Shrouded Piety: The Osiris Contract - Chapter 2

Chapter 1 < | > Chapter 3
1798, General Napoleon Bonaparte has been granted the opportunity by the Directory of France to begin a military campaign in Egypt as a measure of curbing British power over India and the Mediterranean. Of course, for one as scientific and ambitious as Napoleon, the chance to dissect Egypt for its many wonders and continue building upon his own legacy is reason enough to excite the man, even with the British Navy leaving he and his army stranded in Egypt. Unsurprisingly, Napoleon is eager to venture forth to the Pyramids of Giza and see with his own eyes the ancient history of the old land of pharaohs, but what he may find within the dark, vast interior of the pyramids may leave the man shaking in his boots...
==Chapter Reading==
== Chapter 2 – A Nile Forever Dry =
At last, Napoleon came closer to the bright exit of the pyramid following a long walk back to the surface. The silhouette of a person awaited him at the entrance, and Napoleon knew well that it was Roustam, keeping guard while Napoleon conducted his adventure. Only now did the general express nervousness at the thought of what came next—the thought of how to explain his discovery to his peers, if at all. The man did not hide the ankh necklace now around his neck and even went as far as to hold onto it with his free hand.
The Corsican general took his first steps into the light and discarded his torch before exiting, then began his approach of Roustam.
“General Bonaparte,” Roustam anxiously greeted, “You look weak. May I commission you a carriage back to the palace?”
“U—Uh…”
Before Napoleon could supply an answer, the Egyptian clergymen from before inserted themselves past Roustam and before Napoleon. Although the uninvited interruption provoked Roustam’s duty as a bodyguard, he settled on the thought that these same religious figures meant Napoleon no harm. The general was nevertheless disturbed by their forced reunion.
“General, were you satisfied with your tomb inspection?” one asked.
An unnerved Napoleon grasped the Ankh harder and hesitantly answered, “Yes.”
Each man taking notice of the artifact, one was led to commenting, “You discovered a relic…”
“What? This?” Napoleon raised the necklace and shrugged. “A cross of the pharaohs I found lying around. I concluded that this would make for a prestigious collection item.”
Following this, Napoleon would attempt to walk by them, but their words would halt him, “You should beware, General. The relic you hold is one carried by the ancient idols of evil.”
He turned back and raised a brow, “Evil?”
“Yes!” one affirmed sternly. “Ancient Egyptian demons designed by the pharaohs who once cursed Egypt’s people.” He then held his hand out toward Napoleon, “The people of Egypt will not tolerate such demonic items on your person. Please, it should be destroyed.”
Napoleon permitted them so much as five seconds of contemplation before ultimately backing himself in Roustam’s direction, “There are no demons. It is a design of gold from ancient past—history.”
“But General -”
“I will hear no more of this.” Napoleon grabbed Roustam around the shoulder and forced the two away from the clergymen with haste. “Come, Roustam, I’ve greater business to attend.”
The Islamic holy men observed Napoleon’s retreat, each with nervous looks, but ultimately had no real power over the general’s decision. Given a quick exchange of thoughts with each other, the men chose to depart from the pyramid disappointed.
Once some several steps away, Napoleon found his eyes glued onto his new Ankh prize. With the sun bright, he placed much more attention onto the visibly worn out necklace, noting the tiny details that proved its ancient craft. It was a necklace of great quality and at no risk of breaking anytime soon, yet bore thousands of scratches and cuts, each one containing some long-lost context. For a time, he had completely forgotten about the much larger picture—Mary of Osiris.
“General, surely you would like a carriage,” Roustam suggested.
Unable to contain his excitement any longer, Napoleon looked to his bodyguard and revealed with thrill, “Roustam! This necklace… i- it’s not just any ordinary necklace..!”
The bodyguard returned a timid squint, “If I may speak freely for a moment… I concur with the imams, that is an evil necklace, possibly cursed.”
As if completely missing this concern, Napoleon’s gaze of the Ankh intensified as he further explained, “This necklace has powers of some sort. For the wearer? Merely the holder? Or only for Mary?”
