GUYS! New ship name just dropped!!!

ANUBIS WATCHED INTENTLY AS PERCY slept.

She had spent all of yesterday trying to wrangle an excited Kebechet away from the freezer where her cake remained, not wanting her to see it until it was time. Kebechet, being the sly and slippery little girl she was, made it nearly impossible to keep her away that it took all of their combined effort to entertain her with a Monster High marathon, numerous arts and crafts activities, a tea party, and giving her free reign to style both of their hair.

Naturally, Percy was the first to fall asleep once it was all over. Kebechet got knocked out next, and Anubis ever-so-carefully carried them both back to bed. He spent the next few minutes snapping pictures of Kebechet drooling on Percy's hair before deciding to watch over them as they slept like a pair of sweet angels.

I wish I can smell her, he lamented, suppressing the small whine that threatened to build up from the back of his throat.

Percy had smelled so good when he first met her. Like deep sea waters mixed with ocean lilies, jasmine, hibiscus, pink lotus, and sea moss. A hauntingly beautiful floral aquatic scent that made him think of swimming around the sea with mermaids. A far cry better scent compared to Poseidon's, who reeked so strongly of the ocean that Anubis nearly cried from the amount of saltiness in his nose. While Poseidon's scent made Anubis think he was drowning, Percy's scent made him believe he was one with the sea.

But now he couldn't smell it anymore.

He pressed his face against the space between her neck and shoulder, inhaling through his nose deeply, desperate for just a whiff of her. But nothing. He pulled back, his eyes narrowed into slits as he directed his glare at the bracelet that was wrapped around her dainty little wrist. The stupid thing that reeked of Loki and it was responsible for hiding her scent from him.

Not fair, not fair, not fairrrr! He internally whined, wanting to throw a fit but also not wanting to wake up his two girls.

If he removed that annoying thing, he would be able to smell her!

...Buuuuut it would also reveal her location to the other gods that were currently trying to find her. Poseidon, Hades, and Adamas were currently working together and traveling around Helheim to physically search her out, and the only reason he was aware of this was because he had stumbled upon the search party and, upon being questioned, rambled something about playing tag with Kebechet before fleeing the scene.

Just a quick sniff, he told himself, a single clawed hand slowly inching towards the bracelet. And then I'll slip it back on! Easy!

Grinning like a kid being led to his favorite candy store, Anubis swiftly pulled the bracelet off. But then he froze, not because of the scent, but because of what he saw. Before he could even register what he was seeing, he quickly shoved the bracelet back onto her wrist, shaken.

What... what was that? He thought.

Her soul. It was all... wrong.

Before his great great grandfather, Ra, became Ra, he was once Atum, a much kinder god who worked with the Council of Gods to create humanity. The one aspect of humanity that he was credited with were their souls. When Atum gifted humanity with a soul, that soul was comprised of nine parts:

Khat, the body. It was the physical vessel that was inhabited by the rest of the soul while the person remained on Midgard.

Ba, the personality.

Ren, the name.

Ka, the vital essence that was distinguished between life and death. This was given by the goddess of childbirth, Meskhenet, who breathed ka into the bodies of infants at the time of birth.

Shuyet, the shadow.

Akh, the immortal, transformed self, along with its two aspects sahu and sekhem.

And lastly, the most important part: Ab, the heart, the source of good and evil. Anubis' main specialty for he was the one in charge of weighing them. It defined a person's character; the seat of their individuality and the record of their thoughts and deeds during their time on Midgard while they were still alive. A light heart meant that you were good and deserved to move on to Valhalla. A heavy heart sentenced you to eternity in Helheim, unless you were strong enough to fight your way out.

When Anubis first saw her soul that day at Mimir's funeral, her ab was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen—but it was a little shaky. All nine parts of it were; racked with quiet tremors as if it was threatening to break. It had been weird, but he didn't think much of it.

But now it was worse. Her ab, khat, and ka especially.

Her soul had always been weird. Prior to Hades' curse, she had a previous one that seemed a little older*. A curse that he had never seen before and didn't quite understand yet.

But he knew it had nothing to do with the state her soul had been in.

Aside from the newly formed curse chaining her down to Helheim, before, it had been a bit shaky. Quivering at best, but easily dismissable. But now it was shaking violently, as if an earthquake was being set off upon her mortal soul and it just wouldn't stop.

It wasn't right. Souls weren't supposed to work that way. Out of the nine parts, only four were supposed to change over time; the khat because it was normal for bodies to grow and change, the ba which became fixed once a human reached adulthood, the ka which weakened as a human neared death, and the ab which changed every second depending on the life experiences they faced. But those were natural changes, and nothing about this was natural.

