' which meant pyramid in Arabic. Linguistically, the language that was commonly spoken amongst the tribes of Egypt and the neighbouring tribes of modern day Libya.
There were structural and linguistic similarities with Arabic…even if it was very distantly similar but the sounds were close enough that at times he could slip in Arabic words without noticing.
"It is an old word that means four-sided construction from the Sandstormers clan." Nur said in explanation.
Logos nodded slowly "I see. Pyramid…a good word." Logos said, this time with a deeper nod before shaking his head. "And there none as magnificent as my pyramid." Logos said with a proud smile "It shall be kind that future generations of pharaohs shall wish their tombs to be housed around!"
'And who are you building that pyramid for, Logos?'
Nur didn't voice out the question that he was rather sure Logos would avoid answering.
Still…
This time, Nur didn't suppress his emotions and he let a small grin show.
Logos was many things but on this…
Logos would have been right in normal circumstance.
Grander and more monumental pyramids would have been built in time, to last for
all time, regardless of alien influences like Kang, a legacy to a people who were magnificent and majestic.
And to help built the first kind of this type of pyramid?
It was an opportunity that resonated deeper within him though it oughtn't to and he was already coming up with a mythos that he could craft around him.
'En Sabah Nur…the man who built Egypt'
What better way to start than to build the first iconic pyramid?
He'd have to repurpose the function of pyramids, of course, but that would come later.
"Very well, Logos." Nur said finally. "You have my agreement."
Nur ignored the triumphant grin on Logos' face.
-Break-
One step.
The ropes creaked and strained, his hands tightened on the ropes once more
Two step, pull. The rubbing bite of the ropes on his shoulder was noticeable, the sound of stone rubbing on sloped surfaces joining the echoing choir.
Rinse and repeat. One step. Two step. Pull. One step. Two step. Pull.
Over and over again as he climbed up the pyramid with the block of stone on his back, a block of stone that would need eight humans to take up the pyramid.
Nur ignored the looks that often accompanied him, looks of fear and at times, awe.
The tightening of spears of the guardsmen when he passed them by and instead simply focused on getting to the top of the pyramid and place his block of stone.
When he arrived at the top of the pyramid, he turned around and placed his hands on either side of the stone block and carefully laid it into place, the ache in his muscles dim and the weight of the stone block light despite it weighting probably a tonne.
Not that he'd know, not when his estimations of mass, considering his strength, was rather murky, but thankfully there were normal humans around him in groups of eight pulling the stone block upward which gave him a more accurate weighing.
Good news was that his strength was returning though labouring like this all day, under the heat of the blazing sun, was more taxing than he expected.
It was raising more question marks about his body. Apocalypse, by the time of modern day Earth, was a monstrously looking figure but he was also one of the most powerful semi-mortal beings.
How…how did that come to be? Would Nur get stronger with age?
Or was it something else?
He couldn't quite remember what had happened to Apocalypse to become what he was, only that that version of himself would become immensely powerful.
He was broken out of his thoughts by an angry guard who barked at him and Nur glanced him with a dismissive look before he made his way down the slope, his gaze trailing across the slope as groups of eight were taking up stone blocks to the top.
Despite his isolation from both the slaves and the commoners, too fearful of him as they were, he noticed much about the people of the city and the region around it.
The slaves were as Egyptian as the commoners, and he learnt that their misfortune was all because they from chiefdoms and villages that had not yet been conquered in the time of Iry-Hor, which Kang and Sekhen had rectified in recent times.
From what he understood, once construction was complete, most of these people would go back to their villages and their towns in the same manner the commoners of the Kingdom would. The main difference was that they were worked much more harshly than the commoners and were sleeping in camps by the pyramids en-masse.
Of course, there were other differences, the harsh treatment of the guards and the considerably lesser treatment they received from everyone but it was not heartless or unforgivably cruel, their current fates.
He wondered if that was how Iry-Hor had accomplished the unification of Egypt, to be harsh on the conquered people but not so much as to induce hatred and slowly, with the returning men and sons, integrate these people into their culture who saw their capital and their ways of life, and who'd adopted some of their practices in the days of their lives, making the assimilation almost organic.
Rinse and repeat for centuries and viola, you would get the Unified Egypt that spanned from the Mediterranean to the ends of Nubia.
As he walked down the slope he noticed a group of men struggling with their block of stone and he moved before thinking when one of them at the front slipped and took out two others, the block of stone moments away from seriously injuring them.