“Mary, General?”
“This necklace is the vessel for her living spirit. A woman of ultrahuman resolve—living while Egypt was still young, submitting to the direction of the pharaohs… somehow this necklace has allowed her to travel to our own time…”
Roustam’s disturbed eyes rested on Napoleon as they walked. “I am concerned that you’ve not consumed enough water. You must stay hydrated while in Egypt.”
“No, no, it’s true! Mary is real and her powers mysterious but unquestionably true.” He gently shook the Ankh and held his chin. “There are still so many questions I have for her once I get her out of this cross again…”
“Merchant!” Roustam shouted, “The General is in urgent need of your water supply!”
A time later, Napoleon and Roustam had returned to their palace of residence in Cairo. They approached a large room where rich drapery substituted for a doorway, and it was here Napoleon finally held Roustam to a stop.
“That is all for now, dear friend. I dismiss you until the evening.”
Roustam nodded, “Very well, General. Do you not wish me to guard the entrance?”
“Unnecessary. I require peace and silence; complete concentration to myself.”
“Then I will see myself out at once.”
“See to it.”
Napoleon marched his way into the central palace chamber, where he had a nice open window view of Cairo, but an otherwise very shaded room. In the center was a dining table currently littered with Napoleon’s war plans and other workings, as well as some plants, and then a luxurious bed all in the same area.
At last, the man removed the Ankh from his person and placed it over the messy table. From this moment on, he was unsure of how to go about re-summoning Mary.
“Err… Mary!” He struck a tall pose and cleared his throat. “You may come out now… Mary. I have delivered you to the palace as promised.”
He had expected an immediate response from the Ankh, but instead was faced with the very reality he was afraid of—perfect silence. Seconds was all it took for the man to widen his eyes with concern, jumping to hasty possibilities such as the thought that perhaps he had in fact been dehydrated and faced nothing more than an illusion.
Defiant of an alternative reality, the man came closer to the necklace and shouted, “Mary! I put through my end of the deal, now you get out of there and -”
His fears of a false reality would, fortunately, be replaced by the same fears he had in the tomb, for soon the process would start up all over again. The necklace raised itself, and the blinding red glow would form in such a way that even people passing by the palace would become alarmed by the bright red glow coming out from its balcony windows. This time Napoleon refused to fall, trusting the process, and staying on his feet, but with an arm shielding his eyes.
Once more the Ancient Egyptian likeness of ‘Mary’ would appear in place of the glow, still garbed in her rich white garments, and a necklace now safe around her. She faced the general with a respecting stare, even as he shielded his eyes from her for most of the process. The process ended the moment her sandaled feet reached the floor.
“Napoleon,” she greeted.
The general uncovered his eyes and stared her down with such interest it almost came off as offending; this was, after all, his first time seeing the supernatural ‘Godcraft’ in natural lighting.
“Mary, how honoring it is to see you again.”
She returned the praise, “I share the feeling.” At that moment, she closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and took a very deep breath. “From within the necklace, I thought over what you said… over the continued claims that the pharaohs -”
“Mary, I have brought you to meet the current leader of Egypt, as promised.”
The woman squinted a glare, “…I have taken note of your tendency to prioritize your words over those of others…” Napoleon did not defend himself. “Very well, Napoleon. Who wields the incredible power of the Nile today?”
She did put minimal effort into moving her eyes around the palace chamber but did not stray long from Napoleon’s eyes. The general expressed nervousness in the form of a final swallow, then with his legs spread a bit in a strong pose, placed a fist over his heart.
“I, Napoleon Bonaparte, am the current controller of the Egyptian destiny.”
It was with some disappointment Mary carried the response, “I convinced myself that this may be the case shortly ago.”
Napoleon formed a tiny smirk, “So you know it to be true that I am the new rightful owner of the Nile?”
Mary opened her mouth to answer, but upon staring deep into Napoleon’s eyes again, she chose to censor herself and reveal a temper.