He wanted to remove the bracelet just to check on it again, but at that moment she started to stir awake.

He froze above her.

It was a testament to how often she found him hovering over her while she slept because she wasn't even surprised anymore.

"Anubis," she mumbled groggily. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, how are you feeling?" He asked immediately.

"Like I'm about to go back to sleep. Now shush." She turned her head away from him.

He laughed nervously. "Ahahaha, yeah, okay, uh, are you sure you feel fine? Any pain anywhere? Do you feel off?"

She turned back to him, brows furrowed and one eye weakly cracked open. "Of course I feel fine. Why are you asking?"

Because I wanted to smell you in your sleep so I removed your bracelet which you strictly told me NOT to do and I was able to catch a glimpse of your soul on accident and now I'm worried?

He wondered how mad she'd be if he told her that...

"No reason," he lied, smiling brightly. "Go back to sleep now! Want me to sing you a lullaby?"

"No thanks," she yawned.

She fell back to sleep.

Gulping, Anubis brought the blanket up to her chin, tucking her into bed as if the extra comfort would further protect her from whatever the fuck was happening with her soul.

He decided that he would keep extra watch over her for the time being.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

Anubis sure is clingier than usual, Percy thought idly as she patted him on the head while suppressing the urge to push him away. There was less than twenty four hours until Kebechet's birthday party and they have yet to prepare for it since said girl was still wide awake and demanding that they entertain her.

Right now, all three of them were squished on a couch together in her playroom (which was basically larger than the entire apartment floor back in Percy's home). The couch was spacious enough to fit probably twenty people, but Anubis had no concept of personal space—another thing his daughter must've inherited from him.

When Kebechet turned on the TV to finish her Monster High marathon (and demand they watch it with her), Percy sat at the right side of the couch, choosing to recline against the arm. Anubis saw it as an invitation to jump on her and lay on top of her, practically squishing her under his weight. He had his arms wrapped around her waist while his head rested on her stomach, and he would pout and whine whenever she tried to push him away, so she had no choice but to resign herself to this fate.

But now she had an issue: she really really needed to pee.

"Anubis, you need to let me go," she whispered, not wanting to interrupt Kebechet's marathon.

He squeezed her harder. "No."

"Please?"

He buried his face against her stomach and shook his head. "Nooooo."

"Nubby, c'mon," she tried to push him again.

Another squeeze. "Nuh uh."

"I'll give you lots of head pats," she offered excitedly. There was some visibly faltering on his part. She pressed on, "Come ooon, who's a good boy?"

He perked up. "I am!"

"Exactly. And good boys let girls go to the bathroom when they need to!"

He looked as if he was stuck in the hardest mental battle known to man: keep clinging onto her or be a good boy and get headpats as a reward?

The prospect of being a good boy must have won him over because he slowly unwrapped his arms from her and climbed off. "Oh, fine! But I'm coming with you!"

Percy didn't have any complaints. Once she felt like she wasn't about to blow up from the pressure, she got up and hurried to the bathroom with Anubis hot on her heels. The second she stepped in, she shut the door before he could reach her. She heard his muffled whines, but surprisingly, he didn't try to burst in, though she half expected him to start pawing on her door.

After doing her business, Anubis was waiting for her outside the door like a dog waiting for its owner.

"Alright," she placed her hands on her hips. "What exactly is going on?"

He blinked innocently. "What do you mean?"

"You're acting weirder than usual."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh—actually, no, we're not doing this again," she remembered what happened the last time they did this. "You are acting weirder. This morning, you offered to chew my pancakes for me because you were worried that they would be too hard for me to chew and that I'd choke and die."

"Hard-to-chew pancakes have been the leading cause of death in humans these days," he said with utmost seriousness. "A lot of them have been showing up in Helheim lately."

She blinked. Her jaw dropped a little. "Wait, for real?"

He grinned, "Nah, I made that up."

She facepalmed. Of all the things she had to fall for...

"Okay, you win that one, but seriously, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing!" He beamed.

She gave him a flat look and he wilted.

He looked down in shame. "Okay... promise not to get mad?"

"I promise." She nodded.

"I... may have removed your bracelet for a few seconds," he confessed.

"You WHAT?!"

"You promised not to get mad!" He wailed, ears drooping and looking like a kicked puppy.

"I can't believe you removed my bracelet!"

"It was only for a few seconds! I put it back really quickly before anyone would've noticed your presence!" He cried out, quickly dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together in forgiveness. "I'm sorry, I only wanted to smell you while you were sleeping!"

"That's even worse. You do realize that that makes things even worse, right?!" She was absolutely bewildered.

"I know, I know, I'm really really sorry," he whimpered. "B-but it happened hours ago, your uncle would've been here already if he had sensed you, so you're fine!"

