Procedure and Traitor
Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel
Fort Quintus
October 17, 1797
Pain. That is all he can feel as the doctor cuts into his back using a scalpel with no regard for his anguished cries. Despite this being the third time that he is being subjected to these procedures, Atem is no more used to it than one would be used to being tortured. It is a painful process that requires him to be cut open until his bones are exposed. He can feel the flesh of his back being cut open with the knife, the cold air of the room numbing yet also intensifying the agony, and the doctor's gloved hands expertly opening the incision with practiced ease before something metallic is inputted into the wound to keep it open and the doctor removes his hands form his body, allowing him to feel a sense of relief.
Unfortunately for Atem, the relief barely lasts a second before the pain returns tenfold. Whereas before the pain felt like an everlasting burn, this one feels as if a needle is digging into his every being and slowly engraves symbols and words into him. Not only is it painful, but due to his body's harmony with his soul the entire sensation is amplified to the maximum. He can feel the instrument used to inscribe the runes on his bones before it is completely touching him, the cold metallic instrument making him want to shiver, but due to the straps holding him down the most he can do is breath and scream through his gritted teeth.
Just as Atem believes that madness will overtake him due to the pain, a voice booms within his head.
"Listen to me Atem." says Aknadin from within Atem's soul. "Focus on my voice, ignore the pain. It is a biological instinct that overwhelms the mind. You must dull it through your mind, do not lose yourself to it. You must be strong, survival is all that matters currently and it is almost guaranteed that you will survive this chapter of your life. Your mastery of your reality marble is one year ahead of schedule, as long as you survive these procedures you will triumph!" encourages his teacher.
"It hurts! It hurts so much." screams Atem internally.
"Get ahold of yourself!" commands Aknadin with a scream. "You are a Pharaoh, descendant of Pharaoh Atem I and Pharaoh Ramasses II. How can you call yourself their successor if you cannot even conquer this meager amount of pain? How can you be above all if pain is all it takes to reduce you to such a state? How can you face down gods and divine beats if a mere peasant like these sorcerers is all it takes to break your mind? How will you ever see Adanna again if you cannot even survive this?!" questions Aknadin with a passion that seems to empower Atem.
Focusing on his teacher and father figure's words, Atem cannot help but find that he is correct. How can he call himself descendant of Atem I, his namesake, and Ramasses II when he cannot even conquer such a paltry amount of pain? How can he claim to be a Pharaoh, a King that is above all, if he is reduced to this sorry state with just pain? How can he ever face gods and divine beasts if a lowly sorcerer and decrepit doctor is all it takes to break his mind? And more importantly, how can he ever see Adanna, his mother in all but blood, if he is reduced to madness? Who will take care of her if he succumbs to the pain? Who will protect her from the likes of Basilius and any others who mean her harm?
No one. No one will take care of her, no one will be able to protect her from Basilius and any other cur who wishes to harm her. If he does not survive this then she will suffer, and that is the very last thing he wants to happen. Should anything happen to her he will exterminate the culprit's family down to the fifth cousin before inflicting such suffering upon them that Set himself will be begging for the culprit to be released from his suffering.
As these thoughts run through Atem's mind, the pain that he feels becomes more and more subdued until it reaches a level where his mind is not in danger of breaking, allowing him to focus on another matter.
"Just now, you claimed that we are ahead of schedule by one year in terms of my mastery of my reality marble. What did you mean?" he asks his teacher.
"At the rate that you are going, I theorise that you will be able to use your reality marble within a small room for two minutes." replies Aknadin.
"A small room for two minutes? Very well, that will suffice. I will remove that cur's head from his shoulders before the time is up." says Atem.
"I expect nothing less. Especially since you will have the aid of Sekhmet and Bastet. If you could not remove such a low class sorcerer from the face of the Earth then you would not be worthy of your station." informs Aknadin. "However, while your reality marble is coming along well, your mastery over divine words leaves much to be desired." he adds.
