Coping

Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel

Fort Quintus

October 15, 1794

"How is he?" questions Basilius as he makes his way inside the room where Atem currently rests, his face set in its usual stoic expression with the same intense gaze that seems to see through everything.

Like the other rooms in this labyrinth, this one is also painted white. Unlike the other rooms however, this one has silver tables filled with medical tools at the back of the room, wooden cabinets screwed onto the wall, and beds with white sheets lined up along a far wall with dividers separating them. Laying on one of the beds is none other than Atem, his left eye and forehead wrapped in bandages. Sitting on a stool next to his bed, observing him while running a glowing hand over his body, is an old man who is around sixty years old. He has a head full of grey hair with some strands still retaining their black color, blue eyes, and pale white skin. He wears a white coat that reaches down to his knees along with the same white shirt and pants as Atem.

"Although his left eye is now useless, he will be fine." replies the man as he removes his hands from the boy's chest, the circuit-like glowing disappearing and returning his hands to normal.

"When will he be ready for the ritual?" asks the slave master.

"As soons as he wakes up. As of right now he seems to be deeply dreaming which is keeping him from waking up." answers the old man.

"Is that out of the norm?" question Basilius with a slight frown on normally stoic face.

"No. His soul is most likely keeping him in this state so that it may heal before he has to face anything else jarring." he explains.

"None of the others have ever had such an adverse reaction to the soul branding." comments Basilius as he crosses his arms and frowns, his mind thinking of the possible complications that this might cause, only to be interrupted by the doctor.

"None of the others have had souls as powerful as this one's. Besides, it is a defense mechanism similar to how the mind tends to repress traumatic memories." refutes the doctor, decreasing the frown on Basilius' face.

"Very well." concedes Basilius before uncrossing his arms. "As soon as he awakes, give him another check up. Should he be fit enough then we will proceed with the ritual." he orders.

"You seem to be quite invested in this one's health, this is the third time that you have checked up on this one in as many days." observes the doctor. "Do you actually care about him?" he asks.

"Please, I care not for the boy or his well being." refutes Basilius with a scoff. "I care for what i may be able to accomplish using him. He might be the key to my long awaited success." he says as a thought occurs to him and he narrows his eyes. "Were it not for The Clocktower then I would not be stuck here and have to rely on these children and their weak souls." he mutters to himself before turning around and leaving the room. As he leaves the room however, Basilius misses the look of rage and hatred that flashes in the doctor's eyes before quickly disappearing.

"Someday Basilius, someday you will pay." whispers the doctor to himself before looking down at Atem. "And this boy that you plan to use for your ascension will be the cause of your downfall. This I vow on the souls of my family." he says.

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Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

All that surrounds him is darkness without a single speck of light. He does not know how long he's been here or where here even is. In addition, there is nothing to smell and the only thing that he can feel is the hot sand under his feet and the dry wind and air of the environment, almost as if he were standing under a hot summer sun in a desert. While he has never seen a desert, much less been in one, he can easily use the stories that he knows that feature deserts and compare them to what he currently feels. Regardless of where he is however, he doesn't know how he arrived here, which prompted him to think about the last thing that happened to him.

The last thing that he remembers is fighting for his life and killing that boy before passing out. After remembering that, he had spent some time crying before eventually coming to terms with his actions. At the time there were only two choices, die and never see his Dana again or kill the boy in order to live. He had made his decision when he had grasped the two daggers and plunged them into the boy's neck, he would live even if he had to do it again.

Despite coming to terms with his actions however, the boy's eyes still haunt him. His eyes that were full of relief and the apologetic smile that accompanied them. He had first believed that his mind had simply tricked him into seeing what he saw in order to cope with it all, but for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that his mind did not trick him. As such he had wondered why the boy's eyes looked full of relief as he died on the ground with two daggers stuck in his neck. Eventually he had reached a conclusion, a painful one but a conclusion all the same. He believes that the boy was not in control of his actions. It would explain his look of relief as well as his lack of hesitation to try and kill him.

With that conclusion came another thought; if the boy was not in control of his actions, then the sorcerer had a way to control others and make them commit acts against their will. He could make him do anything, kill anyone, or worse hurt Adanna. The thought of him hurting Adanna on the orders of the sorcerer causes him to grit his teeth and tighten his fists in rage while also reaffirming his deep sense of need for power.

