AUTHOR NOTES:
This is the first fic that I ever wrote and I am kind of struggling with the flow between time jumps. Let me know if you have any suggestions to improve it.
Before you ask: Yes, there is gonna be a Holy Grail War happening in the Lands Between… that is gonna be interesting, for sure... But not right away... I want to set and explain the characters and their interactions and background first, so the picture is well defined.
And regarding who to summon… There are honestly too many good options, help me decide by commenting who you want to see fighting in a grail war.
Feel free to point out if I got any detail or lore from either franchise wrong. I am no expert, after all, just a girl with a cool idea. Pointing those out with supporting references would make it easier to fix any future problems.
Also, a heads up that the first two chapters are a bit heavy in setting the story, so the Elden Ring part officially starts at chapter three.
I will also be putting the soundtrack music in each section, or you could just leave the Assassins Creed Origins soundtrack running in the background for the entire fic.
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Narrator
“Talking”
Thinking
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Egyptian eye [https://i.imgur.com/HOwzw0r.png]
21 of December of 1985, Fayoum area in Egypt
Music: Be My Eyes - Assassin’s Creed Origins
The first thing I saw in this new life was darkness, shining points like stars, and spots of different shades of purples in the distance… it looked like outer space… and there was a big hole where strong light was coming from..then big hands reached and pulled me out of there…
When I regained my awareness I was in a golden cradle with white silky sheets.
At first, I panicked but then I realized that I was a baby.
The next thing that caught my attention was gold.. lots of gold everywhere in the room.. lots of golden Egyptian decorations and rounded toys shaped like different animals.
I am in Ancient Egypt?... And given the amount of gold, I assume the child of a Pharaoh or a very rich family…
Then I started seeing them.. the first was a Hawk.. a hawk with emerald wings and a golden body looking at me.. and my every movement.
Then there was another one.. a falcon.. a falcon with blue feathers and yellow marks around its eyes…
Hu?! What are those birds?
And then the falcon just disappeared, it faded from sight like it was a ghost.
Okay… I am in Magical Egypt then…
A few minutes later two adults got into the room.
A somewhat muscular tanned tall adult man with short purple hair, purple eyes, and a goofy grin on his face. Wearing what looks like a black leather jacket with black pants and golden necklaces.
A slender tanned adult woman, a head smaller than the man, with long flowing purple hair, purple eyes, and an anxious expression. Wearing a long white dress with golden decorations and the same necklace.
They talk between themselves and reach out to me, to lift me.
When they see that I am looking at them with curiosity, they start to grin, talk among themselves and make some signs that I don’t recognize.
So they’re my parents then?.. Wait!.. She has purple hair! Purple! Did I reincarnate in an anime?! Which one? I don’t recognize them...
Then a leopard entered the room.. a leopard with long fangs almost like a sabertooth.. with star patterns over its body...
That is a big leopard!
Wait! No! I am the small one…
Right… I am a baby…
What are those magical animals I keep seeing?
Then another person entered the room…
An older woman with long purple hair reaching to the lower back and tied near the end and brown eyes, wearing a similar dress that the younger woman...
She starts talking with the other ones and seems to indicate that they put me back in the cradle.
Then, perhaps because I was a baby or just the amount of excitement and anxiety in the situation, I felt very tired and my body decided it was time to sleep.
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After that I started seeing more modern things at home, like a clock, which led me to the conclusion that I am in modern magical Egypt.. in some anime probably.. that has magical animals… I remember no one that fits that criteria with those animals…
Another thing I noticed is that we are filthy rich.. we live in a mansion in Egypt.. that has three floors.. and in the distance, I see a small mountain, a lot of sand and on the other side I see a small river and beyond that fertile fields with barley... I think it is barley…
After learning about my surroundings, I started to redirect my focus on learning the language as fast as I could using the thousands of years old probed tactic of pointing at things… waiting for my parents to make some noise… and trying to repeat and remember those noises…
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Music: Assassin’s Creed Origins Main Theme
Over time mom’s belly was getting bigger, so I realized she was pregnant…
When I was almost one year old, Mom and Dad took me somewhere in the back of the house near the mountain... Dad was carrying me…
“Dad! Where are we going?”
We were getting close to a big entrance to the underground with a big arc of stone and stairs down.
