The next morning, before dawn, he flew. Before sunrise could arrive, the other sun knew. He had been restless, relentless, no more than his trusted companion.
"Easy Leonidas."
Renero roared softly at the mighty lionlidon that growled at something approaching from the land of cruelty. Something sinister, sadistic.
"Sick," Leonidas made the word audible.
Yes. So sick that a heat wave of sickness stretched across the scars that ornamented Renero's muscular body. He narrowed his eyes, constricting his pupils and increasing his vision, along with his senses, sensing not just one powerful source of light, but two, and the second source...
Was himself.
Untamed anger boiled from the depths of his core that became hardened and raw with rage. Renero considered his surroundings, sitting atop the edge of the subtropical Gau canyon, green with vegetation and gold with sandstone. Some time ago, he meditated in Imagis with Amoar, and now, his miniscule plane of peace was disrupted by the ill falcon flying towards him.
Renero's eyes glossed over the views of the hot springs, veld, orange cliffs and the tall Flori waterfall that looked like a mourning flower. His ears blocked out the sounds of the fleeing birds in the sky. His veiny hand gripped his spear like a thunderbolt, and his golden Amandla aura began to coat his body.
Leonidas roared at Renero and started to move away from him.
"I agree. Go back to your pride Leonidas. Tell Safrina to get the lionesses ready for today's bloodbath. I will be back in time for the sunrise. I appreciate your tact my friend. This is something that only I can face, just as your pride is something only you can rule over."
The lionlidon roared and sprinted towards his destination, moving faster than a horse, and bigger, more powerful, more ruthless, and more graceful.
Renero heard a rustling noise behind him. Primals of course, but he paid them no mind with the prime threat that kept creeping in on him, above him, in the sky. Indescribable disgust formed over his face.
It was still dark, but there was light to be found. The atmosphere was partially illuminated by the sun, but the sky was not completely bright. The real sun sat below the horizon, peeking over it, while the artificial sun creeped on the living sun that brought forth his astral chant of consuming fire.
☀
"I move like water, I go with the flow."
"At times with no rhythm."
"At times just for show."
"I worry and I never worry."
"It always takes a toll."
"But it's no problem for me."
"For that is the way of my soul."
"I rise like the sun, and I set with it."
"I decide who rises."
"I decide who falls."
"So come and receive my judgment."
"For the Sun decides ALL."
☀
----------
Renero threw his spear of nations and took off with it, high into the air, breaking the sound barrier and shattering the laws of oppressive gravity that opposed him. Up and up and up he flew, like a newborn star, engulfed in golden fire, clouds of gas and sparkles of dust. The storming ascension swelled to its landmark, no, it exceeded it.
Renero adjusted the speed of his flight to a smooth and majestic halt. He floated for a bit, suspended in the air. His lion skin cape flapped in slow motion like he had slowed time. His long dreadlocks flowed upwards, revealing his serious face, stern and unwavering.
Time moved again at normal speed when his feet landed on top of the hot airship. It was enormous, both in width and length, painted in black and gold. The front was the beak of a falcon, and the sides of the airship had the golden wings of the falcon that steered and directed the ship's direction. Thermal gas powered the vehicle forward, and the man that spearheaded it turned his attention to the intruder that stood above him.
"You still haven't changed a single bit, have you? Always rushing into things, head on, by yourself. Always being the one to make the first move. You did the same thing back then when you wiped out most of my army to buy your people time, forcing me to be the one to capture you personally. Do you even remember? You probably don't. You truly fought like a true Sun God you know? The mighty and proud King of Lions."
"I'll admit, when I faced you, I thought the end had come. I thought I would die by your filthy hands, I feared for my life. One wrong move, and I would have lost against you. But it was that exact fear that heightened my senses to make all the right moves on how to contain you. And I did. Now here you are, coming straight for me. Alone. And for what? For revenge? Now this is a surprise. I thought that was not the way of you Prims. Or have you finally realized the truth that I have proved? That you are, and have always been nothing — but a primal monster."
Pharaoh Ra cracked his neck and looked right into Renero's face who had gone into Primalstasis. His black mane hung down his chest and his teeth, along with claws were sharp, deadlier than a lion's. His dry grass skirt rustled like it would come off, but the wide black waist belt kept it secured and in place, like he was about to put Ra in his rightful place.
Below him.
Ra stared at Renero's permanent scars that glowed in golden patterns, like rich tribal tattoos. He shook his head, slowly, with nothing but contempt sketched into his expression that had no distinct features.
"You sicken me," Ra said deeply in his element.
"And you make me sick," Renero said, even deeper with a growl. He didn't sound like himself, he had the voice of a lion in Primalstasis. A rumbling and thunderous voice that made the air tremble and sweat with spiking heat.
"Impertinence." Ra narrowed his eyes, like he was the only one that was allowed to get offended.
"Insolence." Renero's glowing and pupilless white eyes looked over his nemes headdress, his robes, his armour and his cape. He glared when his body reacted to the very thing that belonged to him, and the very thing he could not touch, lest he be harmed.
That managed to make Ra smile, holding his Optimer scepter with pride. "I used this on your twins, you know? Isn't that generous of me? Reuniting children with their father? I marked them in the way I should have marked you. As PRIMS. The dull boy did not scream on the outside, but I heard him cry on the outside. The insufferable girl on the other hand... she made my ears bleed delightfully with her external screams. They both reminded me of my time with you. When you conversed with me through your screams. Do you recall?"
