Pokémon Eternal Gold (PMDgypt Bingo Prompts)

[Phoenixsong]

And lo, words written by Phoenixsong had once again happened, and there was much rejoicing. Or possibly much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Whichever!

Pyramids	Set and Horus	Death of a Pharaoh
Maat Maintenance	Fall of Egypt	The Sphinx
The Journey of the Sun	Weighing of the heart	Atenism

Specifically, these words that have happened are courtesy of the above Thousand Roads' 5th Anniversary bingo card, and they are happening in an attempt to practice a bit with yet another contextless setting I mumble about in Discord sometimes. (Just kidding. They're only happening because I require More Companion Skiddo.) This is "PMDgypt"! Adjacent to it, anyway. Who knows what might change between now and Whenever I Might Actually Write A More Substantial ThingTM? But it's a start on some of the vibes, at least. Definitely had fun giving those vibes a shot!

So, yeah. Ancient Egypt. But, like, with talking pokémon in it. Words about that! Magical.

And heck, maybe someday even more words might happen in this very thread, filling in more of that bingo card or even entirely unprompted! ...Maybe. Eh. Let's not get too wild up in here, kids.

Content Warnings:

Nothing, really? Some very gentle and non-graphic mentions of death and funerary preparations and beliefs about such. As always, though, if I missed anything major, please do tell me so I can adjust this notice accordingly.

Feedback:

These are tiny and weird and unlikely to be revisited and most of the planning/initial writing for two of them was done in thirty panicked minutes while traveling to an appointment when I thought the bingo deadline was earlier (they've been cleaned up some over the rest of the day, but no guarantees they make any sense). Also one of the two Turbo Deadline Panic Mode pieces isn't even normal prose fiction so much as it is an extremely slapdash myth-ish storytime-ish sort of deal. As such they aren't worth the effort of serious critical analysis on your part, nor am I especially looking for that here. But hey, if you really wanna, knock yourself out. What am I gonna do, put a mummy's curse on you?*

Whatever miscellaneous thoughts/reactions you may have are, as ever, warmly welcomed.

Thanks for reading!


* No, I'm not, because those aren't real. I will think you're a little silly but will nonetheless appreciate the thoughts/advice, though!

 

[Phoenixsong]

Pyramids

Some things do not change: there have always been garganacl priests in Yveltal's temples. There is Anu now; there were others before. Many pokémon are honored to aid the work of the Lady of Silence, to counsel the living and prepare the dead for their winding way through the night. But there is always a garganacl among the binders and embalmers, because only a garganacl's gift can bring another pokémon so close to eternal stone. Only a garganacl can ensure that they will last like stone, and endure as a vessel for the cycle of magic forever.

From where she stands under the embalming tent, tidying up while the junior priests take the body away to dry, Anu can see the pyramids across the river. The pyramids also do not change. She's old, but they are far older. (About as old as the first garganacl in the Lady's temples.) The desert skyline is dominated by the newest, polished white and crowned with gold, but further back even the most venerable stand (mostly) firm, their weathered stair-step sides still climbing up toward the sky.

It wasn't enough for the ancients to become like stone, it seemed. They wanted mountains of stone that would funnel their magic up into the wings of the sun, that their spirits could ascend and ascend until they joined the stars. Monarchs, nobles, generals, priests: with the right resources and with time, any of them might sleep beneath their own personal peak.

(Not the garganacl priests, though. She can't see them from here, dwarfed by distance and the shadows of the grand monuments, but she knows where her ancestors rested when their time came: after they gave their final gift of almost-stone with the salt from their hands, they simply sat down by the tombs of their charges, made themselves comfortable in the sand, and slipped into their journey through the dark. A scattering of humble little step pyramids, here and there, the priests' own private stairways to the stars.)

Sometimes Anu finds herself imagining the architect who'd first come up with the idea of pyramids, building mountains that a soul could climb to heaven. She feels the sun and wind across the planes of her shoulders, rising up to the flat of her head, and wonders wryly where they might've found the inspiration.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Maat Maintenance

Flame rolls from the magmar, lightning arcs from the luxray, elements clash and burst in midair, and the gathering of petitioners in the temple court gasps in theatrical awe. The magepriests circle around before their audience, striking with explosions of heat and light. Twin statues of Zygarde, their coils looping and their many-eyed hoods flared, gaze expectantly down on the exhibition below.

