Scars

Chapter 0- Pilot

Osiris was the king to be.

Named after Osiris, the God of agriculture and resurrection, this man had won over the desert and was en route to fight his last battle that would crown him as the almighty, the unconquerable in the desert. He had a mammoth army of one hundred thousand soldiers, and their victory was inevitable. While his generals prepared for the battle, his ministers prepared for his coronation. The desert that had only been quenched with blood till now was to be offered the final oblation.

Osiris shaved after 881 days.

Osiris was a sheer narcissist. He swore there had been no man who fought as bravely as he did and no man with a jawline as sharp as his. He claimed he could take a hundred men in a wrestling match.

The victory of King Osiris was inevitable, but he couldn't contain his enthusiasm. "Hand me my sword and shield; for one last time, it'll taste the blood."
"But your highness, this evening is the dawn of your empire; this battle is taken care of." The general politely countered him.
"And this afternoon, I'll write it with my sword and the enemy's blood."
The general nodded and handed him the shield.

The captain moved aside, handing him the mighty Athena, the sword that won him the desert. Only he could handle such a sword, almost a myth, for no one could believe a sword that mighty could even exist, and he handled it with utter perfection, killing the poor soul at the other end in no time. It never betrayed him.

The scorching June sun was no bar in his trance that made him build a formation in his head. Years of war, and he was as intact as he was when he first stepped in, 12 years old. Athena, the pride of the desert, was won by him when he beheaded its previous master, the mighty king Maya, who was 102 years old at the time. Osiris was just 15 at the time.
The sun had set adrift, and it saw one of the most remarkable moments in the history of war. King Osiris was on his knees, with his mighty Athena on the ground for the first time ever.

The high priest, Khety, was called immediately afterwards. Athena had let him down for the first time. Osiris missed an enemy, and he cut his cheek with a mighty blow, leaving a bloody scar that ran across his left cheek, right under his eye.

Khety was sitting very composedly, with a smile on his face. The battle had been won, but instead of celebrations, there was complete silence. The generals and ministers were very impulsive with their words, but Osiris held them back somehow. He was broken, but it was Khety.
Everyone had been escorted out of the hall. Khety sat in the meditation as usual while the doctor gave Osiris first aid. Stitches are an unguent to prevent it from being sticky. As the doctor left, Osiris broke down in tears. The emperor of the desert, worshipped before God, an epitome of victory, sobbed silently as Khety slowly opened his eyes and looked at him. As their eyes crossed, Osiris gathered some calm and looked at him, his eyes asking, "Why?"

Osiris had been at war for 29 years. At 41, he had won it all. He never fought unethically. He never killed someone innocent. He felt so much remorse for being so narcissistic and self-centered on the day he won over the world that a scar was startling him so badly. A scar that would be his very identity—a sign of winning the fiercest of battles.

Khety knew everything that was going on in his mind, so he said, "There's no point regretting the past."
"This is the beauty of time and being. You can have it or not have it. You can't change it, though. You can regain what you lost, but the fact that you once lost it always remains the same. You're a mere man who can't win over time. The time is the real almighty, son." Khety said.

"Here, have this. You'll feel better." Khety handed him a fruit. Osiris took a bite, and it was immensely sweet; he had never had a fruit as sweet as this, and he felt really calm.

"What happened in the past is the scar you have. Right on your face, visible to all. You can choose to wear it with pride or hide it. But you'll always have it. The wound will heal, but the scar will stay.

Now that doctor and I, we're your present. You are really worried about this scar of yours, and you make us do the best we can to heal the cut and get rid of the scar if possible. It's like what we do is all that one would do to get rid of the past. It can very well be done, but the scar shall stay."

Osiris felt hollow. But really calm. He listened.
"You can choose between letting the scar scar you or wearing it with pride. That's the future. Treat it, and it'll be healed. A mark on your skin can be healed, but a mark on your mind and soul can't. So embrace the fact that it happened and distinguish what can't be changed from what can be. Osiris has a scar. Osiris has a scar. Osiris, shall live with it."