"Initially," Ra continued as if Renero was too slow to respond. "I was just going to send you their bodies all cut up, but my own twins came up with an even better solution. A more fitting one I might add. To have your twins serve mine as living Optimers, just as you have been serving me all this time." Ra gestured to his scepter. "It's amazing don't you think? How you Prims have always been destined to serve humanity for the rest of time. Even in your deaths, you are still our servants, slaving away for our sake and your freedom."
Ra raised his gaze and watched Renero intently, baiting him, playing the game of minds, provoking him to react, to get a rise out of him, to make him lose his control. Renero's glare burned indefinitely. His eyes widened and his face...
If looks could kill, no, if looks could maim, no, if looks could torture, beyond flesh, to the spirit, to the soul, then such a possibility came true with the deadly look Renero gave Ra.
While he stood calmly, his insides were anything but that. He was shaking, outrageously, unfathomably. If Ra made a move to touch his body, his hand would catch alight with fire, for that is how hot Renero became. Ra began to sweat, but he did not move, since Renero was sweating as well from untamed rage.
However, somehow, by the magnitude of his own will, Renero's glare turned into empty holes, like a void of worthlessness that took Ra aback slightly.
"You will not have my rage. Not this time. That is mine, and mine alone." Renero's lion voice sounded like a storm that destroyed calmly, in control, instead of ruthlessly, out of control.
Ra looked displeased and Renero shook his head at him. "Why have you left your nest? Just to spite me? Hmm? No. You are a fool, but I know you are not that foolish. After all, this close to me, I can kill you within seconds." Renero's threat ran true, no bluffs, no arrogance, just factual confidence that made Ra pause momentarily. His eyes went to the spear in Renero's hand. It was still on fire.
"Speak Ra. I refused to speak with you last time, but now, you hear me fully, with my mind, wits and senses intact."
Ra's eyes lingered over to Renero's weapon, deep in thought, but unreadable in ink. The Pharaoh met the eyes of the Chief, and he smirked.
"I left my nest so that the two of us could speak like royal brothers. After all, by Prim standards, thirteen is the same as sixteen for us humans is it not? Now isn't that fascinating? We both became rulers of our people at approximately the same age. And now here we are. My Kingdom still stands, and your Kingdom has fallen."
Renero said nothing to this.
Ra waited for a moment and chuckled unnaturally. "Look at you. The only way you can loom over me is by standing on top of my ship."
"And the only way I can allow you to live is if I stand on the level on top of you. If I stood on the same level as you, it would not be fair. Isn't that right? Besides, I despise being on the same level as those beneath me," Renero responded confidently.
"And that, is the problem with you Prims." Ra pointed his scepter at Renero who instinctively readied himself for any more sudden movements.
"Your arrogance is baffling. 'We are better people. We know the right way.' The better way for what? The right way for what? Cursing us for all of eternity? Dooming us for all of time? Teaching us with the incurable primal gene?"
"And Amandla. Don't forget. Don't, you, dare, forget." Renero growled with the Amo spirit from the very first Racaan chief burning inside him.
He pointed his spear at Ra's head. "You say our arrogance is baffling? I say your ignorance and stupidity is insulting! We aren't the sole cause of the primal gene, HUMANS and RACAANS are! It was no one's fault! It was an accident, unprecedented, unpredictable. It just so happened to be the case that we were immune and you were not. It just so happened that the primals wanted to kill us and infect you. Don't you see? Open your eyes you fucking punja!" Renero cursed him in his tongue, his eyes widened like planets.
"Everything was by chance! Not some twisted master plan! Why do you think we never took revenge against you even after we were betrayed? Why do you think I wanted us to find our own land to free humanity and ourselves at the same time with the least amount of casualties? Eh?" He shouted, shaking, fuming, sweating, steaming.
"You are nothing but a coward ruled by your fear for us because you failed to understand us! The Natalians were the only ones that never betrayed us since the beginning! They have always been free from fearing us because they knew the truth! But you—"
Renero stopped himself from decapitating him right then and there. Tremors ran through the airship, like it would break down and crack at any second.
"You used that fear to enslave all of Metro, far worse than your predecessors did!" Renero shouted, his voice boomed and boomed.
"I freed Metro to my truth!" Ra's voice soared. "The Natalians will always be blind to it. I, and I alone know the truth of this world. For I am it's sovereign ruler! I ascended from a mortal to a God! I freed myself from the rest of humanity's weakness! I revived myself from death! My divinity stretches to depths that cannot be defined!"
"My power defies the realms of understanding, just as your power does! You Prims are God-like beings as well. And Gods are always beyond understanding. To reject that fear of the unknown would be to reject the very thing that makes us human, it would be to forsake knowledge itself and embrace stupidity! You people and your beliefs, your peaceful ways... no, there is no such thing. There never has been. You may have fooled them, but you never fooled me. I saw right through your facades and exposed you for the Primalstsis monsters you are, just like the primals that are beyond any of our understanding."
"YOU ARE WRONG!" Renero roared, caving under his loss of control, fueled by his rage. "Fool! The only thing you know is fear! You let that fear control you! It has poisoned you and made your people cruel and unjust!"
