[Alex's POV]
When Alex started regaining consciousness, he felt like he had been sleeping forever.
Yes, sleep.
Because that's what an attack felt like; a head full of fogg from his sleep-like state and a stiff back from lying in the same position for too long. Just like waking up after sleeping too long.
It dawned on him that he was lying somewhere comfortable and warm, which meant somebody must have found him. Probably his dad, since Alex had triggered the emergency system right before he'd lost consciousness. His dad always dropped everything instantly to come and rescue his precious son the very second that Alex triggered the emergency system. And he stayed by his side until he was nursed back to full health too. It always made Alex feel very loved.
But something felt off this time. For example, why hadn't his dad tried to reanimate him? Wasn't that usually the first thing he did? Then why hadn't he this time?
Or maybe his dad had tried all off that, and he'd been so out of it that he hadn't even noticed? It had been a bad episode after all. It made him wonder how long he'd been unconscious.
Well, however long he'd been out, it probably was high time to reassure his dad that he was alive. Opening his eyes should do the trick.
But when Alex opened his eyes, instead of the white hospital ceiling he'd expected to see, he saw a black ceiling with bright yellow stars painted on it. He blinked in surprise and rubbed the last sleep from his eyes, but the ceiling didn't change.
He let his gaze glide further through the room and noticed there were sceneries painted on the walls. His gaze lingered on the painted sceneries a little longer. At first glance, they looked like simple outlines, filled in with basic colours, but here and there the most beautiful details could be seen. And even though the style of painting was simple, there was no doubt about what had been illustrated.
He pulled his attention away from the beautifully painted walls, to look at the rest of the room, but it was curious too. Except for the one wall with painted sceneries, the walls were all made of white limestone. There was hardly any furniture in the room. And were those straw baskets lined up on the floor?
"Where the hell am I?" he wondered out loud as he tried to sit up, but had to halt mid-motion because of a pounding headache.
"Maybe I had too much to drink last night?" the thought involuntarily popped up in his mind.
Wait, ... What? ... Last night? Had he gone out drinking? No... he'd been unconscious... right?
Alex tried to think, but the memories that he wanted to recall all seemed to be just out of reach.
That's when his eyes found the only light source in the room: two small windows high up in the wall opposite him. The straw mats hanging in front of them were swaying along to a gentle breeze, which indicated that the windows were open. Yet, it wasn't cold like he'd expect the room to be in the middle of winter. No, on the contrary, the room felt hot like how it would be in the middle of summer, and the gentle breeze provided much needed refreshment.
But if the room felt hot and the window was open, did that mean that it was summer outside? But that couldn't be?! It had been the middle of winter when he'd lost consciousness! Had he been unconscious for more than a season?! And why wasn't he in a hospital?!?! Where was his dad? Even if he'd stepped out for a moment, he should have been alerted that Alex had woken up somehow.
So despite the pounding headache, Alex sat upright in the bed and hoisted one leg out, ready to go and explore, until he realized that he wasn't wearing any pyjamas.
He stared at himself underneath the cotton sheet that covered him. The cotton sheet was so thin that he could look through it.
"Naked? But I never sleep naked?" the thought bubbled up in his foggy head and brought forth a sense of urgency. So he gathered the covers around him, stood from the bed and headed straight for the only door in the room. If nobody was coming to find him, then he'd go out to find someone.
Alex reached for the door handle with a feeling of dread. What was he going to do if the door was locked? The door was made out of wood, but it looked sturdy, which could make escaping difficult.
But the resistance he feared that the door would offer, never came.
"Wherever I am, I'm not held captive," he thought as he stuck his head out of the door and found an empty hallway. He decided to wandered around, and found his way into an inner-garden.
"Wow," Alex breathed as he stepped outside and looked around him with marvel at the beautiful space.
The door he'd stepped through led out onto a limestone terrace. Above the terrace, the roof had been extended and was supported by pillars. The pillars weren't white, in contrast to the almost glittery white walls. They were decorated in a similar style to the wall-paintings in the room he'd woken up in.
Together they made a strong and beautiful spot to hide away in the shade on hot summer days.
Where the terrace stopped, a beautiful pond started. Lots of beautiful flowers grew inside. Alex recognized some of them as lilies and jasmines, but also some he had never seen before.
On the other side of the pond from where he was standing, a large wooden frame had been set up to support an enormous grapevine and lush bunches of grapes were hanging from its branches.
The sun had only recently started rising, but already the brilliant light made all the limestone gleam and glitter bright white, providing a very welcome contrast against the dusty brown-yellow colour pallet the environment seemed to consist of.
