Chapter 42
Thus Saith the Lord
The Book of Exodus, all of the Hebrew faith knew this text well. The adopted Prince of Egypt, and soon-to-be legendary prophet of his true heritage and people, the Israelites. Moses was tasked by the divinity of his faith to liberate his people from generations of slavery in Egypt, standing up to the oppressive pharaoh and proving the might and divinity of his faith.
Ancient Egypt: The Pharaoh's Throne Room
This brotherly reunion certainly wasn't going the way Moses had hoped as he stood in the familiar surroundings of his adoptive father, Pharaoh Seti I's audience chamber. However, it was no longer him who sat atop the throne of Egypt and challenging the new pharaoh was proving to be a task of utmost difficulty on a deeply personal level for Moses. The pharaoh who he now had to go against for his people's freedom, was none other than his adoptive brother and close friend… Ramses II.
"What are you saying Moses?" Ramses questioned with genuine abashment, "Free the Israelite? The ones whose labor we require to build the backbone and infrastructure of our society. What you are asking for is ludicrous!"
Moses sighed; he had been expecting that sort of reaction. The prophet was a young Israelite man, with curly dark brown hair, a short goatee and stubble. Dressed in dusty tattered red and green robes, a far cry from the regal white tunics he wore when he was the adopted son of Seti.
"Ramses," Moses began calmly, "while I was in exile, I learnt of my true heritage before I was blessed to be known as your brother. I am a son of Israel, and as such, I cannot simply stand by a moment longer watching my people be mistreated, so I beg you dear brother, they've suffered for too long building monuments to false gods, only you can end their cycle of misery! Please, let my people go!"
"Moses!" The Pharaoh responded loudly, "Hold your tongue! Do not disrespect the mighty gods of Egypt! They are our kingdom's benefactors, and we are blessed to worship them! What has gotten into you, slandering their names so frivolously?"
"This is not a matter of worship, but of RIGHTS!" Moses countered, "It doesn't matter which god is of might or right, but of the fact that my people deserve to be free just as yours do."
Ramses sat back down on his throne, rubbing his forehead in frustration, "I mourned you when you left, did you know that, Moses? So many years spent hoping that you'd one day return… and now, when you do, it isn't to reconcile with me. But on behalf of people you have never known?"
"They are my family by our shared blood, Ramses." Moses answered sadly, "Which breaks my hearts that it is you, my family I grew up with, whom I broke bread with, who oppresses them. Serving as your foe on their behalf, is the last thing that I wanted."
The Pharaoh lifted his head, his eyes glaring with fiery resolve, "NO, I will not sacrifice Egypt's integrity for your silly dream. I will NOT be the weak link that breaks the chains of a mighty dynasty! The Israelites will stay here in Egypt. Just as they always have been and will continue to be, as lessers!"
Silence fell across the room, Ramses mouth hung open as he processed the final words of his sentence that he had accidentally blurted out, his expression regretful. Meanwhile, Moses' eyes widened, a mixture of shock and hurt on his face that quickly transformed into something colder.
"You always took father's scoldings too seriously, is that what I am then, brother? Something lesser?"
"No, Moses, I…" Ramses spluttered,
"Will this be your final say, Ramses?" The prophet interrupted, "That you will still keep my people in chains for your benefit rather than do the right thing?"
Ramses froze, his gaze uncertain, genuinely considering his brother's words for a moment. But as his eyes shifted from side to side, he was met with disapproving glares from the various statues of Egyptian Deities and his father that permeated the throne room. Watching, judging, criticizing his every action. So it was, a look of fiery resolve appeared once more upon the pharaoh's face as he made his final decree,
"It is."
Closing his eyes in resignation before opening them to meet his brother's burning gaze, Moses too gave his reply.
"Thus saith the lord"
Simple as that, the prophet turned his back onto the pharaoh and slowly made his way out of the palace. As the figure of Moses grew smaller and smaller, a young Egyptian boy slowly entered the throne room, curiously watching his disappearing silhouette before turning to Ramses.