"I let that fear teach me how to destroy you once and for all before you destroyed us! Uncertainty is the devil of complacency, and my choices have always been certain in my pursuit for order. I picked the only logical path that would benefit all of humanity, now look!"
Ra gestured at the vastness of the earth. "Look at the world now that you Prims are gone! We have been able to handle the primals in much more efficient ways than when you Prims kept bringing them to us by virtue of your infectious existence! Don't you see? I saved this world! I did what no one else could do, what no else had the strength to do, and what no else had the will to do!"
"Even as your race hid, the prime threat remained, alive. Like the vampis that hid in the shadows. The eyes of Ra see all, and all he does not see, must be seen eventually, and judged accordingly. And I have judged both kinds accordingly. There may not be a cure to the primal gene, but at least I found the cure to the Vampi and the Prim gene — through divine euthanasia for the sake of Constantia!"
Ra's eyes became expressive as he looked at Renero's current state. "In that regard, we are alike. You most of all."
Ra turned his head and pointed at the sun of dawn that steadily began to rise over the horizon.
"That is what you and I are. Except, we aren't sunrises anymore, are we? We are sunsets. We are Setting Suns..." Ra's voice finally sounded human, his mortality was showing more with the low sigh he gave, dismissing his brief burst of fury to compose himself.
"I can feel my time setting, drawing to a close." He dropped his hand and stared at it like it was a brown decaying leaf.
Renero's glowing eyes were large and his face was just... lost, bewildered, at Ra's words, his conviction, his disillusionment, his megalomania...
With Ramsis, they both understood each other as enemies that could have been allies, even friends, good friends. But Ra, Pharaoh Ra...
I can't understand him at all. There's no saving him at all, or speaking with him, just like back then. He's hopeless. He's blinded by his own light.
"I'm not as young as I once was," Ra admitted.
Ah, you've only grown more senile. Renero thought with a neutral expression that continued to boil on the inside.
"I'm still powerful of course, but the years have taken their toll on me, as have my children whom I have split my soul, eyes and power with. They are the ones who will take over once my time in this world is over. Whether it is by Musa's hands, or yours is irrelevant to me now. One of my children will succeed. And your children will help them succeed. My written will shall be done. One way or another."
Ra paused for a reflective moment, staring as the sun grew in its illuminating coverage.
"Which is why, I came to see you, Prim Chief Renero. One last time." Ra met Renero's eye for a moment before looking at the falcon wing of his airship and narrowing his eyes.
"And you, my first born son."
Renero had sensed him coming, but he had been so preoccupied with his father that his presence was the equivalent of a dying jackal.
Dawn's first light was blocked by the colossal shadows of Anubis that placed Ramsis on the left wing. The black shadows surrounded them and the darkness obscured all partial light. He stood in his black hooded armour and removed his Anubis mask to stare at his father with a deadpan expression, in his element.
Ra considered him for some time. It had been years since they had last seen each other. He inspected his shaved sides and thick dreadlocks, comparing them to Renero's longer ones that went down his back.
Renero watched them, his eyes glanced back and forth, noticing some of their resembling features, the most noticeable being their light to moderate brown skin.
Ramsis didn't spare a single look at Renero with his lifeless eyes dead set on his father. The darkness of his windy Amandla aura spread like dark storm clouds, clouding all warmth of life with the dreadful cold of death.
Ra looked around the blackness, impressed, but not expressing such on his face. "You've gotten deadlier," he said flatly.
Ramsis said nothing and his inscrutable face remained more difficult to interpret.
Ra was the first to break the deadlock by smiling to himself. "Of course, now that you are free from your shackles, your chains of death have reached supreme heights. I trust it is only a matter of time before you shackle this land like the others, yes?"
Ramsis kept quiet.
"You've been rather elusive these past few months, son. No thanks to him of course." Ra shot a glare at Renero who sharply ignored him. He watched Ramsis raise his fingers methodically before playing the crafted notes of his sealed kingdom that drowned all subjects into the underworld of despair.
Renero had heard the miserable music before numerous times, killing him, but now, everything changed. Renero's nostrils flared and he whipped his head at Ra sharply like he was piercing his skull. Shock and realization washed over him like a polluted sun shower.
"You... it was you..." Renero's lion voice sounded wounded, like his vital organs had been damaged beyond repair. All the pain he had suffered flooded into him at once that he asked himself how he was incapable of crying.
"Leesey is strong. The strongest woman in my life, but I've always wondered... how... but now..." The more Renero saw it, the more his repugnance pulsed in his veins. Vampis. Racaans. Mambo bloodline.
"You're the one who pushed Kamilah in front of me. You weakened her. You tortured her. You had me kill her, and your own wife, your own grandchildren. You had Musa kill his family like you had Ramsis kill his bloodline. And Kamilah's people—"
"Ramela and Ramoth cleansed them all out, yes. They too had to learn just as Ramsis did with you," Ra clarified in a matter-of-fact way.
Ramsis kept staring at him, the sorrowful music died out, diminishing into its demise.
Ra chuckled unnaturally as though he saw Renero's nerves lose all sensation and confidence. "You make it sound like this changes anything. Does it change the millions of people you slaughtered?" He asked with an interrogative look at Renero.
"And what about the countless people you have slaughtered under your reign? Far more than myself? Far longer than myself?"
Ra looked at his nails and cleaned them like he was removing the dirt from Renero's question.