"Why do I need to master divine words when I have my own magic? Why must I make use of something when I disdain its creator?" questions Atem.
"Because it is your birthright." replies Aknadin. "As a direct descendant of Ra, Osiris, and Horus, the magic of the gods is your birthright. It is as much yours as the blood that flows through your veins. To deny it is to deny your heritage. Besides, would it not be useful to master one of the most powerful forms of magic in order to protect Adanna." says Aknadin with a smirk that Atem can feel despite not seeing it, silencing the young boy for a few seconds.
"Your attempt to change my mind through trickery and the use of Adanna is noted but not appreciated." solemnly replies Atem after a few seconds of contemplation. "However, you do bring up a valid point. Mastering divine magic will allow me to better protect Adanna. As such I will aspire to master it in exchange for the continuation of my lessons on combat magic." he says.
"Why are you so fixated on combat magic? It is not the magic of a Pharaoh, but rather one used by the generals of a Pharaoh. A Pharaoh should not bother himself with facing his opponent in close quarter combat. That is why the royal guard exists." explains Aknadin.
"I am not a normal Pharaoh. Not only do I lack a royal guard, but combat magic is the second most suitable form of magic for me considering my constitution. Not taking advantage of my natural inclination towards breathing and walking would be wasting my potential." counters Atem.
"Very well. Now you should come into your soul, the procedure is over, and it would be best if Basilius believed that you fell unconscious at some point due to the pain." instructs Aknadin.
Without having to be told twice, Atem closes his eye and enters his soul, causing his body to fall unconscious.
"I don't understand why I cannot spend the entire time that the procedure takes inside my soul." says Atem as he appears under the beautiful dusk sky of his soul. As soon as he appears however, Atem quickly finds himself tackled to the ground by a massive sphinx that proceeds to rub its face against his.
"Because the sadist ordered you to remain awake for the majority of the procedure, and disobeying that order would bring light to the fact that you are not under his command and that the ritual has failed." says Aknadin as he looks at Atem playing with Bastet. "That is a divine beast on par with the most powerful dragons, please, for the thousandth time, stop treating it like a pet. It is the incarnation of the Sky God Horus himself and feared by all as a manifestation of wild winds and fire, not a lion cub for you to tame and play with." says Aknadin only for his words to once again fall on deaf ears.
"Perhaps to you and everyone else. To me she is nothing but a playful cub that can tear my enemies to pieces." says Atem with a smile as he stands up from the sand and sits on Bastets back before guiding her to face Aknadin.
"Tell me, young Pharaoh, why does Basilius choose to make you suffer the pain of these procedures?" asks Aknadin with a solemn tone.
"He wants to break my mind with the pain. It will make taking the body from me much easier and with less possibility of something unforeseen going wrong." answers Atem.
"Correct. Now unmount from Bastet, it is time for your lessons to continue." says Aknadin.
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Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel
Fort Quintus
December, 1797
With the third procedure finished, Basilius has Atem unceremoniously thrown back into his room to recover on his own with the occasional aid and check up from the doctor, a process that would take a normal person months but instead takes him weeks. Weeks of feeling nothing but constant pain during his hours awake as his body acclimates itself with the runes while his magic circuits adapt to the constant drain by the runes along with the sudden influx of magical energy that results from the runes taking effect.
When not awake and suffering from the pain, Atem spends his time within his soul continuing his lessons. With his new effort to master divine words, his progress has sped up to a rate that Aknadin considers acceptable, causing the soul remnant to uphold his end of the bargain and continue Atem's lessons in combat magic.
On this day, Atem is due to receive his final check up from the doctor before he is to return to the arena to fight. As such the boy adopts the same facial expression that all those under Basilius' control possess. A stoic face, a dull eye, and a rigid posture that is quite uncomfortable.
