Yeosang had a deep and dreamless sleep. It seemed long, longer than he would have expected from his usual sleeping patterns, but he must have been exhausted from all the dread about the end of the world, the trip to the gods' realm and then the night with Anubis.

When he woke up, he still felt lethargic. His limbs were heavy and his brain fuzzy, not computing for a long minute.

As he finally managed to open his eyes, he found himself in a small chamber. The walls were a dull white, empty of all decor. Aside from the bed, a desk stood against the fall and easily filled half of the room already.

Disoriented, Yeosang sat up. He had never been in this place, and none of the museum storage rooms had a bed. Where was this?

Still dazed from his long sleep, he searched the ground for his bag, his jacket, anything, but aside from the clothes on his body, his belongings weren't with him. No phone in his pocket either. Even the glasses he needed for reading were gone.

The only thing he found was a small black scarab beetle crawling across the tabletop under the glaring light.

This was no hospital, so what happened? How did he get here?

Nervosity coiled in Yeosang's belly when he stood (without shoes, just in socks) and reached for the handle on the simple wooden door. It opened under his touch to unveil a larger room. It was full of clutter, tall shelves filled with random boxes and bags, and bleak walls to shroud them. Some odd antiquities filled the spots in between; a grandfather clock, an old-fashioned piano with gorgeous golden edges on expensive wood, a random stuffed badger, and bunches of smaller caskets and tools. The choice of a naked light bulb in the otherwise dark corners had Yeosang guess he was in a basement, but what basement? Though it might as well belong to an academic institution or museum, he had never seen it.

Besides, what would he be doing here?

"Hey there. Finally up?"

Yeosang jumped out of his skin. The voice was chipper, but it was closer than he had expected and came from behind. He flinched back on instinct, twirling around to face whoever was scaring him in weird basements.

An old armchair stood in the corner, its green surface greyed with dust and age. Inside it and with a book in his lap sat a person Yeosang never talked to before, but he also wasn't a stranger.

Long legs clad in fitted suit pants ended in shiny black shoes. The black shirt he wore on top was unbuttoned down his chest to unveil a tattooed chest adorned with silver necklaces. His sleeves were rolled up, arms fully inked, and black hair fell into his eyes in spindly strands, the rest was pushed back.

The scent of some expensive perfume surrounded him. He had pointy features, dark brows and a matching intense gaze. He looked scary and though Yeosang had never seen him from so close; he recognised him.

"You're..."

"Hongjoong, yes. We never exchanged formal greetings, but I heard a lot about you, Yeosang." Hongjoong shut his book and left it next to an ancient camera. When he held out his hand adorned by many rings to Yeosang, Yeosang nervously glanced from it back up to Hongjoong.

"Where am I? What is this place?" And why was Hongjoong here?

Did Yeosang pass out in the museum and Seonghwa brought him home? Was this Hongjoong's guest room with an unfortunate location? Did he wait to greet Yeosang once he woke up?

"My basement," Hongjoong confirmed with an easy shrug. He was shorter than Yeosang but not by much, and his expensive clothes and posture exuded a power Yeosang couldn't compare to. "Seonghwa brought you in."

"Did something happen?" Yeosang asked with an awkward glance around the room. He couldn't see Seonghwa anywhere, but it would definitely soothe his confusion to have him here.

"I told you he would find you eventually. The time has come."

The cryptic answer chased a shiver down Yeosang's spine. He had this conversation before. But not in this world.

The moment the icy understanding washed over him, Hongjoong's lips pulled into a wicked grin.

"We found you, Ra," he breathed and lunged at Yeosang a moment later.

Unprepared, Yeosang went down with a yelp when a swift kick swiped his legs from under him. He twisted away to run, but he never learned how to fight, not even after Jongho so ominously pointed out his life was in danger. When his knees crashed onto the concrete ground, tears shot into his eyes a moment after.

Hongjoong's grip wasn't normal. He rendered Yeosang's desperate squirming useless within seconds, pinning his hands onto his back to snap actual metal shackles shut around his wrists. The fear that welled in Yeosang shut out all other senses as he kicked fiercely, but Hongjoong's knee on his back held him down.

"Stop! Why are you doing this?" Yeosang cried, trying to worm away without making Hongjoong even angrier, but the man just chuckled as he lifted off him and yanked Yeosang into a seated position by his shoulder. His scent was so confusingly pleasant, but it couldn't soothe Yeosang's hammering heart.

Would he die? Was this mysterious friend of Seonghwa's actually a serial killer?

What did people usually do in this situation? Run? Call the police? Yeosang was utterly trapped. When he squirmed, Hongjoong warningly pinned him in place. The shackles didn't let up, cold around his wrists.

"For him," Hongjoong answered his question just as another door clicked open and steps rounded the corner into the room. They were soft, comfortable with these surroundings.

A moment later, Yeosang's light in the darkness appeared.

"Seonghwa," Yeosang breathed in relief as soon as he spotted his cherry-blossom-haired crush. He could talk to Hongjoong. This all had to be a misunderstanding. And while it was scary that Hongjoong would catch people in his basement and tie them up, there was surely a good explanation for all this.

Seonghwa smiled at him, so sweet and kind. He wore a sleek black outfit, something Yeosang had never seen on him, but it suited his slender shape so well.

"Yeosang. How are you doing?" Seonghwa asked as he knelt before him and lifted a hand to Yeosang's cheek. Though confused by the kind gesture in this situation, Yeosang eagerly leaned into his touch. It was soothing and cool against his skin.

"I met Hongjoong, but..." Yeosang helplessly rattled with his chains. "I don't know what he is doing. Could you tell him to stop?" He peered up at Seonghwa and caught him smile at Hongjoong with a click of his tongue.