“It has been very long since I served Pharaoh, but I am not so long removed from my time to tell you, Napoleon, that you are no pharaoh.”
“On the contrary, my dear. The people of Egypt have embraced me like a lover; not since the days of Pharaoh has Egypt seen such a popular leader.”
Mary clicked a defiant jaw, “You may be popular, but you were born neither in the north nor south of Egypt. You do not speak the language of the Egyptian people, you do not worship the gods, you do not wear the traditional garb of the pharaoh…”
Now tempered himself, Napoleon stomped a foot at her and claimed, “I saved Egypt.”
“From whom?”
“The Ottoman Turks and their Mamluk menace.”
Mary dropped her jaw and tilted her head, “What?”
“You know… the Turks!”
“Th- The… Turks…”
“Yes, yes, the accursed Turks!” Napoleon, reading Mary’s contextless face, sought to capitalize on the moment. “Oh yes, you faced many enemies in ancient times, no doubt, but few are as wicked as the Turks who have for long enslaved your Egyptian people with the utmost evilness.”
Mary followed this up with, “These ‘Turks’ are evil conquerors?”
“Oh yes, terrible. They and their ‘Ottoman’ Empire have exploited the hardworking Egyptians due to their lust for greed and power. France had enough, and so she called for me to liberate the Egyptians from Ottoman rule and restore the freedoms they lost so long ago under the Turks.”
Mary searched Napoleon’s face for untruth, but his selling of the story was so professionally performed she could not do so. Any temper on her face now faded, replaced with plain curiosity.
“So, you and your French warriors came to save Egypt?”
“Just as I saved you from your eternal slumber, I am here to save the Egyptian spirit from unjust treatment.” He took himself off toward the open windows and gestured back at her. “Come, Mary. Let me show you something.”
The general leaned against a window frame and soon had the woman join him for a look outside. Mary fluttered her eyes in disbelief at the amazing sight of such a developed city, far different from the settlement she remembered from her own time.
“Look around and smile at the great prosperity you see before you.” She did not smile, but she was impressed. “Merchants prosper from great trade, children finding education, the people free to worship in peace, a home built for just about every head in Cairo, all under the safe and professional guardianship of the French military—my military.”
“Incredible…” she expressed.
“This civilization does not weep under my cradle—they embrace it!” In this instance, Napoleon’s portrayal of a strong character did well for him, as Mary observed the man in slight awe. “We are not conquerors who impose our culture and beliefs upon the Egyptians—we protect them, and in exchange, we learn from them.” He turned to the Godcraft. “And I want more than anything in the world to learn from you, if you will have me as your…”
“Pharaoh?”
The Corsican raised a cheeky smile in thought, but rather concluded with, “As your general.”
A silent moment between the two came off as assuring in energy, yet it was Mary’s constant lack of friendly face that anchored it all. She did consider her options well, especially weighing the fact that a prospering Cairo was right before her very eyes to see.
“I hope not to disappoint you, Napoleon, when I say that I cannot accept you as a master.”
He continued to face her, now with arms crossed and a bitter quirked mouth, “Am I disappointed? Of course I am disappointed.” His arms opened wide. “What reason have you for turning me down? I have proven well enough capable and responsible for the wellbeing of your Egyptian nation.”
She explained, “It is only fair that I take into consideration the possibility that you are lying. Perhaps these Ottoman Turks you speak of are not evil torturers but in actuality, the true Egyptian people forced away by your French warriors.”
“Mary!” Napoleon stomped an authoritative pose, “I am not lying! The Ottoman Empire treats its Egyptian subject like a mere trophy to draw prestige upon.”
“And then what is Egypt to you?”
“A land rich in ancient history and knowledge.”
She dropped her brows, “From which you draw prestige upon?”
“N-” He spun away from her and expressed a silent tantrum away from her. After this, he faced her again with mere frustration about him. “Look with your own eyes, does it look like we are torturing these inhabitants!?”
Mary did not move anything but her eyes toward the city, where it was clear to see ordinary people carrying out their everyday life—along with the occasional French soldier.
