Chapter Text
Seth
Seth held Anubis and tried not to crush him. He wanted to cling to Anubis and keep him out of Osiris’ clutches for as long as he could. If Osiris could use Anubis to come out of Duat, there wasn’t anything that Seth could do to protect him. Could Osiris just come back any second, and take Anubis over again. A tiny part of Seth wanted to let go of Anubis and flee, but he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t abandon Anubis again.
When Sekhmet said that Anubis’ soul was restored, Seth thought that whatever Osiris was planning with Anubis was over. He thought Sekhmet had somehow taken care of it, and Osiris taking his own life, trapping himself in Duat, had managed the rest. Anubis would be safe in the land of the living, free of Osiris. Yes, Osiris had injured Anubis, but Isis had then healed Anubis, so… what happened? Had Osiris done something like he’d tried with Seth and planted something in Anubis while they didn’t know? How had Isis not seen it and removed it?
He picked Anubis up and formed a sand dune to carry them back quickly to camp, but realized he had no idea where to meet Isis. He glanced at Horus, who was watching him curiously.
“Where is Isis?” Seth asked, keeping his voice stable. Otherwise he’d rip the whole camp apart to get to her, and that wouldn’t help anyone.
“She’s still negotiating the ceasefire. You can’t take Anubis to see her like that. The Greeks will view this as more weakness to take advantage of.”
“I’m aware,” Seth half-snarled. “Does Anubis have a tent we can put him in, and then Isis can meet us there?” He could send one of his sand soldiers to contact her or something if he had to.
“Yes, that’d work,” Horus said. He called one of his feathers, which turned into a small falcon and flew off. “Come on.” Horus spread his wings and took off, and Seth raced after him on the sand dune. Seth didn’t know what Horus had heard from himself or Osiris, but at least Horus wasn’t saying anything about it. Horus was bound to have questions about it all. Seth certainly did.
The camp itself was chaotic, with soldiers rushing to the front lines or the healer tents. But they made way for Seth and Horus, who went to a quieter area near Isis’ planning tent. There was a small tent set aside with an empty cot inside, and Seth set Anubis down on it, being gentle with his head. On the cot he looked too pale and vulnerable, and Seth hated it. Usually Anubis was glaring at him or ready to do something. Now, Seth was afraid to leave him alone.
He’ll hate me later, Seth thought. They last time they’d been so close, Seth was beating him nearly to death. It wasn’t only Osiris who nearly got him killed.
“Mother is on her way,” Horus said, standing to the side. There was a small red bird on his shoulder. There wasn’t all that much room, so he and Seth were still close. But the tent was at least quiet.
Seth imagined he should be worried, but he doubted Horus would do anything strange now. After a while Seth said, “Thank you. For stopping me from hurting Anubis.” He hated thanking Horus, but… it meant Anubis was safer.
“You’re welcome,” Horus said.
Seth grimaced.
“Why the change of heart with him?” Horus asked. “He betrayed you.”
“It makes sense he would,” Seth said, sitting back on the ground and hoping Isis was hurrying. “I nearly killed him, he tried to get rid of me. It’s fair.”
Horus snorted. “Do you see what I do to you as fair, then? You tried to kill me a lot of times.”
Seth scowled. “Fuck off.” There was no similarity. Seth was facing his punishment for the trial.
“It does strike me as a bit odd,” Horus eventually continued, “That you attacked him before and didn’t kill him, even though you came close. You could have just killed him outright. You usually do with your enemies. What set him apart?”
“He’s my son. Not some random human.”
“I’ve seen what you and your brother think of your sons,” Horus said with some skepticism. “You’ll have to forgive me for not thinking the familial connection makes a difference.”
Seth snorted. “Didn’t your father help you prepare to fight me?” It was odd that Osiris had attacked Horus, but Osiris was a liar and a manipulative monster who hadn’t cared for Isis’ feelings, either, or his living nephew and biological son. Why would he care for another son he’d had with a goddess he didn’t care about?
“He did what he had to do to prepare me to take revenge,” Horus said. “But he was absent a lot, since he couldn’t be far from Duat for long.” Horus frowned at Anubis. “Anubis sometimes came to Isis with messages from Osiris. I wonder if even then, Osiris was using him to appear before us.”
Seth was about to say that was absurd, but he hadn’t exactly kept track of Anubis after becoming king of Egypt. He’d been too lost in everything and ashamed of what he’d learned about Anubis’ origins. He’d hoped over time that Anubis would find another path for himself, away from Seth. A path not tainted with failure and embarrassment. But he knew that it meant forgetting Seth forever, and Seth was afraid of that, too, even if Seth sometimes thought it’d be better that way. If Nephthys didn’t care for him, Isis couldn’t stand him, and Osiris was someone Seth had never really known after all…
It meant Seth was alone. With Horus, but otherwise… and maybe there was a reason for it. Maybe he deserved it.
