New Status Quo

Arc 2-The Revolution: New Status Quo

Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel

The Ziggurat of Ma'at

June 1799

Making her way up the stairs of the ziggurat and into the throne room, Isis is not surprised to find her Pharaoh already there and hard at work. He has always been an early riser, and ever since the day after her group's arrival to Cayes-Jacmel he seems to have begun working as early as an hour before first light and thrown himself into ruling; so much so that he enacted his plan to take over the French side of the island months earlier than planned. Isis isn't sure as to what caused such a change but she is not about to complain, not when her Pharaoh seems to slowly be shedding any doubt that he has had about using all of his resources to rule and conquer the island.

While Atem has never shown any doubt about his right to rule nor his capabilities, it was quite obvious to Isis that Atem chafed under the unwritten law to keep the magical world a secret while also ruling as efficiently as possible. He may have allowed the people of Cayes-Jacmel to remember his battle with Baphomet and he may have had them learn and use magic in their day to day lives and work, but it was obvious that he had no intention of extending such a courtesy to the rest of the island. Between the bounded field around Cayes-Jacmel and the subtle way that he and the citizens used magic, Isis had already figured out that he did not plan to use anything more overtly magical than runes and reinforcement.

However, for reasons unknown to her, he changed his mind the day after her group's arrival and he commanded Kassandra to teach the entire armed forces, navy included, how to utilise magic in combat.

"Isis, you are early today." comments her Pharaoh as she bows in front of him before making her way next to him where a set of tablets and tomes are stacked.

"There is only half an hour before first light, your highness. I am no more earlier today than I was yesterday." she says as she picks up a rectangular stone tablet at the top of the pile.

Placing the tablet in his hands on the arm of his throne, her Pharaoh stands up and stretches, causing his joints to crack from sitting motionless for hours. "Truly? It seems that night has completely passed me by." he says.

"You did not go to sleep." says Isis, the words coming out as a statement as opposed to a question. She is afterall used to his habit of overworking whenever something of particular interest catches his eye. "And what project have you undertaken now that will no doubt cause you to ignore your sleep and force your mother to once again worry and reprimand you?" she asks, causing him to slightly wince; an action that she would have missed had she known him well and had she not possessed her spirit vision.

"While perusing The Pharaohs' Treasury last night I stumbled upon a stone tablet from Babylon during the rule of King Gilgamesh." he says as he points to the tablet resting on the arm of his throne.

"You have found a few of those before, what is so special about this one?" she asks.

Turning to face her with a smile on his face, he answers her "Melammu Dingir."

"I apologise your highness, but not all of us are beings capable of learning all languages, including non-human ones, at an absolutely absurd and impossible rate. So you will have to translate for me." replies Isis with a bow and a deadpan tone.

Ignoring her cheeky reply, Atem begins to explain its importance to her. "Melammu Dingir: King's Signal Cannon is an invention by King Gilgamesh to make use of his seemingly infinite treasures in order to protect Uruk. It is a long-range bombardment from the city of Uruk using cannons that fire weapons from The King's Treasury."

"Is that not wasteful?" wonders Isis. "I mean that unlike King Gilgamesh you don't possess a seemingly infinite number of treasures and weapons to fire."

"True. However, Cayes-Jacmel is situated upon a particularly powerful leyline. Paired with my massive amount of magical energy it will not be a problem for me to substitute weapons and treasures with pure magical energy or constructs made with combat magic." he explains.

"While that is viable, you would need to connect the cannons to your throne for the most optimal and efficient performance. That would limit you to sitting on the throne whenever using them." says Isis.

"A tolerable sacrifice. Between my ability to emulate King Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon using The Pharaohs' Treasury and Caenis here to protect, nothing short of a Heretic God will be a threat to me and even then I can always use my reality marble."

Seeing that she will not be able to persuade him from undertaking this new project, Isis can't help but sigh in defeat. "Very well. Where do you plan on situating these cannons and how many do you plan on making?"

"The prototypes will be placed here, along the walls of the ziggurat and the outer wall of Cayes-Jacmel." he tells her as a magical hologram appears from the tablet showing cannons being placed on the walls of the ziggurat next to the massive staircase along with an wall of around thirty feet filled with canons being erected around the city of Cayes-Jacmel.

"You plan on building a wall around Cayes-Jacmel?" she asks with a slight frown.

"Yes, it will however be part of a longer wall that will surround the island." explains Atem as the hologram shifts to show a wall surrounding the entire island along with forts built in strategic areas facing the sea. Should those plans actually come to fruition then no army will be able to conquer the island by sea as long as there is enough magical energy to operate the cannons; and even if the cannons are not operational, it would turn into a siege situation. The siege would however have low chances of success since everything needed to survive can be produced on the island.

"I see. It seems that you have come to idolise King Gilgamesh quite a bit." she comments as Atem makes his way down the throne with her following a step behind while the stack of tablets and tomes disappear into motes of light.