“Oh? My Esteemed daughter! We are going to our labyrinthian home underground”
We have a Labyrinth? Near home?
“Labyrinthian home?”
We keep continuing going down the stairs while dad also keeps an eye on mom while she is going down the stairs.
“Indeed! The greatest labyrinth of mankind! The greatest underground structure in the entire Faiyum, near the city of Shedet! Build by twelfth-dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat III and remodeled by her daughter Sobekneferu“
While dad was talking we were still going downstairs with lotus flowers on the ceiling emitting a faint light.
“It is so great that the Greek historian Herodotus had written that the complexity of the labyrinth near the city of Krokodilopolis surpassed even the pyramids themselves!”
And so we were near the end of the stairs.. which ended in a white marble road that reflected light coming from deeper underground.
“Welcome! To the labyrinth of Hawara!”
What I saw was a gigantic underground cavern… from the ceiling, there were big white lotus flowers emitting light like it was an artificial night starry sky, but underground. They illuminated the entire area.
Some golden hawks were flying around, the light was being reflected in their crystal wings.
Some falcons around playing with a few Jackals.
The white marble road, flanked by barley crops, continued straight until it reached a lake, where there were lotus flowers over the water illuminating it and creating beautiful patterns over the water, crocodiles could be seen there over the water or resting on the shore.
Then the road forked to the right and left.
To the right, the road continued until it reached a big Egyptian temple with big columns at the entrance.
And the road continued even more to the north until it reached a big golden pyramid with a big field of barley surrounding it, where some Leopards were showing their heads and looking at us, their yellow eyes faintly glowing.
And occasionally around, some antelopes jumping gracefully in the field.
And finally, there were golden obelisks around the cavern, reflecting the light coming from the ceiling.
“Ohhhh!!!”
It is beautiful! It is like another world!
Mom chuckled and started talking.
“Come on sweetie, we still have much to show you”
Dad put me down, mom took my hand and we started to walk left…
“See there? That is the statue of our lord Sobek, the crocodile god, the god of our family”
I froze on the spot.. it was a gigantic crystal statue… a carnelian statue… a humanoid statue with a crocodile head… in the middle of a lotus blossoms field that illuminated the statue and the light reflected on it painted the entire area with a red carnelian color. It was surreal!
Mom chuckled.
“The Lotus blossom spirits are a nice touch don’t you think?”
Those flowers… are spirits?
“Spirits?”
I just looked at mom in disbelief.
“That’s right, they are Spirits. they are Lotus blossoms connected to Ra, that is why they give light.. they can also adjust how much light they emit. Let me show you… Lotus blossoms, stop illuminating the area!”
And the light rapidly diminished and the statue was now much darker and looked like it was made of blood.
“See Sweetie? Let’s continue back to the temple”
So we started going to the other end of the road
“Okey…”
If the flowers are spirits… and are intelligent?.. then the animals are also spirits?
“See the Barley spirits there? They help raise the spirits of our family, and can also be used to make cake offerings and, more importantly, will help you grow sane, safe, and firm”
Is all the barley all around us also intelligent? Can they understand what we are talking about?
“There is the Temple where we live most of the time and also make many of our rituals. But we also do rituals in the pyramid and the labyrinth”
Right!.. The labyrinth... I forgot about it
“Mom, where is the labyrinth?”
“What? The labyrinth? Under the lake of course”
Under the lake… “of course”...
“So we go there using other stairs?”
“No no, you reach the labyrinth by swimming down in the lake”
We have an underground and underwater labyrinth…wouldn’t you drown there then?
“But mom! There isn’t air in the water”
“Don’t worry sweetie! We have a spell to breathe underwater and also another to manipulate water”
Manipulate water? Like Avatar the last Airbender? Or more esoteric?
“Here it is, our temple dedicated to our lord Sobek”
And so there it was.. a big temple, at least a hundred square meters.. with big sandy-colored columns with hieroglyphics and paintings on them.. detailing what I could only assume were mythological scenes featuring Sobek, the crocodile god.
The columns surrounded a walled enclosure that had a big gate, at least twenty meters tall, to the left there was a well, to the right lead to a courtyard with a big altar and after that another walled enclosure with halls, rooms and at the end, another enclosure with the inner sanctuary.
