Judging of the Heart
Dec. 25th, 2005 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittchaosThere's nothing against ff.net's ToS in this fic, it's just that it relies so heavily upon the gods of Ancient Egypt that I felt the tie to Yu-Gi-Oh might be too thin, even though Mahaad is the main character.
Summary - After he becomes the Dark Magician to defeat Bakura's Diabond the first time, Mahaad's soul is called before the gods to be judged. His problem? He has no heart to balance against the feather of Ma'at!
Judging of the Heart
"Who will speak for this lost son?"
It was as he had feared. Coming here, to the judgement, incomplete, unjustified -- threw the gauntlet of challenge down before the gods, so to speak, as they had no way to weigh his heart, judge his soul, or measure his life. He bowed his head, accepting the inevitable, damning silence, as it was Anubis, the god he claimed as his own patron and followed most closely, and the only one who could possibly speak for him, who asked the question. According to Ma'at, Anubis would not be permitted to speak for him as that would unbalance Anubis' impartiality as one of those critical to the judgement process.
"I will."
Mahaad turned his head to see who was willing to speak on his behalf. Golden-hued, cat-like eyes captured his gaze.
"Lord Maahes, I never -- I never served you," Mahaad admitted.
The lion-headed god nodded sharply, once.
"I know. I am still willing to stand by your side and speak on your behalf."
"Why?" As the word slipped out, honestly wrung from his deepest being, Mahaad regretted it. Here was one willing to speak for him, in this judgement where, by the manner of his death, he had sacrificed his right to speak for himself. He had left no heart to be weighed. He had left no body through which his ka could yet manifest and speak for him. He had forced a pre-judgement mingling of ba and ka, though he was not yet justified and able to become akh. He had -- caused his own death and abandoned his sacred duty to guard the pharaoh. That anyone was willing to speak for him was a miracle. Now, he wanted two, for he wanted to understand the reason.
"Seeking understanding is not a sin," Maahes told him. "And, with leave, I will explain to you why I am willing to speak for you."
Anubis nodded.
"There are many reasons it is in accord with Ma'at that I speak for you. First, most importantly, is your innocence. You did what you did, you fractured yourself, not for evil purposes, not for personal gain, not for any selfish impulse, but for the purest reason of all -- to protect the pharaoh. That is one of my duties too, so of course I would be aware of your actions on the pharaoh's behalf."
Mahaad started at that. He knew it to be true; Maahes was the protector of the pharaoh in battle. Seen in that light, perhaps his own actions...
"Yes. Though you have not overtly served me, you have always been a receptive vessel for me, to channel those protective impulses through."
Mahaad simply stared, shocked by his own unknowing complicity with a god to protect his king.
"Of course, in Ma'at, such liberties as I took with you, must be balanced in kind. Thus, I assisted you in your continuous battle with the evil of the Millennium Ring, keeping your ba pure of it, and helping you to seal your power from its grasp. And I would guard you, unseen, during those times you became vulnerable whenever you used magic. The fact that the final enemy you faced in life was a monstrous snake-demon is a parallel I cannot ignore either, as battling Apep is my duty aboard the sacred barque each night."
"I am... This is..." Mahaad stammered out.
"We will have time to talk later, I am certain."
Mahaad almost smiled at the easy arrogance of the god, reminding him suddenly of the nearly indolent assurance with which lions seemed to do everything. That leonine head turned sharply at his unvoiced thought, but smiled, and though the smile bared the lethal fangs of a lion, Mahaad somehow knew he was supposed to take comfort in it.
"So, you will still speak for him, Maahes?" Anubis asked, invoking the scales of judgement once more. Maahes nodded. "Well then, present his heart."
Mahaad's eyes dropped again, and the faint hope he had felt while Maahes was speaking with him shriveled and died again. He lacked that...
The touch upon his chest was gentle. Startled, he looked up into those golden lion eyes once more. This time, the gaze held there shone with the soft glow of the sun lighting the horizon.
"Having touched it so many times while you yet lived, how could I fail to see it when it is right before me now?" Maahes asked softly. "Your physical heart, while still important, is not what Anubis asks to weigh."
The god slowly drew back his hand, cupping a soft flame in the shape of a heart. He smiled down at it kindly as he turned and placed it upon one tray of the scale Anubis held. At the same time, the winged goddess of truth, order and right action, Ma'at herself, placed the feather of judgement on the opposite tray.
Time seemed to stop, if indeed it flowed at all, here in the Halls of Ma'ati, as the god and goddess drew back their hands. The scale remained completely still, as Mahaad's heart was in perfect balance with Ma'at.
Ma'at smiled at Maahes, the signal for each to remove from the scale what had been placed there, as Thoth dutiful recorded the result. Maahes returned to Mahaad's side, returning Mahaad's heart to where it belonged with the same gentle touch he had used to lift it free.
"And now, the real challenge begins," the lion-headed god told Mahaad conversationally.
"Challenge?"
"What to do with you. As you are now, after what you did, you really aren't suited for the Field of Reeds. Though, you have earned it. See? They go off to confer about you." Maahes pointed to where the gods of the judgement, Ma'at, Anubis and Thoth; along with the god of the dead, Osiris, his wife Isis, the goddess of magic, and his son Horus, patron of the living pharaoh, gathered.
