Chapter Text
Seth
Seth sat with Isis at the table in the tent and talked about the night he confronted Osiris. He explained how Sekhmet had pulled him aside and told him a limited version of events involving Osiris and Nephthys, which had horrified and infuriated Seth. How Nephthys walked in on them, and Seth saw her eyes fill with tears before she confessed that it was all true. And how the bubbling fury had overwhelmed him.
Looking back on it, Seth felt like it was so pathetic. He should have waited. He should have gone to Isis or gone somewhere else to cool off and plan. But he was too embarrassed and angry. Too upset that he’d failed to not only see that Nephthys didn’t truly love him, but also that he couldn’t convince her to love him enough to be honest with him, either. And he was too ashamed of his own inability to be lovable, and wanted to instead take out his anger on Osiris, who was clearly to blame for it all. If not for Osiris, then…
He kept it relatively brief to Isis, though. All the way Seth was aware that Horus was outside, supposedly unable to hear them, and Anubis was somewhere learning how to use his abilities with Khnum. And Osiris was lurking, always lurking, waiting to strike out at them. Yes, Isis had a charm on Anubis to look after him, and his new god abilities made him stronger, but there was still a fear in Seth that it wasn’t enough…
But he had to talk. So Seth talked about Osiris. About attacking him, and Osiris overcoming him. About their chat, and Osiris drugging him. How it was all so shocking to see the picture of the brother he’d cared for all these years crumbled to reveal the monster beneath, in handfuls of falling sand at a time.
“All the lies,” Seth said, glaring at his hands. “How didn’t we see it?” Every day Osiris and Nephthys had looked at them both, and neither Seth nor Isis knew. But why? Why, when they were the strategists, had they not seen it?
Isis looked grave. “Something I’ll ask for the rest of time, perhaps.”
Her words made Seth think about Horus, and all the half-truths he’d been telling people, to hide his own dark secret. He still wondered if Isis was seeing the parallels. If Horus was still seeing them, for all he knew from his intuition. The man hated Osiris and being compared to him. Perhaps even now he was sitting outside the temple in self-castigation, trying to justify how much better than his father was, how he was different. How what Osiris did didn’t affect him. He was righteous vengeance.
“I know what it’s like to wish to be more like a parent… and then to wish to not be. I think one reason I hate Anubis is because… he still wants to be like you. And I’m… jealous.”
Seth recalled the laughter Horus had let out as he spilled all of Seth’s secrets to Isis and Anubis. How it seemed to be mockery towards Seth. But there was something cutting in a way that didn’t seem targeted at him.
I don’t really know Horus at all, Seth realized. Do I? He knew a man who was his parents’ vengeance, who was cool amidst refusal, and cruel in his punishment. Not this stumbling, desperate creature who lashed out, backed off, reassessed, and even offered actual comfort to a degree. They were strangers when Horus came to court, and despite all the time Seth had spent in Horus’ company, all the ways Horus had imprinted himself on Seth physically and mentally, they seemed strangers even now. Who was Horus, really, and what did he want anymore?
Isis was frowning at him, clearly wondering what he was waiting for, so Seth muscled on with his tale. How he fought against Osiris and failed to fight back successfully. How Osiris revealed more of his insanity.
Isis looked more pained the more Seth spoke, but she didn’t pull away. She didn’t shut her eyes. She stayed. She listened. Her hand on the table clenched.
For some reason, this recalled old anger for Seth. This was who you turned your back on, Osiris, Seth thought. He clung to it, because talking about all this was so filthy. It was a distraction from how terrible it all was, to focus on Isis’ pain instead. This was the woman you abandoned and used up because you’re a selfish, entitled asshole. If Isis hadn’t turned on him, he imagined they’d have wreaked havoc on any plans Osiris had. They could have comforted each other through it all. But… that wasn’t what happened.
And here they were. Too late for much, perhaps, but not too late for everything. Not too late for Anubis.
