Chapter Twenty-Four

I decided to do some cloaked work for a while. By cloaked, I meant astral projection. A difficult thing to do if you weren't born into the ability, such gifted creatures being gods of dreams. It was also rather dangerous, particularly in enemy territory where I could be caught outside my body, and my body would be killed, then I would cease to exist and along with it the entire universe.

Still, it was the best way for me to tail Set without rousing his suspicion, and being able to see exactly how he behaved when no one was around to watch him.

I prepped a hot bath with scented oils in order to further lull me into a relaxed state. I meditated, listened to the Source sing its natural hum to assure me they were there, and listening, and watching, everything I did. There was no disappointment or anger in my actions, no longer did the Source weep with my actions as they did so long ago, before I had met Lucifer.

With that content thought, I retreated to my quarters. I double checked the locking mechanisms within the room to ensure privacy and went to the bed, laying down and resting my head on the thick satin pillow. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

And waited as I drifted slowly into sleep, allowing the heavy warm arms embrace me and drag me into the darkness. It lasted no more than a few seconds, and I found myself standing across the room, watching my physical body slumber. I turned away and focused on seeking out Set, which wasn't particularly hard for he was still in his quarters, even during this time of day.

Anka's testimonials had proven to be fact; Set never left the palace, unless it was a meeting, and Nephthys was the only outsider who visited.

I traveled right through the thick walls between our rooms and entered Set's, which in itself, was an entirely new domain. Unlike the golden splendor of the palace, Set's room was quite plain and stark. Only the necessities took up space. A large bed against the wall separating our rooms, a small basket sitting beside it, an archway leading to a bathing chamber that held only the bathing pool and a vanity with a single pot sitting on the counter. The only decoration were black silk curtains draped over the balcony entrance, and even the balcony as large and spacious as it was, held no furniture or plant life. The quarters were bare and untouched as if no one lived within, and they were so large that it seemed like a tomb already.

No, even the Egyptians adorned their tombs with glorious riches and beauty.

Set's room was... a prison.

And Set himself lay sprawled on his stomach on the bed, black silk sheets tangled about his legs, his arm tucked beneath his pillow, his other arm splayed out. He wasn't sleeping. He simply laid there, unmoving, staring straight ahead, his long black hair falling about his shoulders and face.

The air around him was thick with misery. It was such a deep dark shroud of depression that it nearly stole my breath away and I was frozen in my position near the corner of the room. I stood there for so long, possibly a couple hours. He still did not move. Only blinked on occasion. It was as if he were dead already.

And I swallowed thickly as my vision became distorted with tears.

His agony was so fierce, so powerful, that it touched something inside me.

It was like watching a great and powerful beast give up. He was, as Anka said, a shell of his former self. He no longer cared about the world and the beauty in it, because he could not see the beauty. He was trapped for so long in the darkness and in the misery. He was shown only the cruelty and the hatred, the greed and the mockery.

And briefly, I saw those silver eyes flicker when he passed a window and stared outside. In fact, now that I looked back upon the times I walked in on him in the throne room, he would be standing near the window, staring outside. Even with no glass, no wall, no barrier, really, to separate him from the desert he appeared to long for, he still felt trapped.

It was more than just this palace, more than just Nephthys; he was trapping himself.

He was trapped in the darkest part of his broken heart.

My heart bled for him. He reminded me so much of myself after the Great War, and so much of Lucifer after he had fallen. He was tired. He was broken. He needed help. The angel and the warrior had come to my rescue, Lucifer had come to my rescue and I to his.

But no one came to Set.

No one was here to help him.

While Anka appeared to love him dearly, she was not strong enough to reach in and pull Set out of this darkness. No, the only person who could pull Set from this was himself, but he needed help. He needed someone to take his hand and show him that the world could be beautiful. That kindness was not dead. That love was still waiting for him.

A ripple of power echoed through the air suddenly, and I did not recognize it as Nephthys. I looked to Set, whose eyes widened slightly. He shot upright in bed, staring at the door for the longest time, as if debating whether to stay hidden in his quarters or to face that which had come to visit.

He reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose, screwing his eyes shut, like he had a headache. He stayed there for a moment longer when there was a knock upon his door.

"I know!" He snarled abruptly. The sound of little feet running away indicated the servant had heard and heeded the warning in Set's angry tone. Set took a deep breath and heaved himself from the bed, revealing himself to be completely naked. He made a zipping motion from the base of his throat and down, conjuring a new set of clothing, being the rich sheer shendyt, leather sandals, gorgeous gold jewelry.

