“You’re saying my name is alias?” Well, he wasn’t wrong. If he’d just said so he would think Ramses was remarkable perceptive, but his reasoning only raised more questions. “ So what, you know Maahes then? Or are you talking about your god again?”
He sighed. "I do know him," he admitted, pulling his hood down just a little farther out of a need for some form of comfort. "The god is the same man as the one that you're referring to...Most people know him by that later part and not his past in Vuphia."
James squinted, giving Ramses a focused, critical look as he tried to read the face beneath the hood. He knew Ramses was hiding something about Maahes, and at first he thought it was to protect the boy, but he was beginning to have an odd suspicion. One that didn’t make logical sense. Could it be possible... that Maahes, in his other world, had aged faster? Could time be different there? If Maahes was just a friend, there was no reason for Ramses to be so apprehensive and fearful about it. It was as if... he was afraid of being found out. James knew that exact feeling and when he thought about it again, it made sense.
In a moment of revelation, James’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked at Ramses with wide eyes.
“What - no, that - you can’t be Maahes. You’re... you’re not Maahes are you? Why are you in hiding?”
He stared at the man across from him, his nonexistent heart coming to a metaphorical stop as the words sunk in. He had known that his lie was far from a good one, but he had been hopeful that it would remain undiscovered until he had some idea of who he was talking to. He still had no idea who Mark really was, even though he was now talking to him as if they were somehow old friends.
He had dealt with countless terrifying things - some even committed by him - in time he had been under Ra's control, but the confusion quickly became terror instead. This wasn't like any of the things he had dealt with before.
He stumbled back away from him. "Who are you?" he whispered. "You keep talking like you know me, but I don't remember you!"
James blinked. It was confirmed. This fully grown man was somehow Maahes, despite the complete lack of a resemblance. He let out a quiet breath of surprise, but quickly drew his attention to the panicking Maahes.
"I -" He had to recall for a moment. "I think I first introduced myself to you as Luke. I had something of a beard then. We'd all found a cottage. You helped me heal my leg. There were two other men, one of which you helped translate for. And... later I ..." his voice dropped to a hushed whisper. "I told you my real name was James." He paused, quickly glancing at the others.
"The only one who knows that right now is the woman over there though, so, for now let's just keep calling me Mark."
"Do you two trust Ramses?" asked Seung quietly, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to preserve his warmth. "What kind of person does he seem to be to you?"
Tavis shrugged. "Beats me. As long as he doesn't try to kill us."
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
Tasha glances towards Ramses and James. "I don't know. I don't like it, though. Something about him..." she shakes her head.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
The two names would have meant nothing to him on their own, but the combination of them made the memory resurface. It was a very vague memory - that had been many, many years ago - but he could almost see the resemblance between the man he had met then and the man he had met now.
"I remember," he said, a small smile gracing his lips. From the few memories he had of the time, James had been a kind person. Whether that kindness extended to someone who wasn't a child anymore, he wasn't sure. But, at the very least, it eased his worries. "It must have been thousands of years since then. The times of our worlds must run differently, because you look like you haven't aged a day."
James’s eyes lit up, and his expression mirrored Maahes’s own with a small smile. It was rare that he ran into anyone he knew that didn’t hold ill will against him, so any familiar face - or rather person, since he no longer recognized Maahes by appearance alone - was a welcome one.
“It has only been a year here since then,” he replied, still smiling. “Clearly our worlds run at very different speeds.”
He looked over to the others, hoping the sincerity of his smile would alleviate their fears.
“Well, now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, you wouldn’t mind if we rejoined the others? You’ll still be Ramses, I suppose. Oh-“ he stopped, turning back to Maahes. “Your alias. You do still want me to use it, right?”
He thought for a moment. If he was in fact on another world, one where no one - save for James - had heard of him, there was little reason for him to use an alias instead of his actual name. "I believed I was on a different world than this one," he said, "so I think it would be alright for you to use my real name. It would probably make things a little bit clearer for the others as well, since you kept asking about me earlier."
“I... I know for you it’s been thousands of years. So I’m sure much has happened since then. But I just need to know - that we’re... we’re good, you know?”
The question took him by surprise, but he wasted no time in nodding. James had been nice to him before, and he knew dealing with his younger self had been far from easy. He would never change his mind on a person without having a good reason for it.
James nodded again, the hints of his fading smile still on his face. He turned around and led Maahes to the others, and gestured to the man the still knew as Ramses.
“This is... a little awkward to explain, but, Ramses and I know each other. It turns out Ramses is actually Maahes. But whereas here in my world, only a year has passed since I met Maahes as a young boy, thousands of years have passed for him back in his world. It seems that now the only mystery is the same as all of you have found yourselves in: that being how and why exactly you arrived here, in my world. But with that said,” James looked over to Maahes. “There’s no need to be suspicious of him. He means no harm.”
Tasha dips her head, willing to follow James' lead, but it's an act of submitting, not one of agreeing. Her eyes are still that deep golden-amber. That scent of his keeps throwing her off, and there's something about him that tells her there's more than meets the eye - something that makes him dangerous, very much so. But she has no proof and if James is willing to trust him she must go with it unless she finds some.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Usually someone who hides their true name has a secret or ten, Tavis wanted to say, but he held his tongue and merely gave a nod of acknowledgement.
Seung, on the other hand, asked as he was massaging his temples to try to relieve his dull headache, "I don't mean to pry, but why did you hide your true name?" No one really lied about names often where he came from. "And are you really thousands of years old?" He was usually quiet, but his curious medical side came out.
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
I tell the neophyte: Write a million words–the absolute best you can write, then throw it all away and bravely turn your back on what you have written. At that point, you’re ready to begin. — David Eddings