He had a point. She had to force herself to calm down. "Okay... you're right, someone would've come here by now. Just... don't do that again, please?"

"I promise I won't!" He nodded fervently. "But, um, there's another thing."

Oh gods, what now...? "What is it?" She braced herself for the worst.

"There's something wrong with your soul," he replied, worried. "It's not behaving right, Percy."

She froze. Well, that was definitely the worst thing he could ask her right now. Gulping inaudibly, she tried to play clueless. "My soul? There's nothing wrong with my soul."

He blinked. "Yes, there is."

She shook her head. "No there isn't."

"Yes there is."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No—ah, shit." He cursed.

She grinned triumphantly. "Hah!" She snickered at finally winning over him before calming herself down and giving him a reassuring grin. "Relax, Nubby. My soul's fine. If something was truly wrong with my soul, then shouldn't my body feel it too?"

"Yes," he nodded. "The body, after all, is a part of the soul after all..."

"Exactly, but I feel perfectly fine." She said. "Maybe what you saw was just a one time thing?"

"...Can I just make sure?" He asked anxiously. "Just for a quick second."

She quickly placed a hand over the bracelet, making sure it stayed in place. "No," she answered a little too fast. "I mean, I'd rather not risk anyone sensing my presence. Look, if I feel off, I'll tell you."

He still looked unsure. "You'll tell me?" He asked, just to make sure.

She nodded, but she hoped it would never have to come. She didn't really want to have to explain the whole 'oh I'm not supposed to exist here so my soul's going to slowly chip away until I'm wiped away from existence, teehee!' situation to him.

Now that that had been dealt with, the two of them headed back to the playroom only for Percy to notice something.

She stopped walking.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Shhh, wait, wait," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. She looked around. "Do you... hear that?"

"I hear nothing." He blinked.

"Exactly. Kebi's asleep." And sure enough, when she peeked into the play room, the little girl was fast asleep on the couch with Monster High still playing on the TV. She turned back at Anubis. "Do you know what that means?"

She gave him a suggestive look.

A large smirk crawled over his face as he stepped closer to her, their bodies nearly touching. He reached down to grasp her hands. "We... can finally..."

"Decorate for her birthday party!" They cheered in unison.

"Woohoo! Let's go! To the ballroom!" Anubis exclaimed, lifting her up and speeding away.

They had exactly 17 hours and 42 minutes to put on a shit ton of decorations before the party started, and usually this could've easily been done with a wave of Anubis' hand (or hell, even some of the servants), but Anubis wanted to do it all physically and Percy wasn't complaining. Sure it was hard carrying a bunch of six feet tall snake statues made of sand, but she always found decorating fun. At least she had a god helping her out.

Twelve more hours left.

"How many balloons do we have to blow?" She asked, panting on the floor with a gold balloon half-blown in her hands. She had already managed to blow twelve balloons so far.

Anubis, who sat across from her with his own pile of twenty eight balloons, replied, "Enough to make an arch out of!"

"We should've gotten a helium tank to make this quicker," she said.

"What's that?"

"...Never mind."

Ten more hours left.

"Nubby, this is the wrong shade of blue." She stated, looking down at the tablecloth they had laid down on the long table.

He blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"This is supposed to match Cleo's shade of blue, right? Her shade is more of a light Tiffany Blue shade, this is too dark. It looks more like a minty aquamarine."

He stared at her, lost. "...Who the heck is Tiffany?"

Six more hours left.

When Percy imagined decorating a kid's Cleo de Nile-themed birthday party, she expected something simpler: party streamers here and there, some posters of the aforementioned character, a few balloons, and so forth. Naturally, this was nothing like that.

Staring at the ballroom now nearly blinded her from the amount of gold in the room. The walls, floors, and ceilings were already full of gold, but the decorations brought it to a whole new level. Gold, blue, and black balloons were placed in an arch at the far back of the room, hovering over the empty table where Kebechet's cakes would be placed. Golden rimmed bowls carrying red lotuses sat at the center row of the long table. Large sand sculptures decorated the corners of the ballroom, depicting fearsome snakes to represent Kebechet. Tiny little figurines of Cleo de Nile dipped in gold stood in display stands that were stationed against the walls.

She shouldn't have been surprised. Gods always loved to go above and beyond after all.

"Alright, we're almost done!" Anubis clapped his hands together. "Now we gotta add the jackal statues!"

She whipped her head towards him. "There's more statues?!"

"'Course there are! You can never go wrong with too many statues!" He laughed grandly. "Don't worry, Tiny Princess, I'll deal with the heavy lifting. You should go and rest. You've been working nonstop and I heard that it could be bad for humans."