“No,” she admitted. “But we Egyptians know of a god well, Set, he who embraced chaos and self-interest so much that he would slay his own brother Osiris. More to the point, Set works in ways most concealed and most dishonest when seeking a goal.” She brought an accusing finger out to Napoleon. “It is an undeniable truth that good intention or not, your foreign warriors are supported by Set—just as all ancient enemies of Egypt were—and it would not be a new strategy in any way for Set to instruct dishonesty in you and your warriors.”
He whipped his long hair aside and grimaced, “I work independent of any divinity, I command my own destiny.”
“If only that were true though.”
Having had enough, Napoleon bit his lip hard and poked the woman, “Listen, you! I rescued you from that tomb, and I expe-”
Suddenly, and with no preceding warning, a General Kléber came rushing through the entrance drapery and interrupted, “General Bonaparte!” Despite the look of urgency upon his face, one look at Mary would tame the man into backstepping. “I apologize, is this a bad time?”
At this time, Mary closed her eyes and turned away from both men. A still agitated Napoleon redirected this anger toward Kléber, “Yes, it is. What is it?”
Kléber invited himself in more, deciding to approach the man and woman with one hand to his sheathed sword. “It is of only minor consequence, but I nevertheless felt obligated to inform you that a small group of Mamluks backed by Ottoman reinforcement is marching in our direction.” Napoleon let out a subtle gasp before looking back at Mary. “Fortunately, it seems the failed intention of the Mamluks was to have snuck by our watch and take Cairo by flash. As we speak, French troops are on the move to perform the interception.”
So eager to make a point, Napoleon looked to Mary and gloated, “You see, Mary? The Turks are coming to this city as we speak, looking to deliver it war. What do you have to say about that?”
Mary’s response was lost, as was her face. All she did was stare into Napoleon’s eyes without expression, only eventually arching an eyebrow at him. Her failure to respond restored some of the man’s anger.
“Where are they now?” Napoleon asked Kléber.
“Just at the entrance to the Levant when I received the report.”
Napoleon smashed a fist into a palm, “Then it is settled. I will join the soldiers and take command of this battle personally.”
“What?” Kléber squinted, “With all due respect, General, what is the point? They are so few, and we are so many.”
Napoleon again turned to Mary, this time with a more offending stare, “To show Mary firsthand the evil intent of our enemies.”
Again, she did not respond, only this time puzzlement was more visible. Even the clearest sign of confusion did not stop Napoleon from repeating his escalation of anger. Still, he crossed his arms and struck a strong pose.
“Then it is settled, Mary and I will leave at once.”
Napoleon gave Kléber a dismissive shove as he quickly marched for the entrance, and while doing so, he looked back at Mary and persistently gestured her to follow. Eventually understanding his hand messaging, Mary reluctantly moved with him, leaving a confused Kléber to stand alone in the room.
As the day progressed, Napoleon and the reluctant company of Mary found themselves carried away from Cairo by horse carriage, protected by the marching blue soldiers of France. Much surprise was found in Napoleon’s decision to command an interception of such a small group of foes, but his plan to prove the righteousness of his rule over Egypt was all the persuasion he needed.
Mary kept to the end of her carriage seat, fluctuating between interest and puzzlement at the fashion and weaponry of these marching soldiers.
She commented, “I assume these warriors take on the fashion of their general.”
The Godcraft’s attempt to strike up conversation failed, and to her startlement, facing her was nothing more than the aggravated face of Napoleon. His anger was so exaggerated that it came off impossible to miss.
“What troubles you, Napoleon?”
“Hours ago, I saved you from a tomb, only to return you to my fine palace and have you throw a childish fit at me.”
Her eyes dropped onto him with slight offense taken, “What fit? I recall only an informative discussion.”
“Don’t you make a fool of me,” he demanded with a sour eye, “When General Kléber intervened, you maintained a barbaric attitude, ignoring every word that he and I shared.”
