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Chapter Text

The words course along like seasons as they escape Osiris’ lips. Consonants turn into warriors. Vowels turn into victorious screams. Vicious bloodshed uncurls while his brother’s soft fingers run down his hair, ticklish feather-like touches. Osiris always liked to read him bedtime stories. Well, it’s not like Seth can tell whether Osiris ever likes doing it but he never objects either. Plus, Osiris always knows how to keep him wanting more. He always — always — stops at the most frustrating cliffhanger.

“What happens to the hero then?” Seth asks.

“Well, I supposed you would get to hear that tomorrow.”

Seth pouts as he tucks his head into Osiris’ narrow collarbone. At the age of 14, Osiris’ physique still retains its awkward lankiness, but Isis has said that his brother will gain his muscles with age. Seth was sure that he would become a much larger man than his brother when he is finally 14.

“Seth, are you alright?” whispers Nephthys, who is tucked under Osiris’ other arm.

“I’m alright.” Seth eyes the ceiling to not see her face. Nephthys’ demure nature always ticks him the wrong way. They are the children of Geb and Nut! Acting in such a humiliating way would bring shame to Mama and Papa.

“Okay Nephthys, time to go to bed,” said Orisis. “It’s midnight.”

Nephthys seems reluctant to go back. Nut has split the children into two rooms according to their gender with the promise that they will receive their own room once they reach maturity. Living with Isis is a nightmare for Nephthys. Simply put, her…fiery…personality does not make her the best of partners. But, under the insistence of her older brother, Nephthys did not have the strength to disobey.

Seth doesn’t bother helping her. Compared to Nephthys, Seth much prefers the company of Osiris who retains in him a calm but consuming aura. See, this is what the king of Egypt is like!

As the candles go hush, and darkness envelops the room, Seth feels the warmth of Osiris fingers intertwining his. It tickles.

“Happy birthday, Seth.”

Ah right. Today was Seth’s 10th Birthday. Osiris’ warmth travels from Seth’s fingertips to his chest as Seth grows giddy at the care of his brother. He couldn’t help himself and ask: “Will I get a gift?”

“Why, of course. I’ll bring you out to town tomorrow afternoon.” The town of the human world! Seth couldn’t be happier.

Giddily, Seth wraps his arms around his brother, ignoring the bony edges and tingling heat of skin. Osiris seems to pause for a moment, before letting out a breath of defeat and pulling Seth into his chest.

Seth feels a cotton-soft warmth on his forehead. Then, the Osiris’ whispers. “Sleep well, Seth.”

-

When the globe of radiating fury conquers the sky, it is a sign of Osiris and Isis’s absence. Seth never knows where they go - an adventure? Passionate date?

Well, it’s not like he cares. As long as he gets to go to the human world.

Just across the West of the palace was Isis’s garden, but without her, Seth is free to dominate this location as his own. Carpeting the damp soil, flights of white daisies spread its petals to reveal an indigo centre. The rich purple, Seth realises, makes the flowers more pristine than it could ever imagine.

Seth plucks out 10 flowers, then 20, then 30 then lays them neatly across the floor. He wants to make a bouquet as a gift for his birthday. From what his instructor told him, those in the human world would receive gifts for their birthdays. Not one, but several. So, it was unfair for Seth to only receive one gift for his birthday, hence this second gift.

“Seth, what are you doing to my garden?!” A screeching voice. Well, “screeching” to Seth, he has heard others describing it with such beautiful and admirable adjectives. As he turns, the image of Isis sprinting towards his direction hits his eyes. How does one look so much like a cow running?

“This is for my birthday! You’re obligated to give me these flowers!”

“Like hell, I’m “obligated” to!” Isis grabs and pulls on his cheeks. “You insufferable child!”

This is his second sibling and eldest sister, Isis. If Nephthys is the jewel-clear river, too calm amidst the chaos of the jungle, then Isis is the jungle itself, wild and dangerous.

Beside Isis was Osiris. Seth quickly reaches his arms out to Osiris and puts on his best doe eyes. “Brother!” he squeals.

With an amused smile, Osiris pulls Seth into the air and…he…sprinted?!

“Wait, brother, we need to show her a lesson!” Seth yells as his arms cling to his brother’s neck.

