Potential

Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

As the golden light disappears, Atem finds himself in a massive desert that stretches as far as the eye can see. The sky, rather than being blue, is filled with the beautiful purple and orange hues of dusk while a sun, bigger than the one Atem is used to, shines its final light onto the golden sand of the desert, making it comfortably warm. It is a beautiful sight, one that takes Atem's breath away and temporarily makes him forget his troubles.

"Beautiful, is it not?" asks Aknadin with his deep but soothing voice, prompting Atem to turn around and face him with wide eyes. "Welcome to your soul, young Pharaoh." says the priest as he looks down at the confused boy.

"My soul?" questions Atem with a slight frown as he tries to understand what Aknadin means.

"Yes, your soul. We are currently within your very soul, that which makes you who you are, and I must confess that it is a beautiful sight devoid of any worldly influence beyond your meager four years of life." says the priest. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Atem decides that it would be better to arrange his thoughts before asking questions. "Go on, I know that you need to arrange your thoughts. I will wait." encourages the man.

According to what he knows so far, the man is High Priest Aknadin, someone that is heavily featured in the stories of Pharaoh Atem, and one of the greatest sorcerers that he has ever heard of. He has somehow returned from the dead and helped save him from Basilius before somehow bringing them into his soul. It sounds ridiculous, but with everything that has happened so far Atem is willing to believe it. Besides, that means that he's potentially free from Basilius.

"Thank you for saving me." says Atem with a bow of his head after getting thoughts in order.

"Raise your head boy! A Pharaoh does not bow to anyone!" exclaims Aknadin, startling Atem into standing straight and raising his head. "Good, a Pharaoh must stand tall and proud." instructs the priest.

"I am not a pharaoh." replies Atem with a frown.

"Tell me boy, what is your name?" asks Aknadin

"Atem, after the great Pharaoh Atem." replies the boy.

"Do you not think it strange that not only are you named after a Pharaoh, but also worship gods that are completely different from any of your fellow slaves?" asks Aknadin.

"I never really thought about it." admits Atem.

"Considering your situation, that is fair." says Aknadin with a slight nod. "Let me make it clear for you; you are Atem, descendant of the bloodline that has spawned the greatest Pharaohs in the history of mankind. From Pharaoh Aknamkanon, to Pharaoh Atem, and even Ramasses II, they are all your ancestors." explains Aknadin.

"Really? Then explain to me why Adanna and I are slaves?" bitterly asks Atem.

"I do not know. I only have the knowledge of those who were able to activate the latent power in our bloodline. Those who do so are very few, and the last one to do so was… well it does not matter since he is not noteworthy enough to talk about." explains Aknadin.

"What do you mean by 'latent power in our bloodline'?" wonders Atem.

"It is exactly as it sounds; there is power in our bloodline and only those worthy of it or in need of it can activate it. Once they do I will manifest in order to guide them in the use of it." clarifies the priest.

"Since you're here I guest that I activated it." assumes Atem with a thoughtful frown. "Does that mean that you can free me from the sorcerer?" hopefully asks the boy.

"Unfortunately I cannot. I have already used much of the power that allows me to be here in order to stop the ritual while making him believe that it worked. Doing anything else will result in my disappearance." says Aknadin.

"Can you at least teach me magic so that I can free myself?" asks Atem.

"Do not worry, I will teach you that and more. Once I am finished teaching you, you will become a Pharaoh worthy of the name bestowed upon you." replies Aknadin with a slight smile that disappears as quickly as it appeared. "Before that however, we need to discuss your situation." he says. "While the ritual was a failure, you will need to act as if it were a success. That means answering to the new name that he has given you, Samael, as well as obeying him. I was able to look into his mind earlier and I can tell you that all you will have to do is survive the gladiatorial arena as well as the surgical procedures." he explains.

"Surgical procedures?" nervously asks Atem as the memory of his branding comes to his mind.