~end of chapter one~
So? Any thoughts? Helpful comments? Constructive criticism?
Summary - After he becomes the Dark Magician to defeat Bakura's Diabond the first time, Mahaad's soul is called before the gods to be judged. His problem? He has no heart to balance against the feather of Ma'at!
"Who will speak for this lost son?"
It was as he had feared. Coming here, to the judgement, incomplete, unjustified -- threw the gauntlet of challenge down before the gods, so to speak, as they had no way to weigh his heart, judge his soul, or measure his life. He bowed his head, accepting the inevitable, damning silence, as it was Anubis, the god he claimed as his own patron and followed most closely, and the only one who could possibly speak for him, who asked the question. According to Ma'at, Anubis would not be permitted to speak for him as that would unbalance Anubis' impartiality as one of those critical to the judgement process.
"I will."
Mahaad turned his head to see who was willing to speak on his behalf. Golden-hued, cat-like eyes captured his gaze.
"Lord Maahes, I never -- I never served you," Mahaad admitted.
The lion-headed god nodded sharply, once.
"I know. I am still willing to stand by your side and speak on your behalf."
"Why?" As the word slipped out, honestly wrung from his deepest being, Mahaad regretted it. Here was one willing to speak for him, in this judgement where, by the manner of his death, he had sacrificed his right to speak for himself. He had left no heart to be weighed. He had left no body through which his ka could yet manifest and speak for him. He had forced a pre-judgement mingling of ba and ka, though he was not yet justified and able to become akh. He had -- caused his own death and abandoned his sacred duty to guard the pharaoh. That anyone was willing to speak for him was a miracle. Now, he wanted two, for he wanted to understand the reason.
"Seeking understanding is not a sin," Maahes told him. "And, with leave, I will explain to you why I am willing to speak for you."
Anubis nodded.
"There are many reasons it is in accord with Ma'at that I speak for you. First, most importantly, is your innocence. You did what you did, you fractured yourself, not for evil purposes, not for personal gain, not for any selfish impulse, but for the purest reason of all -- to protect the pharaoh. That is one of my duties too, so of course I would be aware of your actions on the pharaoh's behalf."
Mahaad started at that. He knew it to be true; Maahes was the protector of the pharaoh in battle. Seen in that light, perhaps his own actions...
"Yes. Though you have not overtly served me, you have always been a receptive vessel for me, to channel those protective impulses through."
Mahaad simply stared, shocked by his own unknowing complicity with a god to protect his king.
"Of course, in Ma'at, such liberties as I took with you, must be balanced in kind. Thus, I assisted you in your continuous battle with the evil of the Millennium Ring, keeping your ba pure of it, and helping you to seal your power from its grasp. And I would guard you, unseen, during those times you became vulnerable whenever you used magic. The fact that the final enemy you faced in life was a monstrous snake-demon is a parallel I cannot ignore either, as battling Apep is my duty aboard the sacred barque each night."
"I am... This is..." Mahaad stammered out.
"We will have time to talk later, I am certain."
Mahaad almost smiled at the easy arrogance of the god, reminding him suddenly of the nearly indolent assurance with which lions seemed to do everything. That leonine head turned sharply at his unvoiced thought, but smiled, and though the smile bared the lethal fangs of a lion, Mahaad somehow knew he was supposed to take comfort in it.
"So, you will still speak for him, Maahes?" Anubis asked, invoking the scales of judgement once more. Maahes nodded. "Well then, present his heart."
Mahaad's eyes dropped again, and the faint hope he had felt while Maahes was speaking with him shriveled and died again. He lacked that...
The touch upon his chest was gentle. Startled, he looked up into those golden lion eyes once more. This time, the gaze held there shone with the soft glow of the sun lighting the horizon.
"Having touched it so many times while you yet lived, how could I fail to see it when it is right before me now?" Maahes asked softly. "Your physical heart, while still important, is not what Anubis asks to weigh."
The god slowly drew back his hand, cupping a soft flame in the shape of a heart. He smiled down at it kindly as he turned and placed it upon one tray of the scale Anubis held. At the same time, the winged goddess of truth, order and right action, Ma'at herself, placed the feather of judgement on the opposite tray.
Time seemed to stop, if indeed it flowed at all, here in the Halls of Ma'ati, as the god and goddess drew back their hands. The scale remained completely still, as Mahaad's heart was in perfect balance with Ma'at.
Ma'at smiled at Maahes, the signal for each to remove from the scale what had been placed there, as Thoth dutiful recorded the result. Maahes returned to Mahaad's side, returning Mahaad's heart to where it belonged with the same gentle touch he had used to lift it free.
"And now, the real challenge begins," the lion-headed god told Mahaad conversationally.
"Challenge?"
"What to do with you. As you are now, after what you did, you really aren't suited for the Field of Reeds. Though, you have earned it. See? They go off to confer about you." Maahes pointed to where the gods of the judgement, Ma'at, Anubis and Thoth; along with the god of the dead, Osiris, his wife Isis, the goddess of magic, and his son Horus, patron of the living pharaoh, gathered.
~end of chapter one~
So? Any thoughts? Helpful comments? Constructive criticism?
