Unable to hold back the trembling in his knees, Ryan fell with his head tilted back, staring at the hieroglyphs on the wall before him. The symbols were not moving and none of them were shining.
"What happened…?" Ryan muttered softly. His voice was hoarse, his head felt heavy as if a punching bag had hit it.
He raised his hand and stared at it blankly. Then, suddenly, he unbuttoned his shirt and noticed where the blue sphere from Chronos entered his chest and then disappeared.
He found nothing on his chest. He was still slim but muscular. His skin was clean, with no spots or anything.
He then came out of Chamber KV5-14 and saw the other team members working diligently. None of them was aware of what had happened in Chamber KV5-14.
Ryan held his forehead and whispered to himself. "I must have fallen asleep..."
He returned to the hieroglyphs he was trying to translate and repeated the words from Ra's parchment in front of the hieroglyphs. Nothing happened.
Finally, Ryan gave up trying to find out and assumed that his meeting with the gods was just a dream.
***
After a late dinner due to having to report the results of his translation of the Ra parchment to Dr. Hassan and the other core team members, where the results of his translation were by the initial hypothesis that Ramses II did ask for a prayer to the god Ra to be able to reverse the cycle of life so that his son (they did not know which son) could come back to life, Ryan returned to his room exhausted. The sand dust felt sticky on his body. He went to take a shower.
Still wearing a towel to wipe his wet hair, Ryan put on his sleep-training pants. Then he looked in the mirror and looked at his bare chest again. Still, nothing changed. Only the water spots that were missed when he used the towel looked different.
He also toweled his wet hair. His blue eyes looked contrasting with his alabaster skin color. He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a while.
Suddenly ancient letters appeared on his chest and a clock with Roman numerals appeared. Ryan's eyes widened.
"What the ..."
The letters and the clock image, originally black, began to glow blue. Ryan was stunned, and the blue light began to cover his entire body.
When the blue light disappeared, Ryan was no longer in his place.
***
When Ryan's vision returned after being dazzled by the blue light, he found himself inside a tomb, around which ancient Egyptian priests were hurriedly walking in and out of the chambers of the tomb.
He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. The tomb looked like it had been recently built. The detailed carvings of hieroglyphs, pottery, sarcophagi, and so on were still fresh. But he recognized the shape of the tomb as KV5.
Dozens of slaves in loincloths worked lifting sarcophagi, and other grave goods. The golden light from torches and oil lamps mounted on the walls of the tomb illuminated the polished granite pillars that supported the tomb.
Colorful wall carvings of Anubis, Isis, and Osiris towered over sarcophagi that were smaller than the size of an adult sarcophagus. The sarcophagi appeared to be plated with gold and decorated with precious stones.
Ryan was amazed and also confused as to why he was there. What was even more confusing was that no one saw him. He was standing in the middle of Chamber A, but the priests and slaves just passed by him, even through his body.
"What is this…" Ryan whispered when a slave passed through his body.
In his confusion, he turned around and saw the priests performing a ritual in Chamber A. But still, no one realized that he, a stranger, was there.
Ryan's gaze then fell on the statue of Anubis that the priests were worshiping. He approached the statue, passing the priests and the altar. Then stood beside the statue and asked in an anxious voice, "Why am I here? How can I get out of here?"
The statue was still, motionless. Its jackal face stared straight ahead indifferently.
"Can you hear me? Help me understand!" Ryan shouted desperately.
Silence.
Disappointment hit him. The silence of the statue mocked him, making Ryan feel frustrated and isolated.
Finally, he tried to step out of the tomb.
The hot midday sun felt like it was burning his bare skin. The hot sand seemed to burn his bare feet. Ryan tried to ignore the pain on his skin and walked aimlessly.
Soon, he found a temple. As far as Ryan could remember, it was the Medinet Habu Temple, which was built not far from KV5. Intricate wall and pillar carvings adorned the temple building.
Ryan entered, and then he found the temple library.
The library was not very large, but polished cedar shelves towered to the arched ceiling. Scrolls filled each shelf. Ryan estimated that there were around 10,000 scrolls filling the library.
Brazier torches were mounted on the walls and lit in every dark corner. Paintings adorned the cold walls of the library, depicting ancient Egyptian gods, pharaohs, and other mystical events. Polished granite pillars glistened, carved with intricate hieroglyphs. The floor was made of gleaming limestone.
Rows of scrolls lined the shelves. Ryan glanced at the open scrolls, which revealed texts on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and literature. Papyrus manuscripts bound in linen contained detailed accounts of history and mythology. Clay tablets bearing cuneiform inscriptions from faraway lands were stored on separate shelves.
The air in the library was filled with the scent of ink and papyrus. Scribes bent over wooden tables, meticulously copying texts. Priests studied sacred writings, and scholars engaged in spirited debate, exchanging ideas.
Ryan wandered the narrow aisles of shelves, his fingers running over dusty scrolls. A secluded section of the shelf, hidden behind a tapestry, caught his eye. The air was stale here, the scrolls scattered as if abandoned.
Ryan tried to read the texts within the scattered scrolls. His heart pounded. He found texts that referred to time and its guardians. The fragment of "Chrono Theos" speaks of divine timekeepers, while whispers of "Kairos" hint at temporal balance and celestial harmony. "Aion" alludes to eternity and cosmic order.
Ryan's curiosity is piqued.
He opens one of the worn scrolls and reads: "...The Timekeeper, chosen by Chronos...will maintain balance...prevent temporal chaos..."
Another scroll reads: "...The essence of Kairos...reverberates through eternity...resonating harmony..."
A fragmented clay tablet states: "The cycle of Aion...birth, growth, decay...eternal renewal..."
Ryan's frustration grew. Sometimes he hated the missing parts of the writing or the faint writing that was not very legible.
While he was deep in his efforts to read the ancient writings, he felt someone staring at him.
Not far from where Ryan was standing looking at the broken scroll, a priest who was holding scrolls was looking at him. The priest was looking at Ryan! His eyes narrowed slightly.
Ryan held his breath. He wasn't sure if the priest could see him but he didn't want to take any chances.
After a few tense moments, the priest smiled and nodded his head at Ryan.
Ryan's heart was pounding.
Then Ryan's vision became blurry. The library room gradually became blurry. When he blinked, he found himself back in his bedroom, still standing in front of the mirror.