Someone asked what version of Apocalypse Nur is. Well, most of it is based on the recent comics but there is an element of the X-men version of him. The Rise of Apocalypse really did nerf him TBH so I'm reworking him on the basis that he has the POTENTIAL to be an Beyond Omega Level Mutant based on his mutant ability alone.
However, it requires a lot of work to get to that point (It's a bit like Iceman who could become Omega Level like in some versions of the Comics). Fortunately for Nur, he has a lot of Time where he can go to that point.
Note: If you would like to read ahead, the next three chapters after this chapter are available on P^A^T^R^E^O^N / Boombox117
3222 BC (Year 13 of the Eternal Calendar, E.C.) – Tjenu (Thinis)
Khoiak ceremonies, fourth month of Akhet (Season of the Flood)
Pipes and flutes and drums combined to create a flighty song, an entrancing sound that seemed to hover and disperse through the air with mythological quality, kept so by the chants and prayers and hymns by the priests and women whose voices seemed to take on an ethereal note, one that seemed to infuse the essence of life itself in their song, bolstered by their fervour and unwavering belief.
To Nur, such scenes never seemed to get old despite seeing it so frequently.
Faith…faith in this early stage in human civilisation was so different.
More primal. More primitive yet in so many ways far more profound. To these people…their existence, their human experience, revolved around their faith that was unlike what he'd known. The sun rose because of Ra.
The moon passed through the night sky because of Konshu.
Simplistic explanations of how existence worked.
'It is so because of the Gods, so it is by the Gods.'
And if they lived their lives by the tenets of Ma'at, this human phase of their life would be successful and so they'd pass onto the afterlife where endless prosperity lay waiting on them. Everything was simply as simple as that.
He knew, of course, it was the human need to have explanations for everything that was around them that was a significant culprit in their basis of faith, using the Gods as a reason for why things were the way they were – and perhaps there something truthful in it since this was the Marvel universe – but in this moment of history, he couldn't help but envy slightly their resounding and unwavering faith.
Perhaps it was because it touched on something deep within him.
He'd never been a man of religion in his old life. Perhaps he'd been, once, before he joined the French Legion, but time and actions had withered away any such belief.
With hands soaked in blood and the shadow feeling of the butt of a rifle against his shoulder, his eyes peering through tortured or fearful or hateful or dead eyes, often times bearing all four impressions in sequential fashion, his sense of faith had unravelled when he saw so much…did so much.
When confronted with the realism of life, with all that existed and nestled in the crooks of society, in the shadows of decrepit pillars, his idea of faith and purpose had died as he lived a jaded life with a sense of aimlessness, with only the little things making his life not entirely lost.
And now, he was seeing those whose lives were lived with profound purpose, in such regularity – regularity in which they ploughed, sowed and harvested, every year, until the day they died – that sung parallel with the regularity of the sun which rose at dawn and fell at sunset, each one of them a small piece of the cornerstone of the universe…of existence.
It was this that Nur envied the most, their surety of their place in everything and he hoped he could make sure his people never lost that sense about themselves.
Whilst Nur listened with quiet contemplation to the hymns and prayers and chants, his gaze washed over the packed thoroughfare that led from the Tjenu Temple of Osiris all the way to the shores of the silt covered earth left behind by the receding Nile River.
There were thousands, tens of thousands, of people in the streets of Tjenu, each of them an ember amidst the flame of festival, led to dance and flicker by the festival leaders – mid ranked officials honoured to ensure the festival succeeded – merriment had as food and drink was offered by the people of Tjenu – priests collected the food and drink to take it to the Temples of respective Gods – whilst they prayed and hoped for the Gods to favour them for a good harvest and a good flood next year.
This festival, the festival of Kohiak, revolved around the celebration of Osiris' death and revival and in a small way also the deliverance of Horus.
Once the ruler of the Gods and Egypt, Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, a god of chaos and disruption, and was revived by his sister-wife Isis after which they begot Horus, the eagled headed God who ended up avenging his father by deposing Seth and taking the throne, before Osiris withdrew to rule the underworld.
It was a symbolic festival, naturally, as most festivals tended to be in these lands, one that revolved around the idea of rebirth, a topic that echoed beautifully with the ever-consistent flooding and receding of the Nile.
Nur focused his eyes on the faces of the People of Egypt, faces that were exultant and in some instances deep in the throes of religious fervour.
If he was used to it now, it had still taken him some time to get used to the incredibly religious nature of his people.
Everything, everything, was in the context of the Gods.
All that occurred, occurred because of the Gods.
The good and the bad. Favour and disfavour.
And the festivals were an important function in Egyptian society to positively affect the Gods' judgment on them.
Temples did not function as a place to pray nor were they places open to anyone but the Priests and himself and so, festivals were the medium in which the People expressed their faith and gratitude. It was the glue that bound the society together.
A glue that Nur was keenly eying to use as a way to firmly bound all corners of future Egypt to a sense of national identity. After all, belief – regardless if it was moral, religious or both – and culture was the foundational stone of any people.
Of course, it helped that there were many, many festivals held every year.
In the season they were in now – the Egyptian year was divided in three seasons, Akhet which was the flooding, Perut which was the sowing, and Shemu which was the harvest – in the first month, when the flooding drowned the banks of the Nile, there was the Wag and Thoth festivals, in the second month, there was the Ipet festival, in the third month there was the Amun festival and in the fourth month, there were the festival of Hathor and the festival for Osiris, the current Khoiak ceremonies they were performing.
The Perut and Shemu seasons all together had about fourteen festivals…and they didn't include the local festivals that communities would have in celebration of whichever deities they revered more than others.
And there were many deities that were worshipped outside of the main pantheon of the Egyptian Gods though in many instances, Gods such as Khentykhety and Athribis, which were worshipped on the fringes of his borders, were considered to be different aspects of Horus but ultimately the same God wearing a different face.
Curiously, in some considerations of the Priests, these similar Gods had been separate Gods but were defeated and 'eaten' by Gods of Egypt…
"Father, I can see Osiris!" Nefer-Tentamun's whisper reached him and he looked back at his daughter who sat nestled in between him and his wife. They were all atop a raised dais, manned by servants and flanked by guards, watching on from atop.
Nefer-Tentamun's white nearly pupil-less eyes were alight though they were more alight because it would bring an end to what has been a very long day.
"Yes, I can see him too." Nur said quietly to his ten-year-old daughter, a faint smile on his face before he looked away and looked upon the sun-baked mud painted idol that was being carried by the priests through the thoroughfare.
The idol was about six to seven hundred metres away, at the steps that led to the entrance of the temple courtyard, though with his eyesight, eyesight his daughter had inherited from him, something that he hoped boded well about what else she might have inherited from him, he could see the details of the idol.
Unlike Anubis, who bore a jackal head, Osiris was represented as human, a man who wore a crown of Upper Egypt, which included arefs, as well as a ceremonial dress, a dress that was Nur's kingly attire was stylised after.