She frowned. "But I promised to help you..."

"And you did! And now you gotta rest." He started ushering her out of the ballroom.

She had a feeling his insistence for her to rest had something to do with her soul, but to be honest, she wasn't going to complain. She was a bit tired anyway.

(Surely nothing to do with her debilitating soul, of course.)

He practically threw her onto the bed when they reached her room—or rather, their room because he still wouldn't let her stay in an actual guest room.

"I'll wake you up to prepare for the party, don't worry!" He said, grabbing the blanket to tuck her in.

"You're sure your family wouldn't mind me being there?" She asked worriedly.

"I told you, they're already aware of you and they're excited to meet you," he grinned. "And yes, they'll keep you being here a secret too."

"I really don't wanna impose—"

"—You worry too much about irrelevant things," he snickered. "Trust me, they'll be more disappointed if you don't show up. Plus, think about how sad Kebi will be if you leave now!"

Oh great, he was guilting her and it was working.

"Okay, okay, you win," she gave up with a sigh.

He gave her a cheeky grin as he put the blanket up until it was under her chin. He turned like he was about to leave, before pausing and looking back at her.

She stared up at him questioningly. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say thanks," he said, and for once, he wasn't giving her one of his wide toothy grins. It was a smaller one, but somehow it managed to be more earnest than anything. "For helping me out."

She shrugged. "It was no biggie. I wanted Kebi's party to be perfect too, and I had fun helping you set it up."

He shook his head, "No, no, I meant with everything. When I brought you here, you didn't waver once. You took everything in stride; you didn't try to leave me and you always took care of Kebi," he whispered, audible awe in his voice. "You're better than the others."

She furrowed her brows in confusion. "Who?"

She wondered if she was supposed to hear that last part, because Anubis looked slightly startled at her question.

He gave her an easygoing grin. "Don't worry about it. Sleep now, I'll wake you up when it's time."

He gently brushed his fingers over her forehead and her eyes fluttered shut. Her breathing slowed down as she was enveloped by sleep.

Anubis continued to stare, admiring her sleeping form.

"I'll be good, I swear," he whispered fervently, staring down at her with intense eyes. "A good mate, husband, partner, everything. I'll be perfect. Just like you have been for me."

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Percy woke up to a pair of eager hands shaking her awake and the glint of shiny fangs at her face.

"G'morning," she mumbled sleepily.

"Two more hours until Kebi's birthday party! Come on, get up, get up! You hafta get ready!"

She laughed as she was yanked into a sitting position. "Okay, okay, I got it."

"Go bathe! I'll have the servants help you with your dress and crown once you're done! I'm gonna go get Kebi dressed!" Anubis proceeded to drag her to the bathroom.

"Okay, I'll—wait, crown? Anubis, what crown?" She called out to him, but he was already zooming out of the room to get Kebechet.

So she stood there at the doorway of the bathroom, blinking in confusion. She rubbed her eyes.

"Did I hear him right?" She mumbled to herself. "Why would I need a crown?"

Nevertheless, he wasn't here to answer her question, so she shrugged and took a bath as instructed. She used one of Anubis' cute jackal shaped soaps this time and made sure every inch of herself was squeaky clean.

When she exited the bathroom, she nearly yelped at the amount of dead people waiting for her in the room. There were at least twelve of them, all staring expectantly at her.

She clutched her towel, wide-eyed.

"Um... hi?"

She noticed that one of them was holding a dress in their hands and realized that they were here to help her get ready. That only made her clutch the towel tighter. There was no way she was going to get naked in front of dead people. Sorry.

"You're here to help me get dressed, aren't you? Um, thank you, but it's fine, I can do it by myself—"

One of them walked over to her and yanked the towel off in one strong tug.

"Oh, okay."

For a group of dead people, they were surprisingly quick and efficient in dolling her up. The dress was tugged onto her, all her jewelry were clasped onto her body, and her hair was being combed and straightened to perfection. When they placed her in front of a body mirror, her eyes widened in awe.

Throughout her entire stay here, Anubis had always given her black and gold dresses, but for the first time ever, she was wearing something lighter than that. Her new dress was cream-colored with shimmery light gold and hues of blue and green. It had a low, off-shoulder neckline and the bottom of the dress was floor-length and covered her legs entirely. Clasped around her neck was a broad-collar necklace made of gold with large pieces of aquamarines in the center. Hanging behind it was a billowing cape made of oceanic colors that reminded her of a day on the beach during an early morning. 

And then came the final touch: the crown.

Percy stared at the servant who was bringing the crown over. She still had no idea why she was getting one in the first place. In fact, this whole thing was starting to remind her of her... wedding with Hades, when he had placed a crown on her head and she had been unwillingly named the Queen of Helheim.

