Chapter Text
“Nephthys said you liked doing this,” Horus said, looking out over the large bathing chamber, with a huge bath filled with some steam.
Seth flushed from his position on Horus’ hand. “I would easily be overwhelmed if anyone were to get in the water and start up even the smallest waves.”
Horus sighed and Seth wondered what he had to be annoyed about. He was Pharaoh, ruling alongside Isis over Egypt. He had the former God Supreme under his control. The people loved him.
Seth, meanwhile, continued being small, waiting out his days either sleeping or dealing with Horus and Isis’ games.
Though… Horus’ games had grown less of late, and Horus often left him be if Seth grumbled enough about it. It was quite strange. Horus would even talk to him a bit, just normally, usually about his work.
Horus set him down on a step and said, “I have a surprise for you. But you have to listen carefully, all right?”
Seth frowned. He expected nothing good of a “surprise”.
Horus opened his hand, and a small glass like vial floated in his hand. Within, sand seemed to be moving.
Seth felt oddly drawn to the object, like… His eyes widened. “Is that my power?!”
“Yes,” Horus said, calmly. “As Pharaoh, Maat gave it to me, to safeguard. Under the terms of your punishment, I can restore part of you to your original form, for a temporary time.”
Seth tried not to let his giddiness show. He hadn’t fully thought what he’d do once he got out of here, since it seemed like such an impossible dream. He’d been trapped in the small form for months, now, and that seemed to never have an end. Then he blinked. “What do you mean, part?”
“I’ll restore you to your normal size. But you won’t have any of your other powers.”
Seth blinked, then frowned. “And the point of this…?”
“You can take a bath.”
Seth scowled and turned away. “Don’t bother then.”
“You don’t want to go back to your normal form?”
“We went over this. Giving me a taste of something I want, but which can be taken away at any time, is worse than never getting it at all.”
“…What if I told you if this goes well, I could restore you to this form for longer periods? And maybe, if you are good, you could get your powers back. Slowly.”
Seth blinked and turned back to him, and then his eyes narrowed. “Longer periods? You’ll change me back to this size again?”
“Yes, unfortunately. This is a test phase. If it doesn’t go well, Maat will take your powers back, and then you may be stuck in this form for even longer.”
Seth grimaced.
“…Uncle?”
“…Fine.” He could admit he wanted to be his normal size again, even if he couldn’t get away. Horus would easily overpower him like this.
Horus shut his hand on the vial, and a golden glow filled the room. In barely any time at all, Seth was blinking around at the room, a bit offput by how everything seemed different.
“How do you feel?”
Seth turned to see Horus standing, well… as tall as ever, and still taller than him, but not enormous anymore.
Seth took a step back from him, and patted his sides and legs, as if checking to make sure everything was normal. “I feel… fine, I guess.” He reached for his powers anyway, and felt nothing. It was infuriating. He made a grimace.
“Good!” Horus smiled cheerily at him, and Seth only frowned in reply. “Let’s take a bath then.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “You lived too long among humans.”
“And whose fault was that?”
Seth only twitched at that.
Horus chuckled and undid his shendyt before placing it aside and hopping into the water.
Seth huffed and looked around. They were still alone in the room. Seth considered fleeing now that he was back to normal. But he imagined he wouldn’t get fair with a god who could control air currents.
Seth dropped his shendyt and hopped in the bath, staying away from Horus. He glared at the water, annoyed it was nice. If Nephthys had suggested this…
“So you and Nephthys are friends now?” Seth asked, sharply. “I thought your mother avoided her.”
Horus, for his part, kept his distance as well, though he seemed to be a bit more relaxed. He leaned back on an edge of the pool. “Mother and Nephthys are working out their differences, slowly. I’ve been seeking out her advice on how to deal with you. Nephthys that is, not Mother.”
Seth scoffed. He could already tell agreeing to the bath was a mistake. They always made him tired. He wondered if that’s why Nephthys had suggested it. He looked to the entrance to the room, almost expecting Anubis to run in and…
He looked away. Of course Anubis wouldn’t run in.
“Seth? Is something wrong?”
“Everything’s fine.” Seth lowered himself into the water, closing his eyes. “Just fine.”