"Hongjoong you bad boy," he scolded him, gentle like a mother. Hongjoong scoffed in response.

"Yeah, yeah. There you go. In one piece and clueless as ever. Time to wrap up your game?"

Confused, Yeosang looked between them. He stayed on the floor since he didn't need another knee in his already hurting back, but he was still nervous when Seonghwa nodded.

But he was here now, right? Yeosang would be safe? What game were they playing? This wasn't them inviting him to join a trio... right? Did Hongjoong call him Ra or did Yeosang mishear? Could he be another god? What could he want?

A little black dot distracted Yeosang. Other than him, the beetle had escaped and was crawling away into the darkness, finding a safe hideout from the loud people trampling about.

Seonghwa caressed his thumb over Yeosang's cheek.

"Yes, perfect. He's so dear, isn't he?"

"What is going on here, Seonghwa?" Yeosang whispered, terrified even when Seonghwa's touch made his heart flutter. His gut swirled with that happiness and the dread, aware that he shouldn't be here, bound, while people were out for his life.

Unless...

Unless... But no. Seonghwa wouldn't sell him out to Apep... Would he?

Yeosang's eyes flinched over to Hongjoong. To his pointy features, his unsettling aura, the uncanny elegance and power of him.

If someone told Yeosang he wasn't human, he wouldn't be surprised. And after everything he learned so far...

"Anubis didn't give anything away. We'll have to reward him for that," Hongjoong chuckled, and the flash of flaming blue eyes made Yeosang recoil. It was gone in the blink of an eye, but Yeosang sat frozen between them.

"How did you..." His shock quickly had him zip up his mouth. No. They wouldn't know, right? Did Jongho expose himself to them?

Who was Hongjoong?

The memories came back in a rush. The oasis, the desert and the hills. A pack of wild dogs, led by a hound with blue eyes. Him claiming he knew Yeosang.

And what he said just earlier.

Only one person told Yeosang that Apep was searching for him and would find him.

"You... You are Seth. You are the one we have been searching," he stuttered out, not even caring that Seonghwa was next to him right now because he could explain everything later. Seonghwa might be in danger. The trickster god likely used him to access Yeosang as Ra and now both of their lives were on the line.

They had to make sure Apep would never find them, or it was over.

"Bingo," Hongjoong grinned, mimicking a shot at Yeosang with his fingers. "Took you a while."

"Don't bully him," Seonghwa nagged, hugging Yeosang loosely to breathe in his scent and run his fingers through his hair. It was addictive to be so close to him, but Yeosang didn't let it distract him.

"W-Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you," Yeosang defended himself, nervous now that Anubis wasn't here to get him out of danger.

Hongjoong had crossed his arms and pondered him with those fathomless eyes. He was the hound. Seth. Yeosang's last hope.

He had to convince him to join his side. They could still stop all of this.

Yeosang was helpless without Anubis and Bastet on his side to guide him, so lost against the real gods, despite the many stories he read in his lifetime. But he had to try his best.

"You didn't, no. But I do this for his kingdom and mine. It's about time the gods returned to rule," Hongjoong sighed, almost sounding bothered with the state of the world. With what humans had turned it into.

Yeosang's heart sank.

"You want to continue working with- With Apep? Really?" He whispered, lost in his appeal. All words he had been piecing together to convince Seth fell to dust in a fell swoop.

Hongjoong grinned easily.

"What can I say? He approached me with an offer I couldn't resist."

Offended, Yeosang stemmed against his bindings. Seonghwa's hands on him tried to soothe his fury, but he didn't hold Yeosang back when he yelled at Hongjoong from his kneeling position.

"If I die, all creation dies! If the earth and the sky, Nut and Geb, all the humans are gone, what will you rule over?" Though Yeosang still didn't regard himself as Ra, he had been listening to Thoth and Anubis. The gods were real, so the end of the world also was. Ra may slumber and not provide any divine power, but Yeosang would fight for his life and that of his friends. As the creator, as a fellow human, it didn't matter.

But Hongjoong looked highly amused by him. His grin lazy like a cat playing with a mouse.

"The new world. Our world," he deadpanned, as if Yeosang was the one missing out.

The rage in Yeosang's chest was ugly. Seth was always a jealous bastard. Trying to every throne, every ounce of power. Ra created something beautiful and Seth was like a toddler, destroying what he couldn't have.

Bitter words spilled forth without a filter. Yeosang hated him. Hated him so much.

"Fuck your world! You piece of shit, you would kill everyone just for a crown!"

The kick of Hongjoong's dress shoe met Yeosang's cheekbone with such unexpected force that he was flung to the ground. His startled cry muffled in the floor when he went down, hitting his shoulder since his hands strained futilely against his bindings. The sharp flare of pain dulled to a throb and Yeosang gasped, his head rattled.

He was alive. His eyes regained their focus, his teeth were all in his mouth still. He had never been hit so brutally, so he was frozen in shock.

Until a harsh hand fisted into his hair to yank his bruised head up from the ground. Hongjoong's grin above him was even more sinister, downright wicked now as his canines had become unnaturally sharp.

"You have always been so adorably innocent, haven't you? Unaware what situation you are in, even now. Apep is a hungry one. You won't be his first human meal. He likes them so cute and innocent like you, and whenever he sheds his skin, he likes wearing a new one." His cruel smirk broadened. "Isn't that right, Seonghwa?"

Yeosang's gaze flinched from him to his lovely coworker who was just standing next to them, watching Yeosang get beat up instead of helping. He didn't even look scared by this whole ordeal.

Shouldn't he at least call for help even if he was pretending?

But Seonghwa just looked at Yeosang with those gentle features and his soft lips and those familiar eyes that had never seemed colder.

And suddenly, the pieces clicked into place.