At that moment, another crushing revelation made itself available to the proud lion. A painful one. If he continued talking with Ra, he would go nowhere. At the same time, he went everywhere in exposing the one thing he had forgotten, the one thing Ra took away from him.
His innocence. This proved it without a shadow of doubt. The trauma would remain forever, but the monstrous shackles of self-cursing defeat fell off his wrists and ankles in a heartbeat.
Once again, Renero was right, so right that it wasn't even funny. The real monster was never him, not then, and not now.
The real monster, had always been—
Pharaoh Ra.
"How can you justify any of this when you cannot even justify yourself? Idiot." Renero sucked his teeth loudly for three seconds and put extra emphasis on his pronunciation of "idiot" in his strong accent.
Ramsis stared and stared like a jackal trapping a falcon and biting its wings off.
Ra did not answer Renero, instead, he let the eerie silence shut his question like a door that would never be opened.
"Pharaoh," Renero said simply, and the temperature rose like a devilish furnace. Renero's mind went to the one monster that reigned above all, above both of them, and black chills raced down his spine.
Pharaoh's mask was beastly looking, he was a being dressed in all black cloak, like the darkness of Ramsis, a being who had black wings, a spear and glowing white eyes that brought nothing but destruction to his Racaan race and the primals, in the form of blinding light.
Ra noticed the fear radiating out of Renero and he smiled like he had drawn blood.
"I asked Ra for him, you know? In fact, I prayed to him like the time in my tomb, in my hell cell when I was still Ra-mon. Since you remained stubborn until the bitter end during the five years, I decided to pray to him for the first time since then. I wanted my will to find the rest of your kind to be done, wherever they were hiding. And low behold, it was through your own blood, your own twins that brought the Pharaoh I had wished for to carry out my ultimate goal."
His evil-looking smile turned into an ill grin.
"If you and I are the Twin Suns of Gold, then Pharaoh, is the Black Sun — The Winged Lion of Ra!"
An inhuman laugh came out of his mouth as he relished in his success.
"I was shocked! The amount of disbelief I had on my face that fateful day when I felt them all disappearing... I didn't think it was possible, but that's the thing isn't it? I am the only one that makes all in my will possible!" He crafted beams of sunlight that pierced through the darkness for the sunrise to shine on them, and for the rays to bless Ra's moment of glory.
He closed his eyes for a moment with a satisfied smile before opening them again. "Who is Pharaoh? Specifically, what is he, or it?"
He crafted his golden falcon wings to hover, gesturing for Renero to lend his ear. Renero narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but did so. Ra grabbed his throat tightly and whispered into his ear.
"Love from the heart is the death of duty from the mind."
Ra let go of Renero's throat and dropped back down, watching his reactions and enjoying the look of horror on full display.
"What have you done?" Renero's voice left him, and Ra's voice returned to him.
"That answers it doesn't it? Pharaoh is neither Racaan, or human or primal. He transcends all three. Ask yourself this. Even if we did know him, does it really matter? Ra sent his will that cannot be understood, that is all that matters. Have you ever wondered why Pharaoh has not been felt since that day? That is because his purpose has already been fulfilled. Don't you see? My will with your race is done. You've lost, Prim Chief Renero. And I, Pharaoh Ra, have won. And I will continue to win as you continue to lose."
Ra made himself vulnerable and open to attack with a defenceless gesture of his hands.
"Whatever happens from this day, I want you to know that I have no regrets. I want you to know that I have done everything that I have set out to do in this world. I have accomplished all of my objectives and more. Now, the rest is in the hands of fate to decide if I will continue to live in this world, or the next. Either way, I will live on through my descendants, and I will live on in the world that comes next, watching over them, forwarding my light to my wills and smiling as they are done for generations and generations."
Ra frowned suddenly, like he was looking at something incomprehensible to him for the first time.
"Why do you still fight? Why are you still alive? Just give up. Join your people already, they are waiting for you aren't they? You think you're the Chief of the human race here in Petora?" Ra shook his head before smiling triumphantly at Renero's loss for words. A menacing shadow formed over the Chief's face.
"Your time is running out. Face it, just as I have. The sooner the better. Trust me, it's liberating. Isn't that what your way has always been about? Freedom? Then die and be free already! Is it because of your twins?" Ra's smile widened.
"They are conditionally contracted to mine. Do you know what that means? It means you cannot take them until my children decide to release them. Which is never. If you even think about rescuing them by force, they will die, and you will only have yourself to blame. If they fail to make either one the next Pharaoh, they will die. And if my twins die, yours will die with them. Get it? Does your primitive brain understand now? You can never win! Only I can! So stop this incessant nonsense and—"
"Father." The pitiful voice of Ramsis spoke out for the first time. He sounded frightening, in a way that could not be discerned.
This time, the monstrous hatred burned like acid on the scarred and slashed half of his face. Ramsis raised his hand, directing it against his own father. Ra's eyes widened like they would pop out of their sockets.
"Die." The first Prince commanded.
Before Ra could respond, there was a sudden, lightning quick movement. Ra reacted to it, but Renero was faster. He grabbed the Optimer, his own Amandla, his own flesh, his own spirit, his own power, stolen from him, and he let that stolen agony course back into him. It burned his arm, his entire left arm like it was disintegrating it from the inside.
