Yeosang and Jongho found comfortable spots on the couch together, each pressed to a different end to uphold a polite distance. They were sipping their drinks and Yeosang had wriggled his toes clad in cuddly soft socks under the fluffy blanket that lived on his couch during the cold seasons.

"So, tell me about your family structure. Do Egyptian gods just... hang out and get up to mischief if they aren't dealing with humans?" It was nice to get answers directly from the source, even when Yeosang doubted he could credit Jongho in his breakthrough paper.

"Yes, and no. Some are more affiliated than others. We often encounter each other and many like to compete, especially if our purpose allows us to. It is part of our dynamic. And it helps us grow."

It made sense, if Yeosang thought back to all the old stories, of their wars and their treachery and all the tricks to take the crown from each other. The very concept of night and day was the eternal battle of Ra, the sun god, and the deity of the night, Kek.

Not unlike Roman or Greek mythology, there was a lot of competition, but such was part of the human belief. Gods for every aspect of life. Very different from most popular modern religious beliefs.

Yeosang sipped on his mug. Jongho's hair was tousled, ever so unstyled as he ran his hands through it without regard for the perfect outer appearance.

"Osiris is the god of death, is he not? Did you ever compete for that position?" Yeosang asked, aware of the stories and how Osiris was also considered a god of life and fertility, but Jongho's claim when they first met was different.

Even now, he scowled. The memory of his distant parent, however different the relationship among gods may be compared to a human family.

"Unrightfully slain by Seth, the beast... I helped Isis, my adoptive mother, to bring Osiris back to life, embalmed him and gave him the underworld to rule. I am not made to be a king, but he always was. Once I bring him the dead, he watches over them."

Awed, Yeosang nodded along. How casual Jongho was about the presence of gods in his daily life. How absurd it all sounded until Yeosang remembered he wasn't human. He just looked like it.

"Seth is widely considered as one of the worst of your kind. Why never banish him?" Yeosang warmed his fingers on his mug as Jongho shrugged.

"Why would we? How is there good if there is no bad? Life and death are a circle. And just how Ra gives all life, Apep is meant to end it by swallowing the sun to bring eternal darkness. Seth may be a fiend, but he fulfils his purpose." He paused to think, then added: "Besides, you see how death is not permanent for us. So there is no getting rid of him."

"Fair," Yeosang replied. He would have been much more worried about his safety if it had been Seth who stumbled his way into his museum. The tales of his misdeeds were endless. The god of disorder and violence, of war and storms and deserts. He brought suffering to humans, and they eternalised him that way.

"Seth isn't the worst of my kind, however. He killed Osiris because he lay with my mother, Seth's wife Nephthys. After he accepted the punishment for his murder, Seth helped me during my rite to bring back Osiris. He is a hound, brings mayhem, but he is not the destroyer of all. That is all Apep. He may have drawn Seth to his side, but the snake is our true bane, and he always grows another head, no matter how we chop it off. He is not just chaos to the humans, but also to us."

Yeosang didn't want to dwell on all the misfits of their pantheon, but now they already went that way. Anubis frowned in memory of them, but Apep was a name he already mentioned a few times. It held answers.

"So Apep swallows the sun and brings the end. Your shared kingdom of darkness since he spares you. What's his deal? I know he is the lord of chaos."

"Earthquakes," Jongho replied, and Yeosang pretended his blood didn't chill in his veins. "Forest fires, thunderstorms, floods... You name it. All of nature's calamity that is destructive enough to kill humanity in one swipe. That is Apep."

Since Jongho didn't understand the television, he definitely didn't know about the increasing reports on just those natural catastrophes all over the planet. It couldn't be a coincidence. All of this was Apep getting ready for his final strike.

"He dwelled in the waters of the underworld, so I often encountered him. Those who got along with him were similarly roguish in their plans for humanity, and he shuns all those who work with Ra. We always knew he would be the end of it all, from the moment he slithered from the womb."

"Sounds like it would be in everyone's interest to get rid of him. Why not work together?"

Jongho shook his head, though he seemed to think about it.

"He is mighty enough to devour Ra, the creator of all life. Once their chase ends and Ra is no more, the pantheon will also crumble. Perhaps if Ra teamed up with Seth... But no, not if Seth takes Apep's side."

So it was a matter of morals. Seth liked his own mayhem, but he would have to choose against complete destruction to defeat Apep. In a way, it was better for him if the world stayed as it was since he had nowhere else to play if it fell, but Apep would reward his services like no other if he picked the side of chaos.

"I understand. And the gods stirred since they feel the time is nigh that Apep succeeds and devours Ra. But doesn't that mean Apep is here? Like you are? Forging his evil ploys?"

After a beat of silence, Anubis nodded. He knew many things Yeosang couldn't perceive. And chilling as the thought of that beastly villain right among them was, it made only sense. Anubis was here as an observer, but the other gods also must have woken. Rising in their last battle of fate.

This planet was just the realm of their games. Humankind their creation. Their puppets to throw around. Their choice to end if they so desired.

