In the time loop. Secrets of past lives 2

The girl, hugging the handrail of the stairs, seemed to be in unconsciousness. I let go of the ring, grabbed the handrail, swung and punched her in the ass. Sergey held out his hand to me to help me not to miss the ring. I wrapped my legs around Lida and the handrail, and with Sergey’s help, I pulled the ring towards me. Lida seemed rooted to the stairs.

“I’m going to leave you here!” I growled, “I’m counting to two!” One time!” and pinched her painfully.

—

“Aah!” Lida screamed heart — rendingly, and jumped like a monkey to the hoop

“You fool!” Elsa snapped at her angrily. But we were all safely hanging on the hoop.

Our suffering did not end there. The ring, swinging, increased its amplitude, suddenly, as if a storm had hit us, and the vortex swirled, spun so that we could no longer see anything. We were spinning like astronauts in a centrifuge.

“I’m going to be sick!” Lida screamed again.

“Everyone’s going to be sick!” “Which one of us answered?” Could someone’s mouth really speak? Everyone was on the verge of fainting.

The storm abruptly subsided as it had appeared, our circling in the air gradually stopped, and the ring gradually descended. Suddenly, it swung violently, the hoop separated, and we collapsed onto the grass at once.

Lida crawled back to the bush, she was violently vomiting. Everyone was lying helplessly on the ground. Then I was seized with a vague, unaccountable uneasiness. I began to fumble in my pockets, and pulled out two lifeless corpses of my fetches. My poor assistants, they had been saving me all this time, and exhausted from the energy they had spent almost completely, they were dying in front of my eyes. Fifa was sprawled out on the grass like a black spot, but he was breathing. But Fofa was lying there, barely opening his mouth and rolling his eyes.

“Are they dead?” Elsa crawled up to me.

I couldn’t speak, there was a lump in my throat. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have been able to stay there on the stairs and reach for the ring with Lida. “Look, there’s a waterfall. Let’s bring them to the water and sprinkle water on them.” Together with Elsa, we carried these little creatures to the water.

“Look, what a big and beautiful garden, fountains all around, and the music… do you hear the music, Max? I hope our trials are over, and we somehow got out of the labyrinths to the surface?”

“Our trials are still ahead. We went through the physically difficult ones. And now, guys, get ready for the fact that the priests will “brainwash” you with their tricks and tricks. Don’t lose your healthy skepticism.” “Why would they do that?” What is the goal?” Sergey asked.

“Every sect tries to attract more adherents. There is a great struggle going on on earth for human souls in all religions. What does this give them? Somewhere up there, there also seems to be a struggle going on. They have their own party there too. ‘What’s below is like what’s above,’ and mind you, I didn’t say that. So, our world is created in the image and likeness. And there are also undercover intrigues, the desire to seize power, become close to their ‘emperor’, and remove competitors. So, Archangel Michael has removed his competitor, Lucifer. He complained to the Almighty, and the Father disowned his first-born son. Everything is like people, everything is like gods.”

“So he complained that the ‘sons of God’ had an affair with women.”

“No, Mikhail, as the last informer, did not start with this, he made the main claim — they gave people knowledge that should belong only to them, the angels, and completed the denunciation about the allegedly depraved actions of angels who had intercourse with earthly women and had a bunch of children. These children were very different from ordinary people in their knowledge, and leaders appeared among them, uniting the tribes under their leadership. This is how clans arose, and their descendants also possessed incredible abilities for ordinary people. Even their blood composition was different. There was more copper than iron in it. Hence the expression ‘blue blood’. Subsequently, all descendants tried to preserve this feature. And marriages were only made with their own kind. This is how famous dynasties arose.”

“They did not save this blood, they degenerated, mixing with red blood. But the remnants still remain,” Sergei continued.

“What is this, they think up there that we were supposed to walk around in skins like a silent, illiterate herd, and pray to them incessantly?” Elsa was indignant.

“Having gained knowledge, people began to think and analyze, which means they got out of control. It’s not for nothing that for a long time the contents of the Bible in the services were read only in Latin. Without understanding, people believed the priests’ interpretations. But we digress, my assistants are already recovering, they will still serve us.”