The grapevine and the flowers in the pond were all beautifully kept, and there wasn't a grain of sand to dirty the floor. Alex suspected that somebody took great care of the place, yet he hadn't seen a soul so far.
Alex clutched his blanket a little closer as a breeze flew by and suddenly noticed something else was off.
He looked around to see if he could find a mirror somewhere, but had to settle for the pond instead.
The water was still and reflected the sky like a mirror. Yet Alex couldn't believe what he saw. His hair was shaved off and his eyes were brown?! Could it be some sort of play of the light?
While he was staring at his reflection, the sound of a hawk squawking sounded high up in the sky. Honestly, the bird's squawk sounded an awful lot like mocking laughter. Alex looked up just in time to see the bird in question land on the roof edge.
"What the hell are you laughing at?!" he yelled angrily. The frustration he felt caught him completely off guard. He could feel the muscles in his face strain from glaring so angrily.
What the hell was going on? Was someone laughing at his confusion really a reason to get angry. He'd never yelled at a bird before...
The bird itself didn't seem phased at all. It merely looked down at him with a steady gaze.
"You seem conflicted boy?" the bird said, cocking its head in wonder. Alex gasped and recoiled.
"You can talk!?" he asked incredulously.
"Well, of course I can. So can you," the bird replied dignified. Alex gaped for a few seconds.
"Ok, that's it!" he said angrily. "I can handle waking up in a place I've never been before and the strangely altered appearance, but talking animals? Nope! Nope, that's a bridge too far! I must be stuck in a dream. A damned realistic one! I'll give you that."
The bird chuckled in its high pitched squeaky way, and Alex suddenly realized it missed an eye.
"Can I suggest some rituals to check if you are awake?" the bird said with an amused twinkle in its one good eye. "How about counting the number of your fingers? Even though you don't look disfigured to me. Maybe you should try if you can fly? Or make something appear?"
"Wouldn't pinching myself be more effective?" Alex asked, already fully convinced he was dreaming.
"Now, now, don't give into clichés. Be more original!" the bird tutted playfully.
"Right," Alex said unimpressed. "What was it again? Try to fly?"
The bird nodded eagerly. Alex shrugged his shoulders once and tried a simple jump. He half expected to leap into the air and fly over the moon, but he didn't. He merely landed back on his feet. He felt awfully disappointed.
The shrill shriek of the bird's laughter broke him away from his thoughts.
"Your face! Such disappointment!" it gasped between laughs. The bird was laughing so much it nearly fell off the roof. Alex noticed that even though he still felt really aggravated, the birds laughter was rather infectious, and he could feel the corners of his mouth turn upwards slowly.
"That's better," the bird said kindly, a trustworthy warmth radiated from him. "I'm sorry to disappoint you boy, but I think we've established that you are awake."
"What?! But... how?!" Alex yelled in disbelief. If he had been smiling a second ago, he was panicking now.
"You are stuck in a flashback," the bird said matter-of-factly. "It's not my first time seeing this. It's something your kind does."
"My kind?" Alex asked surprised. "And what is that, exactly? Am I something like you?"
"Hiii~hihihi! No of course not!" the bird cackled amused. "Your kind is much more ancient than mine, so I don't know exactly what you are. But I remember the elders speaking of you with great respect. We owe a great deal of our knowledge to you."
"Why do you make that sound as if it was ages ago?" Alex asked confused.
"Well, I'm nearly a thousand years old and you came to earth even before that. So yes, it really was a long time ago."
"You're telling me I'm an immortal?!"
"No, no! You've misunderstood me," the bird said urgently. "You have a mortal body, which dies, of course. But your soul does not. In the beginning, the elders used to give you new bodies, but it looks like you have taken to reincarnation as a second nature now."
"Aha," Alex hummed in disbelief. "This dream keeps getting crazier and crazier."
"No, I told you; not a dream! A flashback," the bird repeated once more, as if it was important that Alex knew the difference.
"A flashback?" he asked as it didn't look like the bird was going to explain itself.
"Yes, well, it's not a hundred percent fit, but its definition describes the situation you're in best," the bird explained, unconsciously mimicking Alex's frown. "Call it whatever you like. It's something your kind does. Jumping between the lives your soul has lived in a different body. During a flashback, the soul that initiated the leap takes over the consciousness of the one it's leapt to, that way allowing the soul to tap into the knowledge of the other."
When the bird was done explaining, he stared intently at Alex.