Seth bared everything that happened that night, so that Isis would understand. He was afraid she wouldn’t believe him. After all, he was Seth, God of War. Shouldn’t it have been fine?
“I would rip him to pieces were he in front of me now,” Isis said, her fingers gripping her right hand into a fist so hard she was bleeding.
The words shocked Seth. But then again, hearing explicitly about Osiris’ betrayal was awful. When Seth spoke about standing over Duat, looking down at Osiris in his defeat, Isis even laughed.
“We did think up good strategies, you and I.” She was smiling fondly, and there was a righteous fury in her eyes.
Seth wanted to laugh too. But in the ghost of his words were Horus, taunting Seth with his inability to plan. His lack of foresight. His brutishness. And how much Horus always had something in store, waiting to use. As much as Osiris lived on in his second son, Isis did as well, in her wisdom and thoughtfulness. Her gift for strategy. Did Horus see that now? Would he? Or had Osiris poisoned everything?
“So you ran to me,” Isis said, pulling him out of the dark and the wind. “Looking like you’d just committed some heinous act, and in a way you did.” She shook her head. “I was worried and scared. And you seemed to confirm all of my fears, especially with what you’d done.”
Seth looked away. In the end, did any of what he said matter? After all, he’d gone on to kill many of Isis’ followers.
Isis stared at her hands thoughtfully, her expression hard to parse. “Thank you for telling me all of that.”
Seth was surprised by her thanks. It was an awful tale. He wondered if he’d have to tell it again to Maat and a courtroom. He would, probably. He wasn’t looking forward to that. Not again. He wondered how much worse it would be to hear Osiris testifying about it, if they could get him to. Would he hide the truth again?
"It doesn't change everything," Isis said. "But... it helps, knowing what he did. Knowing that I did turn my back on you when you needed me. Us both being shocked doesn't excuse either of us." She gazed at him. "I'm sorry for that."
Seth's eyes widened. He wasn't sure what to say to that. He could feel her honesty.
“Is this why you say Horus is similar to his father?” Isis asked suddenly. “Is this what he does to you?”
Seth hadn’t fully explained everything about Horus yet. “In his own way it’s worse,” Seth said. “Because he’s so much more creative. Osiris just likes the sound of his own voice.”
Isis snorted. “You’re right about that.”
Seth blinked in surprise, still wondering at how she was ready to turn against Osiris, after everything.
Isis smiled ruefully and rolled a cup in her hands. “Over the years of our preparing to strike back, I got to know him in a different way. No matter what I believed, things were off about his retelling of that night, and my own recall. And he was far more impatient than he ever was during our preparation. Yes, death obviously gave him a reason to finally get up and do something, but he was just…” She sighed. “I didn’t remember him being so full of himself. But he was.”
Seth snorted. “Yeah, he still is.”
Isis sighed. “I don’t want Horus to emulate his father. Not like that.”
“You’ll be shocked to find I don’t want it, either,” Seth said, with a bit of sarcasm. Perhaps Horus was on that path. Perhaps he was afraid of it, too, and stepping away for his own good. Seth found himself hoping hard for that.
“Tell me what he’s done,” Isis said, watching him. “What Horus has done to you.”
Seth only looked at her for a while.
Isis gazed back with some ferocity. "If I survived listening to what horrors one man I loved did to you, I will survive hearing what my son has done."
Seth sighed and gave as brief a summary of it all as he could, expecting her to gloat. Expecting more, “Did you enjoy it?” comments or something. But her expression was impassive. It felt almost like cracking open a door, and not asking for help, but letting out poisoned air, and cleaning some bit of what was inside the room. It wasn’t cleansing, precisely, but a little like it.
When Seth was finished, Isis’ hands were in fists on the table. “I’ll negotiate with him. Get him to change his mind about your imprisonment. You’ll finally go to the sun boat, I imagine.”
Although Seth was glad she wasn’t celebrating to his face, he was confused by this reaction. “You think he’ll be satisfied?” Seth asked. He imagined a life without being worried about Horus.
