I stood waist deep in the water with Atemu in my arms. Most of her body was submerged, except her knees and face. Her hair flowed behind her on the water’s surface and her corrupted arm was positioned closer to me, pressed against my torso. The dark purple tendrils had spread half way up her neck and her skin had started to wrinkle.

“Hang in there.” I muttered. “We’re gonna get through this together.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on cleansing the corruption from Atemu. I imagined the evil magic peeling back and receding, turning into smoke and ascending into the air, leaving her unscarred and healthy. 

But nothing happened.

Seconds passed…

Then minutes…

“How’s it going over there?” Adon called out from the shore.

“I’m… not sure.” My eyes shot open as I called back. “I’m not exactly sure what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Hold on.” Cymone skipped a pebble across the water right next to me. “Let me check the manual on cleansing corruption.”

“Six hundred years of being sarcastic, CeeCee.” Adon’s tone was soft. “Take a break for a day.”

“Whatever.” She skipped another pebble past me.

“And stop throwing rocks.” He sighed.

“Ugh.” She groaned. “I’ll be monitoring Illias. Let me know when this is done.”

Her footsteps became softer and softer until all I could hear were the wind and water.

“One and the same.” I said to myself. “One and the same. How can they be one and the same?”

I shut my eyes again and went back to controlled breathing and focusing on healing Atemu.

Inhale…

Sea salt flooded my nose.

Exhale…

The cold water sent goosebumps up my skin.

Inhale‒ 

A tingling sensation spanned my entire body and my eyes jolted open. The sea immediately around me started to glow an ethereal light blue. The water crawled up both my and Atemu’s arms, and as soon as it reached our heads, everything around me vanished from sight. 

Pitch blackness surrounded me, and Atemu was no longer in my arms. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t smell anything. And then my father’s voice resounded in my ears:

“You and your mother are banished. One day you will understand why, but if you attempt to return, you never will.”

“No!” I shouted back. “You had her killed! What’s there to understand about that?!”

“Now leave!” His voice grew in volume and I had to cover my ears. “LEAVE!”

Dark purple tendrils reached up at me from the abyss below, coiling around my body like a snake. I gasped as they squeezed, pressing my arms into my ribs. Each breath I took sucked in less and less air, until the coils covered my face. My shouts turned to muffles as I thrashed around. 

And then the scene shifted.

I stood in the middle of a paved dirt road. All around me, mud-brick houses burned, sending thick clouds of smoke into the air which blocked out the sun. Screams echoed all around as ash trickled down from the sky. Fresh, smoldering corpses littered the area, filling my nose with burning flesh; some were simply strewn out on the road, either intact or in pieces, while others hung over the balconies of the homes.

The voice of a little girl caught my attention, and I turned to it.

“Papa?” She stood in front of one of the houses, clutching the arm of a woman in priest regalia. Her mother?

“You need to get out of here, my love.” A man knelt down before the two women, coming to eye contact with the child. He wore a plain white Egyptian kilt and was bare chested. A khopesh was strapped to his hip and a large shield to his back. “Run with your mother as fast as you can, and don’t look back.”

“But papa‒”

“Go!” He stood up to address his wife. “Take care of our Atemu.”

She nodded as she wiped away her tears. The man kissed her, then jogged away, joining up with another dozen or so soldiers in the same dress as him. They drew their sickle-swords and cried out in unison as a unit of cavalry charged them. Sitting atop the leading horse was a man dressed in the armor of an Immortal. The rest wore iron scale armor and girdles of varying colors, and wielded short spears and wicker shields.

“You Egyptians will regret revolting against Darius the Great, King of Kings!” The Immortal blared as he drew both his scimitars. “Now face his wrath!”

As the two sides closed in on each other, Atemu tried to join her father, but her mother pulled her away and carried her off into the distance.

“For the true pharaoh!” The Egyptians roared in unison. “For Egypt!”

Right before the horses met the shields of the defenders, blackness swallowed the scene and my eyes opened once again, returning me to present day. I looked down to see Atemu, still in my arms. The water around us stopped glowing, but the tendrils of corruption started steaming as they mutated into a light blue. My own arms hummed with the same colored energy as well.

“You did it!” Adon shouted! “You actually did it!”

As the corruption finished dissolving, the light blue shined bright for a moment, then dissolved into her skin. My own arms went back to normal and Atemu’s eyes fluttered open. 

“Hey.” I smiled.

Lines etched her forehead as she stared at me. “What happened?” She lifted one of her hands from the sea and reached up to touch my face. They were soft and wet as her fingers slid down my cheek. 

“Let’s get you out of the water first.” I waded my way out of the sea, the rocks poking my bare feet, and knelt down, to set her on the ground. Cymone and Adon hovered over her with raised eyebrows.

“How do you feel?” The elf asked.

“I feel…” The priestess groaned as she sat up and massaged her temples. “Hung over.”

Lightheadedness washed over me.

“Understandable.” Adon spoke with a gentle voice. “You’ve been through a lot. You should get some rest.”

Her eyes darted back and forth, then burst wide open as they fixated on mine. “Oh my gods. I’m so sorry for attacking you guys. I’m so‒”

“It wasn’t your fault.” I half smiled. “It was mine.”

My vision blurred.

“Oh, no.” She frowned. “Don’t put this all on yourself. That’s too much weight for one person to bear. Let me shoulder some of the blame too, Theo.”

“I have to…” My head spun for a moment. “Accept what I did. Deliberate, accidental; my actions are my own, regardless of intent.”

“Cut yourself some slack, kid.” Adon patted my back. “You just saved her from an agonizing death.”

“I’m also…” My head spun again. “The very cause… for all the pain she just endured.” 

“He doesn’t look so good.” Cymone examined me.

“You’re right.” He agreed. “We need to‒”

Another surge of lightheadedness overcame me. A searing pain sizzled across my torso as I thudded onto my back. Three heads looked over me, but I couldn’t tell who was who.

“He’s drained.” Adon’s voice was muffled. “And something is being etched onto his chest.”

“It’s the same lapis-looking blue light that sparkled around him in the sea, except it looks more sapphiry now that he’s not surrounded by water.” Cymone’s voice was muffled too. “What do you think it’s doing to him?”

“Honestly?” Adon responded. “I have no idea. He just accessed a magic that was barely practiced by anyone in its heyday, let alone the fact that it ‘theoretically’ went extinct a little over  a century ago. One thing I’m sure of though, is that he’s going through a metamorphosis.”

“Guys…” I mumbled. “I think I’m just gonna… take a… nap.”

My eyelids drooped shut, and the last thing I saw was the steam rising from my chest.