Renero did not scream, shout, or cry, that privilege was reserved for his internal self that raged and raged in bloodcurdling misery. He held the scepter as it continued to scorch his left arm. The warrior's muscles bulged, they flexed and his veins pulsed like they would burst from his skin. His glowing white eyes did not blink, while Ra's elemental eyes stared in shock. There wasn't even anger on Renero's face anymore, or surprise or shock or horror or terror or sadness.
All that remained — was bottomless pity from the disappointed lion.
"You disgust me." The level of resounding contempt in Renero's thunderous voice could never match the force behind his savage, intense eyes that made Ra shrink.
"If my strength is my sin, then low and behold. For I alone — am the strongest sinner, and your sinful weakness offends me, as does — your sickening immorality."
Two blinding solar flares erupted out of them, creating gigantic explosions and astronomical releases of Amandla energy that radiated across the whole of Constantia. And it all happened in just two seconds.
By the third second, Renero's spear had struck the head, just as his right hand held the head of Ra, while his left hand still held the Optimer scepter. With a quick burst, he blew crafted fire from his mouth on it and Ra's body. Both flashed into dust like supernovas with abrupt bangs and flashes of light.
Renero stood silently on the hot airship, holding Ra's head in front of him, blankly. The nemes headdress came off, revealing his bald scalp. Renero bit into the top of his head, cracking the skull and opening it like a lid. His brain could be seen. Renero chewed , and his expression turned unbearably sour.
"So this is what sweet revenge tastes like?" He went out of Primalstasis and sighed deeply with blood dripping from his mouth.
"It's just as I thought. There's no flavour. No richness, no sweetness, no spiciness. It just..."
He glowered. "It tastes like shit." He sucked his taste in unnerving disappointment. "Even worse considering that this is nothing but a fake. I knew it was too good to be true. The bastard couldn't even face me himself."
"I'm not surprised. But still, the feeling of death will transfer to his original body when he awakens," Ramsis said, staring at the decapitated head of his father.
Renero frowned. "This kind of crafting is... it must have taken him what? Nine years for this cloned body to be perfected?"
"Nine cat lives," Ramsis said.
Renero's frown deepened. Ra's replica body was crafted in such a way that it was indistinguishable from the real one in every single manner and detail possible, to where it was impossible to tell the fake one from the real one. Except for one thing.
Musa.
Pharaoh Ra would never miss the chance to face him on the day of prophecy to challenge fate, not even for Renero, which is why he took the ultimate precaution. What else gave it away?
For just a split second, Renero sensed a transfer of consciousness, like an electrical signal that didn't die. No. That signal went back to its source.
----------
In an underground temple, directly below his throne room, his tomb-tank opened and he fell out of it, choking, coughing, and clutching his neck with shaking hands. Water spilled out of his tomb. Priests in white robes covered his body in a golden cloth, applying oils and remedying mixtures to heal the feedback of death.
Ra gasped, taking deep breaths like he had been born again, filled with the reminiscent sensation of his rebirth inside Atum's hell cell before he became Pharaoh. After a few minutes, his consciousness settled fully, allowing him to awaken without issue, like he was waking up after a long dream.
A dream that was real, where he had been killed, where he had gotten his head cut off cleanly by the last Racaan chief. Ra waved the priests away who bowed silently and moved to their resting stations, awaiting further instructions. The chamber was dark at first, but light soon appeared, as did the sound of his despicable low laughter that twisted all things with gratified poison.
Yet again, he proved his point. Chief Renero would always win his battles, but Pharaoh Ra would always win his wars. Not even his own death could deny or change that.
----------
Genesia and Neosa shot up to the solar disturbance. They felt it for two seconds, just two, but in those seconds, it was like the world had ended all over again, just like Mootlakeng with Pharaoh.
Genesia looked around his navy room in freezing sweats and Neosa's eyes frantically surveyed her maroon room in boiling sweats.
Mantso's indigo eyes looked at Genesia and she growled defensively. Kenosi's orange eyes became enlarged and he bared his teeth at the edge of Neosa's bed, like he was trying to protect her.
"Mela."
"Maro!"
The Racaan twins reached out to their human twins. Their contractual scars glowed in green.
"I know, I felt it too. Genie, do you realize how wonderful this is?" Ramela whispered back from her bedroom. She sounded excited, he could feel her grin stretching.
"Neokie! You felt that didn't you? Allahi! Renero really is the strongest motherfucker in Constantia isn't he?" Ramoth's voice blasted into Neo's ears, he sounded ecstatic.
Genesia got up from his bed, carrying Mantso in his arms. He opened his sliding door to let the outside breeze enter his room, greeted to the sight of the great river.
Kenosi jumped on Neosa's shoulder as she quickly opened her sliding door to allow herself to inhale the breath of the wild.
Their eyes were transfixed in one direction from their different locations. The source of the disturbance, and the spot of their father.
That killed Ra in Petora.
At least, his clone. Like Renero, they felt the electrical signal being transferred for a split-second. Genesia's senses were much stronger due to his proximity to the royal palace from the royal estate, but he did not let his mind dwell there, nor did Neosa with this savoury moment.
Papa.
Papa!
The exact same sentiment, but contrasting emotions were expressed from Gene and Neo. Genesia smiled giddily with a hand over his mouth. Proud tears ran down Neosa's cheeks. She jumped up and down with her hand over her mouth that suppressed her elated scream.