Mary’s face grew more frustrated for a time but momentarily became monotone. “It was necessary, both in that speaking with you is exhausting, and that speaking to two of you is overwhelming.”
“Oh!? Is that a -” Napoleon in his spurt of rage had tried to stand up but in doing so hit his head; he sat back down. “Is that a fact? Because all the same, I could say speaking to you is three times as exhausting! Maybe even four times so.”
Mary contained herself, ultimately conceding a sigh, “It is my fault, General. There is much to my nature still unexplained.” Napoleon sat back with crossed arms, patiently awaiting an explanation. “Conversing with someone outside of my native language is not without its cost. As the Godcraft of Osiris, I come into this earthly world each day with only so much… ‘energy,’ that is, energy to be spent on otherworldly exploits—in other words, Godcraft magic.”
“What does that have to do with speaking? It takes little energy to construct words.”
“It is not that simple, Napoleon!” she lectured. “Long ago, I conjured a complex Godcraft schematic that allows me to override the free will of one’s heart and replace their native language with my own. Right now, neither I nor you speak ‘French,’ we are speaking the tongue of my people whether you know it or not, because I am constantly penetrating your heart and making you do so.”
Napoleon quirked his mouth with annoyance, “We are speaking French, Mary.”
She quietly uttered, “This is what you fail to understand…” She nevertheless continued, “This Godcraft sorcery is neither simple nor inexpensive to perform, every word you or I speak has its draining effect over my daily Godcraft energy.” She looked him deep in the eyes, attempting to assert an understanding, “It is not exhausting to speak with you because of the content… though it is normally frustrating speaking with you… It is exhausting to control your heart for conversation—but necessary to understand each other.”
Even with this, Napoleon shook at her and laughed, “Even if it were true that you manipulate how we speak, I still hear the words of France from you.”
Mary shut her eyes and let out an exasperated groan. “I should have taken your heart and tongue when your fellow general appeared, then you would believe me.”
Napoleon returned a reluctant chuckle, “Oh, I partly believe you. I believe that you undergo an exhausting supernatural process of connecting our languages—but I hear French, and so you speak French.” Mary squinted at him. “You have no control over me with your Godcraft magic, you only instruct the French language upon yourself. We are speaking French.”
“However misguided you are, it makes no difference how you interpret this, for now.” She looked back out to the desert. “Soon, I will speak to you in the presence of another, and you will then know that you speak the tongue of pharaohs with me.”
“And finally, if what you say is true, why did you not perform this magic on both Kléber and me?”
Mary shivered at the thought. “Imagine writing a record with one hand while performing a mathematical solution with the other, at the same time, and without flaw. That is how difficult it would be for me to manipulate two hearts at once.”
Napoleon nodded slowly and continually at her, and from this time on did not restore any look of aggression. Naturally, still confused and a bit frustrated, he conceded that what mattered most now was convincing Mary to remain by his side for the time to come. He could ask questions later.
Many hours later, Napoleon and an officer stood over a desert hilltop, the former looking through a telescope at the approaching march of Ottoman and Mamluk soldiers.
“My God, this attack is even more pathetic than I envisioned…” Napoleon critiqued.
“Indeed, General. It was not necessary to have you with us today.”
“There!” Napoleon pointed at the approaching army and grinned. Two artillery batteries were spotted far in the back rows. “Excellent, they have artillery.”
The officer looked to the general with shock, “Excellent? Why, General, I’m almost certain the artillery will be damaged or destroyed before we could loot it.”
Without further ado, Napoleon closed his telescope and pat the officer on the back, “Send forward our response—but leave our artillery behind.”
“I beg your pardon!?”
Napoleon began his walk back to the French army and tent set on the other side of the hill, “I do not want a single piece of artillery striking our enemies. I forbid it!”
The officer stood there grunting, trying to piece together this puzzle. In the end, he as well marched toward the ready soldiers and prepared attack order gestures.