"Ah!" "Roll out!" "Ameni, push him out of the way!"
He managed to get his hands underneath the stone but not quick enough for one of the men had their foot crushed on the declining stone. Nur pushed upward and the man's comrades dragged the man out from underneath the stone.
By the time the injured man was gone, guards had come towards them.
As Nur glanced at them from the corner of his eyes, one of them demanded "What is the meaning of this?!" and raised his spear and the other guards joined in pointing their spears at him.
"Stop! He was helping us!" One of the men that had carried the stone block had said, his arms slightly raised in deference. Even thousands of years in the past, habits and ideas were all the same though…
He was surprised that someone was speaking up for him.
These past few weeks had him re-evaluate the ease with which he could take control of Egypt. He simply looked too different…too unlike them. His keener ears had heard their fearful mutterings. 'He cannot be human…' 'What is he…'
Perhaps he could have showed that he was like them, at least in strength but he'd dismissed that for it was not a true option. Nur was not like them and pretending to be by hiding his difference was not a long term solution.
"We would have died without his help." The man said and the guards looked between each other before looking at the men who were carrying the man with the crushed foot and then one of them spoke up.
"Get back to work!" he barked at them as he jabbed at his spear towards Nur.
Nur pushed the stone block up slightly and with one hand, took the ropes before he repositioned himself, his back to the stone and in one swift motion, he was pulling the stone block upward once more.
The silence that crept up around him was noticeable and he didn't need to see their expression to know that it unnerved them…to see him move like that.
One step and his left foot was forward.
The ropes creaked and strained.
Two step, pull.
Rinse and repeat. One step. Two step. Pull. One step. Two step. Pull.
Nur's senses sharpened when he noticed someone approaching quickly and to his surprise it was two of the men he'd helped.
They took the extra free ropes and began pulling alongside him though they weren't moving for Nur had stopped and stared at them.
They looked nervous under his gaze and Nur decided to ask. "…Why?"
"You helped us. You didn't need to. We'll help you." One of them said with some nervousness in his voice.
Nur could have said that he didn't need the help and that they knew it too.
He could have refused and continued on his lonesome.
Instead, Nur nodded and faced forward once more and began to pull.
Days passed and then weeks passed.
Each day, hundreds of stone blocks were taking up to the top of the pyramid, much of those hundreds being carried by Nur…and Seti and Ameni, the two men who decided to help in return, despite their obvious fear of him.
A fear that gradually fell away with each passing day.
And through their loss of fear, came also the loss of fear from the others, slaves and commoners alike, and so Nur was beginning to find himself slowly accepted by the people around him, no longer so isolated away from the rest of the Egyptians.
An acceptance that Nur had not experienced in this new life of his and yet he was finding it amongst these people despite their superstitions. Despite how he looked…
These people were magnificent…
"Why do you work like this?" Seti asked him one morning as they pulled a stone block up the slope and Nur looked to him and saw the serious look on his face.
"Yes!" Ameni, usually the quiet one, agreed. "You're strong enough to win against all of the guards!" Ameni reduced the level of his voice. "I don't understand either."
By now, Nur had recovered much of his strength and he'd seen enough during his nightly reconnaissance of the defences of Kang and the layout of the palace that Kang kept himself in that he could probably begin his attack on Kang.
He knew that the longer he stayed, the chances he would be found would rise.
'So why had he remained…?'
Perhaps when he had been isolated, so feared, he would've decided to act with haste.
Nur glanced at Seti and Ameni and the others around him who were pulling the stone blocks upward before he gazed forward again, towards the steps created by the labour of thousands, steps created by the laying of tens of thousands of stone blocks.
"Come, Seti, Ameni. We have many more stone blocks to lay down." Nur said with a small smile, which surprised his comrades, and he began to pull once more.
Another few weeks passed and the atmosphere amongst the slaves and commoners was different, no more so quiet and intent on carrying on with their task, instead, there was a positivity as more of what they were building was taking shape and the speed with which they were accomplishing it with.
Most of them attributed it to him, calling him a good omen of the Gods, sent down from the heavens to aid them in their laborious task.
Some asked him directly if he was sent by the gods, but Nur was evasive in his answers and shied away the conversation to other topics.
It would not always work and he expected that he'd need to answer such impactful questions, especially considering he planned on leading Egypt.
