Capítulo 11: ‘What would you do?’
Ílios POV
BOOM!! A loud explosion rang throughout the desert as Khepri once again sent me crashing to the ground.
"I think that's enough for today, it's almost noon, and I do have a kingdom to run." Khepri says while floating above me. He slowly descends and crouches beside me. "Your injuries are minor enough that you should be able to heal yourself at, even at your current level, remember you are a god of rejuvenation, to Rejuvenate is to restore and revitalize, focus on that."
I follow his instructions and close my eyes, I focus on the image of myself 6 hours ago when I was at a hundred percent, I should be able to restore my body to that state. It takes about a minute but slowly my body lights up and the blood and cuts that covered my body started to disappear. What I was doing wasn't really healing myself, it was more along the lines of de-ageing myself, bringing me back to a prior state of youthfulness with all my injuries gone.
"Good, good, you're progressing very nicely, soon you should be able to start using that ability on others." He says to me.
"It is all thanks to you my teacher, you have helped me greatly." I say to him in appreciation.
"It has been rather entertaining to teach you, you are a very talented individual." He says proudly before a look of contemplation appears on him. "Hmmm, before heading to the capital we'll need to do something about your appearance and aura. You should be able to transform on your own just picture a clear image of what you want to become, as for your aura I'll mask it to resemble that of Heka son of Khnum, whenever you are in public you will be Ræ hæiat(Ri Hiyat(means sun bird)) son of Heka and a minor God of healing, you will be my cupbearer, I will convince Heka to go along with the ruse, this way you can observe me while I rule without raising suspicion, Though I would watch out for Thoth and Isis they are skilled enough to see through such illusions."
"Alright give me a second." I tell him before concentrating on transforming into a more Egyptian-looking god, my skin darkens a little to take on a more ash-like skin tone, the wings on my back change from white to an orange colour, and my head finally transforms into that of a rooster's.
"Good, this will do, I've already masked your aura so you need not worry about that, now come quickly I must make it back to the capital before my transformation into Ra." He says before flying back to his sun boat with me quickly following behind him.
~ Time Skip ~ 3 minutes before noon
Iunu, the city of the sun. The capital of Egypt, this city would later come to be known under the Greek name of Heliopolis. It was a beautiful city built of white marble stone and gold situated in the Nile Delta area of lower Egypt. In the center of the city stood a gigantic white Pyramid with a gold tip, this city was truly a work of art.
"When we arrive in the throne room you will seat yourself on the steps of the throne, whenever I am in need of refreshment I will call on you understood?" He asks me.
"Understood, how long does it usually take you to deal with all of the people's requests?" I ask him.
"I usually allow an hour of time to hear all of my people's grievances including the mortals, after that I go about my other duties." He answers.
We land in front of the white pyramid and make our way through the various servants.
I follow closely behind Khepri until we reach a beautiful throne room, it had dozens of pillars on each side with white silks hanging from them, there were various foliage in the room and 2 giant statues of what I can only assume is Ra's human form, behind the statues were a set of long stairs that lead to a gold winged throne, behind the throne was a mural of Egypt, this was truly an impressive sight.
I walked behind Khepri before stopping midway up the stairs and sitting down as he went up to his throne, the closer he got to his throne the more his form seemed to shift and glow. As he sat down on his throne a burst of power washed through the entire room and in front of me stat not Khepri but who I can only assume is Ra. He had a muscular build and a tan skin complexion, he wore a white shendyt skirt held by a blue and gold cloth belt with a gold falcon buckle. He wore an orange shirt with blue trimmings and a piece of white cloth tied across his chest from his shoulders, and finally, atop his falcon head he had a blue and gold striped names headdress, he radiated an aura of kingship that his other 2 forms did not have.
'Hello young Íliios, you have met my other 2 forms but we have not had the pleasure of meeting, I am Ra God of the Sun, the Day, Light, Heat, Order, Life, and Creation. I am honoured to guide you in the ways of kingship." He speaks to me telepathically.
'It is an honour to meet you, Lord Ra I am eager to learn under you." I say to him before I hear a noise and turn to see the doors to the throne room opening. Various gods walk in and take seats at both sides of the room, a couple of minutes pass before a few dozen mortals are let through and make their way to the center of the room and kneel on the floor.
'Well, it looks like we're about to begin.' Says Ra before addressing the room.
"Let us begin!" He yelled.
~ Time Skip ~ 45 minutes later
"Next!" Yelled Ra.
A middle-aged mortal man walks up and stands before the throne.
"Oh great Pharaoh, I am Adom son of Akil, I hail from the settlement of Aswan in the Nubian desert, I have travelled over a week to seek aid for my people, we are being terrorized by the Lord Mehen and his snake servants, my people are starving my lord I beg you please help us." Pleaded Adom.
"Mortal, are you aware that it was I who appointed lord Mehen as ruler of Aswan as a reward for his faithful service of protecting my sun boat through the nights before the lord Set replaced him as my companion?" Asked Ra.