Osiris looks down at Seth. Seth’s fiery hair interweaves with the rushing wind while the coldness of the air tingles his skin. With his head in the crook of Osiris’ neck, Seth could hear his every step, striking the hard earth. He hasn’t come to realise… that it will be these sounds and air that he clings to in the depth of his drunken nights.

“We’ll be late for the fireworks, Seth.”

‘Fireworks?? What even is that??’ thought Seth, ‘Must be some peculiar stuff those humans created.’

Osiris brings Seth to a bustling night market and snatches him onto an empty rooftop. From the corner of his eyes, Seth could see the human world in its full grandeur. The golden glow of fire torches, the cauldrons of bubbling laughter, the songs from a nearby oud, everything seems to be bursting with life. Eagerly, Seth tries getting Osiris to let him into the market, but Osiris remains unfazed.

“The fireworks are starting,” says Osiris. He was right. Immediately, blooms of fireworks pierce through the night sky. They are nothing like Seth had imagined. ‘Fireworks’ are loud and striking, ripping through the air with the majestic force of a warrior. Seth becomes completely enthralled by this sight. “They’re so powerful!” he yells.

“Do you like it?” asked Osiris. “We can come and watch the fireworks every year if you like. Just the two of us.”

Seth’s eyes glow at Osiris’ words. “Yes! You promise, Brother!”

On his 11th birthday, Osiris brought Seth to see the fireworks again. Seth asked Osiris if he also brought Nephthys and Isis to see the fireworks. Osiris laughed at that and claimed fireworks were reserved for him and only him. Oh, and Osiris gave him a wooden horse.

On his 12th birthday, Osiris brought Seth to see the fireworks again. Seth tried a pumpkin cake and hated it. Seth caught Osiris staring at him during the fireworks. Was there cake on his face?

On his 13th birthday, Osiris sent Seth to Avaris. No fireworks that year.

Chapter Text

Avaris is deadly. Located in the Northeastern region of Egypt, the city is in shambles under the weight of darkness. Seth has no idea why it is he who was chosen, but he supposes there was no use questioning Osiris’ decision.

Before his departure, Osiris had briefed through the dire situation at Avaris. Ra, the God of the Sun, had disappeared. Without Ra, darkness blooms across Avaris, insidiously spreading across Egypt like a disease. Osiris has sent Seth to search for Ra. After all, as the King of Egypt, Osiris was too swarmed by paperwork.

“I’ll visit you when I can.” Said Osiris as he places a feather-soft kiss on Seth’s forehead, “Happy birthday Seth.”

Ra’s disappearance is no doubt shocking. As the previous King of Egypt, Ra is overflowing with power. It seems stupid to think that she would be lost on her way or attacked by a human. Perhaps, something had held her back…hopefully not by force.

Seth travels across the sky, along the body of Nut, and lands next to a small town in Avaris. It was the first town to be deprived of the sun, yet its world glows with a golden hue. It seems the people of Avaris had become dependent on torches to cope with Ra’s absence.

Despite his left-over hint of youth and baby fat, Seth’s presence in Avaris comes with divine vigour. His locks of hair curl with the dusty spirals of wind as the hem of his skirt flaps in a childish tantrum.

“Good sir, you must be a traveller.” a man approached Seth with a grin, “would you like to have a guide?”

The man’s arm was shrivelled, thin-skinned and lined with vessels. He looked like a malnourished child with the face of an old man, a peculiar sight, unlike the flawless gods and goddesses. Seth tries to hide the goosebumps crawling down his spine “Yes. What is going on here? There seems to be no sun rising and no signs of time passing.”

The man lets out an exhausted sigh, “You must have not heard the news! Ever since last month, the sun has completely disappeared. Our crops are dying, our cattle are dying and our people are dying!”

Seeing the tears in the man’s eyes, Seth feels a slight guilt in his chest. He coughs slightly and hands the man a gold coin.

The man immediately flashes a smile.

Seth: “...” Shameless humans!

Seth: “Did anything strange happen around when that started? Surely it must not have happened out of nowhere.”

A man narrows his eyes and hums,” I don’t particularly recall…Oh! An earthquake!”

A clue? Seth moves closer to the man, “What earthquake?”

