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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 2:03 pm
 Since waking up--or coming back to life, or whatever it was that the gods had decided to subject him to--Atsuseth still hadn't left his tomb. It was a good tomb. He rather liked it. Which was good, because he'd ordered its construction while his sister's corpse was still cooling. Nothing quite like a properly hidden tomb where his gold and treasures could be kept without anyone just stumbling across it. It was why he had ordered that no one know where it was but himself and a trusted adviser. It was why he had gone ahead and ordered all the workers who knew of its location to be killed--an ancient practice that no one had done in a long time. An oldie, then, but a goodie, in the avaricious pharaoh's mind. Hidden in a deep canyon carved by a river on the edge of the desert, Atsuseth's tomb was safe from the ravages of people just like himself. Tomb robbers were a very real threat--Sobek's teeth, Atsu should know, he was a tombrobber himself!
He adjusted the emerald scarab collar on his chest--his emerald scarab collar now, thank you, Neffy, you always did have great taste in jewelry--and took in the morning sunrise on the canyon. Not a living thing around, unless you counted scorpions and snakes. Just him and himself--the sun, that is. He sighed happily, gazing at the crown around the great golden ball. That was the nice thing about being dead, he supposed--he could at last look the sun in the eye. Times like this, he wondered what had happened to the empire in his absence. He'd left no heir--they were probably falling apart without his guidance, poor devils.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:20 pm
 The day was young. Unlike herself. At least not anymore. She felt so old, now, walking in the land of her ancestors made her feel almost young, again. It brought her back to her memories. Made her feel at home. Not like the rest of the world. It was so strange, all the green anywhere with not a grain of desert sand. She felt like an alien. An outsider.
Here, she was home. Here, she also had unfinished business.
The sun started to beat down on her back between her bandages, making her more uncomfortable as the day slowly began. She could feel the dried skin cracking as she walked. It would be better to sit still, but sitting still was far too boring for the Mummy Queen. She had to be active. She had to be doing something. An empire wasn't built from scratch by sitting on your silk cushions all day. Not without the workers to do it for you, anyway.
She wondered if it would be possible to return to her own tomb to retrieve the book that brought her life. To use it on the dead of the commoners to gain herself servants who would never tire. Not to mention cheaper, without having to find food and water to sustain them all the time.
Nefertari kicked a critter out of her way-she never looked to see what it was-when a figure materialized ahead. The white of the bandages she, at first, took to be a white Star. Certainly not the earth-bound horses. They never traveled alone. Not even the stallions. Her second thought was grave-robber, basking in his success over some hopeless Pharaoh's tomb down below. The anger had already started to bubble before she even got close enough to see that this Star clothed in bandages like her wasn't as unfamiliar to her as she thought he might be.
A sadistic smile crossed her blackened lips, the glow in her eyes seeming to grow brighter as she crept closer, purposely walking on her bandages to muffle her hooves. The Gods of the Afterlife had answered her prays. This would be much more fun on a walking corpse than a helpless stiff one.
"Praise be the Gods, they have brought my dear brother back to me," she greeted, sounding friendly with a small hint of the true feelings in her empty chest. "Tell me, Atsu. Shall I even the score and snap your tail off, too?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:36 pm
So absorbed with the heavenly body was he that Atsuseth hadn't noticed another star creeping up behind him. He was going to regret that. For how long, he wouldn't know, but oh, he was going to regret not paying attention.
At the sound of another voice, Atsuseth started. He opened his mouth to say something sharp to the lowlife who had dared interrupt him when his memory caught up with his ears. That...that voice...That he hadn't heard in thousands of...
Oh no.
With a shriek of shock, terror, and outrage, the not-so-spritely mummy turned around and reared. Well, tried to rear. His wrappings were too tight to allow sudden, dramatic movements like a proper, intimidating rear. His bandages bulged and strained against his dried-out skin and the amulets buried under layers of linen. The defiled body of his dead sister glared at him balefully. Oh, no fair! Not fair at all! When he had been resurrected, why had the gods not seen fit to give him intimidating, red, glowing death-eyes like Neffy had?! It wasn't fair! She always got the best of everything! Well, she didn't get the best of me, he reminded himself spitefully. "Beloved sister, what an...unexpected pleasure to be reunited with family in these lonely days," he said. He gave a false smile, trying not to let his eyes stray to the gashes in her throat he himself had left.
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:06 pm
Nefertari smiled a wicked smile. Not at all like one happy to see their relative after so long. Like one pleased by the current outcome. He was wearing her necklace, but Atsu was rather boring, wasn't he? The damage he had done to her mummy had provided her with the perfect monster's body to go along with the monster's attitude she had also been gifted by him. She no longer felt a desire to understand those lower than her. Could not be patient with the most simplest of tasks anymore. She only had a desire to spread her name through terror, taking out her anger on those around her. The gashes her brother had left on her body and the glowing red eyes helped aid her in this quest.
Perhaps she should thank him. On second thought, he was too obviously afraid of seeing her, again, to risk being nice now. Maybe while she had him at her hooves, begging forgiveness would she give him the pleasure of hearing her give thanks for something he had done.
"Indeed," Nefertari agreed, rising her head just enough so she was only slightly looking down her dry nose on him. "Was the afterlife not satisfactory? Or did the Gods kick you out?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:36 pm
Oo. Oh, that stung. He could remember the guardians kicking him out, telling him that he didn't deserve the afterlife. He was still...well, there was no other way to describe it. He was still hurt by that, that betrayal by the gods. He was the pharaoh, chief among the gods! How dare they cast him out, think they had the right to judge him?! And how dare Neffy think herself better than him, just because she had sucked up to their father? He wished now that he had that axe in his teeth again. Oh, how sweet it had been to watch his sister's dried-out flesh collapse into the cavity of her throat. Oh, how blessed was the sound her body had made as the metal drove into it again and again and again... And he'd taken perverse pleasure in smearing tar across her lips and sealing the mouth that had been so recently re-opened.
