Chapter 16: A United Egypt, 3150 BCE (1)

[Near the Nile, 3150 BCE]

At the side of the River Nile, two opposing forces stand against each other, both of them have around one thousand men each, all holding bronze weapons, with a variety of armors.

Two of the forces were led by a commander, with their armors decorated with jewelry; those two commanders were the two kings of Upper and Lower Egypt.

The Upper Egypt king, Narmer, holding his bronze mace, was in front of his army, standing majestically.

Meanwhile, two Eternals were watching the battle, two of them wore black robes, while the other one was taller than the other. The taller one is me of course, while the shorter one is Druig.

"It's sad to see this… conflict… brewing between the two sides." Druig said to me. "And the saddest thing is… I can stop this right now… yet I can't because of the rule..."

"It's a stupid rule." I said. "We can interfere with their technological advancements, but can't interfere with their conflicts? That's just bullshit."

"Should we interfere now?" asked Druig as he saw that the two forces are preparing to charge at each other.

"Ajak would be pissed."

"She won't know."

"Not if Ikaris is watching us from afar." I pointed at the sky, and saw that Ikaris is watching us rather intently, hidden among the clouds. "And besides… Even though I don't like the 'no interference' rule, I agree that we shouldn't interfere in this conflict."

Druig frowned. "Why?"

"If one side won this, the entire area would be united, and hopefully, establishing a peaceful era after this..."

"But it's not guaranteed." refuted Druig.

I sighed. "Druig, do you have any attachments towards humans?"

"We all do." said Druig. "We lived among them."

"Then are you prepared to stop a short-term war and prevent a possible long term peace?"

"The keyword being 'possible'.' said Druig.

"But if this land isn't united, a lot of threats will bloom as time goes on." I explained. "Empires outside the area will rise, bringing new technologies, and they're here, still split with different identities, and don't have a sense of brotherhood towards each other, even though they used the same river to sustain themselves, and if they're weak, they can't protect themselves, and it will lead into more death and destruction."

Druig went silent after that.

He then sighed. "This is just torture..."

"The fight hasn't even started yet."

"Exactly. I know I can prevent it, but I can't because of some stupid rule..."

"You'll get your chances soon enough."

I then saw that Narmer finally pointed his bronze mace at the opposite army, and his army charged at them with full ferocity.

"And… it has begun..." I murmured, watching the two forces collide against one another, resulting in massive casualties.

Aside from the bronze weapons, from the back, I also saw slingers throwing rocks at the other force, harassing the flank.

I then looked beside me, and saw that Druig stared at the battlefield solemnly, his eyes looked empty, and he was clenching his fist.

"If you're incapable of watching this, you should go back." I suggested.

"No, I'll watch."

"Suit yourself." I shrugged.

Druig then sat down on the cliff we're standing on. "We guide them for all these years… just for them to fight one another..."

"If you think like that, then your views are pretty narrow." I also sat beside him.

"What do you mean?" he frowned. "It is the case isn't it?"

"While our guidance leads to this." I pointed at the increasingly tense battlefield. "Our guidance also led to that." I pointed at the bountiful farmland besides the Nile. "Just look at the bright side Druig, we gave them a chance to develop, and we also gave them a choice to do what they want, unlike us."

"What do you mean 'unlike us'?" he questioned, frowning.

"We are eternals." I said. "We may be sentient, but our job is one thing… to kill deviants, and study them… that's it… we aren't allowed to do anything else…."

"But we're from Olympia, we live there." Druig questioned me.

I just smiled, and didn't say anything again.

Druig also didn't say anything for some reason, so that's good. But then, he asked. "You think that if we interfere, we can make a peaceful world?"

I chuckled. "Sure, if you want to sacrifice their freedom of choice, then we can."

Druig frowned. "Is that such a bad trade off?"

"The entire point of living is to make choices." I said. "If we take that away from them, what's the point of living?"

As I said that, we watch as the two forces continue to kill each other. Sword against sword, dagger against dagger, mace against mace, shield against shield. The sand below them slowly but surely started to turn red, painting the battlefield.

"I know that man." said Druig, pointing at a soldier on the Upper Egypt side, he was fighting furiously under the command of Narmer. "He just had a child two weeks ago."

"Really? You remember every single person you've encountered?" I questioned.

"Not everyone," he murmured. "Me and Makkari used to spend our time near his home, he usually gave us some bread and beer."

Then, we saw him getting decapitated by his enemy.

"And now he's dead." I stated. "That makes the world have another widow, and another fatherless child..."

Druig frowned, and his palm is clenching tightly. "This war better be worth it..."

I just hummed at his words, then, I looked at Ikaris, who was still staring at us intently.

I waved my hand to him, signalling him to come.

He saw me do that, and he slowly hovered towards us, and finally landed beside us.

"You two should go back." He said. "We were instructed not to-"

"Interfere with human conflicts, yes, we know Ikaris, we're just watching." I cut him off.

He frowned because of me cutting him off.

"Just sit down Ikaris." I patted a space beside me. "Don't worry, we won't act."

Ikaris was reluctant, but eventually, he gave in. He sat beside me, watching as the humans mercilessly slaughtered each other.

"What do you think, Ikaris?" I asked the man. "Do you think it's worth it? Leaving them like this?"

"I trust Arishem's plan," he said. "As we all should." Ah… Classic Ikaris.

"Oh, I trust him alright." Druig hummed. "It's just sad to see that our guidance leads to this."

"Maybe it's intentional." Ikaris said. "This conflict may lead to a longer peace."

"That's what I said." I chuckled. "But seriously though, what do you think of this? Personally."

He stared at me, before saying. "I've got no comment on that… Like you, I've never been really too attached to them, I'm just doing my part of the mission, kill the deviants."

"But I saw you trying to spend more time with Humans." I chuckled. "To try to get close to Sersi."

He just hummed at my words, and didn't say anything again.

"If we decided to interfere right now." Druig suddenly said as the sky slowly turned orange. "Would you attack us Ikaris?"

"If I have to," he nodded. "Then I will."

"You'll attack your family in order to do a task?" I questioned.

Now he was reluctant. "I-"

Before he could answer it, I patted him in the back. "Come on, it's over, Narmer won.." I stood up from the cliff, and took a look at the battlefield one last time, where Narmer was grabbing the other King's hair, preparing to pummel the other king's head using his bronze mace.