He exited the room and I followed him silently. He paused in the hall, turned his head to stare at the door to my quarters. He took a step toward it, and I prepared to send myself back to my vessel, but he stopped and turned back toward the stairs.

Curious.

He continued down and approached his throne room. His steps were slow, careful... nervous. He moved with the reluctance of a male approaching the gallows. I frowned, and moved into the throne room ahead of him, going still as I recognized the male from Anka's memories, the male who had attacked Set at the bath. The one who presented him like a joke to the pantheon.

He was tall, not quite as tall as Set, but he was thicker, more muscular. His skin was several shades darker than Set's, his hair just as black and swept to the left while the right side of his head was shaved. His eyes were a piercing shade of gold that matched the walls and columns, and ringed with black kohl that dipped down beneath his left eye and swirled slightly. He wore an intricately designed gold necklace and arm braces, and a white shendyt with a golden sheer drape over top of it with a colorful sash to hold it all in place. Tattooed in red and black ink on the left side of his throat was the image of a falcon spreading its wings and taking flight.

Horus.

I knew the name without hearing it. I watched Set come into the room, looking less shriveled and exhausted than he was earlier. He'd given himself a split second to lift his head up and narrow his eyes, giving off an aura that promised a slow and painful death.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded immediately. Horus turned on him with a smirk, folding his arms over his chest.

"Did you think you could just leave when things became too difficult, Set?" He asked. Set narrowed his eyes, and while he kept his distance, his stance warned Horus he was more than eager to become violent. A subtle flash of Set's eyes from silver to red confirmed my suspicions; Set was a god of chaos by birth, not by choice. He was a god of chaos, blood lust. Like the desert he loved so dearly, he could become deadly very quickly.

"I left because it no longer concerned me directly," Set answered coldly. Horus rolled his eyes and dropped his arms, coming across the room toward Set, but Set suddenly pretended to be interested in something in the pool, on the other side of the room. Horus stopped and gave him a droll stare.

"Don't be a coward, Set. What's done is done. What happened between us has long since passed. Besides, should I do anything more than scold you, Ra will have my head on a platter," he explained. His tone said he wasn't particularly pleased with the reassurance. And his words told me that at least Ra would defend Set in the attack.

"I don't care," Set said through clenched teeth, "I will discuss the matter no further. Leave."

"I don't think so," Horus disagreed, moving toward him again and Set took a few steps away from him, "Will you quit playing games?" He vanished from his place at the other end of the pool and reappeared before Set, who bared his fangs and retreated a few steps, only for Horus to step right up into his space, grabbing his arm in a biting grip.

"Enough," Horus barked, and Set only glared in silence, "You know why I did what I did. We both know why. It had to be done. You were out of control. It is as Nephthys says; you are a violent force, Set. You are uncontrollable-- were uncontrollable. We have all finally found peace with it. You should as well. Unless you wish to repeat everything all over again to ensure your control remains." Set went rigid. He stared at Horus, those angry silver eyes flashing across Horus's face as if hoping to find some shred of humanity in those gold eyes.

Horus continued to glare, tightened his grip on Set's arm even. Set ground his teeth together, then roughly snatched his arm back from the opposite god, but didn't step away. Horus appeared pleased as a cat that caught the mouse.

"There was no reason for you to have left the meeting so abruptly," he began, making Set narrow his eyes, "It involves you as well. The Greeks have overstepped their boundaries for the last time. First the war over Anat and Dionysus, then what that Nyx bitch did to you, and once more they wish to push into our territories. Our people need us. All of us. We need to know that you are available when we need you, when the time comes, to unleash what we have locked away for all these centuries. And you must be open to once again allowing us to use any and all possible methods to once again locking that power away."

Set's jaw ticced with anger and he clenched his fist so tight, his nails cut into his palms. He started to look away and Horus quickly moved into his line of sight.

"Do not make us force you, because we will, whether Ra wills it or not. We must protect this pantheon and we must protect our people. They look to us for guidance, for protection. I know it is difficult for you to come and go through the beast inside you, but it is nothing compared to the chaos that would be brought about by the Greeks storming our land. They will invade our people and they will bring their gods with them. Unless we use the strongest card that we have, and that is you, Set." Guilt, invalidation, and objectification. So many disgusting ways to make an argument all bundled in one spout. And no guilt of his own crossed Horus's features as he watched Set stare at he floor.