He was about to be in a world of pain and trouble. He might again lose his life, and if the judges would not let him in again, then who knew what sort of horrors he would face, bereft of life and death, cast out from existence itself? But he knew, knew right then and there, that he had no regrets.
Nope. Not a single one. He'd done what he'd done, and though things hadn't turned out exactly as he'd hoped, he did not regret a single thing he'd done. If he'd had his whole life to live over, he would still have killed, desecrated, and robbed his sister. "I might ask you the same question," he said softly. His dull, yellow eyes narrowed. "I did not expect to be seeing you ever again."
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 11:53 am
The smile ceased to change, watching him like a hawk a mouse from a very high tree. But not high enough the mouse couldn't expect what was to come. Or worry over what might come. Let him grow more nervous in her presence, as she knew he must be. He was always a coward. Death surely couldn't change that. Not with him. Not with him choosing to stay here, alone. Bravery wasn't earned by meditation or whatever the Gods he was doing up here. At the very least she knew it couldn't be anything good. Looking for a new tomb to rob, perhaps.
"No," Nefertari agreed, wishing her voice wasn't so scratchy so she could put some emotion into it. Than again, the raspy voice did go along nicely with her appearance. Maybe she could scare him enough she wouldn't have to use physical force on him. When the time was right to slink away and begin building her forces to take him down later. After his guard was down. "I do not expect you did. You certainly tried your hardest to ensure this meeting never happened. Now. If you'll please." Moving closer, the dead mare positioned her snout to within inches of his. The same smell of death wafted off him as was on her. Though, of course, he didn't also smell like he had been dipped in tar. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't knock you off this cliff and watch you fall into pieces."
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Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 12:43 pm
Well, damn. This was a tricky position to be in, and no mistake. Atsuseth was a schemer, and though he could keep his own in combat, he didn't particularly like the idea of a fight with his sister right now. Inconvenient, difficult, and entirely pointless. Neither of them could die, or, if they could die, then they were on equal footing. If he won...what would he do then? Shove her off a cliff? If murdering and mutilating her hadn't gotten rid of her, then nothing else would. She'd just come back to torment him. Again. And he didn't really like the idea of being in several places on the bottom of a canyon floor. He couldn't do much as a pile of sand. Mind you, he couldn't do much as a walking corpse, either. It was, all around, an unpleasant proposition.
So if he couldn't use his physical abilities against Neffy, he'd just have to use his mental ones. If he was being charitable, he might begrudgingly admit his sister was cunning. She'd been a conquerer and a commissioner of public works. The kingdom...well, he'd never admit it, not even under torture or promise of paradise, but the kingdom had flourished under her dominion. You couldn't do that if you were stupid. So outwitting her could be difficult. What was left to him, then?
The truth, sadly. Oh, he respected the balance of Ma'at as any good Egyptian did, but he wasn't so enamored with utilizing it himself. Until now. "What will it solve?" he said. He shrugged against his bandages. "Whichever one of us destroys the other, if neither of us can die, what difference can it make? We live now, bereft of paradise. The judges would not let me into Duat, how can being pushed off a cliff punish me more?"
Well, it would give her the satisfaction of vengeance, probably, but he didn't dare concede that. "I do no harm to you now. Why waste energy on me?" It hurt his ego to say it, but an aching ego was better than an aching everything else.
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:08 pm
The mummy mare's mouth twisted, like perhaps she had eaten something she disliked? Oh, she believed him. No judge would let him, no matter what he did or what he promised to do. She would have gotten in. Had been so close to it until he intervened. Because taking her kingdom wasn't enough of an insult. True, hurting him now wouldn't accomplish anything, but neither would letting him go. She had nothing to lose either way. And his existence, or lack of, would not stop her from seeking her kingdom, again. He never did have the brains to do it himself. She would have been surprised if he hadn't also been murdered by subjects tired of his reign.
The mare backed up, her face still twisted in that scowl. She didn't believe him, but she, honestly, had never been one to like physical violence. Especially now, with this body. A violent confrontation would surely bring her to shreds. Before she ever allowed that to happen, she needed to set up her legacy where it was meant to be: To last forever.
"Satisfaction and you not turning up later in life to ruin me, again." She expected him to bide his time until she had build her legacy and steal it from her at the right opportunity. If her opinions of her brother had been ruined before her death, they were made more powerful by her death.
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 1:23 pm
With the intoxicating courage of truth still pounding in his...well, okay, there wasn't anything pounding in his entire body, let alone veins, but the point was still the same--he'd started telling the truth. He found now that he couldn't finish telling the truth. The truth was supposed to be one of the most powerful things in all of existence--and now, it seemed to have grabbed control of his tongue. Perhaps that was a result of having lied for so long. Perhaps the truth was just making up for lost time. Either way, it was in his mouth and in his throat, and it didn't seem likely to be giving up any time soon.
The shriveled face around that mouth twisted into a sneer and his dim yellow eyes narrowed at Nefertari. "Ruin you," he snorted. "Why would I do that? When I ruined you before, I had motivation. I had something to gain. To defame your body and your monuments was to make you so you never existed. Such is the power of names and the power of the ba. But now? Dear sister, dear, sweet sister, you have nothing left for me to steal. You have nothing of any worth or value now. You have no kingdom to rule, no possessions to steal, no attention to attract away from you. For once," he said, "we are equals."
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