And the truth of the matter was that they wouldn't be entirely wrong in their assessment that he was brought here. He already suspected that perhaps there was some kind of entity that brought him here, in this existence, with his memories.
He wasn't sure what kind of entities would have the power to bring him into what was meant to be a fictional universe, nor did he know why him, but it seemed unlikely that his existence here and with all of his memories was an accident.
Perhaps one day he'd find the need to seek out those answers. After all, there were plenty of powerful beings that may have answers for him.
The Norse Gods existed in this universe.
Either as actual Gods or powerful aliens and the fact that Wakanda had Bastet, an Egyptian deity, was clear enough that the other Egyptian gods or aliens masquerading as gods were probably also in existence.
Perhaps he'd meet them and ask them.
As weeks turned into months, his once isolated camp grew into a small village, a congregation of slaves and commoners often dining together with him before the commoners left to return home to their wives and family, he listened.
Many of these slaves have already been here for many years. The commoners would go home for weeks and months at a time when the seeds needed planting and the wheat harvested but the slaves?
Many of them had not seen their families and homes for many years.
The tale of Inyotef, the man whose wife had been pregnant and the son – Inyotef always insisted his second child was a son – he'd never met and the countless of other stories the slaves he'd heard shared with him, around him.
He listened to their tales and to their crude jokes that were often very sexual, and he understood these people more and more, his appreciation of them rising.
At times, he thought of re-evaluating his lack of expediency of dealing with Kang, allowing these people to return home but, beside his selfish desire to sustain this odd sense of belonging just a bit longer, there was also the calculating side of everything.
Egypt…Egypt was a rural place.
Small farmsteads and tiny villages and some growing towns amidst the rare jewel that was Tjenu and other unpolished gems that were sure to grow like it.
Simple lives and simple existences, a people who worked hard, amidst a stable environment, good source of water and productive farmland.
Everything a people needed. And eventually…centuries later…to this moment, before Kang, the birth of Egypt was all but coming.
Inertia had demanded it.
But inertia alone couldn't sustain progress alone…nor could it integrate the many peoples of Egypt that was still far out of control of Tjenu.
His knowledge of history was useful, yes, but he didn't know these people. What they could accept. What they loved. What they respected.
For all of that slavery was an awful practice, the way these Egyptians practiced was more like indentured servitude…the conquered paying a debt to the conquerors.
It was not like the inhuman treatment subjected to the Africans in the Americas by the Europeans or by his own people in Africa and in the Middle East who both considered those peoples as less human. No, it was not like that at all.
These people…these people viewed slavery much in the same way they viewed sexuality, the dominant and the submissive, the strong and the weak, and any success he would built upon would need that kind of understanding of these people.
He did not want to dominate them into submissiveness, to the point that he was all but a despot rather than a ruler of the Egyptian people, but he also did not want to change them into a facsimile of the West.
He wanted to help them grow these ideas, these practices, this society, much like Ancient Egypt he'd known had but with some changes that would strengthen the sense of justice, of fairness and so much else, to the point that Egypt would stand as an unshakable and everlasting beacon for the entire world.
As more days passed and just like the day before, they placed the last stone block of day in place, and just like the days before, he took a moment to gaze upon the sunset that cast its red and orange light onto the sand dunes, his thoughts spinning within.
He'd not heard from Logos at all since they parted. That was over three months ago.
He'd seen the man, during his nightly ventures into Tjenu, and he seemed fine from a distance. He'd considered speaking to him but he kept his distance, the thought that Logos was not an ally of his, even against Kang, growing more as each day passed without contact from Logos.
He'd seen him also with this sister of Sekhen, named Ha'Nepthi, more often than he'd seen Logos alone. His suspicions that Ha'Nepthi was core to Logos' plans was being proven right…and that also unfortunately that meant one thing…
He'd have to act alone. Against both Kang and Sekhen.
After that…?
He'd have to improvise to gain the Kingdom. Killing both Kang and Sekhen wouldn't automatically earn him the Kingdom and Logos would have provided the bridge he'd need to tie to Kingdom to him…had he proven trustworthy.
As it was, he was sure that few people in the city knew of him. It seemed like Logos' confidence in keeping secrecy and control over the building site was right which was problematic in a certain way as most people would not know him.
The commoners that worked with him confessed that they'd been threatened with death should they give out the secret of his presence – they'd initially thought that Nur was created with magic with the sorcery of Kang – and so they kept their quiet.
Perhaps he should have coerced Logos' fealty, rather than wait for the opportunity and desperation to win him over, but…such means felt sour to him.