"Father, who was that?"
Ramses looked at his eldest son, his cold features momentarily betraying the slightest hint of remorse, "… No one of importance, my son."
…
Walking out of the palace gates, Moses felt a familiar warmth ripple across his body. Next to him a dry bush erupted into white flames, prompting the prophet to kneel in reverence, preparing to relay the failure of his attempts at peace to the archangels.
"I tried, Lord Raphael…" Moses lamented, "I tried, but he was just too stubborn."
"At ease Moses, and rise. There is no need for you to bow in me or my siblings' presence." Raphael's disembodied voice replied comfortingly, "You did your utmost to have things work out peacefully. But alas…"
Moses stood, a determined look now on his face, "Thank you, Lord Raphael. So… what is the plan now?
"Seeing as we were unable to convince your brother with words… it is most likely that Michael will follow through with his original plan, though I fear you will not like it very much." Raphael answered in a begrudging tone.
"Say no more, Lord Raphael." Moses replied confidently, "No matter the price, if it means the liberation of my people, I am willing to pay the price."
"I know you are, Moses, I only hope that the same can be said for your brother…"
(Present Day)
"How could I have completely forgotten about it!" Heimdall yelled as Raphael rose from the sea of white flames, "Raphael's signature ability, and the reason he earned the title of the Holy Nurse! The vivid white fire that only he can control! The holy spark which can heal almost ANYTHING! LUMEN SANCTUS!"
"You…" Raphael spoke with an uncharacteristic growl, as the flames of Lumen Sanctus magically began healing the minor cuts and bruises across his body. "It is… YOU. Ramses II, you are THAT PHARAOH?!"
"The very same," Ramses retorted coldly, "The one who enslaved your followers for decades. The one who didn't set them free. The SINNER with the hardened heart!"
Ramses was interrupted by a rush of wind in his face. Immediately pulling out his khopesh, the pharaoh parried a sudden strike from Raphael!
"WHAT'S THIS?!" Heimdall yelled, "After spending the first chunk of the match taking the pacifist's route, Raphael has FINALLY made his first offensive move!"
"You so boldly ADMIT to your sins?" Raphael blanched in utter shock and disgust, "Are you… PROUD of what you did?!
"Proud?" Ramses laughed without mirth, "Only a monster would take pride in what I did!"
"Is that so?" Raphael roared, breaking away from the clash and skidding back across the battlefield. "Then why fight with such wrath, acting as though I'm the one who wronged you after everything you put my followers through, is that not what a monster would do?!"
As he said this, the flames that were healing his injuries flew off Raphael's body. Swirling in the air behind him, the blazing fire of Lumen Sanctus morphed into three pairs of geometrically shaped wings. The edge of their feathers sharpened and blazing with heat as all six spiraled forwards in razor sharp arcs.
"SANCTUS ALIS!"
"W-what's happening?!" Pandora yelped, "I thought Lord Raphael's flames were meant for healing others? I didn't know it could be used for offence too!"
"The flames of Lumen Sanctus' main purpose are indeed healing, both to a person's physical body as well as their mental psyche." Joan explained, "But at the same time should he wish, Raphael can turn the flames' comforting warmth into blazing constructs ready to defend himself at a moment's notice."
Swerving his chariot left and right as the fiery wings flew closer, Ramses began to maneuver himself around the incoming projectiles, bursts of heat stinging him and his chariot as wing after wing collided dangerously close to either side until there was only one last pair left!
"Bastard…" The pharaoh snarled as he continued charging forward, "still trying to keep up that righteous facade? It appears that one beating was not enough to make you confess, so if that is the case… I'LL JUST BREAK THAT OTHER WING OF YOURS!"
As the last pair of wings honed into their target, moving inwards at Ramses in a pincer attack, the pharaoh sprang upwards with the grace and strength of a gazelle. Evading the incoming projectiles as they exploded into a wave of white flames right below him!
