A day five-thousand years in the making was upon the world. Akh knew that her destiny was intertwined with a power beyond that of mortal comprehension. Her king, her pharaoh. She would see him returned to the world.
Amidst the chaos she had brought upon New York City, Akh had sought the means of her pharaoh’s return. Her asceision magic had led her to the one. A mortal with unrealized power—buried deep—just waiting for her to bring it forth with the Ankh of Ascension. One that as she stood before them, her eyes pierced the veil of time, seeing not just the present but the future that the mortal would help her bring about.
She had finally found his home and a jackal-header warrior ripped the door off its hinges, allowing her entry. He gave an shout in alarm, but it was too late for anyone to help him.
They were the key.
A young man with olive skin. His blood ran back to the time of her pharaoh’s dynasty. Otherwise he was seemingly unimportant, of average build and no more or less handsome than the average man. As Akh approached the mortal she spoke, “You are the key.” Akh took another step, her hand on the Ankh. “With your help, the dynasty shall return and shall reign for a thousand years.”
The mortal, wide-eyed and unsure, took a step back. Akh’s presence was overpowering. Then, with his back to a wall he met Akh’s eyes. She stepped intimately close and pressed the Ankh of Ascension into the mortal’s chest. A brilliant light flowed into the ankh from the world around it and then into the mortal who closed his eyes as if to shield himself from whatever was coming. Only for a moment later them to snap open as his head rolled back. The same light that had flowed into the ankh now glowed in his eyes.
From the streets of New York City to the grand halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Akh and her ascended one moved with purpose. They left behind city streets in turmoil, unaware of the cosmic shift that was to come. The museum was closed to the public in the midst of the chaos outside, its corridors dimly lit and silent. Guards lay unconscious in their wake, felled by spells and the might of her jackal-headed warriors.
In the Egyptian wing, Akh walked among artifacts that once belonged to her people, now reduced to mere curiosities behind glass. She stopped before a grand display: the throne of Ka, her pharaoh. Encased and preserved, it stood as a silent testament to a bygone era.
"The relics of gods, treated as trinkets," Akh said, her voice tinged with contempt. She held the Ankh of Ascension in her hand again. Once again she pressed the relic to the chosen’s chest and commanded, “The past returns to us. Return my king to his throne.”
A wave of shimmering power rippled outward from the chosen. He placed his hands upon the glass case, and it shattered into a million shards without a sound. As his fingers touched the ancient throne, a second wave of shimmering power rippled out again as the first ripple flowed back. At their meeting, the very air vibrated as reality began to bend and distort. Time itself buckled under the assault.
A portal began to form above the throne, swirling with power. The chosen's eyes flashed brighter, illuminating the darkened hall. The portal expanded, creating a window through time—a vision of the past unfolding in reverse chronological order, seeking its mark. The surroundings transformed; the modern walls faded, replaced by towering columns and sandstone walls adorned with vibrant murals. Flames ignited in sconces, casting a warm glow over the now-restored temple.
When the portal had found its mark, there was a surge of energy as the past was pulled forward. The temple around Akh and her chosen snapped into a greater sense of reality. They no longer stood in a museum but in the very heart of Ka's temple, resurrected within the modern world.
Akh looked around, the room had become the temple as she had remembered it. Yet, as she looked closer she could see where it blended back into the modern museum in the distance. Tens of yards in diameter centered around the throne had been replaced with what had once been around the throne. It was not a full temple fitting her king, but it was a start.
More ripples flowed from the ascended and a form manifested upon the throne. A man, a king, a god. A pharaoh. Ka. Sat upon the throne, not in some new flesh or an illusion. Rather, Ka had been brought forward in time, in body, in power.
Akh bowed low, prostrating herself before her pharaoh. Ka stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the transformed surroundings. In a tongue not spoken natively in millennia, he spoke.
"<You have done well, Akh. Let us begin my conquest anew.>"
Akh rose and turned to the chosen. She whispered to him, and with newfound purpose, he began to conjure more portals. Throughout the museum, artifacts awakened, and ancient warriors stepped forth from the annals of history.
It was time the world knew gods once again.