“There was an earthquake a few days before the sun was gone. Many believed that we must have angered the Gods, so the earthquake and the darkness were our punishment!” weeps the man, “But dear sir, you shouldn’t ask other people about this matter.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well…Our people have grown angry with time. All the suffering created a lot of burden, and they don’t exactly like to be reminded. It’s simply for your safety sir.” The man pauses, “Have you got a place to live? I can introduce you to my lodge!”

“...Lead the way,” said Seth. After a minute of walking, Seth suddenly stops in his tracks, as if remembering something. “Will there be fireworks tonight?”

The man seems confused, “why must there be fireworks tonight, sir?”

“Because-” Seth stops himself. Is this place that wretched to not have fireworks? “Forget it.”

Seth and the man arrive at a lodge. Outside it, a few wrinkled bodies lay slumping against the wall with their lifted heads to reveal pairs of dull eyes and sunken cheekbones. Suddenly, one of the humans lunges forward and grabs his calves. From the corner of his eyes, Seth could see a hint of froth building up from the corner of his mouth.

The man quickly rips the human off of Seth, “Please go, sir. It isn’t safe to stay in the street for long.”

Inside the lodge, carpets with snake patterns cover the floor, vases of decaying flowers line up neatly in one corner and a single boy sits idly next to these vases. His gaze is stuck to the worn-out book in his hands, seemingly ignoring the darkness shrouding him.

At the sight of Seth, the boy hops to his feet, grabs Seth’s luggage and guides him to his room. It didn’t take long for Seth to realise the bareness of the lodge with the only decorations being the fire torches hanging on the wall. The torches are made up of polished bronze, engraved with smooth, crafted lines and swirls. Seth eyes the torches and the deep engravings on their surface.

“What are you looking at?” The boy turns to him with a curious tilt of his head. The man’s aura is unlike other travellers who visited his lodge. It resembles more of a noble. No, perhaps someone of royal descent. His red hair is strange too; the boy had never seen any Egyptian with that hair colour before.

Seth raises his head questioningly. Under the light of the torches, the boy’s eyes glow a deep yellow as bushy eyebrows curve in a familiar soft arch.

“Who are you to question what I’m doing?”

The boy’s terrified expression stirs up a suppressed discomfort within Seth. Now that he has observed the boy, he realises how similar he looks to Nephthys. From the slope of their nose to their lanky limbs, the two are eerily similar.

The boy frantically opens the door to his right, “I’m sorry for offending you, Sir. This would be your room. Have a safe night…or day.”

After handing Seth a box of matches, the boy walks away with awkward steps. Seth gazes at him. If he hadn't mistaken, there was a trail of black ink along the boy’s back…With the boy’s shirt draped across it, Seth could hardly see any part of the tattoo but its long arch. In recent centuries, tattoos have grown popular as a mark for religious worshipping or fertility, yet none of these descriptions seem to match a boy living in a godless site-

Seth swerves to the right, snapped out of his thoughts. His back presses against the chalky wall as a swooping sound slashes the air, the same sound one would hear with a sword.

An ambush?! Seth searches his hips for his knife. Darn it, he had left his weapons in his luggage.

Seth bites his lips in regret. He had foolishly thought that the mission would be a simple one and let his guard down. Realising that the battle lies in close combat, Seth begins attacking the dark figure with a ferocious speed. His movements are swift and faultless like a knife yearning for blood.

Even with the door unclosed, the room is only bright for Seth to see a reflection off of the skin. Finally, Seth catches the sight of the man’s neck. He quickly grabs it and pulls it onto the floor. He grips tight on the man’s airway, squeezing it before feeling the weight on his palm disappear.

The man has vanished.

Chapter Text

Inhabiting the Northern Sky of Egypt, the Palace looks down on every corner and edge of the land. The Palace’s history stretches back to the creator of the world when Geb and Nut prompted earthquakes and floods to obtain the purest materials for their kin’s palace.

Far inside the Palace lays a water fountain, hidden by a thick veil of forage. Osiris and Isis stand gazing into the water’s depth. The holy water reflects the image of Seth, struggling to topple his enemy in Avaris.

Isis frowns, “Such careless form. An ill-advised idea to murder that man when he’s one of the few available clues too.”

At her words, Osiris lets out a smile as gentle as the Nile in spring. 15-year-old Isis had yet to acquire the self-restraints needed to resist Osiris’ softness and so can’t help but stare into his expression.

