soul_logs | [Open] What do you mean, it's the 21st century?

Considering this was a place where Atem liked to relax, he was hardly looking for an argument so the reaction is unexpected. It warranted giving Eren a second look. Small. And rather young. But with the look of a captured tempest within his eyes that made it hard to say whether he was slightly younger or slightly older than the pharaoh but undoubtedly in the same range.

Atem narrowed his gaze, guarded and expectant. It hardly mattered to him if some stranger had a death wish but the circumstances were misplaced.

"No one is forcing you to stay here, kid." His words were sagacious, spoken with an authority befitting the crown. "Not in the city anyway, although I doubt you'll find anywhere else so hospitable to our situation."

Had Eren been able to know what Atem thought of him he'd have pointed out that the 'small' boy was still notable taller than him with his current 170 centimeters.

As things were he fully abandoned his vintage point on the wall in order to face the Pharaoh, standing straight with a proud edge that was both in his poise and his voice. "I don't want any hospitality. I am only staying until I find out what is going on and if there really aren't any titans around." And until he found out what had happened to his friends and comrades, he added in his head.

“Titans? Unless that is some kind of kishin egg or another familiar of the witches, you likely will not find them.”

Eren just kept getting more and more intriguing although Atem would be hard pressed to admit it was because it sounded so familiar. Not exactly the same, but a similar stubbornness that simultaneously repulsed and attracted. Opting for the later, the pharaoh slid closer, one step at a time, so he could get a proper look at the guy.

“So now that I have saved you the trouble of looking, where will you go? It is a big world after all.”

Edited 2013-07-02 01:30 (UTC)

Eggs? Witches? Eren's face scrunched for a moment as he tried to make sense of those seemingly random terms (his fever hadn't exactly helped making the doctors explanations any more lucid back when they had been given to him), but it quickly turned into a look of surprised horror when he finally saw the figure of who he was talking with.

"JESUS!! What the hell are you doing outside when you're burning to a crisp like that?!" Never mind that ridiculous costume! That tan was way too dark to be still anywhere near healthy anymore!!

It takes Atem a concerted and quite visible effort to maintain composure in the fact of something so non sequitur and nearly offensive. He wasn't used to the comments so much as the mere fact that he was alone as a guest from that part of the world. Atem makes a face of his own, not bothering to hide it. In fact he makes a few that pass seamlessly from shock to disgust to annoyance and back to curiosity.

“Che. A touching concern but I assure you this is quite natural. In fact I dare say I am far more accustomed to this climate than you.” As if to confirm he looks down at his hands, turning them over in inspection.

“I take it you are unfamiliar with Egypt?”

Edited 2013-07-02 23:20 (UTC)

Atem's words as well as the fact that he was apparently still fine enough to make faces at him had Eren calm down somewhat, although he still kept staring at the smaller teen with slightly widened eyes.

The self-assuredness the others carried himself with somewhat impressed him, doubly so since Atem could apparently be like that even while wearing such a bizarre outfit. It sort of reminded him of lance corporal Levi who was intimidating even when he was decked out like a housewife on a mission to eliminate even the last speck of dust and dirt. ....for an inane moment his thoughts strayed and supplied Eren with the conviction that that mob of multi-colored hair had to be pretty good at wiping dust with it.

Remembering that he had been asked something Eren frowned for a beat as he racked his brain for any hint of having heard that word before. Temper once more shoved aside to simmer at the back of his being, the teen shook his head. "I have never of it before. Is that a name?"

“It is the name of an empire, my homeland” Here they call it a country. But it is perfectly normal if you are unfamiliar with it. Some worlds are very different from one another.“ Wasn't that device that brought them here supposed to be working properly again? Or was the city getting lax with the welcome party? Either way Eren seems painfully uninformed. Perhaps if he had been a bit younger it might have been amusing -- that went double for the staring -- but Atem just felt like he had assumed responsibility for something tedious.

That was what he got for attempting to prevent suicide it would seem. Call it a personal problem.

"Exactly how much do you know about this place?"

"A country?" The wrinkle in the crease of his eyebrows increased as he repeated the word in a thoughtful manner. Eren knew what countries were, but in his world they had not existed for over a century - the titans had destroyed them together with everything else human that had laid outside the walls. So this man was claiming to be from another country... ?