In his right hand there was a crook whilst in his left hand there was a flail, the same kind of items Nur held on certain festivals and ceremonies.
The crown was symbolic, the single crown, the crown of Upper Egypt, for it was his son, Horus, who took over the crown of Osiris and under his reign, the Two Kingdoms of Egypt became one when Iry-Hor, descendant of Horus, ancestor of Ha'Nepthi and their daughter, united the lands under one Pharoah.
The same double crown that Nur now wore.
The idol of Osiris was slowly making its way towards the shore of the Nile River, and he could see the People bowing their heads in prayer and submission to the idol, and it was a sight that made his mind drift off.
His meditation had allowed him to organise his mind far better than he could have expected, something that made him wonder if this was another of his abilities manifesting, and through his meditation, he came to remember almost all aspects of his previous life with an almost crystal clear recall.
And through that recollection, he remembered about a show called Moon Knight, a show he never watched but a show he'd remembered snippets about through pure osmosis.
Marvel's permeation through digital society was unescapable even to those who were well beyond middle age.
He already considered the Egyptian Gods to be almost certainly in existence when he'd pondered about the existence of Bastet, or Bast as the Wakandans knew her/him as, but as the memories became as though they happened yesterday and he recalled the existence of Konshu, a worshipped God of the Moon, it cast away any doubt.
So…
The question was…
Why has he not met any of them?
They took avatars, or rather possession if he remembered correctly, on Earth, so it was likely they were amongst the People of Egypt right now.
He was not arrogant enough to believe that he warranted a meeting with them, nor did he believe he was anywhere near powerful enough for them to focus their gaze at him, but he did know that he was effectively altering the course of history with his presence.
He knew there were beings out there that were omniscient, or as near as, along with beings that could see the future, either through their powers or through devices, so…
What gives?
He was changing the story the longer he stayed where he was, right?
Shouldn't that warrant some talking to, or more likely, given the stories he knew about the temperaments of these kinds of deities, well any kind of deity, a few bolts cast down from the heavens to smite him for 'ruining' everything?
If not them, then others, no? Was there a Sorcerer Supreme in this time yet? Or what about these Celestials, beings that were to these Gods what Gods were to humans?
Hmm…
He considered the visions he'd seen of his Egypt.
Was that what would happen, or was it what could happen?
After all, given that he'd seen what the future would have been for Apocalypse, it was rather clear that the future was fluid, subject to change. Although…perhaps it only really seemed that way. Perhaps what he saw is meant to happen, now, as a result of whatever God or being caused him to be here in this time, in this body.
Somehow causing to cast a damn smokescreen throughout time so that whatever was meant to happen, wouldn't happen until it did happen. Nur's eyebrows twitched as his mind tried to reconcile it all.
After all, he thought as he remembered the shocked and terrified face of Kang, Kang had been dumbfounded by his looming death, something he clearly considered to be impossible. And honestly…Why wouldn't he?
He thought back on the memories of when Bishop talked to him during one of their catch ups about Kang when that show Loki was aired.
Kang had met an older version of himself and for Kang to die now? It was a paradoxical problem that should have some kind of consequence. Unless it was some kind of alternate timeline thing but he wasn't so sure about that.
Nur shook away that thought. He hated thinking about time travel. It didn't make much sense to him, even if he considered that the universe might just be flexible.
Incomprehensibly flexible.
Nur sighed internally and decided to return to his original thoughts when he peered at the approaching idol, a considering look appearing on his face.
He'd claimed that he was a son of the Gods, a claim that he knew the Gods or whatever the fuck they were, would probably not take lightly.
They'd probably smite him for that as well as smite him for changing history.
Though…given that he was strengthening their hold over Egypt, perhaps they were 'allowing' him to do as he pleased, so long as it kept them in power…whatever the fuck that meant (he half thought that maybe these Gods or beings that wanted to be worshipped did so because it granted them literal power, like vampires of a kind).
That…that was something he considered to be the best reason why he wasn't taken out by a lightning bolt from the skies.
Nur refocused and he continued to sit and watch the proceedings from his throne, watching as the idol made its way through the thoroughfare until some time later the priests arrived at the black shores of the River Nile.
The priests chanted and prayed to Osiris, honouring the God, before they buried the sun-baked idol into the dug up hole in the silted earth, before sowing seeds on top of it and covering it up. The symbolism it was meant to represent was one of rebirth, the return to life just as Osiris had been returned to life by Isis.
The proceedings after that became far more lively and more entertaining, as the People of Egypt began to drink and sing and dance, music flowing as easily as the barely drinkable frothy and bitty beer, and soon enough it was time for Nur to place his own offering to Osiris in his Temple.
Nur walked up the steps to the Temple, a temple of typical rectangular architecture, though made with stone rather than mudbricks, and boasted two main red painted pillars that bore hieroglyphs of this age at the entrance.
The courtyard, as he walked through it, had a number of statues and pillars with hieroglyphic writings, on either side, some that bore a few inlaid gold in the writing, gold that came from Coptos and nearby the several generation old Temple of Horus, some thirty kilometres from Nekhen.
He continued to walk through the Temple until he made it to the Noas, the sanctuary, where the food, drink and other goods, which came in sacks or urn-like pots, was taken to be offered, for a time, to the Gods.
After a time – the priests would determine how long was enough – the priests would take the food and drink and distribute it how they saw fit, often times, redistributing it to the People of Tjenu whilst keeping some for themselves.
"A good offering." Nur said in an approving note as he looked upon the offering that was gathered. There were thousands of them. Osiris was a popular God.
"Yes, many people from across Egypt have made the journey to Tjenu for this very festival. It has been a good year." The High Priest said in a satisfied tone.
Over the years, more and more people would come, what he might as well call pilgrimage, to Tjenu to partake in the festivals of the month they arrived in.
He'd noticed that more people had been coming anyway, mostly to see him, but after he'd made the decree to allow a certain percent of a village or town – every year a number of people could come from one village whilst the other number would be allowed to come the years after – to come to Tjenu during the season of Akhet, the season of flooding, the numbers had increased over the years as the message spread.
For now, it was mostly men who made the journey since the women were needed to remain to sow the fields in case they were not able to return.
Nur cast his gaze at the offering and something caught his eye. He walked over towards the…idol? No, figurine…
He crouched down and picked it up, and his eyes sharpened as he took in the details.
"This figurine…"
The figurine boasted three heads, scales across its body that seemed to ripple like flowing strings had been carved into it with immaculate detail, astonishing detail, and it boasted a tail that seemed to splinter off into seven different tips.
This was familiar. Something tickled at his mind. This looked like a Hydra, a legend of Ancient Greece. How would such art come to be known to the people of Egypt?
"Who made this?" Nur asked as he rolled the figurine in his hand. He didn't expect the man to truly know – there were thousands of offerings in this place – but maybe...