He did not want such shaky loyalty.
It was never the right basis to build upon. Not for Nur.
Fine, Nur thought, he'd improvise.
He'd already determined who else was important in Tjenu. He thought of speaking with them but decided against it, instead deciding that such conversations could happen after he'd killed Kang and Sekhen.
He just needed the right opportunity to kill Kang and Sekhen.
Assassinating both of them was not the right play.
It would remove them from the board, yes, but when the moment was right, seen by the right people, the dividends of removing them from the board was far greater than simply creating a power vacuum.
And the opportunity was soon coming up. There'd be a religious event in sixteen days where Nur knew Kang and Sekhen were certain to be.
He'd use the opportunity to accuse Kang and Sekhen and let the situation spiral out of control. Kang might want him alive but Sekhen was volatile and at odds with Kang. Killing Nur would prove irresistible to Sekhen and in the chaos, he'd carve out a narrative that would fit with the Egyptian religion.
And with the seeds of his origins planted in the minds of the people at the pyramids, including the guards themselves who were warier of him now that they have heard an explanation about him, his ascent to the Egyptian Throne could be smooth.
It wasn't perfect and he'd need to work on it some more, but it was a good plan as any. Slotting into the existing power structure was the most stable transition of power
"Siamun'Nur."
'Radiant son of Amun'
They took to call him that, the people around him, when he told them to call him Nur. Nur on its own meant light and in certain scenarios and sentences, it can also mean first. En Sabah Nur, the name that Baal had given him, was similar in this.
It could mean The First One, but it could also be taken to mean Bright Morning.
Over time, over weeks, after one had called him Siamun'Nur, as a way to honour him for an irrelevant kindness Nur had done him, which was a play and connection to the god Amun, which was an old Egyptian god, one that was as periphery in the affairs of the Gods as Ra was, the rest had taken to call him that as well.
Amun was thought to be a god of light, of creation and with Nur's name being so connected to 'light' and the idea of 'first', and with the way that Nur seemed to be so inhuman to these people, you could understand the connection.
He didn't mind the connection all that much. Perhaps it was disingenuous, dishonest, but ultimately it was as good an explanation as any with regards to his existence.
And of course, it would help him later on.
Although he did feel some unease in answering them about where he came from.
He used the incident in which the Sandstormers had found him, amidst the sand dunes during the cold night, and twisted it slightly, claiming that the Akkaba clan had rejected the child amongst the sands whereas Baal of the Sandstormers did not.
It further solidified their ideas of him being divine, thinking him a gift sent by the gods and the gods had punished the Akkaba clan for their foolishness.
Nur peeled his gaze away from the sunset and looked to Seti. Amongst everyone else, Seti was the most curious and the most daring in asking him questions.
More often than not, Nur answered in some form or another, which ironically led to more questions given to him by the rest of the people who wanted to hear from him.
He didn't mind too much, for it offered him opportunities to solidify his mythos, and truthfully, he held a good opinion of Seti.
In another time, perhaps they could have been friends.
Seti looked serious but inquisitive as he asked "Where do you go in the night?"
Nur had noticed that he was being watched over the past few days, now that his camp was surrounded by the slaves who accepted him, but decided to leave it be for now.
"Seti!" Ameni said with an alarmed voice and Nur realised that the two men had been discussing it. He wondered if the rest of the slaves around him knew it too.
"It's fine Ameni." Nur said calmly as he pulled the stone block, turning in the same instance to Seti. "Why do you ask?" he asked, his eyes drifting slightly to the approaching guards. Curiously, there were more of them than yesterday.
Seti looked ponderous for a moment and before he answered, a look of hesitancy flashed across his face which faded as he spoke "Because I would like to help."
The statement surprised and did not surprise, all at the same time, Nur and he focused his attentions on the man. "And what do you think I need help with?" Nur asked.
Seti seemed to prepare himself before he answered "You do not need my help." Seti smiled "You have not needed my help at all" Seti gestured around him, towards the stone blocks. "But if I can help, I will." Seti said determinedly before continuing.
"You're here for a reason." Seti said, no, more like declared, as he met Nur's gaze. "The gods did not place you here to toil amongst us." Seti pointed to Tjenu.
"You're here to help us with the blasphemer."
Many held similar opinions as Seti, and he imagined many within the city saw so too. Kang had not endeared himself to the people…despite his gifts.
