Nezzar

Part One: When He Remembered

"I hope this gives you long enough time to think of your betrayal and learn respect."

It has been centuries since he saw the surface.

He had forgotten his name, forgotten who he was before his imprisonment. Only fragments remained.

Years upon years had passed and his body remained fused to the wall of the pits.

To be free to move about.
To rule as he was supposed to.

But the seal. The hell's vines that grew around and through him. He was a prisoner of the bottomless pit and Abaddon, that ruthless angel of death and destruction, was the warden.

Escape was near impossible. He had tried for years, threw in all his wit, that fierce hatred that boiled in him like lava. No emotion or will was strong enough. The seal embedded in his skull was unbreakable until its time was due.

Having nothing else to do, he had blended with the parasite. He had learned that hell's vines, once he got accustomed to the burn and the tearing of his flesh as they grew through him, were linked to many, many things. Even now, he could feel their collective power pumping through him. He let them feed on his blood, nourished them as they nourished him, made them move like serpents.

Serpents?

The word was an echo in his mind. Telling him there was something vital his time in the pit had snatched from him, something significant he was forgetting. But the seal; it blocked his mind, ate his sanity, drove him mad with rage and revenge against who? If he could just-

A shockwave blasted through the pits, snatching him from his thoughts and awakening the vines fused to his body. They rose like snakes, snapping here and there. A crack formed over his head. He felt it more than saw it. Acting immediately, he directed a thin tendril of the hell's vine into the gap-

Abaddon was before his face in a blink, depthless black eyes boring into the very core of his being. He stared right back not bothering to hide the rage and vengeance that feasted on his sanity.

"Your seal is weakening." The destroyer said in a flat conversational manner. "Your freedom is near."

He said nothing in reply.

"I know you have created some symbiotic relationship with the vines." Abaddon's eyes casually swept over the vines about him, expression giving nothing away. "Do not attempt an escape before your time is due."

He felt the vine that attempted to press through the gap in the wall shrivel and turn to dust.

"Tell me you understand my warning."

The force that had kept his mouth sealed shut all these years suddenly released its hold and he regained some ability of speech.

"Yes," he said, voice scratchy and rough from disuse. "I understand."

Before he could savour the sound of his own voice for the first time in centuries, the ability was taken. His voice box froze and his jaws locked once more.

"Good." Abaddon nodded once, thin dreadlock shifting with the subtle movement. "I would hate to repeat this warning a second time, Quatesh."

He barely noticed when Abaddon vanished.

Quatesh. My name is Quatesh.

The remembrance of his name brought it all back, all that led him to the pits. The ridicule. The disdain of the gods of Egypt. How they had mocked, battered, and berated him.

"I hope this gives you long enough time to think of your betrayal and learn respect."

Ra. It was Ra who said those words to him and in them had been the key to his freedom all these years.