"I do not know, Your Excellency." The High Priest answered and he could hear the question in the man's voice. Though he knew that the man wouldn't ask.
Nur stood up and he turned to the High Priest and he extended his hand that held the figurine to the High Priest and said "Find out who created this and bring him to me."
He wanted to know who could have crafted this masterful figurine…and what could have inspired it.
"Your Excellency…it may be difficult to find the man." The High Priest said nervously and Nur looked at the man.
"I understand. The person responsible has a talent in sculpting." Nur said as he met the man's gaze. "I would be grateful if you were able to bring this man to me."
The High Priest's eyes only briefly widened but he might as well have shouting aloud. The High Priest bowed towards Nur and the determination in the priest' voice was enough to leave Nur content. "As you command, Your Excellency!"
Months Later…
"Good, good!" Nur said as he walked in an arc around his daughter with his arms behind his back, the sound of air a low thrum that filled the space of their makeshift training arena, his eyes carefully watching her as she kept up her concentration.
Her fingers were splayed, her hands moving in slow but measured half-circle movement and she bore a face pinched in concentration as thirteen stones of varying weights moved around her small body in deliberate patterns whose paths intersected yet did not collide.
The air around the stones were almost akin to a shimmer with the way the air vibrated around them and he mused idly how much warmer the air immediately around the stones was.
His gaze fell on the heaviest stone, a polished oval stone he guessed that weighed about two or two and a half kilograms and he focused on the stone, eying and comparing how much the shimmer differed to the lighter ones.
He concluded that her powers agitated the molecules in the air, like sound, vibrating the molecules with her powers, transmitting or rather parting with whatever energy she was generating to her surroundings before she controlled them around objects.
His eyes fell onto his daughter and saw the sweat collected on her forehead. It begun to form into several beads of sweat and a half a minute later, they rolled off of her forehead, and he knew she was reaching her limit in mental concentration.
Her powers were deeply tied to the mind, her mind, requiring her to possess upmost focus in order to gain control over her powers. From what she described, paraphrasing of course, she'd said that it was somewhat like trying to focus on the tip of a bone needle that was across a room but doing so several at a time and with them being in different corners of the room.
And, as their exercises increased in difficulty, that number of needles increased by a factor or two.
He'd learned to measure the training appropriately through trial and error.
Nur removed his arms from his back and he raised his hands.
"Keep going, Nefer. You're almost there. Only 24 segments from now." Nur said as he tapped the digital phalanx segment of his little finger before going to the middle and then the end before moving on to the next ring finger as he measured the seconds.
After he finally touched upon the last segment on his left hand "And you can carefully laid them down in the order you picked them up in."
Nefer-Tentamun groaned whilst she clenched her teeth but did as he asked, stopping their motion and begun to lay the smallest stone down on the ground. Then the next, and the next, until she laid down the heaviest stone and almost as soon as she laid it down, she heaved out heavily and bowled over to grab her knees.
Nur smiled at the sight of his tired daughter before he walked over to her. He swooped her up, much to her tired delight, and rested and levelled her on his arm.
Nur swept her wet hair from her forehead. "You did great, Nefer. Very great. I'm proud of you." The words delighted his daughter and he was rewarded with a bright smile.
"Does that mean you will take me to the Dashret tomorrow?" she asked brightly, a hint of not-so-innocent expectation in her eyes.
Nur laughed heartily as he moved the last strands of her hair behind her ear. "Not tomorrow but yes, I shall soon take you to the Dashret as I promised. You have done very well this year and shall thus be rewarded." Nur said to his daughter and she nodded very happily at his words.
The promise he'd given her more than a year ago had been for him to take her to the Dashret, or what would be known in his time as the Red Sea, after she'd 'proven' herself to him and to Egypt.
The Dashret, like the Great Green, was believed to be the left over primordial waters from the time of creation, and beyond it, where other civilisations that Egypt knew existed, were those who were unfortunate enough to be parted from the lands of the Gods. And so, the Dashret was a special place for most Egyptians though few would ever get to see it.
She'd asked him about it and then asked him if she could go see it, and he'd agreed as long as she met his requirements.
As well as doing well in her religious studies and her studies as Princess of Egypt, he also demanded that she gained better control over her gifts, all of which she had done beyond his expectations of her.
And, truthfully, as he listened to her chatter away about the 'facts' she knew about the Red Sea, he always planned on taking her as long as she tried.
Truly, she was the apple of his eye and it hadn't been difficult to come to love his daughter fiercely. And, truthfully, in many ways, she deeply reminded him of his sister, Zara, and his niece Samira, precocious and bright-eyed, though she was more certain of herself than Zara had been at her age.
She would have fitted in well with his family in another life, he mused to himself with a sense of strange sad but contented happiness overcoming him.
Nur smiled as he answered her questions as they walked, happy enough to listen to her speak as she chattered away whilst they made their back towards the other side of the royal Palace, paying little mind to the servants and guards that passed them by.
Hours Later…
After Nur concluded his discussions about their campaigns against the chiefdoms of Nubia at their border with his Vizier and Piankhi, his recently returned General from Lower Egypt, he was informed of the High Priest of Osiris seeking audience with him with a woman by his side, and he excused his general whilst his Vizier remained.
As the High Priest was being escorted, Nur immediately latched onto the sight of the woman who was beside him as the priest walked and Nur instinctively fell into a cold assessing mode as he took her in, the hairs of his neck rising.
Outwardly, he remained the same, the same authoritative air that came naturally to him, but inwardly? His body seemed to be ready to go into combat mode.
Her skin seemed almost aglow, glistening like polished bronze, her raven black hair flowing down her back with the softness of silk as she walked with a graceful gait that made it seem as if she was floating across the floor, the sway of her lithe hips mesmerising.
Her face, captivating, like a portrait made by Michaelangelo in the throes of his most inspired moment, bearing a sweet smile, the kind that could make flowers bloom under its warm rays though it was her eyes that he found difficulty looking away from, eyes that seemed to pierce all the way down to his very core…
'What was she…?'
'Despite his instincts reacting to the presence around this woman, there was something about this woman that counters my instincts, inducing reassurance in me…she is not normal…not at all…'
"Your Excellency." The high priest Nakth-ankh said reverently as he bowed down to Nur, drawing his gaze away from her and he turned towards the bowing man.
"High Priest of Osiris." Nur acknowledged, his voice carrying with a strong rumbling quality, one that echoed faintly in the halls of his throne room.
"I have brought you the sculptor of the figurine, Your Excellency." The High Priest said as he gestured towards the woman who remained straight, an act that did not go unmissed by anyone and his Vizier snapped out of the trance he was in.
"You dare not bow before the Pharoah?!" his Vizier exclaimed out outraged before he rounded "Guards, remove her from the Pharoah's sight!" he said disgusted.
She was committing a grave slight to him by not bowing in deference.