Inside, everything was luxurious, even my assigned room.
It made me feel like the daughter of a Pharaoh, there were even many falcon spirits around to help with things if you asked them.
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7 of January of 1987
Music: The Tongueless Land - Assassin’s Creed Origins
It was time.. the reason why my family was preparing for the last months.. my brother is being born.
I was with dad during the entire process, grandma was with mom, I could partially see but I could hear well from where we were, and grandma was doing a ritual when my brother was being born…
“Come on! Keep pushing!”
“Arhggg!! Uff! Uff! Arhggg!!”
Grandma took a wooden row inscribed with hieroglyphics, and with a horizontal movement, she “cut” the world itself, and it expanded showing darkness on the other side…
I recognize that... It is the first thing I saw when I reincarnated…
And so my brother was born.. and was immediately shoved directly into that dark Abyss.. while grandma was chanting.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“The path of the Abyss is opened for you, the gates of those who are in the horizon are opened for you, the beautiful star, which the gods that are in the darkness eat.
He has revealed those that are forgotten, for you are the Morning Star, you are the beautiful star of gold which went up alone from the horizon. One multiple of Uraei from which his mother bore, who consumed yon destroyers.
You are the lone star on the horizon, and her father Ra has given you the whole of the sky when he brightens. He has given you his living beings for their protection. He has made spirits for you in order to have power over them. For he has made gods for you in order to be in your retinue!”
And after that chant, grandma reached for my brother and took him out of that darkness.
The situation was very strange to me...
“Dad, what is happening? What is grandma saying?”
“It is an important ritual of our family, to make sure our family members are born Abyssinian”
Abyssinian? What in hell is that? Is it related to that darkness that from the inside looks like outer space?
“Abyssinian?”
“Yes, we are all Abyssinian in our family. Our magic cries our name so we can open a portal to the Abyss, a portal to the Netherworld! So the gate beyond the horizon is opened! And the messengers of those who are in the Abyss have no power over us and we may cross the Abyss!“
I don’t understand a thing that dad is saying.. but it seems important for the family.
“Dad, I don't understand”
“Don’t worry, esteemed daughter, you will learn about it while you’re growing up”
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When I was 2 years old, I first saw my mom use reinforcement with her circuits and finally realized that I was in the Nasuverse.
Those… are magic circuits… No way! Did I reincarnate in the Nasuverse? In Egypt?!
That means that we are a magi family…
This puts things in perspective and makes more sense now…
For starters all that talk with Dad about being an “Abyssinian”.. that means that what I saw was an Imaginary Numbers pocket dimension then?..
And all the Spirits that my family uses.. should be necromancy or spiritual evocation.. right?
Wait! Before that! In which parallel world I am?.. It is 1988.. so it can’t possibly be Fate Extra since the mana of the world is not being dried up... I haven’t heard anything like that from grandma and I am sure she will notice…
What about grail wars? Which is the closest one in time?
In 1991 there is the First Tokyo Holy Grail War… there is no way I can do anything about that one...
In 1994 there is the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War if I am in the Fate Zero world… I will be 8 years old then… yeah no way I can do anything about that…
In 1994 could also happen the Fourth Ainsworth Holy Grail War... But again I didn’t hear anything about the world dying so far…
In 1999 there is the Second Tokyo Holy Grail War.. which I am gonna have 13… I hope I don’t have to fight in a Grail War at 13 years old!
In 2003 I think there is the Fate Labyrinth Holy Grail War... I don’t really need to do anything with that one, let Manaka solve that one…
In 2004 there is the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War… I will be 18 years old…
And in 2004 there is also the Great Holy Grail War in Trifas…
In terms of age it may be possible that I do something about those if needed… but do I really need to interfere?
If it is the Great Holy Grail War I don’t think so…
If it is the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War… I am kind of worried that there are multiple possibilities and a high amount of bad ends for Shirou… I need to know which parallel world I am in… But… I am gonna need to wait until I grow up a little to ask about that or it will be too out of place… Not like I can go to dad and ask “Hey dad, do you know in which parallel world I reincarnated?”...
