All the children, including the general, headed down into the arena. The general lined the children up while the Pharaoh sat on his throne.
"That concludes the fights. Now, the final squads are as follows: Squad One—Magnolia, Emma, Kibo, Matthew, Valentina, and Amelia; and Squad Two comprises Ren, Abraham, Sous, Poison, Luna, and Sofia."
"This is my team? How did I get to this point from being with father?"
"He-He's on my team???"
The children all felt mixed emotions—confusion, joy, displeasure. Poison was one of the few who expressed discontent.
"Dammit, I wanted to be on a team with Magnolia."
"Well, at least you and your other squad members will be trained more efficiently than Squad One."
The general interrupted. "Now, I think it's time to explain what your 'powers' are. Your powers are called contracts."
"You will have one of two different kinds of contracts. The first is called a 'Gain.' It's where I or someone else personally give you power from a god."
"The second is called an 'Awakening,' where, in a serious situation, you are granted the power of a god from that point onward. However, with both Awakenings and Gains, there's a chance you could die depending on how strong the god you're contracted to is."
"You said a serious situation could trigger an Awakening, yes?"
"What is the 'serious situation?'"
The Pharaoh rose from his throne and teleported into the middle of the arena, beginning to speak.
"The serious situation that causes an Awakening is a death-like experience—when you or someone close to you is about to die or has died. Everyone except Sous, Amelia, and Poison has a Gain, while they have an Awakening."
"Can you have more than one contract?"
"No," said the Pharaoh with an unsatisfied tone. "You may only have one contract."
"Now, you children should go fiddle around and whatnot while we decide how to train you. Oh, and one last thing I should probably tell you, of course—the gods you all are contracted to. I'll start from least important to most important."
"Kibo, you are contracted to Harpocrates, the god of hope."
"Matthew, you are contracted to Hathor, the god of gifts."
"Poison, you are contracted to Serket, the god of poison."
"Amelia, you are contracted to Isis, the goddess of healing."
"Ren, you are contracted to Nut, the goddess of the sky."
"Sous, you are contracted to Tomayet, the god of judgment."
"Emma, you are contracted to Amun, the god of air."
"Abraham, you are contracted to Thoth, the god of intelligence."
"Luna, you are contracted to Osiris, the god of life and the underworld."
"Valentina, you are contracted to Sobek, the god of strength."
"Sofia, you are contracted to Ammit, the devourer of souls."
"And finally, Magnolia, you are contracted to Ra, the sun god."
"You're telling me this weakling is contracted to Ra?"
Ren then walked over to Magnolia, grabbed him by the collar, and held him up.
"You're lucky you're contracted to the strongest god ever... Too bad he's dead, and soon you will be too," spat Ren.
He then swiftly left the arena to head outside.
The general started, "I'll talk to him. You children should go try to learn your abilities and use your contracts. Work together or alone, whatever fits you."
While the general went off to talk to Ren, and the children went off to work on their contracts, a man who had been given the power to change the world was now wondering why...
…
The weather was hot and windy; the sands were soft but scorching. A man was noticeable by his large build and brown hair, and if one were to look closely, they'd see his shirt was ripped with bloodstains. The man appeared seemingly fine, though.
He had been walking for hours… No, days… But to be truthful, he didn't know. The only drive that kept him going was his abducted son. This man wiped the sweat from his face countless times. Parched, tired, and hungry, he continued his never-ending walk until he saw something in the distance. A hallucination?
He didn't care. Something was here in this never-ending sand.
Finally reaching the place, it oddly looked like a temple, an abandoned one... And using the last strength he had, he pried open the door. Lifting rocks for a living surely helped in this moment.
The man walked in, noting the temple's coldness, a stark contrast to the scorching heat outside. But he continued to walk through the temple, where great artworks of battles were displayed. The Battle of a Dog and a Falcon was shown, depicting the several clashes between the two creatures. The battle finally came to an end with the Falcon being given a white and red crown.
The art depicted the Falcon's great strength, power, and leadership of his kingdom, all while the dog lurked away in the shadows. The man continued to marvel at the great story until he arrived at the second to last piece of art. It depicted the Falcon's blood staining his kingdom and the dog looming over his dead body.
The man noticed a giant stone in the middle of all these artworks and pictures. Walking up towards it, dust covered the surface. He wiped the dust away and read the inscription with a deep, strained voice: "Here lies the foolish falcon, the fool who couldn't see lies and accepted false truths. Here lies Horus the immortal..." The man stepped back as realization struck him.
This wasn't a temple... It was a tomb.
"Why have you come?" A voice spoke, deeply and spitefully.
"Have you come to pray or mock the god of foolishness?" the now-proclaimed god said with amusement in his voice.
"God?" Isamu looked around, trying to find the voice. He then looked at the tomb.
"You'll only find a foolish corpse in there, not meant to be seen."
Horus slowly appeared from the shadows of the tomb. He looked as if he were depressed, and his white and blue feathers were disheveled and wrinkled. He wore a giant white sash around his waist with faded gold trimmings. His skin was light brown but pale, and scars littered his body.
"What do you seek by coming here, human?"
Horus took in the appearance of the man before him, his torn and bloody shirt giving him a slightly dazed look, complimented by his slightly sunken cheeks.
"I understand." Horus flicked his hand, and food and water appeared in front of Isamu, who in return dropped to his knees and started eating and drinking.
Horus began to walk away, slowly disappearing into the depths of his tomb. Isamu stopped eating as his eyes lingered on the disappearing god. He got up and followed him. He walked and walked, noticing more artwork, people surrounding the god's golden radiance. Another piece showed these people kneeling as the god, who he presumed to be Horus, bestowed his golden radiance upon them.
Isamu was broken out of this state of observation as the god spoke with annoyance in his tone.
"I gave you what you desired; why are you still here?"
"I want to know what happened—what happened to you, the champion of gods and the former God King of Egypt."
"Quite the tone for a mortal, but I'm sure those pictures told you enough of what you need to know. But to keep it short, I saw the truth but refused to believe it, and that was eventually my demise, my acceptance..."
Horus looked at Isamu, then spoke. "What about you? You came here parched, hungry, and with a blood-covered shirt."
Isamu looked down, remembering the events that had occurred over the past few days. "My son… He was taken from me, and I was too helpless to fight back."
Horus and Isamu met each other's gaze, and then Horus spoke.
"A part of your heart says otherwise. What do you mean?"
"I was once betrayed by my truth, so I gained the ability to see them. You cannot lie to me, no matter how much your heart wishes to."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'll take your old advice and leave."
Turning his back on the god, Isamu began to walk away. Horus spoke with a serious tone.
"Truth and Acceptance—me and you are two sides of the same gold coin. We know the truth deep down, but we refuse to accept it. The one you wish to save is the one you truly hate."
Isamu stopped in his tracks, Horus' words lingering in his mind. Horus spoke a second time.
"You hate what you and she created. I wonder, do you truly wish to save that boy?"
Isamu turned fully around with an angry scowl.
"You seek to rid yourself of what is real, thus giving you a false sense of happiness."
"Don't you?" said Horus, not to Isamu's eyes, but to his heart.