Hardly a time later, French soldiers all along the hilltop fired down upon the doomed Ottoman attack with musket fire, as well as the eventual threat of a cavalry charge—though much of the French army continued to hide behind the hill so as not to scare the enemies away too quickly. The bulk of the French defense was fought with hill gunfire, but not at all artillery.
Meanwhile, down under the safety of a tent, an uninformed, contextless Mary wandered around near the entrance with eyes wide and a jaw dipped. Endless musket pops and explosions were all unfamiliar sounds, leaving the screams of dying soldiers the only bit of familiarity to her. All she could see was the immense musket smoke rising all along the hilltop, along with the occasional fire. She could not fathom the strategy of fighting the enemy from a hilltop only, knowing well that ranged combat was the foremost strategy, but still wondering when the familiar sounds of clashing blades would sound off.
Mary, unable to refrain herself any longer, stepped fully out of the tent just in time for a horrible sight. Two soldiers came back carrying the barely living thrashed body of another, both legs blown off and his blood trailing in the sand behind him. The orchestrator of this hopeless show was Napoleon, who deliberately guided this group of men toward the tent.
“Oh, Mary!” Napoleon greeted.
She missed this, having not been linked to his ‘heart’ at the time, but understood enough from her name that it was a greeting. The two soldiers rushed the severed soldier into the tent and left Napoleon to face the woman with shock.
“The horrors, Mary!”
“Wh- What happened to that man!?” Mary panicked.
Napoleon performed a spin and chucked his hat in the sand, hands thrown up in an exaggerated rage, “Those wicked Turks, Mary! They have brought their dreaded artillery to a fight meant to be honorably fought!”
Mary returned to her blank expression but sporadically panicked again upon looking down at the sandy trail of blood left by the severed man.
“What is artillery?”
Napoleon picked his hat back up and faced her with another exaggerated face, “I- It’s horrible, I… Ugh… I should not inform you.”
“Please, do.”
“I am sorry, Mary, I brought you here to what was supposed to be an honorable and fair fight, to show you our dedication to protecting Egypt. I should have known the Turks would bring their weapons of chaos. We must win this fight, or all of Egypt will fall under the rain of artillery.” Mary’s eyes continued to grow. “Cities will crumble, pyramids collapse, entire people turned into bloody goo -”
“Napoleon, what is artillery? I must know.”
He faced away from her with a sly look, and waved to the hilltop, “See for yourself, if you must.”
The Godcraft faced the smoked-up hill with fierce concern for Egypt and an undying curiosity for this apparent weapon of doom. To the General’s shock, she did not waste a second in running for the hills. Napoleon gave chase, the entire time fluttering his eyes in continued surprise at her eagerness to rush at a battlefield.
Just as surprising was Mary’s superior terrain negotiation skills as she found herself conquering the hill much faster than Napoleon. Soon she took herself to a safe distance near the top but away from the French soldiers, and Napoleon soon joined her.
“This is close enough; we will be safe here.”
Mary lowered her brows and squinted, “But we are far too distant from their army to witness any battle…”
Another wave of musket fire from both sides saw new corpses emerge, and this alone put great fright onto the woman, as well as proving her comment wrong. For a time, the battle did not seem particularly eventful to the woman beyond the strange gunpowder weaponry and long distance, leading her to make her own conclusions.
“These ranged weapons are the artillery?”
Napoleon, keeping the Turkish artillery under a telescope, could tell from his own experience as an artillerist that new shots were coming. He preemptively ducked his head and answered, “You will know when you see it.”
Finally, one artillery team fired, causing great alarm in Mary at the firing alone, but what came next was especially shocking. All at once, an explosion striking the outskirt of the French line caused fire to rise, sand to fly, and a few Frenchmen to fly in tatters. It was technically a rather ineffective strike, but very effective on Mary’s morale.
The woman immediately dropped to her chest in fear and disbelief, “Wh- What th-”
“That is the menacing weapon of artillery.”
Napoleon’s words were followed by another, much more effective strike that sent many Frenchmen to an explosive death. The sight of these valuable French soldiers all exploding in a single blast—largely due to Napoleon’s own decision of holding back his cannons—left the man cringing, but he had to maintain character.