Nur raised his hand and shook his head slightly, stopping the guards in their motion.
"You are the sculpture of the figurine?" Nur asked, his gaze set firmly on the woman.
"I am, Pharaoh of the Two Egypts." Her voice was lively, as lovely to hear as a feather is lovely to pass a finger across its surface, and he found no reason to doubt her as he studied her expression, an expression that kept that sweet, sweet smile.
His Vizier scoffed and whilst his expression was caught in derision as he spoke, Nur could see that his eyes were far from so dismissive. "You claim this impudent woman is the one with the talent, High Priest?"
"I am certain, Vizier Imephor." The High Priest said with some nervousness before he looked to the woman "Show them." He said with almost a hiss in his voice.
The woman was unfazed and her hand went behind her back and she unhooked a figurine from the strap around her back and Nur's eyes sharpened as he took in another being of legend…a classic looking chimera and then his eyes went to meet her gaze and Nur was having a deep sense of suspicion about what was going on.
"Everyone but the sculptor. Leave." Nur's voice was commanding, the bass in his voice heavy. When no one moved for a few moments, Nur sent a look to his Vizier and his Vizier snapped out of his bafflement and soon everyone was made to leave.
Nur got up from his throne and walked down the few steps with slow moves until he was standing in front of her, towering over her with his six foot three size, a size that was almost a foot taller than even most of the taller men in Tjenu.
She looked not even the slightest intimidated, still wearing that sweet, sweet smile.
Nur never broke eye contact the entire time, even when his hand went towards the figurine and took it from her waiting hands. After a few moments, he did finally break eye contact and turned his eyes towards the figurine as he felt the contours of the figurine with his touch. It really was a well crafted figurine.
"You have a talent in sculpting." Nur said appraisingly before he looked back to meet her gaze. Her sweet, sweet smile deepened.
"Thank you, Pharaoh." She said with that same lively, lovely voice. Her gaze finally broke as she looked upon the figurine. "This piece I particularly enjoyed carving."
"What gave you the inspiration? I have not seen such animals before." Nur said as he rolled the figurine in his hand before he moved to return it into her hands though he stopped the moment before releasing it into her open palms.
"These are legends of my village, Pharoah." The woman said as she closed her hands and her arms fell to her sides in graceful, regal motions.
"Oh?" Nur probed and her smile somehow deepened further and she inclined her head slightly, as if she was in thought. Frustratingly, she was impossible to read.
Because at this very moment, she seemed nothing but genuine in her expression and Nur knew it instinctively, and from experience, that it was anything but genuine.
Not when her presence confused his instincts so much. Not when he suspected.
"Yes. Legends that come from tales of sorrow born from chaos." She said as she began to walk around him, towards the throne.
Nur turned his body to follow her graceful movement.
She continued "In a time before there were Pharoahs, before there were towns and chiefs, the lands came to be beset by horrifying monsters." Her voice seemed to take on a profound sense of sadness, so much so that he could belief that it was grief.
"It is said they came out of nowhere and suddenly they were everywhere. Monsters that leapt out of the Nile with no warning. Monsters that come down and take you faster than you could blink. Monsters that could tear through an entire village in the time you were away at the well or the Nile."
Nur was not sure if he was captivated so much by her story or if it was her voice, a voice that seemed to lull him into a sense of peaceful quietness. Likely it was both.
"I have not heard of these legends before." Nur said calmly as he eyed her carefully.
She turned around to face him, a kind smile that seemed to be as radiant as the sun itself. "I would not expect you to know, Pharoah. It is a tale that is many generations old. So old that it was lost far longer ago than the years since Iry-Hor has passed."
"And yet your village remembers these stories." Nur stated calmly as he shifted around, his mind half at work trying to figure out what he could know of what she was saying. If he suspected what she was, was right, then it was there was a chance that he might recall something to link to whatever it is she is trying to tell him.
"These are stories that are hard to forget when my village was the village that was saved by the Gods before my ancestors could be devoured." The woman declared before continuing, in an almost disconnected voice. "My village was saved by the Gods when the chaos threatened to unravel all that was, descending down to save the lands and people of their chosen Domain."
'chosen Domain…' Nur thought on that as he met her gaze.
"I see." Nur said as he raised his hand in which the figurine was in, inspecting it with a curious gaze. So the Egyptians Gods intervened before it destroyed their followers?
He turned his attentions to her once more.
"If these are…monsters…why have you offered one of their likeness to Osiris?"
"So that he may remember his Just deeds are not forgotten, even if he lay imprisoned." The woman continued and Nur narrowed his eyes unperceptively.
"You are mistaken. Osiris rules the underworld. He is not imprisoned."
She offered him a smile once more though this smile was one that you gave children when they said or did something amusing though a few moments later, it turned saddened, as if she wished with all of her heart that what he'd said was true.
His intuition that she was indeed one of them was solidifying more and more.
There was a long moment of silence as he took her in, one that he was made to break for it was clear that she would not. As he spoke, he looked towards the figurine.
"Will they return? These…monsters?"
"Who said they had ever left?" she posed to him with an almost careless and flighty tone to her voice, looking towards the figurine with calmness emanating from her.
Nur frowned. Something like that would have been made its way to him, surely?
Unless…unless there were no survivors to tell.
But surely there would at least be tales of abandoned villages? Unless…unless entire villagers weren't being culled by these supposed monsters.
"You're saying that they are hunting individuals." Nur stated, his tone carrying a note of causticness about it as his demeanour shifted ever so slightly.
"One or two never returning to their village after having left for Tjenu would not seem to be anything to be concerned about." She said to him with a piercing gaze, her voice bereft of emotion, something that seemed to turn deader as she continued.
"The desert and the Nile are full of danger. Death is always near."
"More so if what you are implying about these monsters is true." Nur said as he closed his hand around the figurine, his mind working to figure out the scale of the problem. If one of the Egyptian Gods, like he thought this woman was, was reaching out to him…
He turned his eyes back towards her. "Why come to me?"
"I have not come to you. You called for me, oh Pharoah."
Nur twisted his lips into a half-smile. 'I see…so at least one of the Egyptian Gods has a sense of humour at least.' Still…the news of Osiris being imprisoned was concerning to say the least. What was or had happened? What could imprison him?
Seth?
"It is an interesting story." Nur said, shifting the direction of his probes as his expression began to bear a heavy and concerned frown "And should it be as true as you seem to say it is, I fear we must hope the Gods will come down to save the People of Egypt once more from these monsters."
She smiled at him, and it was a kind smile "The Gods have no need to intervene, Siamun'Nur, Son of the Gods." Though she said his epithets with a calm voice, there was so much more in it thar she was not saying.
"For you, Pharoah of the Two Egypts, act as their representative on Earth." The woman said with supreme serenity though, despite that, the hairs on his neck rose.
'Ah…and so there it is…'
Well…there was no escaping his duty, not that he wanted to, anyway. As he eyed her, he wondered if she was enjoying all but ordering him to 'deal' with the situation.