"Until you are ready to defeat him, you will have to undergo them. They will be painful, but they will make your body more powerful." clarifies Aknadin.

"More powerful? Why would he want to make his slave…" begins Atem before a particularly scary thought crosses his mind. "Does he want my body?" he asks, earning a grim nod from Aknadin. "So I have until he thinks my body is powerful enough to defeat him?" wonders the boy.

"Indeed." confirms Aknadin as a fearful Atem sits down on the warm desert sand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saint-Domingue, Cayes-Jacmel

Fort Quintus

October 17, 1794

Looking down at the unconscious body of Atem, Basilius can't help but feel elated. He is so close to his goal that he can practically feel it. The Akashic Records, immortality, unlimited power, it will all be his.

When he had first seen the boy, Basilius could not believe his luck. The boy not only comes from a powerful bloodline that he is sure belongs to Ozymandias, but he is also naturally born with the "proper way of breathing and walking". In the world of the supernatural, the two most important things are one's bloodline as well as one's talent.

When it comes to one's bloodline, the reason why is simple. The older one is the more Mystery one accumulates, and mystery is essentially the source of all supernatural phenomena. It is something that accumulates over time and grows stronger with age. As such, the older the bloodline, the more powerful it is. Not only does the boy come from an old bloodline that practically leaks Mystery with just his existence, but Basilius knew that it was a particularly powerful one simply from experience. After all, it was the boy's grandmother that ended up killing his father, a magus that was close to reaching the likes of the Head of the Barthomeloi family.

His father had met the grandmother during one of his expeditions to Africa in search of something that he refused to tell his sons about. While there he had met the woman during an attack on a tribe that she seemed to be protecting. The resulting battle had seen his father come out victorious, but had also left him crippled and afflicted with a curse that would later take his life. Before it did however, his father had made sure to kill the woman while also taking her daughter with him as a slave. He would later die from the curse, but not before telling Basilius and Augustus of his suspicion that their bloodline is that of a famous and powerful pharaoh.

Since then, Basilius had watched the daughter and had even wished to take her as a test subject but thought against it when he found out that she was physically weak and should have honestly died years ago. Had it not been due to the fact that she was naturally born with the "proper way of breathing and walking", she would have died at birth. With the option of using the daughter for his experiments not a possibility, Basilius had his way with her in an attempt to make her give him a child.

His attempt was successful and a boy possessing her powerful and ancient bloodline along with his own powerful and old bloodline was born. He had left the boy to his own devices knowing that when he reaches the age of four he would be a candidate.

That day had thankfully come quickly for Basilius, and he was quite thrilled to find out that not only did the boy inherit both bloodlines, judging by the amount of Mystery emanating from him, but he had also been naturally born with the "proper way of breathing and walking".

Breathing and Walking, a key concept in the use of magic and martial arts of the supernatural quality. Though mainly affecting one's physical fitness, it also plays a role in the strength of nature interference, or the use of magic. The absorption of outer magical energy to connect your soul to the outer world.

While magi use incantation spells to cause a specific phenomenon to occur, those whose breathing, movement, body and very existence can cause nature interference are beyond that. An example would be the Shinto practice of banishing evil spirits and other unnatural forces just by clapping, or a martial artist's ability to face the supernatural without resorting to magic or anything other than their skills. Unfortunately however, this particular skill is something that takes a lifetime to learn and cannot be mastered easily or without talent.

Sometimes however, there are those who are simply born with the "proper way of breathing and walking". As a result, their own body acts as one pure, natural Circuit for magical energy. Those humans can reproduce greater mysteries, or magical spells, than the average magus with only knowledge of the basics of the supernatural. Even without magic or knowledge of magic, those with a healthy body are able to easily outrun a car in their prime, easily crush the skull of a grown man with minimal effort, and navigate without any wasted movement. To call them prodigies of magic and martial arts is not a complement, but rather a disservice to the outrageous potential that they possess. A potential that Basilius sorely lacks, and is willing to obtain at any cost.