“Welcome to the Mysteries, our new initiates,” suddenly came a voice from behind us. “You have won a victory over the body, now you need to strengthen your spirit.”

We turned around at once, and a tall, elderly man in a robe was standing in front of us, holding a palm branch in his hand. The man examined us carefully, while politely adding, “Follow me.”

Everyone obeyed in silence, and the priest led us down a narrow path. The light was slowly fading, and there was a small pavilion on the bank of a bubbling stream. The priest pointed us to the sofas and invited us to rest. Either the atmosphere was drowsy in the room, or we were really tired, but we all fell on the sofas at once and fell asleep

When I woke up, I saw our guide next to me, but my friends were not there. No one. And I was completely naked and covered with a sheet. I stared at the priest, and just wanted to open my mouth to ask a question, when he put his finger to his lips, signaling me to be silent..

“Now you are all going through the next test, silence and loneliness. Each of you is placed in your own pavilion, where you will spend time in complete silence and darkness, reflecting and remembering about your earthly life.”

Then a young man came up to me with a bowl filled with water, sang a verse in his own language and handed the bowl to me. I understood, I need to drink from this cup. But you have to be on your guard, you never know what they’ve mixed up there. I obediently took the bowl with both hands and pretended that I was enjoying slurping this water. Satisfied, the attendants pulled a robe over me and placed a wreath on my head. Oh, gods, what I looked like. But I was more worried about where my assistants, fetch, the funny little animals, had gone. I hope they managed to hide somewhere nearby.

The hierophant offered me something to eat, which the gods had sent, and left. The gods sent a very generous treat — wine, fruit, partridge meat, and maybe a deer, or whatever they have here. After paying tribute to these delicacies, I stretched out on the couch again and began to think. The first one, where everything is mine, well, Sergei, let’s say, will not lose his brains, but the girls. The oil lamps went out all at once, and I found myself in total darkness. An interesting case. I got up and started groping my way out of here. Uselessly. A completely enclosed space. It was as if there were no doors. Hmm, but I have to manage my physiological needs somehow. Yeah, there’s something like a toilet seat. Okay.

I lay down on the couch and continued to think. The silence is dead, not a sound, not a rustle, it’s already ringing in my ears. All sorts of bad thoughts came into my head, pictures of my life floated, past deeds, beautiful and ugly, women, offended and unoffended. Sleep closed my eyelids, and I don’t know how long I slept. I woke up with the feeling that someone was in the room. It’s still completely dark.

“Hey, is anyone there?” I jumped up and bumped into a tray of food. Dishes clattered as they fell to the floor. Damn, I think I knocked over the food. Well, at least they don’t forget about me. I wonder how long I’ve been here alone. I lost track of time and days.. I remember they can keep it in such a casemate for up to 40 days. You can go crazy. Some of the food is still on the tray, you can eat a little. But the food turned out to be very modest — only bread, a mug of water tipped over. He tried to find a way out again. Uselessly. The walls are very tightly fitted, you won’t find an exit, and even in the dark. I’ve been warming up a bit, I’ve tried to read poetry, nothing comes to mind. The emptiness, and the ringing silence. I fell over on the bed.

The silence seemed to deafen me. As if falling into oblivion, I saw the face of my beautiful stranger bending over me. Her lips were beautifully shaped, and a lotus flower waved above her dark, smooth forehead. I looked into her eyes. They were huge black eyes, shiny and at the same time moist like a deer’s, framed by black curved eyelashes, like two stars shining through the soft evening mist. You couldn’t take your eyes off those eyes. I was gripped by a vague memory hidden in the corners of my soul, because this face was familiar to me. But where could I have seen him? In what distant times did we meet? What kind of previous life could we have encountered? But it seemed natural to me that this woman was the epitome of my ideal.