'Probably' he mused to himself as he thought on her words. For her references to his epithets, given and claimed, along with the title he earned, were far from innocent, and in some ways, it could be seen as a threat as well as an order.
After all, he was laying claim to a connection that did not exist and it probably didn't sit well with the Egyptian Gods. 'Prove it that you are worthy of our favour…'
And Nur was keenly aware that he was still scouring the depths of the ocean to find the absolute limit of his abilities. And, as he was, he was not nearly strong enough to handle the likes of Gods, and he might not be for quite some time…for now.
At least, he mused to himself, that was the hope…
In any case…
He could say that he was nothing but a man, wrangling this part of the conversation for all of its worth but somehow, as he met her gaze, he knew it wouldn't fly.
She knew that he knew that she was an Egyptian God.
And knowing the legends that existed in his old world, now and in the eras over the next thousands of years, this world would be and is beset with Gods and beings that affected the world and civilisations with blatant hands – often times with cruel and ruthless intent – and so, it was rather likely that she'd, and likely the other Egyptian Gods as well, had seen his actions.
"I see." Nur said slowly before he inclined his head towards as he spoke. "I shall act accordingly." Nur said, all but confirming that he accepted the command given.
It was curious that being so…deferring in authority to another was not nearly as off-putting as he thought it would be now that he's been the ultimate authority for over a decade, with powers that no man could hope to overcome.
He didn't think it was nearly because this was a God, or whatever it was, but more to do about the way his instincts were so…muddled.
'Whilst my instincts are heightened and my body ready for combat, there was something in this woman that induced reassurance in me which seemed to make me more liable to take her at her words, and presence, that he had little to fear from her so long as I don't do anything wrong…'
"Will I gain…assistance of any kind?" Nur asked as he studied her expression.
Whilst Nur was unsure about how well he'd far against these…monsters…he got the impression that he was capable enough of handling them. Or at least that was what she was expecting of him.
…Or maybe she was just hoping she'd get rid of him by having him fall against these monsters. Not a thought that he was dismissing at all since it would solve the whole 'working against history' angle that might exist.
She only smiled at him, a smile that seemed to indicate that he would get no further than what he already got from her about this. 'Of course it wouldn't be easy…'
Seems like he wouldn't get any assistance in finding these monsters either…
He sighed internally. 'What a pain. Egypt was huge and finding these creatures was going to probably as hard as actually fighting them…'
He'd have to figure out how to create a kind of UAVs or something from the scavenged tech and machines he had.
'At least it'll keep me occupied. It should be easier to do than the Analyser' he thought idly as he drew up plans in his mind. He was familiar with UAVs and a fairly deft hand at mechanical systems that had come from learning in the field.
Everything he'd learnt thus far along with his perfect memory, it should be achievable to, what was it that the CIA bunch liked to say, 'MacGyver my way into building what I need'.
"Can I expect more visits from…talented sculptors such as yourself?" Nur probed, trying to gauge how much…focus was on him.
Inevitably far more than he wished but he wondered if other Gods were as…interested as this…God seemed to be in him. He doubted quite significantly that he'd find them as…friendly as this one has been.
Gods tended to be quite human with their faults and with the power they possessed…
As he waited on her to answer, the doors to the royal court opened and he turned his head towards the direction and saw Ha'Nepthi walking in with a nervous Vizier.
Her face was set in that regal expression of hers but he could see the concern in her eyes and as he looked to meet the Vizier's gaze, the man averted his eyes from him.
'Idiot…' Nur thought exasperated. The fool probably told his wife about the beautiful woman who he was alone with.
Knowing his wife's insecurities about not being able to have another child – which he repeatedly reassured her did not matter to him which he confirmed by swearing to her he'd not to take a concubine – she'd likely had a miniature heart attack at the news.
His Vizier was lucky he was as adequate as he was…
Nur turned his head back around and his eyes widened slightly when he saw that she was gone and immediately scanned the area around him. She's gone…
'And I didn't even notice her leaving…'
He sighed slightly before a flicker of a wry smile appeared on his face.
'Such cliché…Of course she'd disappear as if she was never there…'
"Husband." His wife's voice called out and he turned back to face her. She bore a frown on her face and her eyes were still looking around for a sign of the woman when she came to a stop before him, meeting his gaze.
"Ha'Nepthi." Nur said with a gentle smile and a soothing tone before he lost it when he turned to his vizier. "Vizier Imephor." His voice lost its soothing and instead verged on the cusp of sternness.
His Vizier blanched and Nur, whilst he enjoyed making his Vizier sweat, turned away his gaze and met his wife's eyes once more.
"I was told you found your sculptor and I wished to meet this…woman who left such an impression on you." Ha'Nepthi said with a smile that didn't quite look genuine before she looked around and added "Though it seems she's already left…?"
'Without saying goodbye too…' Nur thought wryly.
"Yes. She quite abruptly left. You just missed her." Nur said to her after a pause. He wasn't quite sure if he should tell her about his interaction with one of the Gods.
Her devotion to them made it clear that she'd take it a bit too…extreme.
It wouldn't be long until the others, particularly the Priests would know, he rather didn't want the situation to go out of the control he maintained at present.
"Strange…I did not see her in the hallways." Ha'Nephti said with a frown.
"She left through the passage door." Nur said, gesturing to the passage door that led to less traversed passageways which would lead to one of the guard stations.
"I see. I would still like to meet her." Ha'Nepthi said and she turned to the Vizier. Nur sent a sharp look at his Vizier and the man understood his look although the reasons behind it were…wrong.
"Ah…I will see to it that we bring her to you, my Queen." The Vizier said with a bowed head to her before he turned to Nur and bowed from the hip and quickly made his way out of the door.
Ha'Nepthi turned towards him, her gaze scrutinising. "Did she impress you?" there was no accusation but only just.
Nur found it somewhat amusing, doubly so when you considered that the woman was an Egyptian Goddess of some kind. He somehow doubted that anything like what Ha'Nepthi feared was on the cards…
"She did though I did not hire her." Nur said to her calmly before he turned to his hand that held within the figurine. When he opened his hand, what he saw surprised him greatly. In his hand, where before there was a figurine of a chimera, was now, instead, a rectangular block of stone.
'How did I not feel the change in shape…?' Unless it was an illusion of some kind?
Maybe one that also affected vision…? Could she not have been here after all…?
He knew that magic existed, even before he knew where exactly he was since he'd seen some of the Sand Stormers use magic like some kind of transmutation – their best tribesmen were capable of creating very well crafted swords that lasted for a few days – but this was not something he was familiar with.
Could even be divine of some sort.
"I see." Ha'Nepthi said and he could hear the trace of relief in her voice and Nur turned to look at her, his eyes analytical.
"Have I ever given you cause to be…suspecting, Ha'Nepthi?" Nur said with a raised eyebrow. Had he wished, he could have had a disturbingly large harem.