It was infuriating to feel so helpless in their whims. No matter their weapons, their intelligence and their faith, humans were nothing in the face of gods.

The very one lounging on Yeosang's couch was proof of that. How unbothered he was. How easily he found his position in the kingdom to come. He had a future where Yeosang did not, and yet Anubis wasn't concerned with his death. It was natural to him.

Only humans so desperately liked to think they could defy fate.

"He is. But he might be hiding in the earth in the shape of a serpent. It doesn't necessarily mean he is hiding in human skin."

Apep could be any person, any snake. He would be easy to find if he spoke Demotic like Jongho did, but he was the puppeteer of the end, which meant he likely already arrived long ago to ready his plans. He could be hiding anywhere, in any country, with any face.

There was no way to find him. Unless Yeosang could spur Anubis for some help.

"You showed me the portal to your world, but you never went back to it, did you? You never tried to find answers?"

"No... I had no reason to. Everything happens as it should." Jongho leaned comfortably into the couch, not pausing to think about how Yeosang helped him out. His divine arrogance definitely ruined all thought of worship Yeosang might have had.

But he didn't let up. If they could at least find Apep, maybe they could identify a weakness. Or find out how his plan would work.

"Do you have other powers? You can't defend the world, but maybe you could protect it? Draw the end out?" He suggested. Anubis dropped his head against the couch, thinking about it.

"Hmm... My powers awaken with time as I feel my energy get stronger in this new life of mine. For now, I also possess the ability you witness daily."

Yeosang was stumped. His brain spun around death and darkness and fear. Part of him was upset with Jongho for not helping him. Another whispered that he shouldn't expect too much from a god who would take Apep's side.

It was exhausting, this back and forth, so he just asked.

"That being?"

Jongho gestured down at his chest. He finally wore his clothes properly, but he still liked to expose a deep V of hard muscle down his front. He was attractive, yes, but what of it?

"This form. This isn't how I truly look." Anubis helped him out when Yeosang just stared, not thinking too hard about what that chest would feel like under his fingers.

"Well, you were reborn from a mummy, true," he replied lamely, and once more, Anubis shook his head at him. The dim light wasn't doing Yeosang any favours, making the god look even softer and more approachable.

"This is mortal flesh I adapted for this world of mortals. My true form is unchanging."

Finally, it clicked.

Right, Yeosang got used to seeing him this way, but this wasn't how Jongho truly looked. He wasn't a real Jongho, not some person who learned how to be at home in this world and conformed to human appearance.

He was still the same ancient god of Embalmment, Anubis.

"The jackal, you mean?" Yeosang asked, and this time, Anubis nodded.

"Yes, the jackal."

So he could shape-shift. Yeosang hadn't witnessed him fully doing it, but it made sense. Was that why the kittens had been intimidated? They saw the hound?

"Do you think you could... Show me?" The question was hesitant since Yeosang didn't want him to bring some calamity by changing into his true form in this world.

But Anubis was comfortable showing off.

"Of course. Within these private confinements. Humans don't react well to our vision. Are you curious?"

Yeosang nodded, even when the question had been cheeky. His inner scholar roared with interest and he was almost dumb enough to pull out his camera to commemorate the occasion.

"Artwork of your appearance has been maintained until the modern age, so I know what expects me, but I want to learn if it's truly as the ancient civilisations described. Will it be too godly for me to perceive?"

Anubis already pulled his feet from below the blanket where his heat had been keeping Yeosang cosily warm through his proximity. When he climbed off the couch, Yeosang sat up straighter to witness yet another divine marvel.

"You will perceive what the human eye can recognise. The rest will be hidden from your senses," Anubis guessed as he twisted his wrist. Yeosang's heart lurched at what he saw, scared in the most human way.

This wasn't right.

It wasn't a shift, more so than it was a blur of one skin into the other. Jongho's body remained as it was, for now, but the hand sticking from his sleeve was obscenely big compared to his arm. Its skin was black like ash and his fingers clawed and long. It was monstrous, reminding of a humanoid when it clearly wasn't.

He flexed his fingers, circled his wrist. It was real, and he had full control.

Baffled, Yeosang just looked, too scared to reach out and confirm the sensation with his hand.

"How are you doing that?" He whispered, blanket clutched to his chest as he suddenly wasn't sure anymore what expected him. Jongho was already pretty brawny compared to Yeosang, but if he guessed his true size based on that claw...

Unperturbed, Jongho kept playing with his hand, stretching it as if it had been restricted inside his human shell.

"I will grow stronger as the end nears. Shifting is easy, with all this energy thrumming in my veins. This is nothing compared to what a god can do." His eyes locked with Yeosang's and Yeosang saw a glow in them that hadn't been there before. It seemed to come from within, as if his godly essence was bleeding through the human surface.

"You ready?"

Yeosang was terrified. Every instinct in him cried out to duck away and protect himself, but the historian in him was so curious, so desperate to learn more.

"I think so," he squeaked out and Jongho sent him one of these sweet gummy grins that Yeosang would miss soon.

Then he dropped his skin.