"I guess it takes time for the memories of this life to sink in. Let me give you a head start, the rest will come to you in time. You are currently acting as the pharaoh Mentuhotep III. Your father, Mentuhotep II, unified upper and lower Egypt which brought forth an era of peace. Sadly enough, he died half a year ago of old age," the bird chattered on happily. Alex's mind was reeling. Egypt? Pharaoh?
"Now tell me; What is your name, traveller?"
"My name? My name is Alex," he answered, still unable to process any of this.
"A-leks?" the bird echoed him to the best of his ability and cackled intrigued. "Oh, no, no. That's far too modern. I think that last consonant doesn't even exist yet. People here call you Amon. I advise you to start thinking of yourself in that manner too."
"The hidden one?" Alex thought. What a strange name for someone of noble birth.
"Well then, Amon," the bird chattered on. "I am the guardian god of the pharaoh. I have many names but I prefer Haruw myself."
"Falcon?" Alex asked sceptically. "You prefer to be named after the bird species?"
"Haha! Just for the record; the animal species is called after me, not the other way around," Haruw laughed excitedly. "Looks like you're starting to understand! Good! Good! I advise you to speak the native language. We can't go around talking modern time French in Ancient Egypt, now can we?"
It started to dawn on Alex that if he wanted to survive in this "dream", or "flashback" as the bird called it, he'd have to accept all its craziness and go along with it.
"My name is Amon, and yours is Haruw?" Alex said, unsure of what was happening. Or was it Amon? He certainly wasn't feeling like this Amon that Haruw referred to. That would need some getting used to. He'd heard Haruw speak earlier, but it wasn't a language he'd ever heard or learned before. Yet he understood every word the bird had said.
"Yes! That's the spirit," Haruw said with delight. Apparently, he'd replied in the same language. Looks like it was a subconscious thing.
"Wait a second, guardian god of the pharaoh?" Alex said. This bird reminded him of a myth he'd learned about in history at school. The son of Osiris and Isis, send out into the world to avenge his father who had been murdered by his evil uncle Seth. After a fierce battle with his uncle, in which he'd lost an eye, he had taken over the duty of ruling Egypt in his father's stead.
"Horus!" Alex gasped in realization. "You're Horus! But I thought the gods were only legends?"
"I assure you that we are very real! What a thing to say," Haruw said as a glint appeared in his one good eye and stared in the distance for an instant. "Yes, that seems to be one of my names in the far, far future. I'm a little surprised you've heard about me. Now, please refrain from using futuristic words. Someone is coming, and not everyone has the understanding of a god."
Alex nodded absentmindedly. He could hear the footsteps of someone coming closer. The strangest sensation of familiarity overwhelmed him.
Even though he couldn't picture it, he knew the person who was coming. He recognized the sound of the footsteps. Like how his dad always took two steps at a time when he came up the stairs.
Strange, since the setting of this dream was an unfamiliar one to him. He would have thought that he'd feel more anxious for meeting someone who actually lived here. But he felt at home more than anything. Everything felt familiar, as if he'd been living here for ages. That must be Amon's influence then?
The conflict between his body and soul made his hackles stand on edge and a dizzy spell made his head spin.
"Oh? Good morning, brother. I didn't expect you to be up so early. Certainly not since last night's feast. You've drunk quite your share! How are you feeling?" the newly arrived person said.
Alex turned his head to look at him. It felt as if he perceived everything in slow-motion. What was it the new person had said? Something about a feast and drinking? Maybe he did have a hangover. Maybe he'd turned his head to quickly. That certainly would explain his slowed processing.
Then his vision finally found the person who had addressed him. It was a man, about the same height and age as him. He was wearing a wig, his eyes rimmed with a thick line of mascara, a typical Egyptian skirt tied around his waist and a heavy golden necklace adorned his neck.
"Good morning, Merenre," Amon said as he recognized him as his younger brother. "I've seen better days."
"So I've noticed. It took you a full minute to answer me," Merenre observed amusedly, "And you aren't dressed yet."
"Hmm?" Amon asked as he looked down at himself and noticed the blanket he clutched around himself. "So it seems."
This sparked Haruw to laugh his squeaky laugh once more. Amon looked up at him angrily, just in time to see him fly off.
"Stupid bird," Amon muttered to himself, "Only here to laugh at me."
"Come, come, brother. Let's not anger the gods," Merenre said as he gently grabbed Amon by the arm and guided him back inside.
"What do you mean; anger the gods?! I clearly amused him! Couldn't you see?" Amon complained as he let himself be pushed inside.
"Yes, yes," Merenre chuckled. "Let's get you cleaned up and dressed, shall we? You'll feel better afterwards."