As Pharoah, it was within his remit to do so.
He was mostly exempt from the principles of Ma'at addressing the likes of adultery.
Ha'Nepthi looked somewhat ashamed and said "You have not, husband. When I heard of an exceptionally beautiful woman in your presence, I…"
"You feared that I may be swayed into breaking my oath to you." Nur surmised.
Her shame deepened. "Please accept my apologies" she said with a bowed head.
Nur placed his finger underneath her chin. "There is no forgiveness to give, my wife." Nur said with a faint smile before his smile turned somewhat teasing "Only a request that you promise that you will not think the worst of me again, please."
Ha'Nepthi smiled at him and her normal self broke through the expression of shame he'd disliked. "I promise" she said honestly and she turned her gaze to his hands.
"Why do you have such a stone?" she asked him a little confused but also interested.
"It was a gift." Nur said as he raised his hand that held the perfectly rectangular block. He eyed it carefully, scanning its surfaces and he realised that it was as perfect as he could see.
Nur caught an idle thought and he looked up away from the stone and met her gaze once more. "A gift for me to carve out into the shape I desire."
'Or perhaps it was a symbol of what Nur was…destined to be shaped as she wanted…'
Nur would ponder on which was true for quite some time.
-Break-
3222 B.C. (13 E.C.) – Somewhere in the Eastern Desert…
Nefer-Tentamun POV
The ground shook, and Nefer counted on the segments of her fingers and just as the was about to move to her second finger, the ground shook again and she started over again like the hundreds and hundreds of times she did before.
To be honest, she'd lost count how long it has been since they'd departed Tjenu, which they had left long before Dawn had come, and she looked up towards the sun and noted that it was between noon and sunset.
'It wouldn't be long now before father would rest.' she thought as she veered her gaze away from the sun and towards the horizon. As far as the eye could see, all she could see was the Deshret, the red land.
She stopped her counting and gripped on the bones made for her to hold onto and she peered downward from the 'pouch' father had placed her in, a pouch that was part of father's skin and was located where the heart was.
As she stared at father's moving legs, legs that were taller than even their palace, she couldn't help but marvel at how amazing father's gifts were.
She'd love being able to be taller than anything else and maybe even grow tall enough to touch the sun and the moon that moved across the dress of the Goddess Nut! Maybe father can reach and pick up one of the stars too, she thought dreamily.
The way father laughed with her when she said that she wanted him to take her with him when he tried made it clear that father could do it if he wanted to.
But, she thought as she contemplated with a pinched look on her face, father probably wouldn't want to upset the Goddess Nut if he touched her amazing dress.
She didn't like it when her dresses were messed with either so she didn't think the Goddess Nut would either.
It would be disrespectful to the Goddess of the Sky and, she thought wisely as she nodded to herself, father probably doesn't want to upset the other Gods too for the Goddess Nut was Horus' grandmother, her ancestor.
Which also meant that the Goddess Nut was also her ancestor. Maybe the Goddess Nut would be permissive if she asked her many times grandmother?
The Goddess Nut was a kind Goddess, not like Sekhmet who could be as cruel as she could be kind.
She laid her head against her arms and she peered towards the blue skies that were clear of any clouds. 'Yes…' she thought to herself with a hum, her eyes slightly closing. She'd bring offerings and ask her for the permission…
…
Her eyes blearily opened and she came to be awake to her body being shaken around and she came to see that it was night. She blinked a few times, during which the pouch she was in was slowly going away, and she felt herself being scooped up in father's hands, hands that continued to shrink and soon enough she was sat on his arm.
"Father." She said in a yawn as she rubbed her eyes with her arm.
"Ah…I woke you." Her father said as he gently set her on the ground.
"It's okay. I slept during the day." She told him as she extended her arms and it felt nice. The pouch was really tight. She could only just move to drink water from her waterskin.
She looked around and though it was night, she could still see well and she saw that they were still in the desert though the surroundings were rocky. She turned around and saw her father take out bread from one of the eight baskets that he carried with him, in the same kind of pouch he carried her in.
"Come, eat, Nefer. You must be hungry." Father said and she realised she hadn't eaten all day. It was then she realised she was actually very hungry and she hurried to her father who sat himself down and gestured her to sit opposite him.
As she dug into the bread, dates and water, she noted that father wasn't eating but was instead watching her with a strange smile on his face.
"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked in between bites of the bread.
Her father shook his head "No…I am not hungry. Don't worry about me…just eat." Her father said as he gestured with his head at her and so she continued to eat.
And, as she was eating, she was watching her father gaze towards the stars with a look on his face that she'd seen him have when he was working with the architects or with the Priests.
After she finished the bread and the dates, she drank half of the waterskin and saved the rest for another day. She knew that father had made sure there was plenty for them but she didn't want to be wasteful.
But then, she thought, maybe father would be able to find something to eat and drink here in the desert even if they ran out, she thought herself whilst she glanced at the waterskin.
Father had all kinds of secret knowledge, like how to get amazingly tasting water.
The water they had now had been such water.
You made a square pot with a small hole at the bottom and then you'd fill it with gravel and sand before placing a cup beneath the hole. You would then place the Nile water or oasis water or even well water over the sand and gravel and the water would travel to the bottom and through the hole and into the cup.
You then took the cup and poured it over the sand and gravel and you did this at least twelve times and then you would get dirt free water. After that, you then boiled the water to get rid of little animals that could make you sick and the heat of the water would kill them.
Father told her that everyone in Egypt would come to know this way. There were lots of things like this that father knew and no one else knew.
The Priests always said that the Gods speak directly to father and she wondered how they did that. She never heard them speak to him.
Did they speak to him during the night like this?
"Father…how do the Gods speak to you?" she asked her father and her father turned his head towards her, a look of surprise on his face.
"Why do you ask?" her father asked curiously.
She twisted her nose a little "Because I have never heard them speak to you so I was wondering how they whispered the secrets of the world to you."
"Ah…" her father said as she saw him look at her with understanding before his expression softened and sighed a little before he looked towards the stars.
For a little while he did not speak nor did his face change when he looked to the stars until, finally, he spoke up. "The Gods do not speak, Nefer-Tentamun, not with words anyway." Her father pointed towards the stars in the heavens.
"They speak with signs. That is how they speak with me though it is a little different with me." Her father said. The priests say the same too, that the Gods spoke through signs.
She looked at her father a little confused. "Different?"
"I am able to know better of what they mean with their signs than the priests." Her father said to her as he turned his face to her.
"Oh." She said with understanding and she nodded "Because you're their son" she stated. Of course, that made sense.
Her father looked at her for a long little while before turned his eyes away from her before he nodded slowly "That's right, Nefer…that's right." Her father said with a strange tone and she looked at him oddly.
"Though…" her father continued. "Some things I learnt on my own." Her father said to her as he turned to her with a little smile on his face. "Like the clear water."
