Book Two Chapter Seventy One: Loading Pharaoh Option

Book Two Chapter Seventy One: Loading Pharaoh Option

What about this, is this worth anything? The Chosen One was asking Definitely Bad Guy. He was holding a large fan just out of reach of a very inquisitive Squiggles.

Purely decorative, Definitely Bad Guy replied dismissively. It contains no intellectual value.

Yeah, but is it worth any money? the Chosen One pressed. The Mage shrugged.

To those who prize aesthetics over knowledge, perhaps, he said dismissively.

The Chosen One lost focus and let the fan drop slightly. In an instant, Squiggles struck.

No, dont ah, well, thats gone, the Chosen One said, surprisingly unfazed by the potentially ancient artefact being gulped down by the team mascot.

Yes, Qube said, her head still in her hands. She rubbed her face before showing a bright, albeit slightly manic, expression to the rest of the group. Yes, this makes perfect sense. The pharaoh, he was never a real Royal, right?

The Chosen One and Definitely Bad Guy stopped their categorisation of the various items to give concerned looks to the half-elf Healer.

Sure, the Chosen One agreed encouragingly.

Thats why he was a bad ruler, because he didnt have Royal blood.

That is not the only qualification of a good ruler, my dear, Sexy Screamy Spider Lady interjected. Qube waved the interruption aside.

Or Royal training, or Trials, or anything, she added in the spirit of diplomacy. Which meant that he had to have been someone before he became pharaoh. Which must have been just a regular SandBright person! Yes! So when I removed all the trauma that forced him onto those two paths, hes gone back to being who he was before, which was just a regular person!

And his bit about reinforcing the seal? the Chosen One asked.

Some other seal! Qube said desperately. She noticed that some of her hair was sticking straight out around her head and quickly smoothed it back into place. Or a desire to put that part of his life behind him, or some such thing! Really, theres lots of very good explanations that will no doubt become clear in time.

The Chosen One leaned against the tombs doorway and regarded Qube with his lopsided smile.

Feeling a bit frazzled? he asked, his smile turning into a grin as Qube glared at him.

I feel perfectly fine, thank you! she replied primly.

Sure, okay, so hes now mentally just another SandBright person, the Chosen One said easily. I one hundred percent agree with you.

You do? Qube coughed and straightened up. I mean, of course you do. Its the most likely explanation. Now, we should probably just take all the artefacts that we can carry and leave this place. She turned to the former pharaoh, who had tilted his helmet down at the dagger sticking out of his chest. A thought struck her.

Do you think I should tell him to take off his helmet? she asked the Chosen One quietly. The other SandBright people might not realise that hes been reformed, and might attack him if they think hes still the pharaoh.

The Chosen One stifled a laugh.

That would definitely be something to see, he said, amused for reasons which eluded Qube. By the way, the Hero turned to Definitely Bad Guy, did you end up picking up his stick and gem?

The markings on the flail are interesting, but not in any script I recognise, the Mage said, pulling out a flail that Qube recognised as the one that the pharaoh had been trying to give the Chosen One. The gem itself has no explanation.

Her grip slipped and she was sent flying backward, directly into the mouth of the portal.

---

Her momentum didnt carry through the teleportation. Instead, disoriented, she calmly stepped out of the portal. The world she stepped into was strangely grey and foggy. In the time it took her to rub her eyes, the Chosen One appeared and took his place by her side.

Oh no, she heard him whisper.

This is not exactly what I pictured the SandBright peoples home to look like, Qube confessed. The others joined them, and from their various exclamations Qube could tell that they felt the same.

Something terrible happened here, Sewer Bard said solemnly.

What have we done? Sexy Screamy Spider Lady gasped.

This was not how I would have done it, Definitely Bad Guy said critically. The other two party members looked at him. The Mage shrugged.

In the perpetual twilight that stretched before them, Qube could see where there had once been a nomadic homestead. The skeletons of circular, colourful huts still stood, the scraps of fabric peeling off the wooden support structures. Innumerable mirrors were strewn about, capturing what little light there was and directing it all to a massive, golden throne that was set on a plateau midway through a small, sandstone pyramid.

Sitting on the throne, bathed in refracted light that caused his golden paint to glow, was a figure that looked identical to the pharaoh. Mummies shuffled about, adjusting and readjusting mirrors to capture the filtered suns to keep the light on their indisputable leader.

Qube didnt know why shed thought the SandBright people would be human. The way the Chosen One had spoken about how the pharaohs reign of terror would involve him turning the desert people into mummies might have done it. That had just been a guess on his part, though. Presumably these mummies could talk, unlike their Temple counterparts. Unless had the mummies in the Light Temple been SandBright people, or constructed by the Temple? Qube wasnt sure how she felt about Temples making actual people out of pure mana.

That just seemed dangerous.

Do you think thats the Akela? Qube asked. She certainly looks like the leader. She turned and looked for their former pharaoh. Where is he? she asked as she scanned the group.

I dont know if he can travel through the portals, the Chosen One said as he tore his eyes away from the scene before them.

Oh, Qube said, frowning. The pharaoh had clearly modelled his appearance after the Akela, so it was probably best that he didnt come outside until theyd figured out some way of removing that helmet from him, and maybe the gold paint too. Was he also made of bandages underneath that paint?

Maybe they could ask the Blacksmith back in Cobbletown for help. It would be awful if theyd freed the pharaoh from the horrors of his past just to have him trapped in that tomb forever.

Theyd also need some way of helping him through the portal, if the Chosen One was right and he couldnt use them for some strange reason. Wait! Qube didnt have to figure that out on her own! She turned to Definitely Bad Guy.

Can you please investigate that and see if theres some way we can bring him to the surface? she asked with a polite smile.

Shed really learned a lot from being more in charge! Now she knew how to delegate! She didnt have to do everything herself! Especially since the Chosen One didnt think she needed to know the answer to everything.

It felt incredibly freeing.

In fact, the whole experience of the others and her being in charge of the Light Temple had been a really amazing, positive experience. Theyd all grown so much!

Looking out at the darkened, mummy-filled settlement before her, Qube felt her heart lighten.

This was the result of their hard work! And things were only going to get better from here!