Without missing a beat whilst he was midair, Ramses somersaulted downwards, landing perfectly back onto his chariot to the roar of an impressed crowd, ready to continue his unrelenting charge forward. As he did, the Pharaoh slammed his foot down on a pedal at the bottom of his ride, accelerating the speed of his chariot till the point that the pharaoh and his glided mount resembled a golden blur.
In response, Raphael shot his hand forward, summoning a ball of white fire in the palm of his hand. All around the battlefield, the remaining embers from the archangel's previous attack began to rise miraculously into the air. Streaking like comet trails, they began to gather and fuel the fireball already in Raphael's hand, and as it reached its zenith. The Holy Nurse brought his hand down upon the ground with a roar of determination.
For a split second, the only thing heard in the arena was the clattering rumble of Ramses and his chariot. But then, just as all that remained was a few meters separating the pharaoh from his grounded foe, the floor beneath them began to rumble and an explosion of flames erupted from below.
Shielding his eyes, Ramses paled slightly at what not towered above him. Standing now in-between the pharaoh and Raphael was the massive frame of a hulking twenty-feet golem, its body was made entirely out of the blazing white flames of Lumen Sanctum, with bits of marble and debris swirled round and round within the flaming vortex that was its torso.
Raphael moved his left hand forward and spoke in a low whisper, "I call upon your strength once more, heed my commands and let my enemy move no further. Go forth MIGHTY KADMON!"
"SANCTUS GOLEM: KADMON!"
Without another moment's hesitation, Raphael moved his left hand forward, and to the amazement of all. His golem too began to move its own bulky arm to mirror Raphael's own! And in one swift motion, the flaming construct grabbed a hold of the incoming chariot, bringing it to a halting stop and trapping it within its grasp!
Gritting his teeth, Ramses' hands slammed onto various levers and buttons, prompting his chariot's wheels to spin furiously within the golem's grasp. But as hard as his vehicle might try, pushing forward or pulling back, the pharaoh and his chariot still remained trapped!
"I-inconceivable!" Heimdall yelled, "Ramses' chariot… has finally met its match in the form of Raphael's fiery golem! If the pharaoh's chariot is the unstoppable FORCE, then the archangel's golem is the immovable WALL!"
As Raphael's supporters cheered loudly for the Holy Nurse, the hooded man from before slowly lifted his cowl off his head. Moses visibly aged with faint wrinkles under his eyes and strands of white hair mixed into his usual brown, conflict visible within his eyes, the prophet could only watch on as his old friend and guide readied to deliver angelic judgement upon his brother.
"You whom I called brother…" He muttered mournfully, "why must you call down another blow?"
"Good work, Kadmon!" Raphael said, wincing slightly as the remaining white fire on his body slowly mended his broken wing. Even with its healing properties, tending to such a grievous wound was still a lengthy and delicate process. "Now as much as I dislike him, we can still win this without striking down the pharaoh! All we need to do… is destroy the CHARIOT!"
The Holy Nurse raised his still-free right hand, balling it into a fist as his golem did the same. Ramses snarled like a cornered animal, activating more gears and switches on his control panel in an erratic fashion. But try as he might, his chariot couldn't even budge from its position as the looming fist above him slowly came crashing down from above.
"All this time, I wondered…" Raphael spoke, his face not so long ago pleading with Ramses, watching him now with a steely cold look. "If only I had just been able to speak to you face to face rather than through Moses, perhaps I could have changed your mind and ensured it all ended in peace. But men like you… who refuse to admit their wrong, who are too stubborn to see the light; reason and pleas will only fall on deaf ears!"
At those words, all attempts to break himself free by Ramses suddenly came to a halt. The pharaoh suddenly stood rigidly still, eyes bulging in fury as he bared his teeth so hard his lips bled, his expression never losing even a bit of defiance throughout as he drew his khopesh from his side.
"It seems you were correct, Pharaoh Ramses!" Raphael roared, his golem's fist now precariously close to the pharaoh's chariot, "Debts are to be paid today in this arena, for no matter how fast and dangerous you are in that chariot… In this moment, you will finally answer for all your misdeeds!"