“Should we fail to win, the Turks will bring their dreaded artillery into Egypt and -”
Mary interrupted, “They will destroy all of Egypt with their artillery...”
Napoleon nodded, “Take heart, Mary. For I am Egypt’s protector now, and under my command, not a single explosion will touch Egyptian soil.”
The woman’s eyes watered ever so slightly and her lip trembled as they lay together before a horrific battle. With every Frenchman to die in this battle—either by Ottoman gunfire or artillery blast—Mary’s heart became more and more consumed by hatred for Napoleon’s enemy. As she had been made to believe, every Frenchman lost was one man closer to the pyramids and beyond being blown to pieces by the Turks.
Napoleon made a daring move to place a hand over hers for comfort, “I promise, I will not let any harm come of Egypt. Its prosperity is assured under France.”
Mary soon clenched a fist under Napoleon’s palm, and through barred teeth exclaimed, “They are the ones led by Set, bringers of chaos…” She glared in the face of the opposing soldiers. “I will kill any man who dares bring chaos to Egypt, and let their hearts be decisively left for devouring…”
Napoleon winced, “Err… Now, you understand that the French do not devour hearts, yes?”
Suddenly, an unexpected yet unsurprisingly threat to Napoleon’s plan emerged as, altogether, the Ottoman army started to back away from the battlefield, some fully facing away and starting to run, while others merely began to retreat backward. Fortunately for him, Mary had already redirected her attention to the General, who in turn urged her to slide more down the hill to escape the sight of a retreating enemy.
Mary spoke, “I believe there will be problems… misunderstandings… between us, Napoleon. But I have seen enough to convince myself that you are a leader looking after Egypt’s best interests.”
Fishing, Napoleon squinted at her, “So—o… that is to say..?”
She offered him a grounded bow, reluctantly affirming, “With mighty Ra and Osiris as witnesses, I swear my servitude to you and your successors, Napoleon.”
The two remained in the sand together as smoke continued to disturb their breathing, and the sounds of screams and gunfire making for a disturbing scene. It was not the dramatic temple-like scene Napoleon envisioned receiving such an oath at, but nevertheless captured his excitement, and placated his ambitions for a supernatural servant.
“So, let it be…” he concluded with a barely existent grin.
To be continued…
Chapter 1 < | > Chapter 3
==Chapter Summary==
# Napoleon returns from his pyramid exploration, and against the advice of the Islamic clergymen decides to keep his Ankh necklace for himself, knowing it is actually a supernatural vessel for the Godcraft, Mary.
# Mary is summoned in the Cairo palace Napoleon is keeping residence within, where he reveals to her that he is the current controller of Egypt. Mary responds with disappointment, but had assumed as much.
# Mary objects to Napoleon's claim of legitimate rule, citing his lack of Egyptian culture, (ancient) religion, and personal religious belief that he and his men are led by the ancient Egyptian god of chaos and foreigners, Set.
# Napoleon retorts that he, in fact, saved Egypt from a greater evil of foreigners, the Ottoman Turks, who he claims were tyrannical towards Egypt. He cites the prosperity of Cairo as proof that he holds Egypt's best interests, yet she claims Set is a god who lies, and therefore Napoleon could as well.
# General Kléber reports a tiny sneak attack by the Ottoman Turks and supporting Mamluks, and while hardly a threat, Napoleon hatches a plan to manipulate the events of the battle in a way that would prove to Mary that the Ottoman Empire is evil.
# Mary, seemingly, does not pick up on a single word shared between Napoleon and Kléber despite being present, thus greatly offending Napoleon.
# While traveling to the inevitable battlefield, Mary explains to Napoleon that, as a Godcraft, she has only so much daily Godcraft energy, and that she communicates to him by "controlling his heart" and forcing him to speak and hear Ancient Egyptian language. Napoleon believes her partly, but ignorantly contends that they are in fact speaking French. Ultimately, Mary adds that the reason she did not understand his conversation with Kléber is because performing her language magic on multiple 'hearts' at the same time is as difficult as writing and doing math problems simultaneously, and also twice as energy draining. She concludes that anyone who hears the two talking would be disturbed to find Napoleon speaking Ancient Egyptian.
