Amun's Prison | Ermes x Fem!Reader

2| Three Tombs

She's not sure how it came to all of this. Little by little, then all at once, she supposed. 

(Y/n) wasn't much sure how long her body had been stiff and tight in that sarcophagus, choked by bandages that rotted with her body in the field of reeds, but it was clearly long enough. 

That thought hadn't come with the realization that her skin would sting in the sun, or that her feet weren't quite used to walking-- it had come with the sight of her palace.

It stands tall, the embodiment of the pharaohs power, pillars building towards the sky to break the stream of stars with its tip. It was supposed to be a magnificent thing, something truly a marvel, but to the queen, it was a poor child's playhouse.

Ermes, while not able to see much from where she followed along behind (Y/n), managed to pick up the pace enough to catch her expression, something sour and ripping with disdain.

"Hayato, My little one, what is wrong with my palace?" Her voices cracks like a whip, anger repressed in the most feeble of ways. "Who ruined it?"

The prince looks towards its mud brick build with a similarly fiery gaze, and it seemed the both of them see the same thing. Not the palace itself, of course not-- everyone could see that.

Under its glorious body and shapes, beneath the layers of wealth and power intricately placed, there is a rot. A corruption that is noticeable on the gold and ivory, it eats away at the divine like a pest. 

To Egypt's subjects, it is the palace, to the old queen and the thrones heir, it is a failure. 

"A false has taken the throne. Look to the streets." Hayato said, throwing his hand toward the approaching town. "This is his doing."

Ermes struggled to match the sudden thunderous pace of the queen, who suddenly enraged, snapped her head to face the thin and hungry. It was exceptionally enraging, for all her eyes befell were sickly and crippled. It was almost like she walked right back into the Duat. All that was missing was Apep slinking around.

"What false do you speak of?" She hissed. "There is no false, my son is on that throne."

"He is no longer. Kosaku is dead, and in his place a man from lands distant is tarnishing his name as he brings our country to ruin."

"My son, you are sure he is dead?"

"I watched his body get tossed into the river myself. The crocodiles ate well."

"And this false, you say, he is responsible for this?"

"Every bit of travesty you find, it is his doing."

The queen went silent, considering. All at once, the fury bled from her face and left sight. It was such a sudden change, Ermes had to wonder what might've brought it around, for someone so apparently offended to become so calm and quiet. 

But then it came; Like a stormy sky hanging over the beach, it was a looming feeling that brought dread in heavy waves, a pressure that none could break.

The cold fire of the moon and sunken orange flame of torches clashed into madness as a flight of wind shot past. It was with a command of great imperative, a thrillingly loud burst of demand that made Ermes' soul jolt from her body.

It was loud, harrowing, like the boundless echo of lightning breaking into the distance. She wasn't even sure what had happened 'til she bothered to look. 

It was very unreal at the time. It would be no less unreal if she were to look back on it. To her it will always be a monstrous, unconceivable thing, a horrible nightmare.