The vision was replaced by another picture. Was I dreaming, or was it real? I wandered around in a huge room with colonnades, looking at colorful sacred images and inscriptions on the walls telling about the fantastic gifts to Amun from the pharaohs. And there was a beautiful girl standing there. Slender, lithe, her painted eyes shone with an incredible brilliance like diamonds. She was beautiful, and I was hoping that she would ask me to be a guide in this temple. The girl looked at me smiling, and my heart melted, and everything stopped in my chest. She reached out her hand, studded with rings and bracelets, and touched me lightly, “Omari, do you really think you’re suffering alone?”

“No, I know you love me, Tianta.”

“Oh, if you only knew how much I hate this Radames. But my brother really wants to become related to the tsarevich’s family. This will significantly improve his business. But you said you had a plan. How happy I will be when this suspense is over, and we won’t have to pretend and hide our love.”

“I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow, at the same place, as soon as the moon rises.” There will be a celebration in the house, you will see me, and I will give you a sign.” And passionately attracted his beloved to himself. The words of love that I whispered to her silenced the girl’s fear.

I straightened up and looked into her eyes, and her gaze was so strange, clear and searching that my face flushed and fire ran through my body. And when she left, I was gripped by a deadly emptiness, as if I had plunged into a dark abyss. The day set for Radames’ marriage to Tianta has arrived. But not only the groom, but Tianta and I were looking forward to this day. Someone else, someone’s evil will decided to interfere with our plans. Like a shadow, I slipped easily and nimbly into the gallery, where my beloved was supposed to be waiting for me.

“Tianta, Tianta,” I whispered anxiously.

When I got no answer, I sat down on the pedestal of the column and leaned my head against the cold marble.

“Immortal gods! Where is she?” My excitement and despair have reached their peak.

Suddenly, there was a commotion and shouting outside. Tianta’s maid was shouting. I rushed to her and stopped in horror. A frightened girl informed me that Tianta had been stung by a snake hiding in a basket of flowers. My heart almost broke when I reached the house of my friend and brother Tianta Ahom. Terrified servants were rushing around the house in deep sorrow, whispering anxiously among themselves. When they saw me, they rushed to me and took me to the upper rooms. A sick woman was lying there, and the shadow of death was already lying on her beautiful face. Her brother Ahom was kneeling beside her, holding her hands. Tianta’s maidservants wept bitterly, and the old nurse wept. I staggered closer, and unable to say anything, I just whispered, “Who?” Who!

I was told that an unknown man wrapped in a cloak brought a luxurious basket of expensive lilies as a wedding day gift, in which a snake was hiding, the bite of which was fatal. I looked at this deadly bouquet of lilies with hatred, and the smell that they exuded seemed familiar to me. For a moment, the smell reminded me of the night I spent with Tianta. My Tianta was lying on the bed. She was still alive, and her marble chest was disfigured by a crimson wound with blackened edges. I stopped, falling to my knees next to Ahom. She looked up at me. I saw no pain in her eyes, but only sadness and tears. She held out her hand to me. My breath caught in my throat.

“Who!?” I whispered, “Who!?”

“Some kind of shadow, a man wrapped in a cloak from head to toe,” the girl whispered. Her wonderful features shone with beauty, but the blush was already slowly fading from her cheeks, her bare arms stretched out along her body, and her head gracefully bent over her shoulder. Her eyes were lowered, and only her long eyelashes were still fluttering. Oh, how I longed for her eyes to open and her gaze to meet mine!

But her eyelids were still down, and not a single feature of her face moved, even though I was calling out to her with all my might. I was growling like a wounded animal! I called out to the heavens, to our immortal gods, but in response there was an invisible infinity and an eternal cold night.

Chapter 4

I woke up because I felt someone standing next to me. The hierophant motioned for me to follow him. I got up with difficulty, silently, slowly recovering from the emotions I had experienced in my vision. What was that? I have never gone so far, so deep into the centuries. What kind of tragedy did I experience once, thousands of years ago? And this girl, how she looks like that stranger that I met on the streets of Cairo.

“How long did you keep me in this cell?”

“Nine days,” that’s all. They usually stay here for up to 40 days in order to be completely spiritually cleansed for the next trials.”

“Nine days, and thanks for that.” I had a strange dream-vision today. And in forty days, I can imagine what unimaginable visions I would have seen.”