Ra could no longer touch them with their contracts, and he could never touch their father ever again. His reign truly was coming to an end, regardless of his inflated ego, his defeat today proved his demise without a shadow of a doubt to both sets of twins.
Ramela came into Genesia's room in a purple nightgown, opening her arms wide for him to hug her. He crashed into her embrace, squeezing tightly and picking her up effortlessly.
"Ramela, it's really happening! Our new beginnings! And we have three options now!" He surprised Ramela by being the one to initiate the kiss between them. The surprise on her face went away when he pulled back from her full lips and smiled, darkly, replicating her own dark smile.
"Indeed," she said, placing her hand on his cheek. "By the end of all this, Bāba's blood will splatter, and I will be the new Pharaoh."
She reached for his hand, twirling him in a dance and pulling him to walk with her. "Ariyeng, before we eat each other instead of real food. Ramiya and Naana are waiting. Today, you will begin your first defensive campaign as War General. And you've certainly got extra motivation now, don't you?"
Genesia's assertive smile brightened as his expression darkened like an impenetrable wall. "Ah." After what Papa just did, I feel like I can rule everything and everyone in our way. So can you, Kakara." His thoughts burned, cooler than water and colder than ice.
On Neosa's side, Ramoth whistled to get her attention, only wearing harem yellow pants. She ran and jumped into his arms, littering his face with kisses. "Ramoth! Papa won! Now we have three ways to kill Ra! His time is up, and our time has arrived!"
Ramoth grinned confidently. "Damn right. Then we'll have our one sanctuary won't we? Then I'll be the one Pharaoh above all, and you'll be the number one War Chief won't you?" He held her chin and she nodded.
"Mmm!" Neosa exclaimed happily and grabbed both his hands, bouncing in place, unable to contain herself.
"I'm hungry! Let's go wake Musa and Kwakuu up so that we can talk about my first mission! I can't stand or sit still after that. Can you? Hayi, you can't neh? Hehee! Ya no, now I'm ready to start my undefeated streak and rule everyone that's in front of us!"
I know you can too, Kakara! Her crazed face lit up brightly like she penetrated walls for breakfast and her determination burned, warmer than water and hotter than fire.
----------
Renero gazed in Metro's direction, he could practically hear Ra laughing at him, from whichever hole he was hiding from. Kwasia. He sucked his teeth, directing his attention in two separate directions.
Genesia. Neosa. His gaze ached for them, so, so much, but at the very least, they were safe. Not free, but alive, and he had to have faith that they would find a way to free themselves and make use of Ramela and Ramoth to whatever end was necessary.
Before he could think about Kakara, he looked down at Ramsis, dropping to the wing that he stood on. He walked to him cautiously.
Ramsis narrowed his eyes at Renero's scorched arm that looked like parched dirt, like charred charcoal, another permanent gift from his father onto his body. The whole arm was completely blackened and burned, cursed to the bone. In fact, the white skeletal bone could be seen beneath the melted skin.
Renero examined his arm blankly, his mending smoke gushed out of it. The visible bone gradually faded away, covered by a new layer of skin, but his natural healing was unable to fix the irreversible look due to being attacked by an optimer, let alone one that came directly from him.
He grunted and looked at his blackened hand like it was disgracing him.
"Once it's mended, get your wife to freeze it with her cold healing. You won't feel it now, but the heat will spread and strengthen overtime. It'll consume and burn you from the inside. Slowly. Painfully. Father placed an invisible curse on your arm when you grabbed the scepter. It's small, sly, almost impossible to be seen or felt at first. Like a worm. But I sense it. I'm his blood after all," Ramsis warned, staring at his father's head.
Renero waited until Ramsis turned his attention to him. The two stared at each other.
"Ramsis—"
"This doesn't change a thing, Renero."
"What?" Renero couldn't believe his ears, nor could he hide the shock in his booming voice like a wild lion. "Ramsis please!"
"Either your way of life wins, or my way of death does," Ramsis said, unfazed.
Renero lost it. "How are you still so blind man?" He yelled at him, astonished, desperate, pained. He reached for Ramsis and shook him. "We can end this now! Call your forces off! And your armies! We don't have to be at war when we should be warring against him!"
Ramsis didn't respond. He faced Metro's direction. "Musa's war is with my father, Renero. And my war is with you. Besides, Xantris still wants your wife, as does Koobus. He will never stop or leave until he has her. And you already know what I want," Ramsis said quietly.
He gave Renero a disturbing look. Renero let go of him, like he was losing feeling in his hands.
"I will keep killing as many of you Petorians until you fulfill our agreement. Never forget, your life belongs to me. Perhaps not directly like the lives of your twins with my siblings, but close enough without the need of a contract. Like Musa, you have less than a year, Renero. We still hold the numbers advantage. If things do not change at this rate..."
Ramsis glanced at him apologetically with the untouched side of his face. His one eye displayed so much regret that Renero was glad he didn't see both eyes.
"It's in your hands, Renero. The choice is yours. If not you, then I'll keep pushing Ishthrylla to be the one instead. If not her..."
Ramsis did not say more. Like a dark fog, he crafted and summoned the colossal Anubis. The shadows surrounded him, and with the wind, he faded away, gone, leaving Renero there, alone, with his thoughts.
And the head of an artificial sun.