But ignoring all of Seth’s self-recrimination, the idea of Osiris doing this all along, right under his nose, because Seth was too buried in himself? It infuriated him. “All this time…”
“I can’t say for certain,” Horus said. “I was certainly never aware of how Osiris came back from Duat, nor was Mother. Perhaps he used someone else, or some other method.”
“If Isis couldn’t figure it out,” Seth said, quietly, “then guarding against him may be next to impossible.” He sighed. “Maybe if she knows what to look for, it’ll make a difference, to stop him from doing it again.” When he thought about how Isis might not be against Osiris returning, and how Horus didn’t care for Anubis. Would Horus even help with this?
Seth glanced at Horus, “Unless you want to fight Osiris some more when he returns?”
Horus snorted. “He can try to come back. He’s neither needed nor wanted here.”
So maybe Seth would have support there. Seth shook his head, oddly amused, and secretly grateful. Perhaps staying around Horus meant Seth would be far away from his brother, and Anubis would be a bit safer, too.
Isis pushed through the tent flap, and both gods moved aside to let her take in the scene. She was wearing one of her finer gowns, and more jewelry than normal, which Seth knew she meant to intimidate the Greeks during negotiations. But she looked a bit tired, too, and Seth imagined she’d probably been busy healing and arguing. "I've left Maat in charge of negotiating with the Greeks, but we don't have a lot of time. Anubis!" She knelt by Anubis’ side, putting her hand over his chest to scan him with her glowing palm. “You said Osiris attacked you?”
“He was using Anubis as a puppet,” Horus explained, watching her. “Using Anubis’ body to walk on the land. We had to remove the shell of him to free Anubis.”
Isis’ lips twitched at that, but she stayed focus on Anubis. Finally she lowered her hand and pulled some medicine out of a pouch around her waist. “He’s dehydrated and will need to eat. The cuts are mostly superficial. He’ll need to rest. But he should be fine.”
"You need to put a spell on him or something," Seth said, "to stop this from happening again. The next time Osiris takes him, it could be worse."
"Without knowing exactly what happened, there's not much I can do, since I don't know what to guard against," Isis said, but her free hand moved away, and bands of blue water magic surrounded Anubis' bed, like a protective circle.
It meant Seth could breathe a bit easier. But it also meant... “You believe Osiris did this to him this time?” Seth felt the sting of old rejection. The angry, accusatory way she’d looked at him, like he’d lie about what Osiris did. That night was burned into his brain: when he’d gone to the person he knew would be on his side, and she’d turned her back on him completely for a backstabbing, manipulative, nightmare of a god.
Isis frowned, but stayed quiet and focused.
The old dread returned to Seth. “Or do you think your own son and savior would lie to you on my behalf?” Ha, as if that isn’t a joke…
“Perhaps Anubis was helping his uncle…” Isis said, still watching Anubis as she spread the medicine over the cuts. Her tone was nervous, like she knew she was making up excuses.
“This violates so much,” Seth insisted, furious she was hiding, and tried to refuse to see the truth, even now. “No matter how much you love him, you can’t look aside from that!”
Isis glared at him now, finally meeting his gaze. “Even if Osiris used Anubis now, like this, it doesn’t mean that Osiris hurt him back then!”
Seth snorted. “Yes, Osiris, the loving uncle, just suddenly stopped caring about Anubis after he died.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Isis said, glaring at Seth. “He’s your son. You hate Horus for being his son.”
Seth laughed. She couldn’t be more wrong. “I hate Horus for a variety of reasons, Isis, mostly in that he humiliated me publicly and fought me for the throne, which he won.” He grinned and knew it looked horrifying. He was glad of that. “But I love that you have such a low opinion of Osiris’ feelings for his family that he’d hate Anubis just because of me.”
Isis’ glare hardened.
“Some god of life,” Seth said. “Some noble protector. Some king.”
Isis looked away, angry and upset. Seth tried to feel bad about that, but he couldn’t.
He’d spent too many years hoping she’d change her mind and realize the truth. But even now… it didn’t matter. He was done being the brother whose life focused so hard on making all his siblings happy.
“Why do you believe that Osiris attacked Anubis before?” Horus asked, drawing their attention to him.
For a moment, Seth felt a chill. But Horus didn’t know anything else. He wouldn’t… he couldn’t figure it out. If Isis hadn’t told him what she knew, then… He looked back at Isis, and was surprised at the look on Isis’ face. It was frozen, and he could sense her fear. But what was she afraid of?
Seth realized… “You believe me.”
Isis shook her head. “No.”
“You know I’m right. You’ve known. That’s why you never told Horus the truth. When did you realize he was a liar?” Who had convinced her? Or what?
“It’s not true,” Isis said, looking at Anubis angrily.