Another black mark in Nur's assessment of the man.
Although…it wasn't too surprising. The man managed to make enemies of himself.
Why would he not make enemies of these simple people too?
"Seti!" Ameni called out in alarm as he shuffled closer to Seti and Ameni grabbed Seti's arm "We must not speak of the wishes of the gods!"
Ameni looked to the approaching guards and his eyes widened in shock.
Nur saw them too. This was not a conversation to have right now. He briefly wondered what triggered Seti to ask this now of him but he set it away.
"Yes and no." Nur told them and it stilled them. "I am here for a reason but I cannot tell you right now, and especially not in this moment." Nur said as he turned around.
"Come, let's head back. Our food should be ready now." Nur said as he began to walk down towards the slope and he heard Seti and Ameni following him.
"Halt!" one of the guards called out and Nur narrowed his eyes before he quickly schooled them as he turned around. He looked at the guards and some of them…
Some of them looked unfamiliar.
"You! Come here! Now!" another guard pointed to Ameni and Ameni looked frightened but complied anyway. Nur fully turned around and his intuition was blaring alarms. He should attack. No, he should wait, maybe he was misunderstanding. As he hesitated, he watched Ameni approach them.
By the time he realised that his intuition had been right, and begun to move, they'd already seized Ameni and as he moved, he was stilled when they held a blade to Ameni's neck. "Ameni!" Seti called out worriedly and Nur arm moved in front of him.
"Do not approach!" the guard holding the blade to Ameni's neck said and the rest of the guards raised their spears.
"What…do you want?" Nur asked, his voice cold.
The guards that knew him stiffened, their hands tightening over their spears, whilst another figure emerged from behind them and Nur clenched his teeth.
"Sekhen." Nur coldly said and the man scowled fiercely.
"You dare speak the name of royalty without deference?!" Sekhen said angrily.
Nur only just about resisted the urge to taunt the fool, knowing that Sekhen was the kind of man who'd lash out and at present, Ameni would feel those lashes.
Nur's gaze fell on Ameni who looked frightened and pale.
He considered attacking and killing the guards and Sekhen, sacrificing Ameni in the process, but…Ameni did not deserve such callous disregard.
For all of the plans he had for Egypt, Ameni and Seti were the first two who'd shown him genuine kindness in this life of his. They'd overcome their fear to repay a debt to him and in time they'd shown him kindness.
Baal might have made sure to ensure that he'd survive to adulthood and trained him, but it was because he was a weapon for Baal to aim at Kang, like he was for Logos, and whilst he owed a debt to Baal which he'd see repaid, Ameni and Seti were owed a debt of a different kind and he'd see it repaid by reuniting them with their families and children.
Nur kept his silence.
It seemed to anger Sekhen but he managed to control himself. "You will come with us or he dies. Do you understand, slave?"
"I do." Nur said and he began to walk towards them.
One of the guards that he was familiar with looked alarmed and whispered something in the ear of Sekhen and whilst Sekhen's face contorted in anger he seemed to listen.
"Halt!" Sekhen called out as Nur got halfway there.
One of the guards took out some rope and walked to Nur and Nur sighed internally.
Really…
He'd be able to break out it with ease in but a few seconds.
Nur outstretched his hands as he stared at the approaching guard with unblinking eyes, taking the opportunity to think. Either Sekhen wanted him prisoner to gift to Kang or he wanted to capture him only to kill him later.
As the ropes were tied around his wrists, he looked at Sekhen and got his answer.
Sekhen meant to kill him.
He'd have to wait for the right opportunity when Ameni could be spared from a cut throat.
The guard tugged at the rope and then pulled him forward from the lead of the rope.
Sekhen smirked triumphantly before he barked an order to the guards "Let's go."
"Let him go." Nur said and Sekhen turned back to him and in a rage walked up to him with his guards by his side and dug the staff he carried into his stomach, causing Nur to winch slightly.
His body might be enhanced but it was not so enhanced that he would not feel impacts. This was nowhere near painful but it was still felt.
"Silence, you damn insolent slave." Sekhen hissed out before he turned around. Nur's eyes widened as he heard the sound of metal scraping and he begun to move out of the way only to find a spear waiting for him there.
"Agghhhh" Nur gasped out, his mind beginning to dull with the pain and the suddenness, and he gasped again when he felt another spear dug into his other side.
And then another. And another. And another.
