Chapter Text
Anubis stared at the wreckage of the caravan he and the unit he commanded had demolished: broken carts and the remains of dead slavers - their fallen weapons and torn clothes - littered the sand. The bodies were already dragged away for proper disposal. The soft cries of the freed captives occasionally came to his ears.
His unit had only run into this former slave caravan as they’d received orders to return to Heliopolis. And when Anubis had approached and observed them, he’d realized what they were.
Father would not want me to do anything, he’d thought as he stood in the sand, gazing grimly at the line of camels and human cargo. But Isis…
Isis had spoken to Anubis of the horrors she’d seen in her travels, the few times they’d talked to coordinate her return to Heliopolis. And the women Anubis looked after in Heliopolis did, as well, when they learned he wouldn’t hurt them, and would even help them. He’d known some of what he avoided by being the son of Nephthys and Seth. The grim reality was different.
“You should head back,” Khnum said as he rose from a line of water nearby. “Your father will be angry as it is.”
Anubis breathed in deeply, annoyed and somewhat grateful that Isis had instructed Khnum to look after him. Given the human soldiers were wary of him, Khnum at least gave him someone to talk to. Khnum had known Anubis for centuries, but he’d been around less often during Seth’s reign. It was nice to have him back again.
But would he stay for me? Anubis thought, grimly. Or just Isis? It was frustrating to view their relationship through that lens. He didn’t rely on Khnum for anything but companionship, but he wondered how fragile the connection was. And based on his arrangement with Horus, he didn’t trust contracts with gods.
“Father’s always angry,” Anubis said as he turned to see the human soldiers going through the wreckage, and the freed but unsure captives huddled together with what supplies Anubis had gotten for them. “And he doesn’t care what I do.” With his own skills, he’d risen in the ranks. That he looked young at times didn’t change the fact that he could grow taller and stand up to the oldest, strongest of humans. And he’d been studying tactics longer than the whole unit had lived. He still listened to the advice of the most senior members, but when he gave orders, they listened to the son of Seth.
“What will you do?” Khnum asked. He might have been there under Isis’ orders, but he obeyed Anubis. For now, anyway.
“You’ve looked after your followers, haven’t you?” Anubis asked. “What would you advise?” Horus had taught him that he was less wise then he knew, and had little knowledge of the world. He needed to learn more, to grow stronger. To figure out what to do with his parents.
I don’t know if I can give up Father, Anubis thought. But I can become strong without him. I already have.
Khnum frowned, clearly thinking over the question. “You can save these people now, but what about when more slavers come?”
“Then I’ll fight them again,” Anubis said, imagining his rescues being enslaved again, or perhaps starving to death when left alone, without support. “If Father doesn’t need me in the army, I’ll be an army for these people.” His father had protected Egypt once, and was at least doing so a little with moving troops to hold off an invading army. If he wasn’t going to protect anyone else, then… Anubis would.
Khnum sighed sadly and then smiled. “Okay. I know a temple that might help.”
Isis stirred from sleep and blinked her eyes open, gazing into the afternoon light. She reached a hand up to her face, and rather than feeling tears or dryness, her face felt normal.
Her hands didn’t even feel tight from how hard she’d gripped the weapons she’d used in the nightmare, using them to smash, hit, harm…
She grimaced. Of course I go back for more answers and Sekhmet had to show me that…
Isis hadn’t been satisfied with her first exploration in her dreams, and after facing more frustration in her work, even with her knowledge of the mirror, went back to her dreams for clues, knowing Sekhmet was likely to be skulking around.
But all she’d found was the old nightmare. The night she’d learned the truth of all her siblings, and her world had collapsed around her. In her anger, dream Seth, who’d hurt her so much, who hadn’t gone to for her help first, had been an easy target, especially with Nephthys nowhere to be seen.
And it was in that moment of attacking him, trying to make him feel all that she’d felt over the centuries… that she knew that was part of it. It was easier to blame him than to attack herself for her own failings. Or Osiris.
She was the wisest of them, alongside Osiris. More than him, depending on the topic. She was the strategist when even Seth struggled. How had she failed so much to see what was right in front of her face? How had she loved so falsely? It made her skin crawl.
“Isis?” A quiet, scared voice asked her, making Isis look to her right side to see Nephthys kneeling beside her. Unlike Isis, Nephthys had tear tracks on her cheeks.
Isis frowned at her sister. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in that cell?” She recalled Nephthys didn’t have to stay there, and grimaced. “Oh, right.” She looked around. “What finally dragged you out, then? I’m not imprisoned this time.” And Seth was nowhere to be seen, unlike in her dreams.
“Horus said you were in a coma,” Nephthys replied. “We couldn’t wake you. Are you all right?”
Isis frowned, but then pushed herself up to sit.
Nephthys was there, reaching out to help, but Isis pulled away.
“I’m fine,” Isis said, sharply. “I was looking for answers.” And Sekhmet would have gloated in her next words, “And I… may have found some of them.”
No matter what she felt about her own, at times, misguided efforts, Seth was still a threat to herself, Horus, and Egypt. And Isis was only here because of an agreement between Horus and Seth. Things were not safe. And she could not drop her guard around him.
Nephthys gazed at Isis with concern.
And then there’s her, Isis thought, miserably, as she moved to get off the bed. “Did Seth order you to come here?”
“No!” Nephthys said as she stood up, clearly nervous. “Horus told me I might be able to help, with Seth’s blessing, so I came.” She was trembling. “I can leave if you don’t want me around, but if you would like help…?”
You’re not you, Isis thought, miserably. And Seth’s blessing? He just wants me to fix you.
And there her anger came up against confusion. Because if Seth was as cruel as Isis had seen – if the love she’d seen in his eyes in those memories had faded – then he wouldn’t have cared about Nephthys.
But Isis saw the love in his eyes. And she knew it wasn’t from the mirror. And when Horus had suggested the idea of Isis solving the mirror issue, Seth hadn’t argued he didn’t care about Nephthys. Horus had known that Seth wouldn’t. In the moment, Isis had just felt it convenient, but perhaps Seth’s territoriality kicking in, wanting to ensure no one could curse his wife and get away with it or something. But now, when she had the space to think outside her fury, it really didn’t make sense.
Isis knew the real answer, as it was part of her curse: Seth wanted his family, more than anything else. And Nephthys, despite all she’d done, was part of that family. He’d sacrificed everything for his son. Just like Isis had for hers.
It doesn’t matter, she thought, miserably. He’s too lost in vengeance to do anything decent. Once Nephthys was restored, if possible, then what? Nothing would change.
It might encourage Nephthys to leave at last, Isis thought. She might even join Isis in vengeance against Osiris. The sister whom Isis remembered would never condone anything Seth had done. But how did that align with the woman who’d sat here in Heliopolis for centuries? Unchanging, as her son was cast out by Seth? Hanging on to memories of better times and feeling self-recrimination for loving the wrong brother…
Isis’ grip tightened. Nephthys and I are not alike! I left, I raised Horus, I kept him safe… But he wasn’t safe, was he? He grew up in poverty, with what little she could scrounge up to feed him. They were hunted all his life. And she’d raised him to face Seth, his uncle. Whom Isis knew could hurt him, even kill him…
Even Anubis wasn’t safe from him, Isis thought, recalling how weak Anubis had felt in her arms. After Osiris had left him there. Because even Anubis was still Osiris’ toy, after all these centuries.
Isis breathed in deeply and looked at Nephthys, who was still watching her, warily. Then Isis went to her desk and picked up Hathor’s mirror, before walking back to Nephthys.
“Osiris used you,” Isis began. “He used all of us.”
Nephthys’ golden eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
“See this mirror?” Isis asked, holding it out. “Do you remember it?”
Nephthys frowned. “Wasn’t this a gift… from Osiris? I gave it back to him… I think…” She frowned.
“The you who loves Seth is trapped in there,” Isis said, remembering Osiris manipulating Nephthys, even as he knew what he was doing. How he’d twirled them all around his fingers for so long. Like toys. “Osiris took your memory of that love, and trapped it inside the mirror!” Her skin crawled with the knowledge that she’d been part of it. That Osiris had made Isis part of this awful plot. Even though she knew she wasn’t to blame. She hadn’t known.
Nephthys would not be almost groveling before her. Seth might not be who he was. So many might be alive. And Anubis… who knew what his life would be like?
And Horus? Isis wondered. Would I have him?
She did not want to think of the balance of things: if Horus was worth everything they’d all been through. She loved him so much. But that was not a question she wanted to ask herself.
“Osiris?” Nephthys asked, pulling Isis out of her reverie. Nephthys looked confused and seemed to not even see Isis. “He wouldn’t… You must have it wrong.” She gazed up at Isis, clearly lost. “Why would he do that? I’m his sister…”
“So am I!” Isis said, fury still inside her from her desperate dreams. She thought she’d soothed some of it by talking at the dream Seth, exorcising the hatred from her bones and directing it to its proper source, but knowing the truth didn’t change reality. “And look what he did to me!” Went behind my back, and lied about it, to my face…
Nephthys cringed away from her. “I’m—”
“Osiris is insane,” Isis continued, refusing to allow either of them to back away from reality anymore. “He’s not the Osiris either of us once knew. He doesn’t consider us family.” She saw him looking to Seth fondly, over her. Using Anubis as blackmail. Crooning softly to Seth as Seth cried out in pain and sorrow. Gazing with cruelty at poor Nephthys…
“He fooled us all,” Isis said, bitterly. For centuries, she’d clung to her love of him, despite everything. Hating him in equal measure, but turning that hate on Seth, who’d pursued her long after Osiris was dead. Isis’ revenge on her husband had been to see the son he never wanted sitting on his throne, being a better god than Osiris had ever been. But she knew he didn’t care. All he wanted was Seth.
Nephthys was now gazing at the mirror in Isis’ hand, and she was visibly shaking. “Is a part of me… really trapped in that mirror? I don’t understand…”
Isis shut her eyes as she said, “This is Hathor’s mirror. It changes the memories of your love to those of someone else, so that you would love the new person instead, if you only see them in the mirror.” The siblings had never tangled with Hathor much in all the wars with Ra and Ra’s underlings. They’d been secure in their affection and belief in each other. And Isis was so sure of her love for Osiris that the goddess of love had felt insignificant by comparison.
I was a fool in many ways, Isis bitterly thought.
“Think about it,” Isis continued, when Nephthys still looked unsure. “I’m sure there’s something you’ve noticed. A gap in your memory or something that didn’t add up.” Nephthys was a goddess, and her magic wasn’t as strong as Isis by any stretch, but she was still powerful. “Your feelings and memories of love change when you look in the mirror. There should definitely be some part of your memory that seems off!”
“I…” Nephthys began. Then her hands went to her throat. “was waiting for Osiris… because I wanted to have Seth’s child…” Tears went down her face. “Did I really… love Seth? And not Osiris?” Her hands went to her mouth and she bowed her head. “Thank goodness…” She shook with her sobs.
Nephthys… Isis thought, sadly, thinking of all the woman she’d met over the centuries who’d seen the men they loved turn on them. Hathor’s spell couldn’t change everything or fit it into place. A part of her knew. She always wanted to believe she loved Seth.
Osiris had wanted to believe she’d moved on. But she hadn’t. Both she and Nephthys wanted more from their brothers. And they were not getting it.
The air in the room grew hot, and Isis realized Nephthys was using some kind of magic. It made her shake and kneel down, almost crushing into herself. Isis realized there were… pieces of her missing, almost. And whatever spell Isis was instinctively activating was trying to heal her...
“Nephthys!” Isis cried. How could she help me like this? She can barely hold herself together!
“Good job, Isis!” Sekhmet said as she appeared behind Isis, startling her. “You finally told Nephthys. That means you met all the conditions.”
“Conditions?” Isis demanded, furious. “What are you talking about?”
“Look carefully,” Sekhmet said as she held out the mirror.
Isis realized her hand was empty.
“This mirror is love,” a second mirror appeared in Sekhmet’s hand from flames that lightly warmed Isis’ face, “and despair. Those who’ve fallen into both love and despair can’t go against the mirror easily. But you… were able to save Nephthys regardless.”
Isis stiffened. “What are you saying?!” Love and despair hit too close to home… but Sekhmet was talking about the mirror, and Isis had never fallen into it. She’d been careful when using it to never do so.
“It means you ended the curse,” Sekhmet said. “But don’t worry. I’m here to help. After all, I can’t let things go how Osiris wants, and he wants to keep Nephthys lost and confused, because it keeps Seth unstable enough for him to control. But if she gets back her memories from the mirror, she’ll recover her strength, because the thing weakening the power of peace will disappear.” She chuckled. “And that’ll screw up Osiris’ plans to make things so horrible that he can come up and make mischief up here.”
“Isis?” Nephthys asked, gazing at Isis and Sekhmet in confusion. Her face was wet with tears.
“You have to do this,” Sekhmet said to Isis. “Only you can, goddess of miracles. Break the spell. Save her.” The mirrors rose into the air and rotated around Nephthys.
Isis was hesitant. All her research hadn’t gotten her far enough. The memories Sekhmet had shown her hadn’t been enough. But as she gazed into Nephthys’ terrified eyes, she saw all that they’d gone through, the four of them. Nephthys’ terror, and Seth’s desperation. And she saw the reflection of the mirror, into infinity. And Nephthys within the reflection.
I can target that, Isis thought, and cut it out of our lives! Isis raised her hands and reached forward, using her shields to cut through the net leaching from the mirrors to Nephthys. Wind whipped around the room.
Nephthys’ eyes glowed, and she gasped. And then she fell to the floor. Her spell and Isis’ shields collapsed.
“Nephthys!” Isis cried as she leaped forward. She pulled Nephthys into her arms.
She’s breathing, Isis thought with relief. Amazed she even could feel such a thought, after hating her sister for so long, and blaming her for much of what happened between them all.
“Good job,” Sekhmet said, with some glee. “You’ve succeeded. Osiris is furious.”
When Isis looked up, Sekhmet and the mirrors were gone. Her heart raced, and she wondered what to do next... If Nephthys was free of the curse, then the main thing that stood in the way of whatever Seth wanted to do to her was gone. And all that gave her pause was gone, as well.
Do I flee? Isis wondered. She couldn't really take control of the palace with Seth in residence. The servants feared Seth too much. And Maat might view it as going against the rules of the trial.
"And what good would hiding do now?" Isis wondered as she used her magic to raise Nephthys up into the air and lower her onto the bed. "So many of my followers are dead. Horus is trapped in the labyrinth..." She could maybe convince Nephthys to free him now...
I'd have to go begging to Ra again, Isis thought, bitterly. She could only imagine the older goddess laughing at her for her foolishness. Especially if Seth dealt with the foreign army.
I can find other allies, Isis thought as she looked over Nephthys. I will not lay down and surrender.
But then remembered Osiris asking her to look over Anubis, and her hands clenched on Nephthys' shoulders. I have at least one last thing to clean up.
Worse than that was the knowledge that if her goal was turning towards Osiris even more than before... there was only one person who'd defeated him before.