The Beauty and The Betrayal

8. The abyss of the Past

I opened my eyes, Something told me that although I can see, I was not truly awake. I moved toward a door, pushing it open I met a beautiful woman. Her hair flowed to her waist like silk, it's silver tint glistened in the sun. She motioned in front of her, a small chair in front of a vanity mirror. "Oh how your soul has grown my dear," she picked up a golden comb and began to run it in my hair. " When you were just a babe your soul called to me, it whispered of your loyalty, your belief and your heart." I let her words sink in, "Is that what I'm feeling? Am I... Dead?" The woman chuckled, "No my dear...it is merely time for you to know yourself. It's time for you to know the truth, about your visions and about him." Him. She must be talking about Imoteph. I opened my mouth to say his name but she put her finger to her lips, "Shhh. Sweet girl, there is so much more to you than him. Let me show you who you are and who you where." She put the comb down, walking over to a door on the side of the room. "You can walk through this door and become whole, or you can turn away and let the past shatter into dust and take to the wind. The choice is yours." My heart started beating fast, my hands against the stone door. Did I want to know? These visions that plague me and take over my life? HIS eyes flashed in my head. The pain in them, the desperation, it was enough. If I walked away now I would never know. "I want to be whole. However I can't be, who are you?" The woman merely smiled, "That is for after your discovery. Now go, someone is awaiting you." I put two hands firmly against the door, as it started to creak the room behind me lost it's figure and a new room started to build itself.
I had entered a bedroom, various shades of gold and copper, A woman laid in the bed a cloth draped over her eyes while the man held onto a small baby. "It is is girl, my Pharoh. She is ours." The woman spoke, her voice smooth. The man turned to hold the child in the golden sun,"She is. She shall be known as Amunet. Daughter of Pharoh Seti and Dalilah. No harm sha'll be done to her. She will grow like the rice in the fields, strong and willful." Dalilah smiled, taking the child from her husband. The scene stopped, The woman and baby stilled. However the Pharoh did not still with time, instead he was walking to me. "You where always so beautiful, as a babe and a woman. You my dear, are remembering your mother and I the day you came into this world. I am Pharoh Seti, and you are my daughter Amunet. Although I prefer by now you go by a new name. What do I call you know?" He was still staring at Dalilah. "Amerath, my name is Amerath and I know no other." He just smiled, "Soon you will." He motioned to a new door, and we walked through together. "When your mother was around, I did not have time for you. I am sorry to say this, but I must admit it." As if he hit a play button, Dalilah was shown chasing a tan black haired little girl. I was around the age of 2-4, I wasn't able to tell exactly. My mother had a fully round belly, when her water broke and I was ushered from the room. That night Nefertiti was born. The scene paused, "You and your sister, oh the trouble you made. You bonded the day she came into the world. If it wasn't your mother or I holding her, it was you. Refusing to let anyone outside the bloodline touch her. Come, one more door before we sit." The last door, was the one that filled me dread. As we entered it was the scene from before, a vision I had about saying goodbye to my mother. I didn't want to relive this one, so I shut my eyes and listened. This allowed me to hear what I couldn't before. This time I could hear the pain in the voices around me. There where no more doors when it was done, instead we sat by a fountain. " You used to play for hours around here. Braiding your hair, tossing Pebbles or trying to swim in the fountain." His face was calm as he retreated to his memory's. "Why are you here, Pharoh?" "I was brought from the underworld to show you how you became. How in the time you knew your mother, you grew." I kicked a stone, "What about the time I had with you?" He chuckled sadly, "While we were close, the time you had with me was not what completed you."
I nodded, one last question for him in this moment. "How did she die, Dalilah? My mother?" "She drank the poison meant for me." The scene began to crumble, my father blowing away with the sand. " Remember Amunet or Amerath whichever you choose to be, we will be here."
As if I slept again, I was pulled out of a daze sitting in the room with the first woman I had met. "Will he be ok?" She nodded, sitting beside me. "He will. He was brought to show you what built you. Your next task is to see what cemented it in. For that, I just need to borrow you." "Me?" She took a hairline and pricked my finger. Taking my finger she placed it between her lips and then blew.
Standing across from me, was well, me. Dressed in white silk with beads in my hair,
Amunet stood before me. She didn't say a word, just held out her hand. With it she went through her memory's, her soul inviting me to join it. It showed her meeting Imhotep and falling in love, braiding Nefertiti's hair, making love with Imoteph, finding out she was pregnant and giving birth to a small boy, Abraxus.  She held onto him with pride, never letting the babe out of her sight. He was a beautiful boy, draped in love and dignity. When she showed me what I was here for. Amunet was walking with Abraxus securely on her back. His head rested and the cloth that held him in place was right enough to see his form, but not hurt him. She rounded a corner, to see Seti's concubine Anuk-Su-Namun leaning in to kiss her husband. For the first time since meeting her she spoke, " She was to be my father's wife. It was not enough for her, and she decided that she wanted my husband along with my father. I was broken, and four days later I awoke covered in my son's blood. His gurgled cry haunts me. After she slit my throat as well, she stood over us and watched. I lost everything I knew that day, which is why my soul was reused." I couldn't bring myself to say anything, but she turned to look me in the eye. "Im not asked you to love him. I just need to know if he ever loved me, us. You remember because I am a part of you. And I ask you, Amerath, if we can become whole or will we remain pieces of each other?"  I reached out to grip her hand, placing it over my heart. I did the same, "I accept you" as I spoke the words, a blinding flash was seen and the woman from the beginning appeared. "By the power of the goddess Iris, I join these souls. I join their body, their heart and their mind." Amunet melted into me, a searing pain shot through my body. "Amerath, when you awake you shall not remember me, however by excepting Amunet into your body, you are now one. Every memory, every feeling and every thought will now be your own. Only you have the power to stop Imoteph. For now, let there be peace." She kissed my forehead and smiled, my eyes getting drowsy as I started the journey of having another soul joined with mine. And now, we wait.