Why would she need a crown for a birthday party? Wouldn't Anubis' relatives be confused too?

"Hold on," she spoke up before they could place it on her. "Why do I need to wear a crown?"

"..." No answer.

She sighed in defeat. Right. They couldn't speak.

"Never mind..."

They placed it atop her head. It was a perfect fit and almost weightless too. It was an extremely extravagant crown, made entirely of gold. It wrapped around her head like a circlet with threads of gold dangling around in loops. At the top was a golden cobra snake with eyes made of diamonds. Hovering around it like a halo was a ring of gold that resembled rays. It was embellished with all kinds of priceless gems like pearls, diamonds, white sapphires, and white topaz. 

When she stepped into the hallway, she was greeted by the excited squeals of Kebechet who immediately pounced on her. The servants must have enchanted the crown to stay in place because it didn't wobble once.

"Mommy! You're all shiny and pretty!" She squealed.

She grew flustered once again at the 'nickname'. She really hoped Kebechet would refrain from calling her that in front of her relatives because she didn't want to be subjected to confused looks and be forced to try and explain that situation.

"You're so pretty too, Kebi!" She crooned, hugging her back.

Kebechet's hair was left long and straight similarly to her own, but Percy could see precious gemstones like citrine, aquamarine, and garnets decorated into her hair. Her kalasiris was a shimmery bright blue, a similar color to Cleo de Nile's own wardrobe.

Just then, Anubis jumped on them both, nearly tackling them down as he squeezed them in a hug.

"You both look so beautiful~!" He wailed, rubbing his cheek on their heads.

"You're gonna mess up my hair!" Kebechet shrieked in terror.

He let out a laugh and pulled away. "Sorry, sorry. Let's get to the ballroom, everyone's waiting for us!"

The ballroom was already in full party mode when they got there. Anubis must have gotten his hands on a Monster High soundtrack because music from Percy's childhood was blasting throughout the room. Gods from the Egyptian Pantheon were loudly chatting with each other and all of them erupted into cheers the second Kebechet entered the room.

"Happy 6 billionth birthday, Kebechet!" They all exclaimed.

Percy happily set the little girl down so she could run around to greet her family.

Before she could do anything else, Anubis grabbed her arm and started tugging her forward. "Come on, Percy, lemme introduce you to my parents!"

He dragged her to a pair of gods. One of them was a towering man with green skin that reminded her of Adamas. He wore a finely made suit, but Percy couldn't help but notice old looking bandages wrapped around his neck and leading down to his chest where the rest was hidden behind his suit. There were some bandages wrapped around his jaws and cheeks too, and a single stripe running across his nose.

This must be Osiris, she pieced together pretty quickly. From what she remembered, he was the dude who got sliced into ribbons by his brother, Set. A familiar story considering her own uncle (who, funnily enough, had green skin too) was almost torn in half by her father. Geez, gods with green skin do not get along well with their brothers.

Beside him was a gorgeous goddess, Isis. She had straight, chest-length black hair and donned a golden winged circlet around her head. She wore a resplendent white and gold dress. While Osiris greeted her with a brief smile, Isis kept her face blank, but Percy could tell it wasn't out of rudeness, more so because that was just her usual expression. Her face was soft with no hint of animosity.

"Hello, Percilla," Isis greeted her, blank-faced but with a gentle voice. "Do you remember me?"

She nodded. "Sort of. I remember seeing you and your husband at my debutante ball."

Isis nodded. "Yes. Back then, you were but a young and demure child, and now you have blossomed as my son's mate and wife," she gave her a faint smile at that. "I welcome you to the family."

Percy smiled. "Thank you, I—" Her smile froze. What did she just call her? "Wait, what—?"

"—She's the best!" Anubis cheered, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Kebi loves her too! She's been calling her 'mommy' since day one!"

Isis nodded in approval. "I'm glad. I was worried that her marriage bond with Hades would get in the way, however, that doesn't seem to be a concern," she looked between the two of them. "While I cannot sense her side of the bond— due to Loki's magic interfering, no doubt—your side of the marriage bond is strong, my son."

Osiris clapped him on the shoulder. "After the previous failures, I'm glad you finally found the one for you, Anubis. May your marriage prosper."

"Awww, thanks, dad!" Anubis beamed.

Marriage? Mate? Wife? HUH? Percy felt like she was getting dizzy. What was going on? Why were these people talking as if she and Anubis were already married and why was he going along with it? She was 1000% certain that they never got hitched—all they ever did since she moved in was cohabitate and take care of Kebechet! She didn't recall making any vows, signing any contractions, or even attending a wedding!