“Why?” Seth demanded. “Because it would mean you sided with a monster?”
Isis glared him. “It was a monster who hunted me for hundreds of years! And nearly murdered my son!”
“And why do you think I did that?!” Seth demanded, furious. Feeling the old pain of it all. It felt so distant, after everything he’d gone through, but still there, under the surface of everything. He could still remember the night freshly, as if she had pointed at him anew, screaming, “How dare you accuse your own brother of attacking Anubis?! How could you, Seth?!”
Isis scoffed. “You repulse me. If you were telling the truth, you’d have come to me first.”
Seth laughed and covered his face. “Ah yes, I should have been thinking rationally after learning what he and Nephthys did behind our backs. I should have… I…” He’d thought it over again and again. If he had gone to Isis instead. Maybe nothing bad would have happened. Maybe he would have avoided everything. Maybe…
But he couldn’t turn back time. If it was his own fault, fine. But Osiris had been the one to attack him in such a revolting manner. And he’d already attacked Anubis before Seth got there. Would waiting around with Isis have just made things worse for Anubis?
“Nephthys was involved?” Horus demanded, cutting through Seth’s thoughts and sounding increasingly angry. “With what?”
Seth shut his eyes. Idiot. Always letting your anger get away from you. Did it matter if Horus knew? Horus knew so much worse about him, barely respected him anyway, and had worse blackmail on him. Did running around like this matter anymore? But he couldn’t bring himself to just say it. It froze his throat.
He looked at Isis, wondering what choice she’d make now. More recrimination? Or more silence?
Isis hugged herself. Her fear was even more obvious, and her hands were leaving marks on her skin, she was holding herself so tightly. Finally, she said, quietly, “Seth said that Nephthys and Osiris were together without telling or asking us. And that Osiris is Anubis’ father.”
Seth felt an odd quiet around him, to hear it said that like. To know someone else knew. Horus, of all people. But Horus had already seen the worst of him. And there was no going back now. He already hated Isis for so many reasons. And something cut through all the pain in him to be reminded. “…Is that why Osiris used him? Because he’s a demigod related by blood?”
Isis’ eyes widened.
“So that’s why you killed Osiris?” Horus asked Seth.
Seth ignored that, focusing on Isis.
“It’s never been attempted before: escaping Duat that way. But… it is possible for such blood connections to help with magic like that, but…” Isis frowned. She looked back at Anubis and reached out to scan him again.
“Mother,” Horus said after a while, “How was Anubis injured the night you found him? The night Osiris was murdered?”
Isis scoffed, focused on Anubis. “Why does it matter?”
“I need to know.”
Isis lowered her hand, “Anubis was asleep on his bed in Heliopolis. There was… a hole in his chest.” She shuddered. “His soul had left him. It slowly returned to him as I tried to figure out what to do, and I healed him.”
Horus shook his head, “Seth isn’t that good a liar. Saying that Nephthys and Osiris went behind your backs and had Anubis is too complicated for him.”
Not a good liar? Seth thought. I’ve kept what happened that night a secret all these years, haven’t I?
“Plus, Seth wouldn’t attack Anubis that way,” Horus said. “And Seth wouldn’t try to kill him.”
It almost hurt more knowing that Horus, his enemy, believed that of him more than Seth’s own sister did. His closest ally. But then again, Nephthys hadn’t believed that talking to Seth would change things.
“You would believe such things of your own father?” Isis demanded, angry. “Osiris was kind, he was…”
“Osiris just tried to kill me to get to Seth,” Horus said. “I’ll believe a great deal of him.”
Isis stared at Horus in shock. “He tried to kill you? Why?”
It was Horus’ turn to go silent.
Seth almost laughed. Because your son is obsessed with me and doesn’t like sharing.
“You’re not talking to me now?” Isis demanded.
“Osiris’ motives are complicated,” Horus said. “But he wants Seth.”
Isis snorted. “Of course he does. Seth murdered him. He still deserves to be the one to punish Seth.”
“I think it’s more than that,” Horus said.
Seth watched Horus, curious about how far he’d go. What would he admit?
Horus met Seth’s gaze. “He begged you to come to Duat with him. As if you would want to go. With him. A man you murdered out of alleged jealousy.”
To get away from you? Almost. “Your father is a sick freak.”
Horus’ eyes suddenly widened. His lips mouthed the words, Worse than him.
Oh fuck, Seth thought, suddenly feeling like the tent was too small. “Whatever you’re thinking is wrong.”
“What?” Isis demanded, looking between Horus and Seth.
“It all makes sense, Horus said, ignoring Isis. “Of course you’d kill him for that.”
“For what?” Isis demanded, louder.
“Stop it,” Seth begged, refusing to meet Isis’ gaze.
“Osiris assaulted Seth,” Horus said. “The night he died.”