Chapter Text
When Seth woke up, his back was resting on smooth tile. He could see sun-filled water around him. His bright red tail was still there, floating. He blinked and looked up, realizing he was in very shallow water. He flexed his hands – in this form, his fingers had sharp black claws.
He recalled getting greeted by someone unfamiliar, someone named… Horus?
Isis’ son!
Seth looked around, alarmed. The area seemed reasonably large, but it was also an enclosure of some kind. There was no access to the ocean.
Memories of Osiris imprisoning made Seth automatically reached for his neck, but the collar wasn’t there. His pack was still on his back, too. And he didn’t feel any spells keeping him weak. His magic was right there for him to grab and use and turn this whole place to sand if he wanted. Plus, he was still transformed. Osiris never left him that way, since Osiris found Seth’s true form too frustrating to control.
If Horus had imprisoned him like this, he was an idiot.
Seth breathed in deeply. The water was clean and not unpleasant, though he ached for the open sea. He wasn’t sure it was safe, though, if Isis’ soldiers were on the hunt for him. But surely Horus would have reported me? Seth had been exhausted and strung out, but thinking about it, those soldiers had been more surprised to see him than anything else. It might be that Isis just warned them about Seth, and didn’t tell them to specifically look for him.
But Seth didn’t know. And at any rate, he wasn’t getting anywhere sitting in this pool. He pushed himself up and broke the surface.
As long wet hair fell back against his neck and his eyes adjusted to the sunshine, he looked around at his surroundings. What he saw looked like the interior of a large building surrounding an open yard of some kind, allowing him to look up at blue sky, a few clouds, and sun. There were a few chairs and umbrellas for shade. The walls were low, and seemingly made of wood. There were windows to the inside.
“Ah, you’re awake!”
Seth turned to see Horus lounging on a long chair nearby. He wore an open, short-sleeved blue shirt, which revealed his dark, muscular torso. He also wore black shorts. His feet were bare. He pulled the dark glasses of his face and stood up to walk over to the pool edge, before crouching down.
“How are you feeling?”
Seth studied this stranger now that he was awake. Tall, young, perhaps? It was hard to say with merfolk, who could live for centuries and often stayed youthful for a substantial portion of it, particularly if you were powerful enough to change how you looked with magic. Isis was the most powerful sea witch the merfolk had ever seen, it was said. Her son might have powers just like her.
“I’m fine,” Seth said, quietly. “How did I get here?” He remembered laying down on sand, and then nothing.
Horus winced. “Sekhmet brought you to the shore where I was walking, and left you there, saying I needed to look after you. Then she left.”
Seth grimaced. Why would she bring him here, though? Did she trust Horus? She’d helped him get away from Osiris, so…?
“The island is isolated, but I wasn’t sure the waters were safe, so I carried you inside to the pool to rest. It’s saltwater, so it should be good for you.”
Seth felt a hint of embarrassment over the idea of Horus… carrying him. Seth didn’t even know him! But he didn’t feel anything wrong. If Horus had… made use of Seth’s unconsciousness, as Osiris often did, Seth couldn’t tell.
Horus smiled. “Would you like something to eat? This place is pretty well stocked. I’ve got human food and food merfolk like. You can take your pick. I can bring it to you here, or you could sit somewhere.”
Seth frowned. “Something I’d like? Do you just have live fish waiting to bring to me to hunt?”
Horus blinked. “If you wanted, yes. Mother equipped this place with everything to suit my needs.”
“…Is Isis here?” That was a terrifying idea. He wasn’t even sure what he’d say to her if she was.
“No,” Horus said, his expression clouding over. “She’s attacking Osiris’ palace.”
Seth felt a bit of glee over that, and a tinge of regret over abandoning his people when they probably needed him. But there was also curiosity. “Ah. Why aren’t you with her?”
Horus sighed and sat down. He dropped his bare legs in the water. He wasn’t close enough to Seth to reach him, nor did he try to get closer. His arms rested on the ground beyond the pool edge, and he relaxed. “I haven’t decided yet, what I want to do. My coming of age is in a few weeks.”
Seth considered that. Merfolk came of age at age 28. They typically took on their profession, and learned more difficult magic if they were gifted with it. “How old are you?”
“I’m 27.”
“Ah.” Seth frowned. “But you should be with the other merfolk. There are ceremonies and…” Unless Isis had to hide him from Osiris. Perhaps the stories of Isis’ lover were true…
“Mother raised me among humans,” Horus said. “Well… somewhat, anyway. I’ve been learning from other merfolk for the last two years, what it’s like to be one of them. It was to keep me safe from Osiris.”
“He’d use you to get at Isis,” Seth said.
Horus smiled. “Yes. But he’d also try to claim me as his son. And Mother refuses to allow him to.”
Seth nearly fell under the water surface. “You’re… Osiris’ son?!”
Horus shook his head ruefully. “I’m Mother’s son. Osiris happened to be involved in my conception.”