She cleared her throat and plastered on a dazzling smile. "Nubby, can I...?" She jutted her head to the side.

"Sure, sure!" He eagerly led her away from his parents.

"Why do your parents think we're married?" She went straight to the point.

His grin turned sheepish. "Well—"

"—Nubby, move, we wanna meet her!" A short haired goddess with a cat face eagerly shoved Anubis aside.

Percy soon found herself surrounded by three tall goddesses, two of them with animalistic features.

"Oooh, she's tiny!" The tallest one, a lion-faced goddess, commented, peering down at Percy the way one would coo at a lost child. She had fluffy looking brown hair that reminded her of a lion's mane. "Hathor, isn't she so tiny?"

Hathor, a tanned goddess with hair that looked to be made of gold, nodded in agreement. "She's cute!"

"Heeeeey," the cat-faced goddess leaned in a little too close to Percy for comfort. "Are you really Poseidon's daughter?" For some reason, she licked her lips as she asked this.

"Back off, Bastet!" Anubis scowled, shoving her aside. "She's not a fish you can eat!"

"Ew, don't touch me, mutt!" Bastet made a face of disgust, shoving him back.

"It's nice to meet you, Percy," Hathor gave her a friendly wave. "Nubby has been telling us aaalll about you."

"He has?" She smiled back, but her mind was still stuck on the whole mate/wife business.

"He's been gushing on and on about you for the past month and a half about how great you are with Kebechet!" Sekhmet grinned. "It got so annoying, our father ordered us to block him."

"Speaking of him," Bastet added. "Ra's not coming to the party."

"Even better!" Anubis beamed when he saw Percy's confusion, he explained, "Ra's my great great grandad, and he's Hathor, Sekhmet, and Bastet's father and husband."

She nearly choked on her spit. "He's their what?"

"Father and husband!" Bastet repeated loudly, thinking she couldn't hear. "Well, technically, I'm his great granddaughter too since Isis is my mom and she's his granddaughter! Oh, and Hathor used to be his mom eons ago, but you get I mean!"

"Yeah, totally." And the worst part, she actually did get it. She was so deep in incest that she actually 100% was able to understand their whacky family tree and the realization made her want to die a little.

"Anyway," Anubis went on. "He's no fun to have around and Kebi doesn't like him that much, so it's good that he's not here."

"A really good thing," Sekhmet snorted, looking around at the party. "A birthday party centered on a fictional character from a human TV show? Oh he'd be livid."

"And he'd make Kebi cry again," Anubis scowled darkly, but in the next second he was back to his bright and happy self. "Did he at least bring her a present?"

Bastet jabbed a thumb behind her. "Yep. Probably another book though."

"Ugh."

"Doesn't seem like he knows Kebi very well," Percy commented idly. Kebechet wasn't too big on reading, she preferred toys and hair accessories over books. In fact, she was pretty sure she never saw the kid crack a book open once (wow, they were so similar!).

"Our father's just strict," Hathor sighed. "He wants us to think and act in a certain way—preferably a way that's similar to his."

"Reminds me of my own dad," she snorted in amusement, though there was a hint of melancholy. A part of her missed him... but a bigger part of her was too scared to leave this comfortable sanctuary she had made for herself with Anubis and Kebechet.

An hour passed and Percy soon found herself amicably mingling with the three goddesses while Anubis spoke with his parents and Kebechet ran around admiring everything in a frenzy.

"—and that was when we heard that you were married to Lord Hades," Bastet was saying.

"And you were named the new Queen of Helheim," Hathor added.

"But then Poseidon came, flooded Helheim, and he and Lord Hades fought," Sekhmet finished, looking giddy at the prospect of a fight, which wasn't a surprise since she was a goddess of war and violence. "I wish I had been there to see it!"

"...How bad was the fight?" Percy winced. "Were any of them badly hurt?"

She shrugged. "I doubt it. They're both working alongside Lord Adamas to look for you now."

The more they spoke, the worse she felt. Her father and uncles were looking for her after she ran away. Granted, she had a very justified reason to flee since Hades forcefully married her, but she felt bad for not coming back to at least tell everyone that she was fine.

She just felt... hopeless. She was stuck in Helheim forever. Even if she returned to her father, it wasn't like she could go back to Atlantis with him... Maybe she could just live with Adamas, but she didn't think Hades would like that. He was her husband now, and she knew how very little power wives had when it came to their husbands.

All she could do now was stay away and hide.

"At least the flood's gone," Bastet chimed in. "I hate water, ugh."

Hathor rolled her eyes. "So, Percy, we know how you've been treating Anubis, but how has he been treating you?"