Entering the room and closing the door behind him, the doctor makes his way to Atem's bed where the boy is currently sitting stiffly. His hands resting on his knees, his back and neck straight as humanly possible, and his eye facing forward with the occasional blink.
"Good morning Samael." greets the doctor as he places a hand on Atem's chest and mutters a word under his breath before his arm lights up with circuit like pathways. He spends a few minutes positioned like this, inspecting the boy's condition. As he examines Atem however, his eyebrows rise in surprise and he can't help but take a closer look at the boy before smiling.
After a few more minutes of examination, the doctor removes his hand from Atem and makes his way to the door where he inscribes a set of runic arrays on it with his magical energy before turning to face Atem.
"It is just the two of us now, Samael. You can stop acting as if Basilius' spell was successful." says the man, only to receive no answer. "You want to play it like that? Ok." says the doctor as he summons a fireball to his hands and throws them at Atem.
"N'dah" chants Atem, causing a golden translucent circle to surround him and making the fireballs splash harmlessly onto it before extinguishing. "You decrepit fool, give me one reason why I should not plunge into your mind and tear it apart." commands Atem as he calmly stands up from his bed and crosses his arms over his chest.
"Because I can help you defeat Basilius and escape here." says the doctor with a placating tone.
"What makes you think that I need help dealing with that third rate sorcerer?" asks Atem, causing the doctor to raise an eyebrow at the words that he uses to describe Basilius.
"Other than the fact that you haven't already killed him and escaped?" he ask, making Atem furrow his eyebrows at the truth of his words.
"Very well, speak." commands the boy.
"Next year you will be undergoing the final procedure and like usual I will be the only one present until it is finished. At that time it would be best if you didn't go through the procedure. Rather, I plan on summoning a heretic god and trapping him. That way you can kill it and become a campione to kill Basilius." says the doctor, shocking Atem into silence.
"What?" says Atem after processing the information for a few seconds. "Are you mad?" he questions a doctor. "Forget about your ability to even entrap a god, what makes you think that you can even summon one. And even if you summon one, what makes you think that your trap will work and he won't just wipe us from the face of the Earth?" he asks.
"Trust me, I can do it." firmly replies that doctor.
"Trust you? No, I don't think I will. You opened me up like a butcher does to a slaughtered animal, and engraved runes on my bones. I will not trust you. I will kill Basilius myself without your mad plan. Now leave, my eye tires of your presence." commands Atem.
"We'll talk again at a later time." says the doctor before leaving the room.
As he makes his way towards his own room, the doctor can't help but frown as he thinks back to his conversation with Samael. When he first met the boy he knew that he had the potential to kill Basilius and give him his vengeance. Any competent magic user can tell that the boy comes from a powerful and ancient lineage and has the potential to become one of the most powerful magic users in the world outside of a campione. As such, the doctor expected the boy to survive the procedures so he planned on using them to further strengthen the boy through three of them. Afterwards he would summon a heretic god on the day of the fourth procedure, trap it, and have the boy kill it, hereby turning him into a campione. Not only would the transformation make the boy more powerful than Basilius, but it would also free him from Basilius' control, and with the boy's hatred for the magus it would simply be a matter of guiding him to the location of the rogue magus and watch as the boy slaughtered him.
Things however did not go according to plan. For one the boy somehow managed to escape falling under Basilius' control and has been acting this entire time. He never would have noticed had he not decided to do a thorough examination of the boy. Second, the boy has somehow figured out how to use magic and is now under the delusion that he can kill Basilius with his paltry skills, a sentiment that will get him killed.
He had hoped that he could convince the boy to go along with his plan, but the boy is far too stubborn and arrogant to convince in one sitting. He will have to slowly convince him no matter what, even if it will result in his death. After all, his vengeance depends on it.
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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. Was the description of the procedure too much, not enough, or was it good enough. 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.
I also have my first original webnovel that I'll be publishing sometime this month or next month. If you guys are interested in it follow my instagram account, servant_ambrosius.