Renero's dreadlocks hung over his face, and in irritation, he destroyed the hot airship, plummeting down to the earth, using his spear, until he dropped down to the nearest lake.
He fell to the very bottom, adapting, to where he let out a terrifying roar of frustration, scaring all the animals in the water, and the primals in the area. They would come back, but Renero needed an outlet for the raw emotions that boiled out of him like a savage beast.
Never in his life did he feel so powerless against three foes at once. Ramsis, Pharaoh Ra and Pharaoh.
Ramsis was the worst one of all by far. He was within reach, but still so far from his grasp. They mirrored each other, but his mirror had more cracks on its side that would never change its ways, just as he would never change his. Ramsis saved him, but Renero could not do the same. Ramsis freed him in life, but Renero could only free him through...
That is what frustrated Renero the most. His own stubbornness and unwavering conviction to remain true to himself and his way, along with his fear and loathing of death.
Ramsis was the exact same but on the opposite spectrum since he feared and loathed life. How could Renero expect him to change when he wasn't willing to do the same? It was like fighting himself, but a darker version that had lost its light, a self born in death, a self that could never find peace in life...
He eventually came up from the lake, still holding Ra's head. Most of its colour was already gone. The water had cooled him down significantly, but his left arm still needed healing. He messaged his temple, heaving out a despondent sigh.
Nonetheless, the sight of the golden sun rising above the horizon gave him the needed warmth to focus on his breathing. One. Two. One. Two.
What was done was done, what could not be changed could not be changed, except the state of things in Petora. With that, he threw his spear and launched it in a flight-like dash towards Talstale.
----------
Since everyone felt it, he went to the capital of Petora, surrounded by hills and situated on the high plain to explain everything that had happened in his meeting with Ra, showing them the fruits of his labour with the fake head and what was said between them. He left Ramsis out, after all, things remained the exact same on that front.
The tall rectangular and long square buildings of Talstale stretched as far as the eye could see, and like a sea, they seemed to flicker like waving particles. The thousands of purple Jacaranda trees painted the parks, gardens and high rising narrow streets in buzzing nobility. Seeing Ra's head sent the two million residents into a Petorian frenzy. Their morale skyrocketed, enough to have the series of defensive walls ringing.
The shops and markets were crowded, the streets were filled and the people rallied together at their chief's victory.
While Ra's words kept impaling Renero's spirit, the Petorians aided in lifting it to the atmosphere, prompting him to smile. He paraded Ra's head, for he was wrong. Renero wasn't just the Chief of the Racaan race, he was the Chief of the human race as well. His sun was setting, yes, and it would set eventually, yes, but judging by the Amo spirit...
He still had some time left, and unlike Ra, his sun still fought to rise, even stronger and brighter than before. The rays allowed him to see his Racaan race amongst the humans, willing him on. He saw the seven tribe members from his past.
In Imagis, Amoar waved his hand dismissively at Ra's words and Rasie insulted the bastard to smithereens. Banti simply laughed at Renero for acting like such a baby when it came to his wounded pride. Oh how much he would give to shut her up by kissing her lips. But on that note, Banti's expression changed to look serious and strict, like a dark night.
Renero knew that look, likewise, the guilt flowed inside him like a black river at the same look he was expecting from Minaleese. He had done it again, just as Ra had said. He went off to do things on his own, by himself, without telling his wife, breaking his promise of absolute transparency.
With a saddened look and an apologetic smile at his first wife, Renero stepped out of Imagis, returning his mind and soul to the outside, and traveling to face his second wife that waited for him.
----------
He went to Beafa's farm that ran for miles on end, meeting the gigantic man there who had already received the news. Beafa had been mobilising the Petorian army at the same time for the new day, as per usual. The tanned man wore a black and brown sleeveless tunic and looked at Renero's black arm with wide eyes of anger but Renero assured him that there was nothing to worry about.
The two then discussed several plans for the next few months of the war, with Renero coming up with an added game changer that would be known as their trump card for two battles in particular.
Beafa listened attentively as they entered the barnyard of his farm. The goats, horses, donkeys, chickens, pigs, cows, sheep and other animals made way for them.
He found Minaleese sitting on a wooden bench in one of the barns, wearing a simple frost patterned dress.
Ishthrylla was there too, she wore her ringed cross around her neck and full length overalls, but the top half was down, leaving her bare-breasted as Minaleese worked on her back.
"There." Minaleese sighed and cleaned the dripping blood from Ishthrylla's numb back, placing the branding instrument down.
"Already? Wow, you were right, I really didn't feel a thing..." Ishthrylla looked to be in and out of consciousness with the drowsy drunkenness in her voice.
Actually, Beafa had provided her with alcohol the entire time. That mixed in with Minaleese's freezing technique had a profound effect on making her sleepy.
"Oh my! Look at that eh?" Beafa admired the fine detail with a broad smile.
On her upper back, a honey badger roared fearlessly at a fierce bear, and a four leaf clover was seen by her nape. By her lower back, a mistletoe with the word "ISH" could be seen, and by the front, a pot of honey was tattooed below her abs, flowing down towards her crotch.
Ishthrylla yawned and looked at the front and rear mirrors with a disinterested expression at her green branded tattoo, due to the alcohol. "Sweet, thanks Mummy Minaleese," she said before yawning again and meeting Renero's gaze
"Oh. You're back Daddy Renero..." Her eyes came alive when she saw Ra's head and the state of his black arm.