Or I could be in another parallel world…
If I am in any of the parallel worlds where Sakura is with Zouken… I am assaulting that place with an army of spirits to rescue Sakura as soon as I have the age to go there…
Wait... I have reincarnated in a magi family.. which are known for their dehumanization of children... And I am a child!.. I have more pressing concerns than a far away possible Holy Grail War!
Think! What do I know of magi families in Egypt or Egyptian magecraft?.. There was a skill.. in Nitocris's profile.. about being related to necromancy.. and we use spirits a lot...
Dammit! That is some form of necromancy with animals, isn’t it?!
And I remember that Sobek, the crocodile god, was strongly associated with aggression and violence.
I better start working hard on learning Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Egyptian Mythology as soon as possible, because I really don’t want to assume the worst but I better prepare...
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So I started trying to read things... We had a lot of papyri in the temple in a section called the House of Life, akin to a library, and started trying to read what it said in the columns and learn about Sobek since it seems my family is a cult dedicated to him.
And also entertain my brother and teach him to speak, for some reason he got really attached to me and started copying what I did…
“Grandma, I don’t understand this part, are the big crocodiles putting the smaller ones in their mouths to eat them?”
Please be wrong! I don’t like the implications of what this picture represents!
“By Sobek! No! Child… What are you saying? That represents the old custom of the crocodiles that diligently care for their young, and often transport their offspring in their mouths. This is seen as the protective and nurturing aspect of the fierce Sobek, as he protects the Egyptian people in the same manner that the crocodile protects its young”
Uh!.. I didn’t know that crocodiles cared about their offspring, they must be one of the few reptiles that do that…
Wait! That means that since my family is a cult of Sobek then they’re gonna follow that to the T right? I am not going to experience dehumanization bullshit right?!
Yes! I lucked out! I have never been happier to be born in a cult! I don’t want to imagine what I could have suffered being born in another magi family…
And I was so happy that I flexed my arms, then stretched them, and jumped multiple times…
“Mariline, what are you doing?”
Uh!?
I was like a deer caught in the headlights…
Grandma was questioning me and looking at me with a wary eye…
I need to think of some excuse.. fast!
“I am-I am just happy to learn about Sobek..”
“Oh? You'd like to know more about Sobek? Well.. let me tell you that our family used to be specialized priests in the main temple at Shedet and we solely served Sobek we have earned and inherited for generations the titles of Prophets of the crocodile god and Ones who buries the bodies of the crocodile god of the Land of the Lake”
Wh-What is with those chunni titles?! The last one is as long as the titles of Japanese light novels! And it even sounds like it comes from Naruto!
“Sobek was said to have crawled out of the primordial waters on the day of Creation, he is the God of the dark waters. In some places, he was hailed as the Creator of the World. And have laid his eggs on the banks of the Nile to begin Creation. He is very well known for having rescued the souls of the four sons of Horus by gathering them into a net from the waters where they had emerged from the bloom of a lotus flower”
“He rescued them… with a Net?”
“Yes, his net is connected to the creation of fish traps and it is said to be the first trap ever made. He was also associated with labyrinths, pharaonic power, fertility, and military prowess, but served additionally as a protective deity, this is because he was associated with Isis as a healer. His fierceness was able to ward off evil while simultaneously defending the innocent”
It quickly became clear that Sobek was a much more complex god than I originally thought...
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One of the first weird things I noticed about myself is that I always had a tan even if I didn’t stay a lot under the sun.
I have purple eyes and purple hair like my parents. Which was still kind of weird to me…
Another weird thing that I noticed is my full name: Mariline Mariam Teukhmos Sobekneferu
It seems I am not the only one with that weird arrangement, it is the same for the entire family, for example, my purple-haired brother is named Sebestet Sebi Khthisar Sobekneferu...
And of course, my brother started calling me Mari Mari and wanted me to call him Seb Seb...
I knew that some Atlas magi had complex names like “Sion Eltnam Sokaris” and “Latio Crudelis Hiram”, but I didn’t know that was generalized in Egyptian magi families…
...also... Why is it that I only have the last surname in common with my brother? I thought there were always two family surnames in Egyptian Families like “Eltnam Sokaris” and “Crudelis Hiram”... Does that mean I have 3 names?
And what is this JoJo-like arrangement for names?!
So I went and asked mom
“Mom! Mom! I have a question!”