The faintly familiar sounds of his name was lost amidst the pain and the shock and as the spear tips were pulled out of his body, he staggered backward.
"Didn't expect that, did you, Oh Siamun'Nur?" Sekhen said with a smug tone as Nur began to stagger towards the edge, his hands clutched over his wounds that seemed to spill blood and blood. "Oh heir of Rama Tut?"
Nur was beginning to feel queasy, light headed, his sight blurring but he had enough strength to meet Sekhen's gaze. He'd…he'd underestimated Sekhen.
"Tch. To think that you were hiding amongst the rabble for so long." Sekhen said with a cold note to his voice and whatever else Sekhen said, Nur only got some of it for much of his focus was on retaining consciousness, though he felt the wrapping around his face falling away.
"You…will…not…get...away…with…this…Sekhen…" Nur rasped out as he fell to his knees. Nur gasped out once more when he felt another spear pierce him and coughed up blood, his blurry eyes rising to set on Sekhen who had driven the spear into him.
"I've already gotten away with it" Sekhen said with savage delight in his voice before he looked behind him and Nur's eyes widened at the sight of Ameni who lay dying with a cut throat and Nur rasped out pained at the sight but as soon as the pain arrived, wrath boiled in his stomach as Sekhen laughed at his misery.
Nur's hands were quick and he clasped them over Sekhen's hands on the spear and the delighted laughter were cut short dramatically.
"Let me go, you vile slave!" Sekhen raged as he struggled against Nur and Nur grinned with a savage glee as he began to rise slowly. Sekhen looked horrified and Nur realised that his bloody grin must have been some sight.
"As you…" Nur coughed up some more blood as he edged closer to the edge and the fear and horror in Sekhen's expression was beautiful as Nur began to tilt towards the edge "command!" Nur flung them off of the top of the pyramid, the sounds of Sekhen's cries for help and his screams a dull aftersound.
Would he survive this, he wondered as he fell, his hands gripping Sekhen's slacking, consciousness fraying into unconsciousness, his body feeling colder and colder.
His gaze looking past Sekhen and towards the pyramid and it was then that he caught Seti struggling with the guards and as the top looked ever more distant, it was then that pain seared into his back.
"Aggghhh" The pain was almost overwhelming and he was drifting in and out of consciousness, his body unable to move and he thought he could hear his name being called, a voice that sounded like ambrosia amidst scents of honey and nectar.
Hmm…
Was that death calling for him? Approaching him?
And as he listened, he heard another voice, a familiar voice and he managed to look to the top of the pyramid, seeing Seti still struggling against the guards.
'He…he wasn't done yet…' He wasn't sure where the strength came, or where the light that was around him coming from, and all he was focused on was the need to survive…to live. Seti…LIVE!
His consciousness returned to full might and so did his strength and he rose to his feet. The strength seemed to double, triple, all of the pain he'd felt, the holes that were punctured into his body were closing before his very eyes.
He stared at himself, mesmerised by the glowing light and the strength that he was feeling and he felt as if he could conquer the very air and it was at that point, when he was no longer distracted by himself that he was realising that he was conquering the air, floating as he was in the air.
'Had he unlocked all of his power now?' he wondered to himself as his forearms seemed…larger, stronger, tougher. Such wondering was set aside as he arrived at the top of the pyramid, where Seti and the guards were.
The guards were shook still under his gaze and his glowing appearance and Nur glanced at Seti who, much to his relief, was still alive.
A wave of exhaustion washed over Nur and he realised that whatever strength he unlocked was soon fading.
"Go, Seti." Nur was surprised by the deep and commanding voice and so was Seti.
"Siamun'Nur…" Seti said with awe and reverence in his eyes.
"I said…GO!"
Seti jumped at Nur's tone of voice but complied, and Nur watched Seti go down the slopes and construction beams and he was fighting to keep the exhaustion at bay.
Nur turned his gaze back towards the guards, some of whom had taken to take a knee. "No one else is to be harmed. Do you understand?" Nur's threatening voice was awful, as if a plague was washing over the lands and the rest of the guards fell to their knees as well.
"We understand, Siamun'Nur" one of the guards he knew said for the rest of the guards.
Once Nur received their agreement, he could no longer keep the exhaustion at bay and he began to dim in light and he began to descend downwards, slowly at first but faster within the seconds. Fortunately, by the time his feet reached the ground, he still had strength but it soon left him and soon…as his sight blacked in and out, he lost all consciousness…
And he was entirely helpless.