"Really?" she asked surprised.
Her father chuckled a little. "Yes. I learnt it when I was with the Sand Stormers."
"Oh." She said with a little frown. Oh that was right…she looked at her father.
"The same Sand dwellers you were with until you were strong enough to defeat the blasphemer?" she asked. She remembered hearing about that once.
Maybe he could tell her more about them.
No one else really had much to say about them, not even mother.
"Yes." Her father said with a little nod. "They…taught me a lot." Father said to her.
"Really?" this time she said with a lot of dubiousness in her expression. Sand dwellers were barbarians who did not live in balance.
"Yes." Her father said with an amused smile that dropped a little when he continued "They taught me about hardship of life and how to deal with such hardship from their perspective. Sand dwellers like the Sand Stormers live a very hard life and it is how they see the world. It is the only way they know how."
"Is that why you don't like killing them when they raid?" she asked him curiously.
She remembered when father went to Men-Nefer and then the lands by the Nile Delta and waged war on the sand dwellers. She'd heard that the tribes had been captured and made to work for her father.
"Yes and no." her father said after a few moments. He continued "They are like cattle that have grown in the wild. Dangerous and without purpose."
She nodded. That made sense.
Her father continued. "They do not know any better. I prefer to show them a better way to live. Most of them are not that different from the People of Egypt anyway so if I can help it, I will make them fully part of our Kingdom."
She nodded again. That made sense. As the representative of the Gods on Earth, her father was tasked to look after the People. If these people were the same as the People who lived in balance, then father had to try and make them live in balance.
"What if they don't want to live in balance?" she asked curiously.
"Then they will go to the Gods for judgment." Her father said to her calmly after a few moments before he eyed her with a long stare. "Sometimes it can only be left to the Gods if they refuse judgement on Earth."
She nodded. That also made sense.
"Do you wish you could have made the Sand Stormers part of Egypt?" she asked curiously. Father had lived with them for a very long time if she remembered correctly.
After the Akkaba clan had rejected her father, the Gift to Egypt, the Sand Stormers had taken him in as one of their own.
"No." her father said calmly and she was surprised at his denial.
Her father continued "They did not live in balance as the Gods wish for us to live. It is better that they are gone." Her father said and he shook his head when she was about to ask another question about it.
"Have you satiated your hunger?" her father asked her and she nodded. "Good. Then you have time to practice a little with your powers." Her father said as he waved his hand towards a rock which flew towards them.
She groaned but nonetheless she stood up, glaring at the floating rock. It looked heavy. She was going to be so tired afterwards…
She got into a stance and she extended out her hands fully and she grabbed hold of the rock. "Raise it as high as you can and keep it there. Do not stop until I say so."
And so, well into the night, she kept the stone high in the sky.
Days later…
"It's as blue as the skies" Nefer-Tentamun whispered with awe in her voice as she finally came to see the blue of the ocean.
When she'd heard of the Dashret, the sea which stood between Egypt and the red land, where foreign tribes of unknown tongue dwelled, more than anything else, she wanted to see the sea with her own eyes.
The last parts of the journey felt like an age, longer than the days it took to get here, but finally, they finally arrived! And, as her father shrunk and let her go and bid her to stay at the edges of the Dashret, she ran towards the sea with unrestrained joy.
En Sabah Nur / Siamun'Nur POV
He smiled softly as he let himself fall onto the sands of the beach, his right arm rising before he perched it against his upright thigh, his eyes watching his daughter yelping as she touched cold water of the red sea.
The journey took about eight days before they arrived at the red sea, a journey that saw them through the hot dry deserts and dunes and mountains, and, seeing his daughter marvel at the sea, it was a pay off that was well worth it.
'Enjoy the little things…' the familiar voice of Bishop rang in his voice, the image of the Cameroonian with a smile offering a chocolate power bar vivid in his mind.
At the time, he'd been so pissed. Mosquitos had been eating him alive and his right boot had been pierced on the side by a damn tree branch and he could feel the dampness of the tape covering his boot as they tread through the jungle.
Looking back, he thought amused as he kept an eye out on his daughter, he'd been a jackass as the Americans liked to say. Constantly scowling and making angry noises, making an already miserable mission even more miserable for his comrades.
'Enjoy the little things…'
He didn't know what it was about those words, or the way it was said, and by whom it was said, but he'd taken the words to heart throughout his life.
In all honesty, he was glad for it. That mission in the Congo had been their third year in and Nur could see how wound up like a coil he was getting.
The little things…the little things had made his aimless life bearable after he'd secured the futures of his sister and brother. Getting gifts for his sister and brother and their children from the country he was on a mission to.
Sending klomps to Johnny the Dutchman carved out of the local woods of where he had been. Mailing Lucky the Ukrainian local porn magazines.
Or, he mused as he stared at his daughter who was now using her powers to skip stones into the sea, enjoying a moment of normality in a world where the abnormal was the new normal.
Perhaps that was unfair, Nur mused to himself.
His, their life in Tjenu was normal, at least in terms of being the royal family. Even if paradigms have shifted with the entrance of Egyptian Gods in his life, Gods that have sent him on a mission like he was a damn Theseus out of Greek mythology.
Typical…
He didn't think the missions would stop either…
Plus, this news of Osiris being imprisoned was also something to be worried…
Nur sighed silently, his hand clenching slightly as he peered at his daughter who began to walk along the edge of the tides, just enough for her feet to dip into the waters.
He lacked control.
For much of this second life of his, he'd lacked control and just as he thought, maybe, maybe, he'd be able to control his destiny and direct the destiny of his people, he learnt what he was concerned about was right.
'I am a long way from controlling my own destiny…'
And the only solution he had to that particular and planetary sized problem, was to master his abilities.
Nur glanced at his hand that hung from his arm that leaned against his thigh.
He did not think any longer that his shape changing, the telekinesis or the luminescence was all there was to his ability.
He had time to think about his abilities and he'd come to a realisation about his powers, one that potentially would explain everything about Apocalypse…and potentially how under-utilised his abilities truly were.
'How much potential he had within him…'
The shape changing shouldn't have allowed him to alter his mass like he was able to, nor should it have allowed it for him to become tougher than steel.
That was what gave him the spark he needed to grasp onto the long elusive ability of telekinesis.
Nur looked upon his daughter who returned to skipping stones onto the surface of the sea using her abilities. Nefer-Tentamun had helped him too in that regard as she described how it felt like to use her abilities.
Acoustic Manipulation was similar in some fashion to telekinesis, the difference being that Nefer consciously and subconsciously controlled the frequencies of sound and directly agitated molecules to behave and cause a certain effect whereas Telekinesis was the ability to use the mind to cause an effect through manipulation with matter and energy.
He already knew instinctively how to manipulate his own matter so it had been a case of figuring out on how to manipulate his own body to allow for him to affect matter outside of his body in this manner.