Before Atem can further lose himself in his rage however, the mewling sound of a cat and the feeling of something soft rubbing against his leg distracts him. Looking down, Atem is finally able to see something other than himself for the first time since his arrival in this place. It is a small creature that is barely bigger than Atem's hands. Unlike any other cat that Atem has seen, this one's fur resembles the night sky on a cloudless day, dark blue and black filled with stars with a pair of small golden wings on its back, while on its head it wears a golden helm with blue stripes that covers its entire head while leaving its face open. That is not where the differences end however, while its face is certainly the right shape, it does not possess any features and is instead dark blue with stars on it. The ankles of its front paw are covered by golden bracelets, its tail possesses golden stripes, and at the tip of the tail is a small golden ball. All in all, it is a strange but interesting creature that continues to mewl while rubbing its body against Atem's bare legs as if it is asking for his attention.

"What are you?" whispers Atem to himself as he leans down, places his hands under its armpits and picks it up.

Feeling itself being picked up, the small cat mewls happily before rubbing its face against Atem's face.

"Do you know where we are?" asks the four year old boy to the cub. "Of course you don't." whispers Atem to himself as the cub continues to rub its face against Atem's. As if understanding the words spoken by Atem, the cub stops its previous actions and looks at Atem before tilting its head as if it also wants to ask a question. "It's fine." reassures Atem before the cub places its small paws on Atem's cheeks in a similar manner as Adanna when she wants to comfort him. "You're a pretty smart cat." chuckles Atem as he recognises the cub's intent. In response to that the creature mewls back at Atem before leaping from his hands and gracefully landing on the ground with its four paws. Pleased with itself, the cat proceeds to hold its head high and puffs out its chest before strutting away from Atem.

"Where are you going?" asks Atem from his position, prompting the cat to turn around and look at him. With its head, it gestures for Atem to follow it before continuing to swagger away. Confused, Atem simply looks at the cat walking away from him with a frown. After a few seconds of prancing, the cat turns around to make sure that Atem is following him only to see that he is exactly where it had left him.

Annoyed and agitated, the cub proceeds to run back to Atem where it opens its tiny mouth and bites his ankles with all of the strength that it can muster. Despite its efforts however it is still a cub with barely any teeth in its mouth, causing the bite to be inconsequential at best and bothersome at worst.

"Where are you leading me?" asks Atem, earning an angry mewl from the cub as it bares its barely existent fangs at Atem before turning and walking back in the same direction. Without saying another word, Atem follows the temperamental cub, causing it to nod its head and mewl in happiness.

Like this, Atem travels across the dark, hot, and dry landscape for a while. Despite following the cub for a long time however, Atem finds that he does not get tired at all, he does not become hungry, nor does he become thirsty. With nothing else to do other than walk, Atem uses this time to think about his current situation.

He has been separated from Adanna, has been branded with some magical branding iron, was forced to kill a boy of the same age as him, and will most likely be put in the arena again for as long as he stays there. If he continues to stay here he will most likely never see Adanna ever again and will probably die fighting another slave. The only way he can think of to escape this fate is to break free from the fort with Adanna. The question however, is how. How will he escape from the fort when his enslaver is a sorcerer? The only answer he can think of currently is to learn how to use magic, something that none of the slaves have any idea how to do, and those who do know how to use magic lack the materials for it.

With nothing else to work with, Atem once again turns to the stories that Adanna would tell him. Stories of great sorcerers like Akhenadin, the Sacred Guardians, and even of his ancestor Pharaoh Atem. From what he can remember, the one thing that all of these sorcerers have in common is that they used their souls to use magic. Priest Mahad of the Sacred Guardians for example fused his soul with the Egyptian spirit monster Illusion Magician to become the powerful sorcerer, Dark Magician. Sorcerer Kane, a general of Pharaoh Atem, infused his words with the power of his soul in order to use magic; he could easily destroy chariots by simply speaking the word 'destroy', or burn an enemy simply by speaking the word 'burn'. And these two are not outliers, in all of the stories that he knows the sorcerers use magic with their souls. That leaves him with another question however, how does one access and use the power of their souls.

Somewhat frustrated by the difficulty of this puzzle, Atem forces himself to take a deep breath in order to calm himself down. Rushing will not help him and he has time to figure it all out. All he needs to do is be patient and calmly think it all through.

While thinking about all of this, Atem never noticed the fact that the ground under his feet and a few inches around have become visible, allowing one to see the yellow sand that makes up the ground. Nor did he notice the fact that a second cub has been following him like how a lion cub would follow its mother around. No, Atem did not notice any of this; for despite being within his very soul he does not have the knowledge nor is he developed enough to make use of this or for it to matter. Still, within his soul, something else resides there other than the cubs and him.

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AN: Here's the chapter, as usual tell me what you think and comment on your theories, I love reading them. Also, if you can please support me on my Pat re on which is pat re on .com / servantambrosius. I will begin to post more chapters there before posting here.