“Oh! it is you, Mariline... What is it, Sweetie?”
“Why is it that my names and brother’s names are different and only the last name is the same?”
“Well the last one, Sobekneferu, is the name of our family, we are descendants of Sobekneferu, the daughter of Amenemhat the third. Do you know what it means? It means the most beautiful of Sobek, do you know who is the number one most beautiful of Sobek? You are!”
And mom touches my nose and uses her other hand to tickle me…
“Mom! Please stop!”
“*giggles* Oh! Right! Sweetie, this is important, when we are talking with members outside the family make sure to instead use Sabkou”
Another weird name…
“Sabkou…?”
“It is the ancient name of Mercury, which is Sobek’s planet, sweetie”
So Mercury is related to Sobek?.. I didn’t know that.. Wait!.. She said that we need to hide our surname? Why?
“Mom, why do we need to hide our surname?”
“Well... there are a few reasons… First is that your REN, your name, is an important concept in Egyptian magic and a part of your very soul and memories, and by hiding it will be more difficult for others to target us with magic, for example using curses. The other reason is that it isn’t a good idea to tell the plebs that we are descendants of the Pharaohs... The times have changed after all”
“Plebs..?”
“The normal people, those that haven’t been blessed nor inherited the blood of Sobek-Isis. We instead are the Priest Lords of Sobek, we are patricians, we shouldn’t mix too much with them nor show them our blessings, it is better to have secrecy of what we do”
So my family discriminates against normal people? But there doesn't seem to be a strong animosity towards them…
“Let’s turn back on the names, your third one is because you were born on the 21 of December, it corresponds with the Decan Teukhmos, it is part of the family naming tradition”
“Mom… What is a Decan?”
“Oh? The Decans? They’re stars, they were used to check the hours during the night. It's called that way because every ten days, a new decanic star group reappears in the eastern sky at dawn right before the sun rises. And so there are three decans assigned each month and a total of thirty-six decans per year.”
Did I hear right? Three decans per month will make them thirty days each?
“But! Mom! Then each month has thirty days and the year three hundred and sixty days”
“Very well done sweetie! I see that you are working hard in math, but you are missing the five days that Thoth gambled with the Moon so Nut and Geb gave birth to Osiris, Set, Isis, and Nephthys”
Now it turned weird again… Thoth, the god of magic, gambled days with the Moon? It must be something related to Egyptian Mythology…
“Uh! Okay... sure mom...”
I knew that growing up in a Magi family is gonna be different and the magecraft will permeate everything in their lives, but this is crazier by the day! Even the calendar we use is different!
“Don’t worry sweetie, you will understand more about our myths when you grow up”
“Ah! Mom! What about my first and second names?”
“Oh?! Those? they just sounded cool together with the rhyme and it is a family tradition”
What is with that explanation?!
After all that complex explanation, mom got me worked up about my name for nothing!
“Oh! Also, sweetie, another thing we have that is proof that we are descendants from Sobekneferu is a silver crocodile birthmark with little stars inside. Yours is in your buttocks“
Huh!? What? I never saw that... I am gonna need a mirror…
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Music: Dead Kings and Living Gods - Assassin’s Creed Origins
When I was three years old it finally was the moment to open my Magic Circuits.
I learned that the entire family uses the same Mental Trigger: Concentrate your thoughts on the lower and back part of the brain, “the reptilian brain”, specifically the part where the spine passes into the brain, and from there expand your mental image to the rest of the body.
My entire family was present and we went into the deepest part of the labyrinth for the ritual.
The Labyrinth.. right…
It was under the lake, you need to swim or use a water manipulation spell from the white marble road and follow the road until you reach the entrance.
There you open the door by pressing your entire hand in a hole shaped like a hand, and then remove it and press again with only two fingers this time: your index and the middle one.
After you go in, the door closes leaving the water outside the labyrinth.