"The fook? Eish! Wha— hey?" She didn't know how to react. Fortunately, it made Renero chuckle.
Ishthrylla calmed down somewhat when she turned to face Minaleese who just looked at her husband with a dull expression that felt like a frozen arrow being shot to his chest.
Ishthrylla gulped nervously, looking at Beafa who motioned for them to leave so that they could have some privacy. She nodded, and stood up on disorientated feet, kissing Minaleese on the forehead and doing the same to Renero before letting Beafa carry her like a child to his farmhouse.
"Oi Daddy Renero! Feed the head to Thrilley will ya?" She shouted back.
Renero called for Ishthrylla's male honey badger Thrilley and rolled the head to him. He ate it viciously and snarled at the other animals much bigger than him that wanted a piece.
Renero shook his head and sat on the wooden bench next to Minaleese. All she did was stare at him silently, then his arm, and without saying anything, started working on freezing it to stop the burning spread.
Several times, Renero tried to speak, but whenever he did, she would stop and give him an icy glare that told him she was not in the mood for his cheeky mouth, so he remained quiet as she healed his arm. She went into the farmhouse and fetched a black compression arm sleeve. She wrapped the cloth like bandages over his left arm and secured it in place.
When she was done, the two sat in silence. Renero looked at her hair. The warm golden blonde was gone, replaced by the cool, grey colours of ash blonde. Her ancestor's spiritual influence had been growing at a faster pace, along with the effects of her stress over everything.
"Rënero," she called him, her voice was ice-cold and dry. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before gesturing for him to hold her hand.
He did so with his right hand, but she refused it until he gave her his scorched left hand. He hesitated for a moment, before heeding her command. Without batting an eye, she kissed the black hand, and her kisses healed his soul in ways that normal healing could never do, just as she had done to the rest of his scarred body.
She gave him a searching look and decided to let him off the hook for repeating his lone lion mentality with Banti. She knew that even if she argued, Renero would probably do it again at some point in the future. It was just his nature, as a warrior and a Chief, all she could do was trust in his strength. Still, she was very upset that he left without telling her, so she pinched his nipple harshly.
"Ah!" A dull pain shot through Renero's chest.
"I should crush your knee caps, but a Chief that cannot stand is no Chief at all." She half smiled, enjoying his displeasure and the wounded look on his face before they laughed at their own silliness.
After a few minutes, Minaleese became quiet, so Renero used the opportunity to tell her everything about his encounter with Ra, just as Beafa was doing to Ishthrylla inside his house.
Minaleese didn't speak at all as she processed his words. She thought about her three babies, and soon, a forest of frost sank into her skin.
"Leesey." Renero held her face but she couldn't stop herself from getting teary eyed.
"So we can't do anything to free them? And what about Kakara? She's all alone... she's... Rënero..." She shook her head like she was seeing the ghosts of her past. "My people... they..."
"She is the daughter of Maxis, and you. If they don't like what happened, she can exercise her right as the new Conqueror of Kimba can't see? Who's going to oppose her strength?"
That did make her pause. The Frenchies recognized strength and power above all things. But still, Kaikara worried her with what Koobus had said about him as the Afri's answer to Maxis, and the fact that Kakara was right back in their homeland that she tried to escape from for so long...
"My bitch will be fine, Minaleese." Ishthrylla returned after sobering herself up, fully dressed. She folded her arms and gave a throaty chuckle.
"Just like my twin rascal weasels will be too. Why else did those Impundulu's do their 'dododo' lightning schtick?" She raised her eyebrow.
Renero blinked and smiled at her. "Our daughter is correct, Leesey." Sángo has a plan for them, and Mpho...
Renero bit his lip, and thought of his deity Olorun. He placed his arm around Minaleese and saw Beafa approaching outside the barn, riding an elephant.
"The others await," Beafa said urgently.
Ishthrylla grinned demonically. "Great, I'm hungry for more Afri dogs. You know, initially I thought they tasted like absolutely shit. But now, I rate their bloody fantastic. Thrilley agrees with me, don't ya?" She asked her honey badger and he snarled at her hungrily.
"See? I don't know what the fook he said but he agrees, don't he Renero?" Her grin widened.
Hayi. Renero rubbed his forehead and Minaleese gave her a concerned look. She firmly disapproved of Ishthrylla's cannibalising, but, her methods in that regard, along with her torturing did strike disturbing fear to the Afri. It made her much stronger as well without too many negative drawbacks thanks to their training, except when it came to her fearless bloodlust, which they needed, after all, this was war.
Just as Minaleese was preparing for her inevitable clash with Xantris who had been avoiding and toying with her for months.
She reached for her white mopane staff, Renero held his spear and Ishthrylla grabbed her dual axes. Beafa already had his charmed mace in hand. His elephant sounded like a trumpet, and they all moved, onwards, to the next skirmish.
Hang in there Genesia, Neosa, Kakara. Keep fighting. Keep pushing. Keep moving. We will do the same, as always. Renero held Minaleese close to him as he thought of his children.
Minaleese's eyes looked distant, staring off in the direction of Metro, and going past it to her birthplace of Kimba. Although she could not see it, she could never forget the type of desert to be found there.
Where Metro had the Sinine desert of fire and sand, Kimba had the Kain desert of ice and snow.