“He is still a child,” Osiris shakes his head, “I wonder when he’ll stop worrying us.”

At the age of 16, Osiris has begun to take the form of a full-fledged God. His corded muscles ripple with each movement and his face had gradually sculpted to that of a young man. Such features seem to bolster his infallible authority which he honed throughout his time on the throne. Besides him, Isis stands with an aura commanding submission. Unlike Osiris whose power is dampened by his tender temperament, Isis does not hesitate to flaunt her authority.

When standing together, the two exert an aweing dominance. Well...to Seth and Nephthys, Osiris is just a sweet sheep while Isis is a naggy grandma.

Osiris sighs, “If only they don’t grow up so fast.”

“Blame Thoth for being a nosy bastard,” said Isis, “fulfilling prophecy bla bla bla.” She shifts her voice to a squeaky pitch as if imitating Thoth.

“What would you do if Seth does complete this mission?” asks Isis.

“He won’t. He is still too weak.”

“You’re a man with little faith.”

“And Seth is a man with little strength.”

Isis laughs at that. Osiris wonders if she laughed at “little strength” or “man”.

***

‘I was defeated?! The son of Geb and Nut was defeated by a lowly monster?!’ Words can hardly describe the seething burn in Seth’s chest as the shock intensifies. ‘No, he ran away. He was frightened by my mighty power, I’m sure. What a cowardly move.’

After regaining his composure, Seth falls onto the floor. Saving Ra is the first mission Osiris has given him. Seth yearns for this recognition, its sense of control and power, yet his head could not help but drift to the Sky. At this time, Isis and Nephthys must be in Cairo, blessing the people with a new invention they nagged to him about...something called “baking”. After, they would return to the Sky where they meet with Osiris for a round of wine.

Seth also wants to see them for wine…

‘If only there were fireworks today,’ he thought. He swings his leg in the air mindlessly. If Isis was here, she would have called him whiney and insufferable.

Seth could hardly remember how long he was left in his thoughts, but it was quickly intercepted by the streams of words coming from below. Perhaps due to the thick layers of soil, even with the magic concentrating in his ears, Seth could only hear slight mufflings.

“...fruits for ritual? And birds? Frogs?”

An angry voice. “...in this condition?!”

“Insolent child! ….have to repay…!”

Ritual? Isis had told Seth himself that Avaris is one of the rare sites not yet claimed by any of the Gods. At least, Seth supposed this revelation explains the tattoo on the boy’s back.

The curling of his stomach leads Seth to search for the site of this “ritual”. With no light in sight, Seth traces their hushed whispers to arrive at a dead end. Hoping to find a hidden door, Seth transfers a portion of his magic from his ears to his eyes, allowing him to spot a tunnel buried under a pile of sand.

He moves down the tunnel with a vague distaste. What kind of malnourished person fit into this tube? Well, he supposed they are malnourished. Can’t relate.

Seeing that he has reached the tunnel’s end, Seth uses magic to pillow his fall as to not disrupt the ritual. Truth to be told when he heard of this religious ceremony, Seth had assumed the God to be Ra. The people, trapped in months of darkness, must have resorted to begging the God of the Sun.

What he did not expect was a hallway lined with snake statues, towering above him. The statues are marble-white, even their pupils were absent, keeping only an ivory surface for the eyes. Despite that, Seth could feel their piercing stare tracing his body up and down.

In the distance, the conversation between his guide and the boy continues.

“Papa! Can’t you see! This is an evil spirit. Ever since we started worshipping it, the town has gone into chaos,” weeps the boy as he kneels on the ground. Almost immediately, Seth could see the statues’ stare swerving towards the boy.

The guide’s face twists at the boy’s words, before violently kicking across the room. At the sight of the boy’s coughing and huffing, the guide’s face turns into dread, “Oh, my God! Please forgive my stupid kin for his blasphemy.”

“P-Papa, the statues are moving!”

The boy was right. Inches by inches the snakes begin to move their tails. The ground beneath them fractures from the pressure.

The guide, however, remains unfazed as he stares straight toward Seth, “Who’s there?! Reveal yourself!”

As the snakes slither closer toward the two, Seth realises many of them are also preying on him with his eyes. Even with the magic of a half-god, Seth wasn’t sure if he could destroy all six of the statues so easily.