“I’ve convinced worse,” Isis said.
Seth recalled Ra and agreed. But he imagined Horus without his favorite toy. He recalled Horus’ jealousy of Anubis. And Osiris’ jealousy of Nephthys. And how that had turned out. And Seth would be far away from Anubis to help him if something with Osiris happened.
“No,” Seth said, surprising Isis. “I’ll stay with him.”
“…You’re not serious.” She looked actually horrified at the idea.
Seth wanted to laugh. Seth couldn’t quite believe he’d said it either. But after everything that happened, he knew where his place was. He needed to be close to Anubis, and he’d never get that chance if he was on the sun boat. He needed to make sure Osiris kept his hands off Anubis. He needed to be sure that Horus and Anubis didn’t come to blows.
More than that, Anubis needed to be safe, and if Horus was just another version of Osiris, Anubis wouldn’t be. If Seth had to sell himself to ensure that didn’t happen, then so be it. He’d take Horus’ punishment willingly. But after everything that had happened, Seth had the inklings of wonder, too. “If he needs to learn how to be a god,” Seth said, “then I’m possibly the best shot he has.”
Isis gave him a confused look. “You? After everything you did as king? Even you know that’s a joke.”
“He’s already been learning from me during the war,” Seth said, refusing to be cowed. “And he’s… starting to listen to me more. Like you, he’s being more candid.” Horus was good at study and learning. He’d demonstrated change. His fighting skills improved just over the course of their battles here. He was quick in combat with Osiris. He was wise in times of stress. His intuition was powerful, and he knew how to use it. He was strategic. They didn’t need to repeat the tragedy of Osiris. And perhaps… perhaps if Seth listened this time, like Horus wanted him to, they wouldn’t have it. It wasn’t too late yet.
Isis only frowned at that.
“One issue we had with Osiris was that none of us talked to each other,” Seth explained. “Perhaps we should take advantage of this. Try listening to him.” And it meant Seth could keep an eye on him, and perhaps convince Horus to leave Anubis alone. And with Isis in the know, Seth might have more freedom to an extent. Even if he was trapped again in Horus’ office, it would be better than being trapped on the sun boat where he was even more useless.
“You want to go back to someone who treated you the way Horus has treated you,” Isis said. Her expression as confused. “I can understand some of your reasoning, and I appreciate that you want to give my son a chance, but after everything…”
“He’s sitting outside, isn’t he?” Seth said. He could sense Horus’ in the dirt there, waiting patiently. “He’ll listen.” Seth grimaced. “I didn’t give up on Anubis entirely, though I tried, and look what happened?” Anger, tears, and pain for them both. “You haven’t given up on Horus entirely. Isn’t it up to us to ensure they do better than we do?”
Isis shut her eyes, clearly pained as well. Then she opened her eyes and met Seth’s gaze. “Do you think you deserve this for what happened?”
“For my crimes?” Seth asked.
“For what happened with Osiris. It’s not your fault he did what he did.” There was something gentle in her tone, almost soothing. She seemed almost worried about him.
Seth shook his head. “I don’t… no.” Seth had no issues understanding that. “But if I’m to serve punishment for what I did to Egypt, then I will serve Egypt properly by ensuring we don’t have a worse king than either Osiris or myself.” He swallowed. “And it’ll make things up to you, at least in a small way. And make a better world for Anubis.”
Isis’ expression softened just a little at that. Then she glanced at the tent entrance, beyond which Horus sat. After a time she said, “Very well. If that is your choice.” She looked at Seth again, her expression hard. “Much will happen in the coming days. It will be… It will be good to face it together, I think.”
Seth wasn’t so sure about that, but he was happy at least that Isis wasn’t entirely his enemy. They’d still hurt each other too much. There was still too much between them. “We’ll deal with Osiris,” Seth said. “This time, for good.”
Isis grinned. “Yes, we will.”