"Yeah! What's he like as a husband?!" Bastet asked eagerly.

All three of them leaned in for an answer.

Percy stared at them, lost. She still had no idea where these guys got the idea that they were married, but scarily enough, Isis, the goddess of marriage, had sensed a marriage bond between them which showed that it was legit.

"Um, hold on, guys," she swallowed thickly. "I don't actually—"

"—I bet he sucks," Bastet snickered.

"Bastet!" Hathor gasped. "Don't be like that!"

"Oh come on, Hathor, Anubis has never been good at relationships. Remember what happened to the others? Look how they ended up." Bastet and Sekhmet burst into laughter.

"Sorry," Percy spoke up. "Others?"

The three of them paused, staring at her, wide-eyed. "You don't know?" Bastet asked.

"Uh... no?"

"You seriously don't know?" Hathor blinked.

"Like, really don't know?" Sekhmet pressed.

"No? I don't even know what I don't know at this point..." She scratched the back of her neck.

Their little circle suddenly got very awkward. The three goddesses were glancing at each other like they were all mentally debating on who would spill the beans and none of them wanted to be given the job. 'You do it!', 'no, you!' their eyes seemed to scream.

"Oh my gods, look girls, it's Anput!" Bastet forced a grin as she hastily changed the subject, yanking an unfortunate goddess into the limelight. "Anput! Meet Percy, Percy meet Anput!"

Anput blinked, bewildered at the sudden forced meeting but managed to recover and give Percy a friendly nod.

She was just what she pictured from Anubis' description, serious and stern, but still friendly during the appropriate times. Anput actually reminded Percy of a female Anubis; she had the same exact shade of dark skin as his, long thick dark hair, and a similar jackal hat (she still had no idea how 1 jackal + 1 jackal = snake child, but godly 'genetics' were weird that way), but while Anubis liked to wear darker colors, Anput's dress was pure white with a blue and red beaded necklace and golden open-toed sandals that revealed dark talons.

"It's good to meet you, Lady Percilla," Anput made a respectful bow. "I've heard that you've become Kebechet's new mother."

"Oh! No, no, no, no!" She blurted out, waving her arms and laughing nervously because this was Kebechet's real mother she was talking to, and she absolutely NEEDED to clear things up with her before she started getting the wrong idea. "I'm so sorry, haha! No, I'm just a guest! I help out sometimes but that's all!"

Now it was Anput's turn to give weird side-eyes to the other goddesses. But Hathor, Bastet, and Sekhmet immediately turned around and started rambling distractedly about Cleo de Nile dolls.

"...Lady Percilla," Anput's voice was as quiet as a whisper now. "Are you not aware of what your purpose is here?"

Something about the question made her stomach sink. "...What do you mean?"

Anput's face fell into a blank expression, her body stiffening at her words.

"Forget I said anything," she said, all too quickly. "And please, do not tell Lord Anubis of what I said. I spoke out of hand."

She turned to leave.

"Wait—" Percy tried to reach out for her, but Hathor, Bastet, and Sekhmet crowded around her, chatting aimlessly about whatever they found interesting. She tried looking over Bastet's shoulder, but Anput had disappeared into the crowd of partygoers.

Meanwhile, Anubis and his parents were discussing his marriage.

"Is there any way you can get her to remove that bracelet?" Isis asked, staring at the accessory wrapped around Percy's wrist. "I can only see your side of the marriage bond, and Kebechet's side of the familial bond. I wish to see hers."

Anubis pouted and shook his head. "Sorry, mom. No can do, Percy's super touchy about Loki's bracelet. It's the one thing hiding her presence from the other gods, and she doesn't wanna be found."

She nodded in understanding. "I see."

"Anubis," Osiris spoke up. "I noticed she was rather... confused when we called her your wife and mate. Is she not aware?"

The younger god had the audacity to look sheepish. "I may have... forgot to mention it to her."

"Anubis." Isis deadpanned.

He shrank. "I know, I know! I wanted to tell her earlier, but she was still freaking out over her marriage to Hades! I-I just didn't wanna overwhelm her with everything!"

"...You're telling me that your wife doesn't even know that she's your wife?" Osiris ran a hand down his face. "Is she even aware of how our marriages work?"

"...No."

"Anubis!" They both scolded him.

"I'll tell her, I'll tell her, I swear!"

"What's really stopping you?" Isis asked knowingly. "This isn't like you, Anubis. With the others, you were straightforward and told them exactly what you expected from them."

The ears on his hat drooped. "I wasn't lying when I said I didn't wanna overwhelm her 'cause of the whole Hades thing... but then... afterwards, she kinda just started to do things naturally, ya know? She was taking care of Kebi, she became her mom, and I didn't even have to ask her to do any of those things! And she's been getting along with me too! She never tried to escape or yelled at me to stay away from her!"