His expression turned into a careful mixture of interest and guarded emotions as he countered the second question with one of his own. "What can you tell me about it?"

"About Egypt? Well..." Here he began to look a bit wistful. A king's pride extended to an abiding love of his land so it was a topic Atem could slip into comfortably. He doesn't even seem bothered that Eren ignored his other question.

"You could say Egypt is the gift of the Nile. That is the river on on which we reside. Beyond the banks of the Nile there is a vast desert that seems to stretch on endlessly, although the Empire reaches even farther than that. We call that deshret, the red land, which serves to protect us. And if the gods favor us the river floods predictably, every year, which allows the whole land to come alive. That is kemet, the black land. All of which makes up Egypt"

Of course, that was how he liked to remember it. Looking out from high above the city, to the barren land that surrounded them, Atem was reminded of the ruined state he had left it in. There was no telling how long it would take before it would flourish again.

Eren's frown deepened impatiently for a moment because that was not what he had meant but against his will he found himself pulled in as he listened to Atem's description. A desert... a vast land, limited by nothing but political borders... a river that big that it could dominate the rhythm of a whole country... How free would one have to be to be able to see and walk through such a land as one pleased?

He licked his lips, suddenly feeling reminded of the times when he and Armin would pour over one of the prohibited books and dream about exploring the world outside the walls.

Then he remembered that Armin wasn't here and that alone was enough to snap him out of those childish dreams. His voice sounded unintentionally firm when he declared "Gods? Wasting your time putting your hope into something like that is pointless." If there really were gods then why did they leave them to be slaughtered like that by the titans for so long?

If Eren was trying to rile anyone up with that rhetoric, well, Atem has heard it before. Furthermore his faith held room for all kinds of beliefs. It was all part of a larger philosophical search for truth. That was part of what allowed him to hold on to the gods, the true gods and not just their emissaries, in spite of all that had come to pass.

"I have good reason to believe in my gods. Just as I am sure you have good reason to lack the faith of yours." He observed coolly, planting himself comfortably against the balustrade.

"I wonder why that is." And why it would merit such a vehement reaction more than anything. One with a mere lack of faith wouldn't feel so strongly. "Either way, I think you will fine more are of a like mind here."

He made a gruff noise at the back of his throat but actually considered the question for a moment before he answered. Why didn't he believe into any gods? The answer was simple in Eren's head. If there were any gods like those crazy wall-worshipers wanted to believe, then why were the meager remnants of humanity scraping their lives like cattle inside walls waiting to be picked by the titans at any moment's notice? Where were the gods when 250.000 humans had been sent outside the walls to die so that the rest would not die from starvation as well? Why had they let it go on for so long and why had so many good people - the death of his mother flashed past his eyes; an unbidden memory - had to die in such gruesome manners that they had done nothing to deserve?

No, there were no gods, he decided. Humanity had to fight and size control of its fate by itself.

"It'd be either that or hating them for letting so many bad things happen. I'd rather direct my energies onto something I can grasp and change."

Why did that sound so familiar? Maybe it was because he harbored a similar determination for such a cause. Even when the priests had opposed him, the only direction he could move was forward, one foot in front of the other, striving for something better than the cards they had been dealt. It had cost him his life but it was worth it in the end, wasn't it? Even when it was lost in obscurity, that life had a purpose.

Sighing, shaking his head, there was no other option but to agree. “Even with gods on our side, we still have to take responsibility for our own fate.”

"We do." He wasn't exactly sure what exactly he was agreeing to, which made Eren more careful with his words than he usually would be. Unlike what Jean thought he was no complete idiot who never thought about the words that left his mouth. Albeit Eren sometimes almost wished that he were naive enough to see things in such ways.

"What fate would that be in your case, if you don't mind me asking?"

"About that..." There was a time, not all that long ago, Atem would have avoided such a question. But that was quickly becoming a non option. It wasn't just about the thief; it wasn't about him at all. In truth, Atem had been lying to himself just as much as he had to others. He had believed it was his fate to protect them but fate was not a single continuous thread with one objective, a clear beginning and end. Rather it was a mess of knots with lines merging and spreading out in a manner that he was only beginning to untangle.