“Your dream, Maxim, is a picture of the past, the past that has formed an abyss between your heart and the hearts of two women.”

“Two women? So far, I’ve only seen one.”

“No, you saw two women.”

“You don’t know what I saw.” Maybe you created this phantasmagoria with your magic tricks

“It is strange to hear this from a person who is allowed to Chronicle the fate of many people. After all, you are allowed to access the information of the Great Book of Destinies.”

I shrugged my shoulders incredulously and followed him. My mentor and I passed by a dark lake, and the whole atmosphere was filled with a kind of sadness.

“Now you will spend some time here, for a state of meditation you need peace. Think about the frailty of the world you left. Here you have to purify your spirit in order to take the final test later. I’ll leave you here.”

“Yeah, I left that world,” I thought.” Well, let’s see what else they’ve got for me. Purify the spirit. And those nine days didn’t clear it, so. Damn it, where are mine, how do I find them, that’s the problem. The situation can be quite dangerous, and I need to find friends and get out of here. The adventure is taking too long. That’s Klaus, the sly one. He dragged us here for some purpose of his own. What does he want here, I wonder?”

Looking around, I realized that I was in a small valley surrounded by high cliffs. I tried to explore these rocky walls in search of a way out, but only my booming footsteps were heard in response.

I noticed in the semi-darkness that not far away, in a niche, there was a giant statue, possibly of Osiris. Could there be a door behind it? The whole energy of this place is filled with gloom and gloom, as if death, the mistress, rules here.

Suddenly, a flash of blinding light illuminated the valley, and a huge glowing ball appeared from the opposite side. There was a group of people inside it, with sad faces, moving in a ball, and rolling it with their steps. Feathered wings could be seen behind each of them.

“Ha!,” the thought flashed through my mind, “who, what kind of fool is this trick designed for? What do they mean by that?”

The people in the balloon joined their hands, then separated them in their silent dance, the wings swayed slightly, taking on a dazzling white color, then shimmering with the colors of the rainbow, darkening.

Gradually, the sphere began to recede into the depths of the dark rocks, slowly turning into a dot, until it disappeared completely, repeating the bright flash again. Maybe thousands of years ago, such tricks made a strong impression on initiates, but not on us, people corrupted by modern civilization. Clearly, they have all sorts of mechanisms here for an unprecedented attraction of wonders.

It was completely dark again, and only the faint light coming from the statue helped me navigate the gorge a little. I went to a huge boulder, and climbing it, stretched out on it at full height. It’s not a bad bed, even comfortable.

At that moment, a faint light illuminated the statue in the niche. Rather, she was glowing slightly from the inside. Her cold shimmer was accompanied by light music. I woke up from my trance. A human figure was prostrated at the feet of the deity. Slowly, to the beat of the music, the figure rose, and I saw that it was female. She turned to me, and her veil lightened on her face and became transparent.

Holding my breath, I stared at those features with trepidation, and finally exclaimed, “It’s you!” You, my obsession! My dream!” I threw myself at her feet as if I were my dream come true, muttering the passionate words that come to mind in moments of love ecstasy. My soul was overflowing with love from the distant past, and I felt and knew that this love had been preserving itself for all eternity.

As I spoke, her huge eyes shone and became radiant, and she held out her hands to me. And I felt like I was on fire. The girl looked at me attentively through the slits of the bedspread for a few more seconds, and, as if melting into thin air, began to disappear behind the statue.

“Stay! Don’t go away, I beg you!” I shouted in a strange frenzy, “At least tell me your name!”

But the girl seemed to melt into thin air, disappearing behind the statue. I rushed over there, started looking for that damn secret passage. My heart ached from the shock, from the love and longing that I had experienced a few minutes ago. But it was all in vain, there was no door. In desperation, I sat down on a huge boulder, and tears streamed down my cheeks in hot streams. Then my guide appeared and silently took me to the pavilion, where, tired of such an ordeal, I lost track of time and fell asleep again.

In the morning, the venerable elder visited me again and began babbling to me about the elixir of eternal life.