Seth winced. “I know I just… I was his prisoner. So, you’ll have to accept I don’t exactly trust people connected to him.” Even if Isis was invading his palace. Or had invaded.
“You’re Seth.” Horus said. “Mother spoke of you, sometimes. And I heard stories.”
What kind of stories? Seth wanted to ask. Though he honestly wasn’t sure he really wanted to know, given his imprisonment and the reaction of those soldiers.
“How did you escape?”
Seth’s fingers twitched in the water. “I killed him.”
Horus’ eyes widened.
“Is that going to change this arrangement?” He wasn’t afraid of whatever Horus attacked him with if so. Seth was prepared to fight. He could get out and fight on land if he had to, though it wasn’t his preferred space.
Horus watched him for a moment, then shook his head. “Not particularly. I never met him, and Mother hates him. It’ll probably make her plans easier, honestly.”
Seth blinked. “You’re not going to imprison me, too?”
Horus tilted his head at Seth. His bright blue eyes were oddly alluring, his expression open and calm. “Why would I?”
“I told you I killed someone. I’m a general.” Or I was, anyway.
“I’ve killed assassins before,” Horus replied with a shrug. “Osiris sent them after Mother and anyone close to her. He got an inkling some years ago that she had a lover or something, and wanted them killed. Little did he know, the person she was protecting was me. Not all of them were killed or redirected by Mother and her forces. I had to deal with a few.”
Seth reevaluated this strange young man. So the musculature wasn’t just for show, or carrying unconscious merfolk.
“And I don’t think Sekhmet would bring you here if she thought you’d kill me.” Horus frowned. “Well… maybe, I suppose. It seems a lot of effort for that, though.”
Seth snorted. Yes, it did.
“You’re free to wander the grounds,” Horus said as he pulled his legs out of the water and stood up. “Though I’d stay indoors if you’re not in this area. For safety. Mother has wards around the place, but it’s best to be wary.” He smiled. “I’m going to get something to eat. Offer’s still open to bring you something. Or you could eat with me.”
Seth’s stomach grumbled, and he was grateful Horus couldn’t hear it, unless the man had super hearing of some kind. Seth didn’t want to risk the food being poisoned, so he moved to the pool edge and said, “All right, I’ll go with you.” It was better to keep the man in his line of sight, anyway. He shifted his tail back to legs and hoisted himself up out of the water.
“Oh, um…” Horus walked to his chair and grabbed a towel, only to turn back as Seth used his sand to form dark pants on his lower body. Horus blinked at him. “Um… do you want other clothes?”
Seth raised an eyebrow, making a pointed glance at Horus’ bare chest poking between the middle of the open shirt. Seth admitted to himself that it wasn’t a bad chest, but more to the point: it wasn’t like Horus was being modest about his body, either.
Horus looked down, then chuckled. “Ah, I guess you’re right. Whatever makes you comfortable. I have a substantial wardrobe you can use if you wish, and one of the air spirits here can make something for you, too.” Horus dropped the towel and gestured for Seth to follow him into the house.
“Air spirits?” Seth asked, still wary as they went inside. He hadn’t been in many homes on land, and had mostly just explored a few human shops. He had the sense this house was dry and orderly. The dark carpet beneath his feet was comfortable. There was a lot of wall art of birds and plants Seth didn’t recognize, though he’d never been much of a land expert in that sense, either.
Humans coexisted with the merfolk, after centuries of wars, some of which Seth had even participated in. Now they largely kept to themselves, with some trade in between. Osiris hadn’t cared for them all that much, which Seth felt was stupid. Although Osiris could easily encourage storms for human ships, the humans could poison their people, too. It was dangerous to ignore a potential enemy. Seth’s visits on land had mostly been to better understand the humans, since he'd certainly never been chosen as an envoy of his people. He’d only met a few humans outside of battle, who were at turns curious and wary of him. He’d met one of their ambassadors: a friendly woman named Ashley, who’d been cordial to Seth in all their meetings, though they weren’t close. He only saw her once in the distance since his imprisonment. He wasn’t even sure what had happened to her.
Horus and Seth arrived in a large kitchen, where Horus showed Seth the fridge and the pantry.
“You can also just ask the spirits to make something for you. They’re servants Mother assigned to me. They look after all my needs.”
“How did a sea witch get control of air spirits?” Seth asked, looking around with sudden sharpness. Where were they hiding? Would he even be able to see them?
“She pays them,” Horus said, pulling out a covered bowl. “I made some curry earlier. It’s got cow in it, if you’re interested in that. Or obviously you can make anything you want. Nothing in here is toxic to merfolk.”
Seth waited for Horus to step away from the fridge before surveying it. He didn’t know that he trusted premade meals, but some of the fruit might be okay. He grabbed a bowl of grapes and stepped back. The food was roughly similar in some ways to what they had underwater. He washed the grapes in the sink, for extra caution. If they were poisoned, Seth’s own magic should keep him safe. Osiris had only caught him off-guard because Seth hadn’t been expecting his ruler and friend to poison him.