# Before battle, Napoleon spots Ottoman artillery and makes a daring order to discard any French artillery, only allowing for Ottoman artillery in the battle. The French fight only with muskets and cavalry.
# Mary is far disturbed by the military advancements of musketry, and further disturbed when Napoleon stages a situation where a soldier blown apart by artillery is brought back to the tent. Disturbed by the damages to the man, Mary requests to see the Ottoman artillery for herself. Napoleon, playing off fake panic and grief over the artillery, reluctantly delivers her to the hilltop to watch the battle.
# Mary is exposed to the explosive power of artillery and is wildly disturbed by its destruction. Napoleon capitalizes on this and lies that if he fails in his duty to stop the Ottoman Empire, that they will bring their artillery forward and destroy all of Egypt. Quickly enraged by this hypothetical reality, Mary switches her beliefs around and claims that it is the Ottoman Turks who the god Set backs, and that the French are indeed the righteous protectors of Egypt. Playing off her own anger, she swears to kill any man who threatens Egypt.
# With hesitation, Mary swears her Godcraft servitude to Napoleon and his heirs, which he accepts with ambitious glee.
==Author Notes==
====Ottoman Antagonists====
In Tale of Two Godcrafts, Austria and Britain are the two big enemies Selina was focused on, but with The Osiris Contract changing her to be Egyptian, her natural enemy is unsurprisingly the Ottoman Empire. With how little attention the Ottomans received in the original story, I was excited to move forward with this focus and get really creative with Napoleon's slander of them, knowing that he must figure out how to make Selina anti-Ottoman and not anti-French with regards to Egypt's independence. This also creates a very interesting situation to write for, as the Ottomans are destined to defeat the French in Egypt down the road, but somehow Napoleon must keep Selina from knowing or accepting this.
====Justifying Napoleonic Fealty====
A new challenge presented with this reboot was the need to get Selina back into a subservient attitude toward Napoleon and his potential dynasty, despite no longer having any connection to the French monarchy. This led to an especially interesting start to their relationship, as in Tale of Two Godcrafts, they start out with a master-servant relationship, whereas here, Selina must be convinced on why she should swear herself to him. The natural linkage that I could see is that Selina feels compelled to serve the pharaoh of Egypt, which has long ceased to exist, and so the next best thing would be to swear herself to one who is honorbound to restore the throne. I believe that Napoleon, with his interest in Egypt's ancient past, is genuinely a great candidate for persuading Selina, even if he is not actually pursuing her aims of bringing back pharaonic Egypt. Still, even with the conclusion that this chapter has, I decided that in the chapters to come, her sworn allegiance to Napoleon should be shaky and not one of strong respect, at least not yet. Selina's fealty to Napoleon is based on thin trust that he can bring back her country, and as of Chapter 2, she has not actually seen strong evidence that he can make this happen, so unlike in Tale of Two Godcrafts, Selina's respecting mannerisms of Napoleon is not quite there yet.
==Chapter Illustration==
With the reboot of Shrouded Piety, experimentation was sought after for a new art style unique to the story. While EngelReise would retain the same art style consistent with F-Zero: Seppuku and Shrouded Piety: Tale of Two Godcrafts, The Osiris Contract played with a style that abolishes outlines and puts more emphasis on shading. In this style, gradient, too, was removed. While this style would, ultimately, not remain, it does remain for the entirety of the Egypt-based chapters. This scene depicts the moment Napoleon and 'Mary' look out at Cairo, allowing her to see how her city has changed since the days of pharaohs. This is the first time in Shrouded Piety's history that Napoleon is depicted with his long hair and officer attire, rather than his imperial outfit and shortened hair. For Selina, it is the first time she is clearly shown with her new darker skin.
The image was prepared through a mixture of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.