“The elixir of eternal life is good, of course,” I was out of sorts and very angry.“But why didn’t you give it to your pharaohs, and even then… it doesn’t look like you’re so eager for this eternal life.”

“We don’t force you to accept it, it’s the will of each of us. And not everyone is offered it.” The priest said gloomily and added with a sigh. “This is the lot of the chosen, and even they do not always bear such a burden. The elixir still needs to be earned.” “Moses and Christ did not deserve it, as I understand it.”

“Moses is a proud man and a sorcerer!” The priest exclaimed fervently. “In his excessive ambition, he dreamed of taking the place of the High Priest and ruling the Pharaoh, but according to the laws, a half-breed could not be a High Priest, only an Egyptian by blood, and the priests appointed another one. And then Moses began to take revenge! He needed our shrine, the Casket of Power! To take over the whole world! He stole the Rod too! Proud and deceitful, he hid from his people that he was a priest of Osiris and received all the secret knowledge in this temple, and not on Mount Sinai. He hid the fact of his theft even from his people, and taking advantage of the stupidity of the people, presented these shrines as a gift from his god.

But the gods punished him and his people. Until the end of his days, he wandered through the desert, never receiving either the coveted throne or his kingdom. In his book, he did not write the name of the pharaoh who allegedly died in the waters of the Reed Sea with his army, because there is no such pharaoh in history. All the names are preserved in the annals. Ramesses II rushed in pursuit of the relics, but Moses, skirting the sea from the north, from the marshy sands, hiding in dense thickets of reeds, led the people to the south of the Arabian desert, and Ramesses went north, and reached Kadesh.

When it became clear where the traitor lived, Pharaoh’s spies tracked him down, waited for his next long absence from Sinai, and stole the Casket from the tabernacle, replacing it with a simple box. Upon his return, Moses discovered the loss, becoming enraged, under the pretext of a rebel plot, he ordered the execution of 24,000 of his tribesmen, but he could not admit to the people that he had lost. So they dragged this fake across the desert, and then from city to city, believing in its magic.”

“I didn’t understand, which Pharaoh? Ramses or Ramesses?”

“Ramesses II, Son of Seti I and Queen Tuya, 19th dynasty, returned the Casket, restored and strengthened the power of Egypt.”

“Let’s leave this sad fact in history. It’s been a long time, you don’t have a Great Ark either.”

“The casket has long since returned to its rightful place, glory to Ramesses II. He ordered the Casket to be permanently removed and immured deep in one of the temples. The relic is safely hidden. And let them look for him anywhere. No one will know about his whereabouts anymore.”

“Tell me the purpose of your visit today. Yes, and what about my friends, where are they, why can’t I meet them?”

“Each of you will pass your final test and get the right to decide whether to stay here or return to your world. Your last test is coming soon. Respect everything you see.”

And he led me through a long series of galleries and sanctuaries that make up an entire underground city. We wandered through the high halls for a long and tedious time, the hierophant lectured me on the deities of Egypt, the laws of movement of the luminaries of the solar zodiac, and so on. I’m pretty tired.

When we came to a large dark door, the priest said solemnly: “Here, behind this door, the Emerald Tablets are kept, on them are recorded all the knowledge of the antediluvian race of people, the chronicles of even earlier times, and all the secrets of the stars, heaven and earth. And a very small number of initiates are allowed to know the secrets of the world order. People were given only a small fraction of this vast knowledge.”

“And how did Moses not get to these Tablets?”

“He really wanted to take them too. The gods did not allow this theft. Then the Great Priest died, protecting the secret from invasion. Moses killed him, but he couldn’t open the door. Then, having led several tribesmen through secret passages, he managed to seize the Casket and escape.”

“That’s a thief, a falsifier of history.”

“That’s right. Power over the world and falsifying history in his favor, that was his goal. An ardent admirer of Akhenaten’s religion of monotheism, he was extremely vain. He wanted to become a king, and for this he raised an uprising of his people.”

“And he almost achieved his goal. History is the most violated science, as one of our historians once said. And why did you let Christ go?”

“Well,” my guide continued after hesitating, “he didn’t pass the final test either, by the way, just like Moses. And they let him go so that he could create another religion.”