The gods gave pokémon power over the elements with the expectation that this power be used, in work and in battle. Every day the magepriests do their battle-dance: their energy flows free and furious, the ultimate expression of their gift from themselves and, symbolically, the rest of Nebudjet. Not much call for battles among rich merchants or courtiers—not much call for working, either—so when they want something they crowd the edges of the temple court, pushing their offerings and donations and excuses past one another, so the priests will intercede and expend on their behalf.

These gifts of energy and magic we give of ourselves, as is the way, the priests intone over the petitioners' offerings, to the Lady of Balance and the Great Gods Below, that our magic will flow from us through them and strengthen them for their works. And that, as the Great Gods perform their works, their magic will rise with their breath back through the earth to strengthen us again.

Senek is here, of course, oohing and aahing and applauding along with all the rest. He looks, in Intesh's estimation, as impressed and humbled by the priests' power as his smugness allows. He looks, almost convincingly, like he hasn't come to "donate" goods he's cheated out of working families.

The ariados watches from his perch on the courtyard wall. The magepriests are focused on their ritual dance of fire and storm; the petitioners—and Senek—are focused on them. A bountiful offering overall, seems like. Zygarde must be pleased by such abundant gifts, if rightly given. Intesh's mandibles twitch in a spider-smile. He doesn't have the means to request an intercession himself. But he can certainly make an offering that's a bit more direct.

This gift of energy and magic I give of myself, as is the way, thinks Intesh as he sinks into a shadow sneak and slips invisibly away with the corrupt merchant's donation, to the Lady of Balance and the Great Gods Below, that that bastard Senek might get what's coming to him.

Spoiler: author's note/context/unasked-for history lesson

Maat (or ma'at) is the Ancient Egyptian word for a concept somewhere in the ballpark of "truth, order, justice, balance"—essentially, the concept of how a functional universe ought to be. Maat wasn't just the gods' responsibility; mortals on earth, from the king and officials guiding the country to citizens interacting with their fellows, also had to work to maintain it. To oversimplify a bit, this was done primarily by living honorably and honestly in an orderly society and fulfilling their roles in that society so it could continue to move like a well-oiled machine. (Or, at the very least, practicing rituals that symbolized these things.) The pokémon of Nebudjet have a similar belief, but in their case this balance also includes keeping up the "cycle of magic/elemental energy" between mortals and gods as mentioned above.

 

[Phoenixsong]

The Journey of the Sun

The Great Phoenix sinks below the horizon into the dark ash of night. The colors of her wings fade all to red, then to black; her body curls slowly inward, as to become a little Ember. The last of her flight sweeps her through the Halls of the Underworld, and the Halls are illuminated by her final seven rays of light:

She lights the cities of the gods and the works of their servants, that the balance and the cycle shall be maintained.
She lights the gates and their guardians, that they shall remain vigilant against trespassing souls.
She lights the judgment of the dead, that the Lady of Balance shall see true into their hearts.
She lights the paths of the punishers, that no wicked souls shall hide from their claws.
She lights the pit of the Enemy bound below, that the chaos and disorder it breeds are burned away.
She lights the Fields of Paradise, that the righteous ghosts may celebrate their eternal lives.
She lights the Great Tree of the Lady of Life, that it shall bask in the magic that rides on the wings of the Phoenix.

In this central hall the Sleeping Ember settles at last; she is the blanket of cooling ash that nourishes the base of the Tree of Life. And the grand, multicolored branches of the Tree and the antlers of the Lady shine with the light they received, bathing the Ember in the magic given from the living world. Her strength is returned to her; all the colors of magic shine from her wings; the sun burns anew in her eyes.

The Great Phoenix soars up from the Underworld, shining with the all colors of the Lady and the Tree, sharing with the living her first seven rays of light.

Spoiler: author's note

Yes, Ho-Oh, not Solgaleo. I don't feel like trying to fit every single legendary into this setting and also I just wanted a bird, okay? It's my fake fantasy magic punchmonster Egypt and I do what I want. :P