Ozymandias (AU)

The Temple of Karnak (Chapter 1)

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"Sooo...this is it?"

"Uh, I think so. But I'm not the genius who happens to be Egyptian here. That's Inpu."

"Yeah yeah. Thanks Xylo. And yes, this is it Ricarro."

The group stood in front of a large Temple. Apparently it was called the Temple of Karnak, and was built to worship Amun, Mut, and Khonsu.

It wasn't just the 3 of them though. Lychee, Momiji, and Nad were also with them. It was a decision based off of safety. They didn't know what they might find, and Xylo thought it would be safer to search for the artifact they were looking for in a group of 6.

"This is the Temple of Karnak? It's a lot more plain than I thought it'd be." Lychee remarked. He put his hands on his hips, a disappointed look on his face.

Momiji moves over near Ricarro, who's already standing at the entrance to the temple, before she motions for everyone to follow.

Inpu puts his map away, and pushes his glasses up before they fell off his face. He sighs, before mentioning something about searching the place and heading back to Camp Oasis, and dragging Xylo towards the door. Nad trailing behind, eating a bag of chips. Wait, where did those even come from?

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The temple had 3 rooms. Made sense considering it was built for 3 Gods. Amun was on the left, and Mut on the right. Apparently Khonsu's room was up ahead.

Everybody started to search the place for any artifacts or auras. Well, everyone aside from Ricarro, who was playing with Momiji's hair as she laughed.

The two weren't really here to help look for any artifacts that could be part of the prophecy. They were just there to be there when needed. It was amusing to watch Ricarro dance around Momiji singing to her though.

"Hey, guys! Come over here!" Inpu shouted.

He was down the long corridor, standing in front of the entrance to the room dedicated to Khonsu.

Once everyone had congregated around the door, Inpu started talking.

"Do you guys see anything here?" He asked.

Nad shrugged, still eating his bag of chips. Seriously. Where did he get those?

"Just a giant entryway. Why? Is there something here?" Momiji inquired.

Inpu nodded, before attempting to move his hand through the entryway. He should have been able to, considering there isn't even a door. But something stopped his hand, and before anyone could even blink, some sort of barrier appeared. It sealed off the entire entryway. They could all see through it, but couldn't move through it.

"See it now? It's some sort of magic barrier. It's strong too. Nobody tending to this temple would be able to place this here unless they were a powerful demigod, or a God." Inpu said.

Ricarro was amazed by the thing. While Momiji was watching Inpu intently, waiting for him to continue talking. Nad was STILL eating that bag of chips. Is that thing infinite? He's been eating that same bag the whole walk here!

Xylo stared at the magic barrier. He could see through it, but it was so dark on the other side of it that he couldn't make out what was in there. But whatever it was, it was almost...unsettling in a way.

"Look at what's inscribed on it. It's the Ancient Egyptian language. Practically a dead language now. I know only 2 people who still use that language, and they're dead people in the underworld from hundreds of thousands of years ago!" Inpu continued to talk. Nobody expected anything less from the genius.

"What does it say?" Xylo asked.

Inpu looked at the language, before clearing his throat.

"Bind one to this temple, and turn that which thrived, to stone." He recited.

Ricarro tilted his head in little understanding. Momiji clearly confused, but trying her best to decipher it. The feeling of unease Xylo felt earlier now felt more heavy. Almost as if it was trying to drown him.

"That's pretty crypti-" Ricarro started, before Inpu cut him off.

"There's more. It just appeared. Sorry for interrupting you Ricarro. But this is probably gonna get a lot more cryptic. Lychee, you've been pretty quiet. Write all this down please." Inpu said.

Lychee sighed. He was hoping he'd be able to stay unnoticed so he didn't have to do anything. Inpu tossed him a pen and empty journal. Something told Xylo that journal wouldn't stay empty very long though.

"Bind one to this temple, and turn that which once thrived, to stone. Thy soul will say goodbye to dawn, and hello to dusk. Beyond this gate, thou shall know not but sorrow. Shed tears and cry, as none shall see. Bind one to this temple, and turn that which once thrived, to stone."

Inpu shook his head. Indicating that what he just recited made no sense to him either. Lychee was being a little aggressive with the pen as he wrote down what he heard, before handing it to Xylo.

As he pocketed the journal, he heard a cracking noise. Like glass about to shatter. Xylo looked up and followed everyone else's gaze to the barrier. Which was now cracking and breaking.

"Inpu...what did you do?" Xylo whispered.

Instinctively, everyone backed away from the door. Being in Camp Oasis for so long kind of just makes people develop a better sense of possible danger. Xylo drew his sword, waiting for some sort of creature to jump out from the darkness now that the barrier has shattered. But instead, torches were lit. By what? Xylo has no idea. But at least they can all see now.

But what they did see, somehow caused them more shock than anything else that just happened in the temple.

It was a statue. A statue of someone they all thought disappeared forever. The son of Khonsu.

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What do you think the words Inpu read mean? Do they even have any meaning at all? Leave your thoughts on it! Leave your thoughts on Nad's infinite chip bag too. Should it stay the entire book?

Also, I know Cal is the reincarnation of Khonsu, but I don't remember Cal ever really telling people he was the reincarnation of him instead of the son of him. Cal always introduces himself as the son of Khonsu too. So I just have Xylo, Inpu, Ricarro, Momiji, Lychee, and Nad refer to him as the son of Khonsu for now.

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