‘The tunnel is right above me,’ thought Seth, ‘I could just escape.’ But at the sight of the boy bawling on the ground and the hollow face of the guide, Seth feels an unfamiliar feeling in his chest. “...You’re lucky I’m in the mood for charity.”

Concentrating his magic on his legs, Seth dashes toward the two at a godly speed. To the human eye, it’s almost as if Seth has disappeared. Seth lifts the boy with his left arm and the guide with his right, before kicking upwards to smash the snake’s head. 5 left.

“Climb up the tunnel!” instructs Seth, “I’ll deal with the snakes.”

The boy nods frantically before heading his way. No longer burdened by lousy humans, Seth swings his arm to strike a snake, successfully smashing it into powdered chalk. 4 left.

The four snakes surround him in all directions as they creep closer towards him. Simultaneously, the snakes swing their head onto the floor, perhaps wishing to smash his head into dusts.

As light diminishes around him, Seth’s pupils widen in search of an escape route. ‘Found it!’

With his remaining magical force and overflowing desperation, Seth jumps up into the air. He slips between the gaps. The snake’s head smashes into the ground and dissipates as cloudy dust.

0. All gone.

When Seth climbs back up the tunnel, he doesn’t ask the boy why he chose not to run away. Nor does he ask about the scarlet liquid dripping down his hands. Nor does he ask about the guide’s body laying flat on bare ground, mortal heat leaving his body.

“Oi, stop staring and show me through the chamber,” demands Seth.

This seems to wake the boy up from his stupor. After a solemn glance at the cooling corpse, the boy runs to the front of Seth. From him, Seth learns that the seemingly atheist town is a guise for Apep’s worshipper. Apep is an ancient deity - birthed millenniums before - who remains Ra’s most fervour opposition. Where Ra brings light, Apep brings darkness. Where Ra brings hope, Apep brings unrest.

Seth stares at the paintings on the tunnel’s wall. As his palm wipes clean the layer of sand, the image of scaley waves and piercing red eyes stare at him. ‘Apep…’ thought Seth, ‘I must report back to Osiris.’

“Apep promised us peace if we withstand his darkness. The lord of Avaris agreed,” the boy recounts, “Peace…peace..peace…There was no peace! He lied to us!” His amber iris searches Seth’s face for something Seth couldn’t comprehend. After a pause, the boy unclasps in defeat. “Our people still trust him. You go on the street and everyone would strangle you for a single bad word aimed at him.”

“Where did you all receive his message?” asks Seth, feeling a slight discomfort under his gaze.

“The central temple in the west of Avaris. I’ll..I’ll guide you there.”

“You will just burden me.” Seth raises his eyebrows, “you stay here.”

Hearing Seth’s words, he immediately turns and grabs Seth’s wrist. The pupils in his doe eyes contract as drops of cold sweat roll along his temples. “No! Please. I can’t stay here,” the boy sounds breathless, “I-I can’t bear to stay in this house.”

Seth narrows his eyes, “don’t be weak. Go find something to distract yourself instead of bothering me.”

“Weak…You’re the one to say. I saved you back there!”

Seth’s mouth opens agape, “What..?”

“My…My dad was going to start a fire at the tunnel. He wanted to kill you.” The boy uses his arm to wipe his nose before inhaling a clogged breath, “I couldn’t let that happen, not after he tried to kill me and I guess you. So…I…I stabbed him with his k-knife.” Fat drops of tears slide down the boy’s cheeks. “I killed my father for you!”

The boy is full-on crying now. His breathes are shallow and snappy as his body jumps with each hiccup. At the sight, Seth’s body tenses. Is this what Osiris called guilt?

“Fine, fine.” Seth groans, “come with me. Just stop crying.”

The boy’s curly, blonde hair practically bounces either with joy or from the remaining hiccups. From Seth’s angle, the boy looked pitifully ugly with the streaks of tears and snot on his face. Still, a strange heat rises up his neck as the boy raises his head and flashes a crooked yet all-teeth smile.

With the boy pulling the guide’s leg and Seth holding his head, the two manage to transfer the body to an open, secluded space. The boy digs up an oval pit and, in a surprisingly ginger manner, buries the body with a few other goods. Seth helps the boy sealed the last layer of soil while he stares at the burial site.