His shoulders sank. "I was supposed to tell her earlier, but I chickened out. I was scared that she'd react like all the others did. W-we have such a good thing going on, I didn't wanna ruin it!"

Isis and Osiris looked at each other worriedly. Their son had gotten himself in quite the predicament. Not only had he essentially snatched Hades' wife—who was also the Queen of Helheim—he had married her while the girl was completely unaware.

"You need to tell her," Isis urged.

"I-I will!"

"Anubis..." Osiris trailed off doubtfully.

"I really will! I'll tell her!" He nodded desperately, before shrinking in on himself again. "...Eventually."

They sighed.

"IT'S CAKE TIME!" Kebechet shrieked. "Mommy's cake first!"

Isis watched as Percy's face turned into a furious shade of red at being called mommy. "Kebi, don't—ah, forget it," the young girl smiled in exasperating fondness as she rose up to go grab the cake she had apparently made.

The cake Percy had made was a small one when compared to the towering tiered cake for the guests, but Isis could see the amount of work and love that had been put into it. It was a single tier cake, covered in light turquoise fondant and decorated with cute skulls that had an orange bow on each of them. Sitting atop of the cake and made with modeling chocolate was the very character Kebechet had been obsessing over—Cleo de Nile, resting against a pyramid.

"Kebi gets to slice," Percy announced, handing over a gold cake slicer.

"I'll share it with you and daddy!" Kebechet grinned. She then addressed the rest of the party goers. "Mommy made this cake for me! So it's only for me, mommy, and daddy!"

Anubis cheered alongside her. "Yay! Here, Kebi, lemme help." He took her clumsy hand in his and helped her make more precise cake slices. He placed them on three plates and handed one to Percy, another to Kebechet, and kept the third for himself.

"Everyone else can have the other cake!" Kebechet announced. With a wave of her hands, the servants started slicing up the bigger cake to pass on to the guests.

Even as cake slices were being passed around, Isis continued to watch the small family of three. She may not be able to sense any bonds from Percy's end, but she had a feeling she didn't need to worry about that at all.

She looks quite at home, Isis thought.

‧₊˚✩彡𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟‧₊˚✩彡๋ ࣭ ⭑ ࣭ ⭑

"Faaaaaatheeeeeer! We're back!" Sekhmet's loud voice boomed throughout the palace, followed by the sound of three pairs of footsteps barging into the throne room.

Ra grunted in response. His daughter-wives approached his throne.

"It was quite a fun party, father," Hathor commented. "Kebechet was especially happy today."

"We met Anubis' wife and mate," Bastet grinned.

He furrowed his brows. "Wait, he was actually serious about having a wife?"

"He's been telling us nearly every day for almost two months now!" She exclaimed.

He blinked. "I thought he was just hallucinating."

"Nope!" She giggled eagerly climbing onto his lap while the other two stood dutifully at the sides of his throne. "She's real. We met her and she's cute. Super tiny too!"

Ra narrowed his eyes. "...Someone actually married that idiot great great grandson of mine?"

"Yes," all three of them chimed in unison.

"Bullshit," he scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

He turned to one of his servants. "You. Clear out my schedule tomorrow."

"Yes, Lord Ra!" They exclaimed.

"It's time I pay that moron a visit," Ra grumbled. "I doubt he's up to anything good." 

— author's note —

* The older curse Anubis was talking about was the Curse of Achilles!!!

I spent a whole hour looking up aquatic perfumes/perfume oils JUST for that tiny paragraph describing Percy's scent, so if anyone's curious I got it from Deep Midnight Perfume's "Mermaid's Embrace" perfume oil 🫠

Percy's snake crown idea is a reference to Cleopatra btw (she's known for wearing snake jewelry). I just thought it'd be funny cuz she was an Egyptian Queen but was also a Greek woman, kinda like how Percy's Greek but (unknowingly) married to an Egyptian god.

ALSO in Egyptian mythology, snakes symbolize protection!!! Anubis gave her that crown as a talisman for protection because he's worried for her safety 🥺

And yes, the whole 'how Percy and Anubis got married' will be explained later.

Stormystorms remade the horny meme with Percy!:

And more memes from solarcupid:

Percy fanart from ghostinghostdreams! The second is a floral dress for Percy and each flower is linked to the yans!:

Percy fanart specifically about the time she gaslighted everyone into thinking she didn't attack Loki with a sword! From muchywomp:

Percy fanart from Frogxlotl:

PERCY AND LIL KEBI FANART FROM isacajuli:

Continuation of QinZiYan Love and Deepspace Percy!MC: