Chapter Text
Seth pulled his chariot to a stop at the entryway to Heliopolis, near Isis, who was standing tall and ready to greet him. She’d put one of her form robes and wigs, and glittered in the morning sunshine, and was unbothered by the dust that flew by.
“You’re awake,” Seth said as he dissolved the chariot and stepped down to the ground. They’d been gone a few days, and he felt ready and wary about seeing her there to greet him. Though at least this time she’s not jumping me from the shadows. “Why come to greet me?”
Rather than reply, Isis looked up to see Horus landing at Seth’s side.
“Mother,” Horus said. He reached out to her and took her hands, squeezing them in his own. “You’re well?”
Isis’ expression grew troubled. “That’s up for debate.” Then she looked at Seth.
“Where is Nephthys?” Seth demanded, not liking how she avoided replying to him. Does she think because I left her alone in the palace for a while that I’ve forgotten everything between us? That I’ve just given her the throne because I’m not there to sit in it?
“She’s sleeping,” Isis said. “Recovering.”
“Recovering?” Seth asked. “From what?”
“The mirror spell is broken,” Isis said. “She is restored.”
Seth’s eyes widened in surprise. “What?!”
“I knew you’d do it,” Horus said, quietly, and with a soft smile.
“Where is she?!” Seth demanded. The sand around him shook.
“In my room,” Isis replied. “I’m watching over her until she awakens.”
Seth turned into sand and flew past Isis and through the halls of Heliopolis, avoiding servants who backed away from him in fear. He didn’t stop until he was in Isis’ room, and he could re-form in his regular body, to gaze down at Nephthys, who slept on Isis’ bed, on her back.
She looked normal, and her hands rested on her chest. He could tell she was breathing. Her golden hair was brushed and her clothes were neat. She even looked cleaner than when he’d left to face the foreign army.
Seth’s heart raced. He couldn’t tell that she was different any other way: he didn’t have Isis’ magic, and she didn’t wake at his entrance. A part of him thought Isis might have been lying to corner him, but to what end?
Eventually, Isis, Horus, Thoth, and Maat entered the room, and Seth turned to Isis.
“Will she reawaken?” Seth demanded.
Isis sighed and said, “As I trying to explain, I believe so. Her body is processing thousands of years of memories and recombining them. Or at least that’s what I assume is happening.”
Seth studied Isis, who didn’t seem stressed. He’d seen the mirror was absent from the room. “How did you do it?”
“Sekhmet helped me,” Isis replied.
Seth grimaced, and wondered what Sekhmet’s game was. “She knew about this?”
“Yes,” Isis said as she stepped closer. But rather than move into Seth’s personal space, she moved closer to Nephthys, looking over her. As if somehow Seth had done something in Isis’ absence.
Seth’s hands tightened into fists as he considered the lion goddess. “How long did she know?” How many times has she faced me, knowing about this, and said nothing?
Isis looked at him with a grave expression. “Since the beginning.”
Sand circled Seth’s feet as he said, “I’ll destroy her…” All the taunts over the centuries. All the jibes. Pushing and pulling him this or that way, claiming it would help. Mocking him for not being enough… And she had the gall to target Nephthys!
“You can’t do that,” Isis said. “She’s stronger than you are.”
Seth glared at her.
“You know I’m right,” Isis said.
“We never put it to the test,” Seth replied, sharply. “She never fought in any of her mother’s wars.” It was true that Sekhmet was good at slipping out of difficult situations, but if he really tried to kill her… Well, they’d see what would happen.
Isis only said, “You’re going to get sand on Nephthys.”
Seth breathed in deeply, making the sand calm. “What did you learn? What did Sekhmet tell you?”
Isis looked at Thoth and Maat, then at Seth. “You want them to know?”
Seth glanced at the older gods, who just gazed back at him. Thoth had a thoughtful expression, and Maat was, as ever, unreadable.
“This is everything,” Isis said, warningly.
Seth was unnerved by her words. “Why are you asking me? Wouldn’t you benefit from whatever you have to say?”
“It ruins me, too,” Isis replied, ominously.
“Perhaps we could simply speak without Maat and Thoth present,” Horus suggested. “If it would make you both comfortable.” When they looked at him, he added, “if Uncle agrees afterward, we can tell Maat and Thoth.”
“That may be best,” Isis said.
“Then get out,” Seth ordered Maat and Thoth. “We’ll call if we need you.”
Maat shook her head and then stepped out of the room, followed by Thoth.
Horus put a wall of wind around the room, encompassing him, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys’ bed. “They cannot hear anything. Unless they have other powers. Thoth can see the future, after all. He might already know.”
“Tell me,” Seth said to Isis, ignoring whatever Horus was doing.
“Osiris started the war to confront Ra and steal the mirrors her,” Isis said. “They were a paired set.” She looked back at Nephthys. “He’s been obsessed with you for thousands of years.”
“…I know,” Seth said. “He said he was the reason Nephthys and I couldn’t have children. He made it so I couldn’t.”
“He started a war to ensure he could gain control of you,” Isis said, looking back at Seth in anger. “Not to protect us. To get control of you.”
Seth’s grimaced in distaste. “Do you think I encouraged him?! I assumed we only fought to protect each other!”
“No,” Isis said, breathing in deeply. “I don’t. It’s just… He took the mirror. And he had to get it to you without you knowing. So he included it in the loot that I distributed to everyone.” Her eyes slid away from his. “And I had no idea what it was, but I didn’t want it. So it ended up in your share.” She gazed at Nephthys again. “I didn’t know. I had no idea…” Her hands tightened into fists.
Seth could see her regret, and her own rage… and knew it was directed inward, not at Seth. She blames herself…
But Seth knew culpability lay elsewhere beyond Osiris.
Seth looked at Nephthys. “I was the one who let her have the mirror. You’re not solely to blame.”
Isis said nothing in reply, though her anger seemed to soften a little, if only slightly. Seth only noticed because, despite all the centuries, once, they’d been close, and he could tell such things. Or he might have been imagining it for some reason.
“What does the mirror do?” Seth demanded, not wanting the distraction. If Isis wanted comfort, she would not want it from him.
“If you look into it,” Isis said, a bit cooler, “and you see someone who is not the one you love, then your memories of the one you love are replaced with the person you see in the mirror. Osiris meant to do this to make you fall in love with him.”
Seth had to fight not to unleash his powers and fill the room with sand. That Osiris would go so far!
Then he blinked, thinking about what had actually happened. “But that means…”
“Nephthys looked into the mirror and saw him,” Isis said. “Her memories of loving you were replaced with loving him.”
It was revolting. And he lied to me, Seth thought, as he recalled Osiris’ cursed words about how she’d fallen for Osiris because he was stronger or where true peace truly thrived… He trapped her and called that thriving?!
“I’m glad he’s dead,” Seth said, sharply.
“As am I,” Isis said.
For a moment, they stared at each other in surprise.
Seth looked back at Nephthys, thinking of all the suffering she’d been through. And…
But that means… “She loved me after all?” Seth asked, shocked. “Truly?” All these centuries he’d assumed she never really had. That everything had been a lie. That Osiris had been right. He'd loved her so dearly, and thought she felt the same... only to realize it was all a sham.
And now to learn that wasn't true at all, either. That what they'd had, at least once, had been genuine.
“She did,” Isis said, sadly. “But that love was locked away in the mirror. And she was made to believe she loved Osiris. That’s why she went to him for a child.”
Seth hadn't thought it could hurt him anymore. He'd tried walling off his heart. Burying himself in battle, drugs, and wine... But he almost felt like falling apart right there and then, forever.
A hand rested on Seth’s back and Seth pulled away, glaring at Horus.
“Apologies,” Horus said. “You looked like you needed support.”
Seth stared at him in disbelief. You’re being told about evil things your father did and your first thought is to support me?!
“Horus!” Isis said, clearly angry.
“We need to work together,” Horus said, rather than apologizing to her. “Osiris has lied to you both and manipulated all of you. There needs to be accountability.”
“We already knew that,” Seth said, bitterly. “How does this change anything?” It made him hate the man more, of course, but that was meaningless to Isis and Horus. And Isis still detested Nephthys for her part in things, though she seemed to care about her sister once more. Perhaps she had accepted the effects of the brainwashing. “Unless you want vengeance for Nephthys, now?”
“He used me,” Isis said, clearly furious. “He used all of us. For thousands of years. Isn’t that enough?”
“It was always enough for me,” Seth replied. “You turned me down.” It had felt like the final thrust of the knife. He’d lost Nephthys, Osiris, his own son… And then Isis had turned her back on him, too. Everything he knew was a lie and everything he was, a sham. There was nothing else left, and he didn’t understand where it all went wrong, or why.
Isis shut her eyes, breathing in heavily. “I was upset. I didn’t know what to think. And I was hurt by your betrayal.”
“I tried to solve it on my own!” Seth said. She’s still angry I didn’t go to her before confronting Osiris? “I didn’t know how much you were involved!”
“We thought he and Nephthys had Anubis behind our backs!” Isis yelled back. “Why did you think I wasn’t involved?!”
Seth turned away. “If you think I should forgive because of your upset, why can’t you do so for mine?”
“After hundreds of years of hunting my son, my followers, and I, down, you would ask me that?!” Isis demanded.
“This solves nothing,” Horus said, breaking them apart. “You cannot change the past, neither of you. The harm was done. All that matters is how you move forward.”
“You,” Seth spat out, ready to toss the demigod out of the room. Perhaps he’d been useful up until now, to a degree. Seth could almost see him as a sort of servant. But his interruptions were far too exasperating.
“Can’t you see this is what he wants?” Horus asked, giving Seth pause. “He wants you both alone, against each other. It makes you easier to manipulate.”
Seth remembered the drugged wine. The way Osiris had tangled him in those vines. The way he’d confronted Seth in the hallway after the trial… Always alone and controlling. Even the way he’d gotten the mirror to Seth had been that way. Rather than present it to Seth publicly, he’d used an unknowing proxy. A foolish, risky move, like a lot of what Osiris did. And it almost worked.
Seth tamped his fury down.
“How was Sekhmet involved, Mother?” Horus asked.
“…She made it so Osiris wouldn’t brainwash Seth,” Isis Seth, coolly. “She didn’t want his plan to succeed fully.”
But Osiris still went along with it, Seth thought, miserably. “And the goddess of destruction watched peace crumble. How wonderful for her.”
“And a boon for Osiris,” Horus noted. “It ruined peace in this realm. Between you all. Only now that it’s restored to some degree are you two even coming to some kind of an accord.” He looked between Isis and Seth. “Shouldn’t you take that for the chance it is? To bury past pain and move forward?”
“You want me to forget everything he’s done?” Isis asked.
“No,” Horus said. “Seth’s actions were his own. Just as yours have been, Mother.”
“You blame me?!” Isis demanded, furious. “I—!”
“I asked why he thought you would do this,” Horus said to her. “Given the risk. I understand what happened in the past was difficult. But… Thoth offered some ideas when we were looking for scouts from the foreign army.”
Seth narrowed his eyes. “About what?”
“He explained about Mother’s duties,” Horus said. “In the past, she flooded the Nile to cull the human population. More than once.”
Seth just gazed back at him. “How does that change anything?”
“It was meant to balance things,” Isis insisted. “Thoth knows that.” But for some reason, she looked nervous.
“I know you told me that life, even human life, is sacred,” Horus said. “That life is worth living and protecting, especially among humans. And Seth was a false king because he ignored that balance. But I wonder what the drowned humans would think of your actions set against his, Mother.”
Seth watched them, curious. He could feel his cursed khopesh, ready at his command should he need it. It was an evil thing, and a final resort against Osiris. Isis raised him interestingly, it seems… Which made Seth wonder why Horus wanted to support him, even only to old end enmities.
Isis seethed for a moment, and then shook her head. “Regardless of this, Osiris is our enemy. And we should deal with him.”
Seth nodded slowly. “And what do you plan to do? He’s down in Duat.”
“No,” Isis said. “He has the ability to come up here. You saw when he attended the trial.”
“He hasn’t returned since,” Seth noted. He’d been watching for anything, but thus far, nothing had happened. He’d wondered if Osiris had exhausted what ability he had. After all, Osiris hadn’t been able to resurrect himself before this.
“That’s because he has to use Anubis to do it,” Isis said.
“Anubis?” Seth asked, confused. “What does he have to do with this?”
“Osiris possesses him,” Isis replied. “I’m not sure how. But he’s never done this with anyone else. I imagine Anubis has done something to enable the connection. And so long as it is an option, neither we nor Anubis are safe. We have to sever it.”
Seth was alarmed. “He’s been…? That…” He breathed in, trying to stay calm. “Anubis is with the army. I don’t know if they’ve reported back…” They’d been gone a few days to deal with the invasion, and Seth planned to look over reports if he was in the mood when he was out of this. Thoth had offered to review them, but Seth still planned to do so himself, not trusting the bird god, fully.
“We need to bring him back,” Isis emphasized.
“Maat and Thoth should be told,” Horus said. “If there is to ever be an accounting for Osiris’ crimes, they should know. If they don’t already.”
“And if they did,” Isis said, “I want to know why they didn’t share it when I needed answers. Certainly Ra’s been our enemy enough I can see why they might keep some of it from us, but the rest…” She scoffed.
“You’re so ready to turn on your father?” Seth asked Horus, curious.
“I never knew him,” Horus said. “The trial was the first time I even spoke to him. My mother raised me.”
“Horus…” Isis began, warningly.
“And Father did not want children anyway,” Horus said. “If he had his way, I would not exist.”
Seth blinked at that, confused.
“Horus!” Isis said, angry, now.
“I want it to be clear that I will not stab Uncle in the back, Mother,” Horus replied, while holding Seth’s gaze. “I took part in this trial for my mother’s sake. Not Osiris’.”
“You lied to the gods?” Seth asked. He well remembered the words Osiris’ lost sovereignty.
“I was clear about the facts as I knew them,” Horus said. “You committed many crimes, and my mother and I have rights. I did not lie.”
Seth could almost respect the twisting paths of the story before him, though it again reminded him of Osiris, warping his words to skate by. Seth knew he’d have to be careful, still.
“Horus should not be returned to the labyrinth,” Isis said, recalling Seth’s attention. “If we want to stand against Osiris, we need all the allies we can find, especially since we don’t know the limits of his abilities. And Osiris will use whatever it takes to get you. And...” She sighed in exasperation. "There is also the matter of Sekhmet to contend with. Though she's helped me with all this, her reasoning is unclear, and we should be prepared for anything she does in the future that may benefit her rather than us."
Seth pressed his lips together, glancing between Isis and her son, who both watched him. He hated that he knew she was right. He still remembered the grip Osiris had on his wrist before Isis, and the way Osiris had pulled him forward in the hall…
“Fine,” Seth said. He could always change his mind on returning Horus to his cell later, though the demigod seemed to have his own uses. “But I am not so weak as to need protection.” I already tricked Osiris into killing himself once, after all. And I'll figure out how to make Sekhmet pay...