Nur closed his fist loosely, the sands falling out from either side of his fist.
It hadn't been easy.
It took him several years of fruitless meditation of trying – and failing – to recollect the feeling of what it felt like to levitate in the air only for him to give up on it and try something else.
With but a thought, a growth began to grow on the back of his hand, a lump that transformed and elongated into an exceedingly long middle finger and, with an open palmed hand, he slashed at the finger and cut it off, blood spurting.
But, as it arced to land in the sand, his left hand that had been an open-handed palm, drew in the fingers to form a claw like shape and he took hold of the finger which now floated into the air.
Nur floated the finger closer to himself, his white eyes studying the finger intently before he altered the finger into a ball of flesh. He up-turned his left hand and opened his palm once more and the ball of flesh began to orbit above his palm.
He'd grown desperate enough to try anything and after he'd figured out how to grow additional appendages, he'd decided to see if his control of his body extended, well, beyond his body.
And it did.
Though it was not the same. It was almost akin to what comrades had once described to him in another life…the feeling…the presence of a ghost appendage.
It was that feeling and observing his daughter grow into her power that allowed him to finally understand how to alter himself to incorporate the mechanisms of telekinesis into himself though it still took considerable conscious effort for him to move anything not of his flesh.
Nur dug his right hand into the sand and picked up a handful of sand before he opened his hand and controlled the mass of sand in his palm, forming them into a ball of coagulant sand and floated it above the palm of his right hand.
But that was fine, Nur thought with a shadow of a triumphant smile as he stared at the ball of sand. He would grow his control and scope of telekinesis…just as he would grow any other abilities he would come to learn and incorporate into himself.
After all…
He knew now what his abilities were.
The ability to change himself at a molecular level. It explained why Apocalypse had all of those abilities and it explained his immortality, and no longer did he have to fear that there were steps that Apocalypse took to get as power as he did.
His un-aging – he was still about the same age he was when he triggered his abilities if his base appearance was anything to go by – he concluded was a result of his self-molecular manipulation.
And when he'd triggered his powers awake, he'd unconsciously applied this ability which was akin to a mother reaching beyond her physical strength for an extremely limited time to lift a car to save her child because of heightened emotions.
With a thought, Nur had the ball of flesh sink into his palm and he reabsorbed the mass into his being before letting the ball of sand fall into his palm and Nur turned his gaze back at his daughter who was still blissfully playing with her powers on the beach.
It was a relief. A relief not only to understand the scope of his powers, which was essentially limitless so long as he never imposed conscious or unconscious limits to his mind, knowledge and body, but also to have within himself the chance to stand against the bullshit that existed in this…place.
Knowing the kind of bullshit that existed in this universe, from that Red Witch Wanda character that could literally rewrite the universe with her bullshit powers to alien-cum-gods – or actual aliens – who thought nothing of humanity to uber-Gods like beings like that eight eyed Celestial thing he recalled in his memories, he'd needed something special to be able to protect what was his.
And…if he needed to, he'd be able to fight against the Egyptian Gods too.
Nur set his gaze back towards his daughter, the clump of sands breaking in his grip.
He'd thought a lot about what he knew about the Marvel Universe and his meditation had pricelessly helped and he recollected everything he'd set his eyes on.
Even without Bishop's obsessions or his nephew and nieces' interest in the superhero media, by the time Nur had died, Marvel had come to dominate both television and movies.
From Senegal to Quebec, from Sierra Leone to Vietnam, there was not a place on Earth where the movies and television series were not consumed in the wider public.
So Nur knew more than just a little about this…universe.
So much so that he also knew that this universe could also not be the one he knew from the movies – he was fairly sure Invisible Jessica Alba wasn't part of the whole Avengers series – which would be…inconvenient.
Or at least would have been had it not been for his realisation of his powers and the limitless nature of them.
He considered enhancing himself with the bullshit drugs and things that seemed to be possible in this universe, like that Heart-Shaped Herb from the Black Panter movie, but he was leaning against it now, especially the Heart-Shaped Herb which might be only work for one specific bloodline.
Plus, he mused to himself, it was possible that Bastet would curse him for taking a gift that was not bestowed on him.
He shook his head. All of that and he was not sure how it would react with his abilities which was self-molecular manipulation.
For now, the only route to further power he was willing to take, until he could be sure his abilities were unaffected, was learning magic which he knew far too little about.
Which was fine since much of what he knew about this universe wouldn't actually come to pass for thousands of years.
At some point, perhaps decades or centuries from now, he'd search out for the Sorcerer Supreme – he didn't think Kamar-Taj would exist in this time since Buddhism was almost certainly not a thing yet though he'd still go there since this place wasn't exactly all there when it came to making actual sense – and learn magic.
Nur looked back at his daughter who took to sit just about away from the tide.
But before all of that, he'd have to deal with the matters in the present.
Like dealing with these 'monsters' that Goddess tasked him to deal with, something that had Nur as concerned as he was interested. The fact that the Egyptian Gods had to come and deal with them was a clear sign that they would not be an easy challenge.
They'd be a good measure for him to test his strength against and honestly, part of his missed combat in his life, a part of him that had grown admittedly since now he wouldn't die thanks a lucky bullet a critical point. Still, he expected it wouldn't be easy nor would he be so free from the risk of death which was fine.
Plus, he mused to himself, he had a feeling that genuine life and death circumstances might well have positive effects on his abilities.
'You would laugh yourself to death, Baal, if you'd been here to hear my realisation of my abilities…' Self-Molecular Manipulation…an ability that suited so very well to the creed of survival of the fittest…
Nur shook his head and returned his mind to the mission.
He'd gotten several unused sensors to work similarly to surveillance cameras whilst he also gathered a device that seemed to float without direct visible force. He was fairly sure these were some kind of anti-gravity devices but who knows what they were capable of whenever Kang had come from.
In any case, he found more of the devices in the wreckages and they seemed to be in fine condition. It's possible they were some kind of thruster Kang used in his ships.
He was confident in his plans to fashion them in UAVs. The hardest part would be the software…which was he was focused on at the moment.
He was writing the programs for some of the computer devices he'd been using for the Analyser Machine as CPUs, programs that would be able to identify 'non-typical' heat signatures and ping it to a connected device he'd carry with him.
He'd have to set the criteria of what was typical and what was non-typical and Nur was hoping the sections of code that was self-adjusting based on his input would work…otherwise…
…It was the best he could do.
Getting as far as he was, was a miracle in all honesty…
Nur shook his head.
He'd make it work and a wry smile crept his face.
After all, he couldn't disappoint that Goddess, could he?
"Father, look, I finally can fly!" his daughter shouted out in a way she'd never do had they been back at Tjenu. 'And so she is…' he thought with some pride as he looked at her wobbling in the air.
Nur got up and made his way to his daughter, pushing everything from his mind…
…all so that he could focus on enjoying the little things…