Inside the white marble labyrinth, I also saw that puzzle many times on the walls on golden false doors, with red vertical marks near them... and also in marble doors that you need to open to continue going deeper into the labyrinth going through the normal path…
But instead of going the normal path, after all a labyrinth has only one path, dad took us through the shortcuts on the walls. When we opened those “portals” false doors the scenario changed… it was like you were in tunnels in a catacomb.. a stone catacomb made of gray and white stone bricks and arcs everywhere..and they seem to extend beyond the paths we walked.. it felt like another world…it was strange because it felt familiar but I was never there…
Later I would learn that false doors in Egyptian mortuary temples allow the spirit of the deceased to go back and forth between the world of the living and the world of the dead and therefore, are the place to make offerings.
In the deepest part of the labyrinth there was a hall filled with red marks before a door with a red ring. There is where the ritual took place, so I started the incantation that my family taught me for the ritual.
“O you nobles who are in the presence of the Lord of All, behold, I have come to you. Respect me in proportion to what you know. I am he whom the Sole Lord made, when he sent his Sole Eye when he was alone, that he might be more powerful than he, when he took authoritative utterance upon his mouth”
There were four torches in the room, representing the four sons of Horus, I was in a ceremonial dress with a bowl of water in my hands and I was supposed to concentrate on my mental trigger and make ripples in the water with the release of my magical energy.
“I have come that I may take possession of my throne I and that I may receive my dignity, for to me belonged all before you had come into being, you gods; go down and come upon me, for I am a Magus!”
Or.. that is what it was supposed to happen, but instead, I felt a lot of pain and like my entire body was on fire.
I couldn’t handle the pain and I passed out…
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“Uuhgg”
I woke up… I was in my bed and had my brother at my side.
“You woke up! Mom, grandma! Mari mari has woken up!”
I feel numb.. all over my body…
“Uuhgg. What is going on?”
And then mom and grandma got into the room
“Sweetie! How are you feeling?”
“*sigh* Tired... And numb all over... Wh-What happened?”
Did something happen in the ritual?.. My magical circuits?!... Are they ok?!
“Mariline, child.. you don’t have to worry. The opening of your circuits was a success, it is just that you have a stronger reaction than normal.. you just sent the water into the ceiling instead of making ripples on it… you will still have to practice and learn to handle your circuits”
It hurt.. a lot...
“It hurt a lot!”
“Your nervous system just went haywire due to the sudden intake of energy, with practice you will be able to reduce the pain. But for now, you need to rest”
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After that, I officially started studying the magecraft of the family.
My first thought was that I was going to learn about the Spirits, but that wasn’t the case. I approve of that decision since I was three years old and learned that it involved the mummification of animals. Not something that you want to teach to a three years old child.
Then I thought of Imaginary Numbers / Hollow spells, or as my family calls them: Abyssinian spells. But they didn’t teach me that, no, since you could get hurt pretty badly, imagine: you open a portal, stick your hand and close it, you definitely will lose that hand.. makes sense.
No, what my family started teaching me was Egyptian Curse Spells. Curses! Like the famous Curse of the Pharaohs.
I learned that Egyptian Curse Spells are conditional, you don’t get cursed just because someone wants to, you must have to do something against the person or place to be cursed.
You define a trigger action done against you, normally something considered negative, harmful, or evil. And then one or two consequences, like being burned by the fire of Sekhmet or being bound and tied as a prisoner or being stabbed or cut.
You can even set that the Spirits nearby will be alerted and seek revenge or that nearby animals will attack you.
Curses cast on yourself tend to have a duration of a day and as long as the trigger happens the consequence or outcome happens to the enemy.
I quickly fell in love with it and the idea of preparation against possible harm.
I also started learning that Egyptian spells should be written on wood, papyrus or ceramic otherwise they need an incantation to work. And since they are long incantations it is not practical to chant them, so writing is preferred, normally on a wooden rod that could also act as the rod for a papyrus scroll which could contain another spell.
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And so the time passed by and while I was growing up I did start learning about the other magecrafts of the family and from the contacts my family used to buy animals to mummify I heard about the Subcategory Holy Grail Wars in Greece and magi fighting for the catalyst of Achilles…
Finally! Now I know where I am! Since they mentioned Subcategory Holy Grail Wars then I must be in Fate Labyrinth or Apocrypha… none of the wars I need to do anything.. no ending of the world nor imminent danger…
And that also means Sakura is not suffering because of Zouken… yeah, the best news of the day, definitively!
Good! I will probably never have to fight in a Holy Grail War in my life…
Author note: I will not be so sure about that one…