Horus went to microwave his food while Seth picked up his clean grapes and inspected the kitchen. There was a tall table with stools, and a long marble counter for preparing food. He still couldn’t see any of the servants.
“You’re welcome to sit anywhere,” Horus said. “Or stand if you wish.”
Seth chose a stool far from Horus. He watched the other man as Seth ate his grapes. Seth was hungrier than he realized and quickly went through the whole bowl.
“I can get you some water or something,” Horus said as he came over with a bowl of curry and a cup of some beverage.
“No,” Seth said. “I’ll get it.”
The meal was largely uneventful. They sat in silence, with Seth drinking his plain water as he watched Horus eat his own meal. Seth asked the time, and found it was near lunch. He hadn’t slept long, only a few hours. He wondered what was happening around Osiris’ palace. If they had found Osiris’ body yet. How that played into Isis’ hands.
Seth was still glad Osiris was dead. He’d do it again, if he had to. He realized the hand holding his cup was shaking, and he let go of it to put his hand under the table.
“I can show you to a bedroom if you’d like,” Horus said as he cleaned up what he used – and the empty grape bowl. Seth kept his cup of water. “There’s a few guestrooms here, though they’re hardly ever used. Or you can go back to the pool if you’d like.”
Seth thought about sleeping in his true form again, after so long of not doing so. His hair floating in the water, the quiet movement of floating… The thought was tempting, but…
“Do the guest rooms lock?” Seth asked. Certainly if they locked from the inside, they could be locked from the outside, but Seth knew he could break any walls around here if he had to. He wasn’t sure of Horus’ abilities, but he didn’t think the man could break walls easily. And if he could, Seth would deal with that if he got to it.
“Yes,” Horus said. “You can lock it on the inside. Though I won’t…” Horus shook his head. “I’ll show you one?”
Seth found himself alone in a guestroom, having dismissed Horus for the day. There was a window with blackout curtains near a large wall. Currently the curtains were open, and out of it he could see a beach and blue water as far as the eye could see.
Horus said this was an island. Isis really must be hiding him. But how had Sekhmet known about Horus? Perhaps she’d helped Isis hide him?
Sekhmet was an old sometimes ally of Seth’s. She’d spied for him on various campaigns, and often talked strategy with him. But she could be unreliable at times, often disappearing who knew where for some time. He’d been surprised she’d been there for him when he needed her, since she hadn’t been around for some time.
I need to find her, he thought, sitting down on the comfortable bed. The place smelled faintly of flowers, though he couldn’t identify them. But the seaweed stench of Osiris was absent. And the sheets looked clean, perhaps even fresh. But he didn’t want to sleep before he’d taken a proper shower. He got up to explore the facilities, and discovered what looked like a very functional washroom.
Bathing for merfolk could be strange at times. Their homes often functioned with dry and wet areas, with the latter filled with water. Osiris had trapped Seth in the air part of the palace for some time, save for Seth’s visits to the throne room, which was filled with water. Seth had taken showers to stay clean and feel something like he had when he lived fully immersed. The few times Osiris cleaned him, he loathed.
It didn’t take much figuring out to see what did what, and soon he was standing under a warm spray, letting the water cover him. He wasn’t sure about the different bottles in the shower for him, so he just used his hands to scrub. Shapeshifting had gotten rid of Osiris’ seed, but he still scraped at his ass, as if to get anything left out. He had the odd realization that despite the fact this place seemed isolated and away from Osiris’ palace, the dead king himself, and anyone else, Seth still felt like he was imprisoned by Osiris’ memory.
He ended up sitting on the floor, curled in on himself, letting the water soak over him. Osiris was dead, he knew that. Seth wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t true.
If his cheeks were wet with more than the shower water, no one knew otherwise.
Eventually, he got up, turned the water off, and dried off with a fluffy blue towel, before heading to the bed. He paused when he noticed clothing resting neatly on the sheets. He glanced around, angry. Had Horus entered somehow while he was in the shower? Seth checked and the door was still locked. But perhaps Horus had the master key.
Are the pajamas suitable? A soft voice asked in his ear, making him jump. When he saw nothing where he looked, he realized it was the air spirits. They must have brought him the nightclothes. He walked over to the clothes in question, and discovered the material was soft and warm, and black.
“…Yes, they’re fine,” Seth said as he pulled them on. He considered hiding away where the spirits couldn’t see him, but that would lead to more paranoia. He’d had to be naked or mostly naked around Osiris and members of the court for decades. He’d manage.
There was a pleased feeling in his mind, and then he had the odd sense he was truly alone.
He stared out the sunny window, with its view of an ocean he couldn’t explore just yet, and a door he locked against a seemingly generous stranger he didn’t know he trusted, in a house run partially by invisible spirits.
Yes, he was “alone”. And “free”.
He laughed.