"He certainly interests me. The dichotomy between his character pre-journey and post-journey are pretty severe to be honest. From the tyrant ruler who takes whatever he wants to the sage king who led Uruk to prosperity, one can't help but idolise him." says Atem as they stop in front of the massive staircase of the ziggurat where they can see Marik and Odion approaching.

"Well, as long as you don't start to emulate the tyrant, I don't mind much. It's just that I believed that Pharaoh Ramasses II was your idol." says Isis.

"I already emulate the tyrant. Where do you think that I received the inspiration of firing weapons out of The Pharaohs' Treasury from? It's an excellent strategy for mowing down countless enemies not worth your attention, I can see why that was King Gilgamesh's go to combat method." he tells her.

With another sigh, Isis rubs her forehead in exasperation. "I am not sure whether or not you finding stone tablets filled with knowledge from King Gilgamesh's time in the Treasury was a blessing or a curse."

"Weren't you the one to tell me that him learning about King Gilgamesh could only be good." says the voice of Marik as he stops in front of Atem and bows before making his way next to Isis.

"She is indeed the one to say that learning from other great Kings can only be good." says Odion as he too bows to Atem before standing next to Marik.

"I see that you three have become comfortable enough around me to make jokes at my expense." says Atem, earning a set of nods from the members of his three Sacred Guardians. "Good. It wouldn't do for my most trusted advisors to feel the need to act unlike themselves around me." he tells them just as the first rays of sunlight appear over the horizon.

The next few minutes pass by in comfortable silence as the group of four watch the sun slowly rise, bringing about a new day. From their position, they are able to see the city slowly come to life as the people wake up and prepare to go about their day.

"Another beautiful day is upon us. Come, we have much to do." says Atem as he turns around and makes his way back to the throne where he sits with Isis standing to his right, and Marik and Odion standing to his left.

"The first order of business: the final group of slave masters, slave merchants, overseers, etc… on this side of the island. The ships are expected to leave soon, and with this the ratio of former slaves to mulatto and white will further increase." says Isis as she gives Atem the stone tablet in her hand. "Many of them are making claims that they are owed a debt for loss of property and that unless they are reimbursed for their major loss of slaves, France will retaliate."

"Has our letter of independence been sent to France yet?" asks Atem.

"Yes. The letter has been shipped and should arrive there soon." says Isis.

"Good, with this we will be able to begin trade with the likes of Britain, Spain, and the United States. What's next?" asks Atem as Marik gives him another tablet.

The rest of the day is spent like this, reporting the different statuses on their part of the island and fixing any issue that comes up.

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Saint-Domingue, Port-au-Prince

June 1799

With a huff, André Rigaud makes his way through the governmental building. He ignores everyone as he nearly stomps his way towards his office.

Everything had been going well for him. He had been in charge of the southern side of Saint-Domingue and had been backed by the French revolutionaries. He had been in a position of power that had much potential and all he had to do was put down Toussaint Louverture's faction. And while Louverture had him outnumbered, all he had to do was hold the line until France's new ruler was chosen and they sent him reinforcement. Unfortunately however nothing went according to plan and both he and Louverture were usurped by a child with magic claiming himself to be King.

While it sounds absurd, Rigaud has seen what that child and his army are capable of. Weapons sharp and strong enough to cut through steel and stone easily without breaking, clothing that protects from bullets and cannonballs, brigs that are sturdier than steel yet faster than any other ships at sea, and soldiers that are capable of bending the elements to their will. Had he not seen contingent of the child's soldiers walk through canon fire and burn down his own soldiers he never would have believed in the existence of magic nor in the fact that it's a bunch of negros using it.

Then there is the child himself, the self proclaimed King of Hayti. Powerful, smart, but unbearably arrogant. Rigaud had personally seen him shoot down hundreds of men with weapons from those golden portals of his, looking as if he could not care less about his enemy. As if they were all beneath him and any effort beyond the bare minimum required to defeat. Just the thought of his indifferent expression fills Rigaud with rage.

Taking a deep breath to center himself, Rigaud makes his way into his office. An office given to him by the child as governor of Port-au-Prince, a position given to him because he possesses the education for it and because, according to their 'King', he 'isn't a brainless cur whose worth can only be found through death'.

Entering his office, Rigaud finds that there is already a man there, a white one at that. After Atem had taken over Saint-Domingue, the population of whites slowly decreased to its current state of non-existence.

"Good morning Governor Rigaud, my name is Théodore-Joseph d'Hédouville and I am here on behalf of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France. I am here to discuss with you the situation in Saint-Domingue and how to bring it back under the rule of France." says the man as he extends his hand out to Rigaud, a hand that he is more than willing to shake.

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AN: Sorry for the late chapter guys, I was sick enough that writing wasn't possible and I also had finals this week so I couldn't write to put out a chapter last week. Things are better now, so I'm back to posting on schedule. As usual, tell me what you guys think of the chapter and what your theories are.