"I am not exactly certain anymore. I thought my time had come to an end but I have friends here. They assure me that is not the case. What I do know there is something in my world that I have to stop. Whatever the cost." What starts out uncertainly finishes with conviction, flood waters fit to burst out of the gate after containing it for so long.

Eren could see that he had hit a topic that seemed ...important. Important in unpleasant ways, which automatically made him want to know more about it, just in case. He had to be more careful than usual as long as he was on his own.

"Whatever the cost, huh...?" He repeated, sounding thoughtful. He knew that feeling very well, but that didn't mean that he could just sympathize with anybody who felt that way. Not as long as he didn't know what that cost was. "And what would that cost be?"

Eren asked a lot of questions but didn’t really have a lot to say in response. Fortunately Atem was rather familiar with that sort of game.

“Are you somehow concerned with whether or not my belief in this cause transcends a certain morality?” Maybe that wasn’t the case but he thought the simple answer has been clear. The cost was an uncertainty but also irrelevant. He would surely pay it as his sworn duty. He had supposedly paid the ultimate price but even that had failed to appease the dark powers that ruled their fates and so he himself was left in the dark as to what more could possibly be left for him to give.

"Maybe I am." His response came off a bit too challenging, as if it were an important matter to Eren. It sort of is, but not in the ways most people would fathom it. When it came down to it Eren himself had very little limits with how far he would go and whether or not he would consider the things he might end up doing justified.

"Would you tell people to go and die for your case?" To Eren this was a question of determination rather than morality.

"It is not a matter of whether I would or not. People have died for my sake. And I would allow it again if the benefits were clear. Such is conviction." If it looked like he had smirked it was only because of the intense irony in those words and that was the easiest way to face it.

But he quickly sighs and pushes away from the comfort of the railing, crossing his arms. They had strayed too long in territory in which the pharaoh was still growing comfortable but he tried to shrug it off surreptitiously. "What a topic for introductions though. How about we try something more innocuous next time?"

Eren regarded him a moment longer with eyes that spoke of somebody far too old and experienced for somebody his age. Of somebody who could talk about such things and understand no matter how simple and straightforward he seemed to otherwise be.

Then he shrugged his shoulders and the moment dispelled. "I guess so. Sorry, but I'm not really good with small talk. It's not that I don't get or like it, just..." He trailed off just to shrug his shoulders again with an awkward look of 'no clue how to put this into words'. "It seems all too often like a waste of time when we're living in a world where anybody can die any moment."

"You would fit in well with my advisors. It seemed all anyone ever had were dire matters of the utmost importance for me to deal with. Needless to say I relished the breaks where I could get it." It may come off as flippant but it’s not the same thing as implying that he made light of his responsibilities. Thought it hardly mattered to him if Eren, and all his understanding, picked up on it. His resolve never wavered.

His lips quirked up at the idea that he'd make a good adviser for anything. That was Armin's specialty, Eren got passionate far too quickly. (Albeit he also didn't think that he'd do even half as catastrophically at it as Jean liked to proclaim. Putting your heart into something didn't mean that you had to switch your brain off.)

Ironically enough Eren sort of got it. Sort of. "So you're some kind of commanding officer where you come from?"

"As pharaoh I was the head of our military, yes. But we were responsible for... well... everything." There’s no hiding the pride as he admits to it; neither was he trying to show off. It was a fact and one of the few secrets he hadn't kept.

Eren thought about it for a moment before he inclined his head like a curious kid. "Does a 'pharooh' have to be that young? Taking charge of everything seems to be a lot to push on a kid, even if you get a lot of people helping you." Atem talked like an adult and he seemed to be pretty mature, but even considering that some people were smaller than others he still had to be some years younger than Eren.

Pushing that kind of responsibility on a kid didn't seem fair.

"I does not work like that that exactly. I was my father's only son and heir apparent. When he died there was no other option but to take the throne." While it was true that some kings came to power so young that they required the aid of a regent, Atem was loath to consider that option and had actually fought against it. It only made a mess of the succession.

Whatever the reason, he took it seriously and without resentment.

[Open] What do you mean, it's the 21st century?

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/kick me if Atem already mentioned that he's a ruler and I forgot /)_(\

Nah, he tends not to say so unless prompted

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