“My name’s Seth.” said Seth in an attempt to distract the boy from his sorrow.

The boy stares at Seth in an absent-minded daze before finding his words again, “My name’s Ramses.” Ramses gives Seth a hesitant smile, “Nice to meet you…Seth.”

Chapter Text

Ramses cries at least 3 times more along their way. In every round of sobs, Ramses would use Seth’s robe as his personal tissue as Seth mechanically pat the side of his shoulders. This is how mortals comfort each other right?

“How strange…” Isis tilts her head with a quizzing hum, “Seth comforting others.”

Under the biting chills of the night, Osiris sees the boy’s bones shiver under Seth’s palm before he shifts closer to seek the godly heat. Then, cooed and soothed by the wind, the boy and Seth sink into a deep slumber with their head fitting like a jigsaw puzzle.

Osiris wants to decode this puzzle.

“It is…strange,” said he, his fingers successively drumming the fountain.

Ramses and Seth are awakened by the kind-hearted traveller who offers them a ride. After waiting for Ramses to leave his thanks, an impatient Seth quietly absorbs the structure and landscape standing before him.

Made up of countless rows of towering columns, the temple was built with a typical square formation From afar, it almost seemed bare, abandoned and lacklustre, deprived of the human air common among other temples, perhaps an attempt to hide the temple from the gods. Only when you enter the temple will Apep’s presence become suffocating… like a snake tightening around your throat.

As per traditions, Ramses lights up 2 sticks of incense - one for himself and one for Seth - before entering the shrine.

“This is very odd,” Ramses gulps, eyes running in his sockets, “Usually there would be priests and slaves around.”

“Slaves?”

“Ah yes, for construction you see. The priests want to engrave Apep’s heroic tales on the walls…like over there,” Ramses points toward one of the inner columns. Heroic? Seth highly doubts it. Heroic or not, no one can be more heroic than the children of Geb and Nut! Hah, take that, Apep.

As Seth squints his eyes, he can vaguely see the shadows of etching along the stone. The drawings form the image of a large serpent mounting above a small bird before snapping its wings and caging it. Seth flinches.

“This is Ra and Apep,” Ramses confirms his thoughts. Ramses ruffles his golden locks with a shy smile, “I was told that Apep defeated Ra in this very place. Have you ever talked to Ra, si-Seth?”

“Once,” replies Seth, “She’s a scary, old woman. Bleh.”

Ramses giggles at that.

Absent-mindedly, Seth shifts his gaze onto Ramses. From this distance, even under the golden fog from the torches, Seth can still spot the littering specks of freckles on Ramses’ skin. Although the freckles grow fainter toward his neck, even fainter on his face, they are still visible and cause a weird itch in Seth’s chest. They look like sand.

“S-Seth,” Ramses jumps, “is there something on my cheeks?”

Seth flushes when he realises his hand is reaching for Ramses’ face, “Don’t start thinking stupid. I thought there was sand on your cheeks, that’s all.”

“O-Okay! Anyway…the drawings on the columns look a lot like what my dad taught me. Grilled rabbit, water, rabbit fur and healing ointment, we can buy them at the market nearby.”

“Off you go then,” Seth waves his hand, an evident gesture of dismissal, “I’ll look around.”

Ramses seems too afraid to walk off alone, but, before he can voice his thoughts, he quickly shrinks under Seth’s squinting eyes. The moment Ramses’ figure - shivery and frightened - disappears from his sight, Seth cracks his knuckles.

‘Well, the best way to call for a God is to piss the hell out of it.’ Seth thinks as he conjures the image of a tomato-faced Isis. Without a second wasted, Seth begins knocking down the columns near the gate.

‘Let’s see if you can handle this, old man!’ thinks Seth. Soon enough, with just a few columns crashing down into chalky chunks, a low, resonating voice fills the temple.

“Such an insolent being! How dare a lowly demi-god dare pollute my sacred temple!”

“Lowly? I am the son of Geb and Nut, the blood-brother of our Pharaoh Orisis! ” laughs Seth, “you barely have a statue of yourself! It seems like I must lower myself to teach you where your place is at.”