"Yes, I am aware of that fact my lord, all of the elders are required to learn of this history in Aswan." Answered Adom.
"So do you believe that my decision was a bad one? Should I have not rewarded Mehen with rulership of Aswan?" Asked Ra in a calm voice.
"Never my king!! I would never even dream of thinking you made a mistake, you are a wise and benevolent ruler, you reward those who serve you, it is in no way your fault how they choose to repay your kindness, some honour it by wisely ruling their lands like the Lord Set and some choose to tarnish your good name like the Lord Mehen." says Adom.
"I will need to contemplate this situation mortal." Ra said before closing his eyes.
'Ílios what would you do were you in my situation, Mehen is a former companion of mine he was the first to accompany me on my nightly journeys, he would coil himself around my boat protecting it from the chaos serpent, but he was too weak to ever help me fight, that is why I had him replaced by Set, not wanting to make him feel slighted I offered him what was then an irrelevant piece of land to rule over, but eventually he managed to make it grow into a thriving settlement.'
'I have been hearing words of his mistreatment of the mortals in his lands but could never confirm it, any time he would sense some of my agents coming to inspect his lands the dying and sick mortals would seem to disappear only to be replaced by healthy and lively people as if by magic, I suspect this is the work of Isis, her way of undermining me so she can gain favour for her husband Osiris. Tell me what would you do in this situation, if you were a king how would you handle this mess?' Ra asks me telepathically
'Hmmm, I'm not sure, if you act rashly and demand Mehen hand over control of Aswan without proof then the other gods may begin to think you a tyrant, but if you do nothing then you will surely lose the mortals' support and worship in that area, since you seem to suspect Isis, I can only assume she's masterminding this so Osiris can come in to save the day and free the mortals of Mehen's cruelty thus gaining their worship, Mehen himself probably doesn't even know he's being manipulated by her, this is a really tough situation.'
'The only thing solution I can think of is to force Mehen to come out of his territory, make him do things on your terms, challenge his pride and ego, make him leave his lands unguarded and send someone to see what's really going on there.' I tell him.
'You are truly brilliant young Ílios, that is exactly what I had been thinking, I couldn't figure out how to draw him out until you showed up, Mehen is a god that takes pride in what little strength he has, he detests his strength being challenged by those he deems weaker than him, that's where you come in, I will start spreading words that Ri Hiyat newborn son of Heka has been whispering of Mehen's weakness, if it were any other gid he might let it go, but his pride will never allow him to let a newborn godling to disrespect him.' He tells me.
'Wait so you expect me to fight him? Are you sure I'm ready for that I know you said he's not a very strong fighter but still he's a lot older and far more experienced than I am?' I as him.
'Worry not by the end of the week you should be able to face him in, with mine, Set, and Sekhmet's training you should be ready to fave him.' He tells me before opening his eyes and addressing the room again.
"I have made my decision, I will be sending one of my servants along with rations of food to your lands, if my servant finds your claims to be true then I will have the Lord Mehen removed if not then you and your people will pay dearly for lying to your King." Says Ra.
"That is more than enough my king, I am eternally grateful for your kindness." says Adom before walking back to the ground of mortals.
"This will conclude today's session, if everyone would please make their way out." says Ra before turning to me "You cupbearer! Follow me I have more tasks for you."
I stand up from my seat on the stairs and follow Ra out of the room.
"I will be sending some of my human servants back with the mortal to Aswan, it should take them a week of travel, by then the rumours of a young upstart smearing his name should have spread, and you should be strong enough to fight him while I send Neith to investigate his lands, as a goddess of hunting she should be inconspicuous enough to not be noticed by Isis." Explains Ra
"Sounds like a good plan to me, I guess I better prepare myself, this will be my first real battle." I say with slight excitement.
"It will be a good way to see where you stand, Mehen is a minor snake God, though experienced and skilled, he lacks power, you should be able to fight him with a week's training." Say Ra before stopping in front of a door.
"This is where we part for now Ílios, I must go and start working on the plan, I will meet you back this evening for our nightly journey, for now I managed to contact Heka, he has agreed to teach you magic. Here he comes now." He says pointing at the other side of the hall.
Walking towards us was a young-looking God dressed in a white shendyt skirt under a blue wraparound, he had a dark complexion, and gold tattoos on his shoulders, chest, and biceps, he had bronze-coloured hair and the most startling blue eyes I've ever seen, he held 2 snakes in his hands and had scrolls sticking out of his clothing.
"You must be Ri Hiyat, a pleasure to meet you, I am Heka God of magic, and son of Khnum, one of lord Ra's falcons came to be earlier, it informed me you were in need of a magic teacher." He says kindly.
"Since I am no longer needed I will leave you 2 to yourselves, I will see you tonight Ílios." Says Ra before walking away.
"Well, shall we begin?" he says before opening the door and inviting me in.
A.N : Damm this chapter was tough to write, I was trying so hard to figure out a situation that would show the MC's political side. How did you guys feel about it, good?bad?boring?.
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