The day started out ordinarily enough. He woke up, from that dreamless and deathlike sleep that only he knew. He rose from the bed, showered, got dressed and left. Walking through the busy streets of Ottawa, Ontario, he let his mind wander. As it often did, his mind went back to before. The so-called happier times of his old life, when he was a Prince instead of a Stray. Back when he had Family. Ah, the Family. Although he hated doing it, he wondered what they were doing this very moment. Going about their busy, happy little lives no doubt. He wondered if they still talked about him. The Rogue. The one who was born different. The betrayer.
Whenever he thought of his Father, a pang of remorse coursed through him. How he loved the Old Man back then. The only thing he ever wanted was to do him proud. Of course, the Old Man had to go and spoil things. He gave all of His love to others. The hairy beasts among whom he walked. Even after thousands of years, the mere sight of them still bothered him. Not that he ever let it show. Seven thousand years of living among them gave him a bit of tolerance toward the breed. Visually, he looked exactly like them. The body in which he was housed belonged to a six-foot-three, lean and athletic young man with light brown skin, curly hair and hazel eyes. An Afro-Arabian man from the Desert. Sometimes he missed the Desert. How much more peaceful than this bustling Canadian metropolis the Desert seemed. Of course, the Canadian capital had its charms.
He went to the university, where he was just one student among many. Carleton University was one of the most racially diverse schools in Canada and attracted students from all over the world. Africans, Arabs, Asians, Hispanics, Aboriginals. They all made their way to Canada's Capital university. As he had, for what else did he have to do? In his time he'd been so many things. In what would one day be called Mesopotamia he was once a King. He ruled over hundreds of thousands of subjects. His word was law. He remembered those heady days. Of course, his Brothers and Sisters had to come from Above and destroyed everything he ever built. How he hated them for doing this. Seriously. It wasn't enough that he'd been cast out. They who had everything had to come down and take from him what little he was able to grab for himself. And they called him prideful. Wow. The nerve on them, really. Oh, well.