Seth unsheaths his sword and sprints toward the back of the temple. Standing there is a small wooden shrine enveloping a purring cat. Although a passing traveller may misjudge this cat as a stray, Seth knows better. Deities who retain limited magical energy tend to disguise themselves as smaller prey.

‘Plus, the old man is stupid for putting himself at the very centre with no disguise!’ Seth thinks, ‘Just watch me destroy you!’

“Oh, you naive creature.”

The cat evades his attack and circles him. His figure seemingly merged into one giant torus.

‘Terrifying speed.’ Seth’s grip on his sword tightened, ‘But you are still no match for me.’

With a twirl of his sword, Seth creates a horizontal slash through the torus. If not for its leap, Seth reckons he could’ve easily sliced the cat into tonight’s meal.

As the cat runs off, a shriek rips through the rushing flurries of dust and smoke. “S-Seth!” Then, a canon of cold air stabs through the foggy mist, revealing a flailing blonde boy being held up by the shirt. Ramses.

“Ramses! Are you serious right now?” Seth feels a heavy weight dropping in his stomach. Behind Ramses is the stocky body of a reptile whose head is covered by clouds of smoke. An electrifying chill runs through the surface of his skin, yet Seth holds his head high. “To use a human as hostage, you truly have no right to call yourself a deity.”

Seth manoeuvres his magic to his leg to jump to Apep’s eye, then slashes a deep scar in his red sclera. Pulsing magic leaks from Apep’s wound like a fountain. With a seething hiss, the snake slumps down to the ground, dropping Ramses with him.

“I-I’m sorry, Seth.” cries Ramses who is now carried across Seth’s shoulders like a sack of potatoes. ‘Please forgive me.’

Seth would have mocked his pitiful state if not for Apep’s rising figure. ‘Jeez. Just keep your mortal self intact, is that too much to ask?’ Seth thinks. “Don’t matter. Hah, it’s a good thing you're up there. Judging by how his wound isn’t healing so well, his eyes are clearly his weakness. Just one more slash and we can get this ove-”

Before Seth could finish his rant, a pang of heat spreads across his throat, and then comes the piercing pain rippling through his nerves. ‘What?’

Coming into his blurry view is a pair of eyes…eyes of molten amber. Seth tries to gouge for a trace of remorse in them, yet he finds himself drowning in their black pupils instead.

“You whose only pride is other’s victories bring nothing but shame to your parents’ name.” said the same booming voice, “Next time try choosing brains over brawns…if there is even a next time.”

Then, a rush of memories play across Seth’s head in black and white motions: Their multilayered words, Ramses’ empty hands, the cat. Everything seems to hit him like a joke.

‘Hah…’

Time freezes as air is sucked out into the vacuum surrounding him. His limbs are weightless and he is floating through the days of memories that seem like millennia.

“A demi-god is simply a demi-god, Seth.” A voice courses through his ear like a warm, clear river in a mirage. He supposes he is a thirsty man. “Without the magic blessed by us, you are no more than a mortal. No wonder that these lowlives dare step on you like this.”

There is a pause. Another voice, pleading. “Come, Seth. Give your soul completely to us. Become the strongest warrior. Become a God!”

Looking back (if he even could), Seth wonders why he hesitates after all that has happened. More likely than not, he is weak to the lingering tickles of his touch, the humanity in his vulnerability, the familiarity of his blonde hair and warm eyes. ‘The first human I know.’ thought Seth, ‘if only I’ll remember this milestone.’

He remembers reaching out to the glowing nothing above him. Then, everything becomes nothing. Nothing becomes everything.

His world crumbles except for the scalding wetness rolling down his left cheek.

Chapter Text

His first thought is gold. Golden river trickles through the crevices. Golden sparks stuck in his crimson hair. Golden flavour at the tip of his tongue. Sand. Sand. Sand. Sand feels like blood, replacing Osiris’ leaking blessing.

He feels strength. He feels magic. He feels divinity.

Then, he is bursting with memories. Geb is his father. Nut is his brother. Osiris is his brother. Isis is his sister. Nephthys is his sister. _________. He is Seth. Seth is his. The pressure of memories burdens the edges of his organs, threatening to explode. Why can’t it fill the space?

“...is done.” Osiris.

“Get him to bed.” Isis. She’s screaming again.

‘Yes…bed…I would like that.’ Seth smiles.