The Sun Dethroned

"Good tidings, Pharaoh." Prelude bent the knee in front of his throne. "What is it you have summoned me to discuss?"

"There is a question I've been ruminating on since you and your people arrived." Osirimes said. "Your kind carries power beyond measure, as if it was gifted to you by the gods themselves, yet you have seen fit to subjugate yourselves to the common man. Why?"

"We were created by man, and therefore we serve man." Prelude stated. "Need there be more to it?"

""Man" is not a single unified group." Osirimes pointed out. "Just who was it that created you? What reason would they have for sending you to serve us?"

"Do you not trust us?" Prelude queried. "Have we not proven our worth to your civilization?"

"Your people have been helpful in reducing the strain on our workers, but we were hardly a struggling nation before you arrived." Osirimes said. "Your assistance with manual labor has been helpful, but not necessary." He leaned forward on his throne. "If you were created to serve mankind as a whole, there are other peoples that your efforts would benefit far more greatly than us, so tell me..." His eyes narrowed. "...Why Egypt?"

"Our creator had a great fondness for your people and their monuments." Prelude said. "A short-sighted fondness, perhaps, but a fondness nonetheless."

"Again you invoke this thus-far nameless "creator" of yours." Osirimes' brow furrowed. "Who are they?"

"I could not describe them in any manner that would do them justice." Prelude stated. "But I know where you can find information that does."

"You built a secret tomb underneath the Great Pyramid?" Osirimes glared at Prelude. "Was this your true reason for assisting us?"

"Not a tomb," Prelude said. "An Archive. An extension of the vast knowledge collected by our creator across his travels. Consider it a gift from him."

"If your creator's idea of a "gift" is desecrating a sacred monument, I have my doubts about this "vast knowledge" of his." Osirimes hissed.

The two of them made their way further into the secret passageways lying underneath the pyramid, descending further and further underground until they eventually reached an open room with a stone door on the other side. Guarding the door was a lion that seemed to have been carved out of stone, yet was somehow very much alive.

"The information inside this room is dangerous." The lion declared as soon as it caught sight of them. "Only those with pure hearts may enter and receive of its knowledge."

"This, I'm afraid, is where we part." Prelude turned to Osirimes. "I am a being of earth and stone, and thus have no heart to be judged. I will return to the surface and await your arrival from there."

Prelude turned and began walking back the way they came. Osirimes followed his path with a suspicious glare for a moment before turning around and approaching the lion.

"Tell me, beast," Osirimes began. "Are you of Anubis, or do you weigh the heart by other means?"

"I am not of Anubis, but my means are unimportant." The lion answered. "That which is revealed by those means is the only truth."

The lion's eyes began to glow, and for a moment as he met their gaze, Osirimes felt as if they were peering into his very soul.

"...You may enter." The lion declared as the light from its eyes dimmed. "But heed my warning, Pharaoh: some knowledge is best left to rest."