But there was a reluctant acceptance in Set's stance. The way his body seemed to go from rigid refusal to exhausted agreement. He was tired of fighting Horus, and tired of trying to be left alone, which was all he wanted now. He knew Horus was right; while he was powerful and mighty, a beast untamed, the pantheon would take any and all measures to ensure that Set was used appropriately and to their choosing.

It was a dogfight, and Set was their prized one.

And Set, for all his anger and hurt, refused to give up on his people, would do anything, including hurting himself, to help them. And Horus had just tossed his feelings out the window, reminded him that he was their tool to be used, a card in their game where only the player would win and the cards would be locked in their box and tucked away until it was time to use them again. Until then, they were forgotten.

"I need your confirmation," Horus warned, "Aloud."

"Yes," Set snapped, then turned away from Horus, moving to leave the room, "Yes, I will come when called. Until then, leave me alone. I told you I do not want to see your face." Horus tsked and reappeared in front of Set to cut him off. Set slammed right into him and Horus went to grab his arm. Set snarled and picked him up with ease, throwing him down on the ground and standing over him, baring his fangs and those silver eyes flashing red, then silver again. Horus froze.

"I may agree to these demands, but those are the only demands I will ever agree to, so if you fucking dare lay your hand upon me again, I will be happy to rip out your entrails and feed them to my pets," he snarled. As if summoned by their master's rage, four crocodiles emerged from the pool, hissing and snapping their iron jaws. The albino one in particular led the group, growling menacingly.

"Fuck," Horus cursed, leaping away from the group and landing on the other side of Set, so the god of chaos stood between him and becoming pet food for the crocs, "Nephthys told us you got rid of those!"

"You may take everything you wish from me; my freedom, my dignity, and my family, but you will not take my pets. Leave, because I do not make idle threats, Horus, and we both know that," Set threatened. Horus clenched his teeth, raked Set with a disgusted sneer, then turned and vanished in a whirlwind of gold smoke. Set watched him go, waited a good long while to ensure his departure before he turned to the crocodiles. They hissed and grumbled, disappointed at being unfed.

Set knelt down on the floor and the albino crawled to him and draped herself across his lap. He didn't smile, but his features relaxed and he rested his palm on the creature. It almost appeared to purr like a kitten. The others dragged around in a circle to surround Set, as if unsure Horus would be back and they wanted to ensure his safety.

I closed my eyes and retreated once more to my vessel. It was like sinking into a soft layer of clouds, fluffy and comforting like pillows, and I felt myself slowly falling back into my body once more. I woke with a jolt, eyes flickering open and body jumping on the bed. I blinked a few times and slowly sat up, reaching up to brush the hair back from my face as I frowned at the bed thoughtfully.

It would seem a lot had led up to the way Set is. It was the mistreatment of his lovers, certainly, but also his own family, his own wife. In their eyes, he was a violent beast to be held captive until he was needed next.

It came as no surprise. Gods of chaos were more than just violent and easily angered. They also suffered from their own internal turmoil. Other gods feared them, some hated them, but the smart ones tried to use them to their advantage, and it would appear that Horus and the rest of his pantheon were doing the same.

Unfortunately, gods of chaos had a breaking point. Once they were pushed to the limit, they would snap and become unstoppable killing machines. It brought back an abrupt horrible array of memories of my brother as he terrorized the paradise realm, destroyed lives, did anything and everything his master commanded of him.

My brother was a slave to his chaotic nature.

He had succumbed to the red rage, the raw hatred and violence that brewed in his veins, bubbling like the magma in a volcano preparing to erupt... and he did erupt. He was on a path to destroy the universe.

The thought of Set reaching such a breaking point was frightening. He appeared surprisingly gentle now, but it wouldn't last. If the pantheon used Set to fight the Greeks, the war and hatred and misery of the situation would only bring him to the edge, and chances were that he would fall head first over the ledge... and kill everyone and everything.

And there was no chance in sealing Set. The sealing spell used to seal my siblings away required the power of two of the first demons, and I was the only one left. Not that the idea seemed appealing at all in the least.

I did not want to think that Set was far enough to be doomed.

No, he could be saved.

I was going to save him. If it was the last thing I did, I was going to save Set.