The day had started like any other, and I was outside with Sir Anthony when Ruben had come to join us.

Late, as he had often done lately.

I didn't reprimand him, but Sir Anthony lit into him for a good five minutes while Ruben scowled and rolled his eyes. It was a bit surreal, and a little sad, to see the boy I'd cradled as he cried after scraping his knees behave this way.

He and the young Tina were now engaged, both too young but in a time where teenagers getting married was expected. 14 years his senior, I was no longer courted or chased after - for which I was thankful. Now, the words that were whispered were those of pity, just as often for my parents as for me - less thankful for that bit.

I didn't really care though. What really mattered, at the end of it all, was that Ruben was safe and given the full life he deserved.

He only got one. That was the difference. One life before he went to the realm of souls - and such a short life it would be. Yet, I want it to be as long and fulfilling as I can make it.

I would fight for that. I did not feel slighted or insulted by whispers - I'd have to care for that - and so there is no sacrifice for me to protect him.

Even as a moody teenager, he was my little prince.

"Keep this up and your father will break his no-lashings rule, boy," Sir Anthony snapped, but I stepped up between them then and glared at the old man until he backed away.

I cared for Sir Anthony deeply, but even father knows I won't allow anyone to touch my little brother.

"Stop it, Sera," Ruben scowled from behind me, crossing his arms, "I don't need you to protect me anymore. I am grown and will soon be a husband. I am no longer a child you need to coddle."

"Wrong," I said, glancing at him then returning to my place across from Sir Anthony, "I will protect you until my last breath."

He opened his mouth, his face going red and clearly had every intention of screaming at me yet again about how he didn't want me as his bodyguard... when the ground shook.

Not a lot, but enough for dust long trapped in the bricks in the walls to shake loose and Ruben's words to die on his lips.

My throat tightened, a sense of foreboding not fully settling in before the wind began to whip around me.

A single crack, like thunder that had forgotten its place, boomed through the courtyard as a rip in the fabric of time split before me. I glimpsed the glowing reds and blazing oranges of the desert realm I had long since hidden from, and for the first time in many lifetimes I felt real fear.

He had found me.

Set stepped through the rip, the black horns curled up from his temples still smoking from the heat of the desert lands he loved so much. His ankle-length, black skirt and gold belt were the only clothing he wore, as had always been his way, and his glowing brown skin would have appeared flawless to a naïve human.

One who did not know that the golden-eyed man before me was a God that would consume them for simply existing near him. He may have the body of a God, but that didn't mean he was a good God.

"At last," his voice came out somewhere between a growl and a rasp, hoarse from the millennia he has spent near the volcano's toxic fumes, "It has been too long, my love."

The anger surged within me and I bared my teeth, getting into a defensive stance of anger and hatred as I faced the man that led to my fall. I had left by choice, but that choice was never easy to make.

It was simply the only one I had left.

"You dare," I hissed, glaring at him, "You dare call me that after all you have done!"

"Oh, I have missed your fire," his laugh boomed out, the ground shaking and knocking Sir Anthony and Ruben off balance with its force, "It is time to return home, my love. Your true form has laid quietly for far too long."

My true form... the body I left behind when I sent my soul out in search of a place to hide. That is why I have not passed on to the final realm... he has kept it alive.

"Never," I growled, picking up a sword I knew was powerless against a God, "I would rather rot."

He knew the sword wasn't for him. It was for me. If I died, I'd leap again - and he'd have to begin his search once more.

His eyes drifted then to Sir Anthony behind me, and my eyes darkened in anger.

"Touch him, and I'll cut you from sternum to scrotum," I growled.

He merely smirked, and glanced at Ruben...

And my heart froze. No quips. No threats. The fear made the words catch along with my very breath.

"Ah," he breathed, having known me for longer than time and seeing the truth in an instant, "You've softened your heart for a mortal. What a foolish woman you are."

I dashed in front of Ruben, allowing what little of my powers I could access in this form to rush to the surface - and the shield erupted just in time to block a sword of fire and obsidian he conjured with a thought before it cleaved the boy I cherished in two.

Set only laughed, never releasing the crushing pressure that was already weakening my knees as I held his force at bay.

So many times I have evaded his traps, so many times I have escaped his hold - yet in the end, it always seems to end with me barely holding out against him.

His obsession cost me Osiris, locked in a realm I cannot yet enter. It cost me Horus, hidden as he prepared to someday take the throne that was his to claim.

In a realm beyond time, Set held me for eons and refused to let me go, and it was only in a final act of desperation that I had accepted death. I wanted to join Osiris at last, and so I sent my soul out to live as another - waiting for my true form to wither and die.

But it never did... lifetime, after lifetime, after lifetime... I continued to wait. It would have taken time, yes, for my form to truly fade away... but not this long. And so instead of the freedom I hoped for, I found another cage.

"Haven't you learned yet," he roared, "You cannot run from me! Your form is alive and healthy. You will return to where you are meant to be. By my side!"

My legs finally gave out, and I crashed to one knee as I fought desperately for the life of the boy that had given me a spark of joy after so long. I had sworn to protect him, and today was not the day I backed away from that promise.

"Surrender," Set finally said, his voice calm and warm as a summer's breeze - so unlike the roar from just moments ago, "And I will spare the mortal."

I choked, and my eyes drifted back to look at Ruben - staring at me in panic and horror from where he sat propped up on his elbows, as if frozen mid-movement by what he couldn't process in front of him.

I know what he sees... a God of Chaos mere feet away from him with every intention of cutting him in half, and the woman he only knew as his sister emanating a strange glow she shouldn't standing between him and instant death.

He was frozen, and his pale face decorated with fear was all it took for me to accept a fate I'd run from for far too long.

Perhaps it was time to stop running.

"Live for me, little prince," I said, giving him the last smile I would ever be able to give him, "Live a long, happy life. Get married, have children, and rule as a good and fair Duke."

I felt my eyes soften even as the tears came against my will, "I know you'll make me proud."

Then, before Set could fire off some snarky comment, I closed my eyes and dropped the shield.

The sword didn't split me in two as it would have done if it touched Ruben - that would have been too easy. Instead, it transformed in an instant - chains and shackles surging forward to clasp around my ankles, wrists, and throat.

"Your human shell will be a good home for you for a little while I think," Set said with glee, his eyes roaming over me as he lifted me by my new leash, "Until I decide to break it and put your soul back where it belongs... the limitations of this form will make punishing you for your little escape even more fun."

"Sera!"

Ruben's voice was the last thing I heard as the fire consumed me, and I was dragged back to the hell I never truly escaped.

--

Did you know that voting & commenting on the chapter helps writers on the app out a TON? If you liked this chapter and you'd be willing to vote and/or comment, it would mean a lot to me <3