Anubis' Family

Since it's nearly impossible to sort out the Egyptian Deity Family Tree, I'm using these relations: Ra is the Higher God, another incarnation of the Christian God. Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys are siblings, Guardians - the equivalent of generals. They are powerful, but not omnipotent. Osiris/Isis are married, same with Set/Nephthys. Horus is the son of the first couple, Anubis the son of the second. Set evil, Nephthys redeemed, Isis/Osiris good. I'm messing with the old myths a little... okay, a lot. Don't like, don't read.

Nephthys and I were walking through the halls of the Realm of Guardians, on our way to a meeting with the other Guardians, and I was five minutes away from shouting at the stupid woman. The news that I was engaged to a mortal had somehow leaked out before I'd had a chance to officially anounce it, and as I'd anticipated, it was most definately not warmly received.

"Anubis, you cannot go on like this." Nephthys was trying to convince me to stay in the Realm with her and leave Zoe behind. She'd been trying for two hours, with no success, and she was becoming desperate.

"I know what I'm doing, Mother." I tried to be as gentle with her as possible. I love my mother, honestly, but I inherited too many of Dad's genes to roll over and accept what she tells me at face value. I always was rebellious, doing what I thought was right instead of what I was told.

"No you don't," she exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "We are meant to rule the mortals, guide them, protect them, punish them when we must. We are not meant to alter time to save them, or marry them!"

"Enough!" I'd had it. "Mother, I love Zoe. That's all there is to it. There's nothing you can do to stop it now, why can't you accept that?"

"Because you're my son. You're a Guardian! You're not allowed to have a mortal wife!" She then seemed to realise what she'd said, and tried to backtrack. "That is, I wouldn't advise you-"

"I'm not allowed? You're ordering me to abandon Zoe?" I was growing angrier with every moment. Nephthys was my mother, she was meant to support me. Instead she was basically throwing a tantrum.

"Anubis, that's not what I meant. You don't know what you're getting into - you'll only end up hurting, I know it." She pleaded with me, trying to convince me to break Zoe's heart before she broke mine.

I ignored her, and pushed open the doors to the meeting room. My insides tightened, as I saw how many of the others had gathered in the shaddows to watch the confrontation. This was not going to end well, I knew.

I stepped up to the large table in the middle of the room, where Horus, Isis, Osiris, Ra, Set and Thoth sat. Nephthys left my side to take her seat between Set and Thoth. I remained standing, looking very out of place compared to the others. Everyone was in their Guardian form, wearing white ensembles with the traditional jewelry. I, on the other hand, was in my human guise, wearing my traditional black outfit and ankh pendant.

Osiris stood, and I bowed. I respected my uncle, despite the fact that he'd taken my place as Guardian of the Underworld. He was always fair, and if he was presiding over this meeting, there was a chance it would have a satisfactory result. Not a big chance, but a chance all the same.

"Anubis." He looked down at me, eyes hard. "Assume your true form."

Well, if he wasn't going to ask nicely... I shrugged, then shifted into my anteater form. There were several gasps from the assembled guardians, and Isis looked appalled. Nephthys covered her face with her hands, and for a moment I felt a pang of guilt for shaming her. Then I remembered what she'd said about Zoe, and I resolved to be as difficult as possible.

"Anubis!" Osiris barked. "If you are not going to cooperate, you will be cast from this chamber."

I cocked my head to one side, then spoke into the minds of all present. I'll cooperate when you ask nicely. That shocked everyone. No one knew that in this form I was telepathic. Coupled with the fact that I was openly defying my uncle, I was making everyone wonder at what exactly I was up to.

"Anubis," Set started, "it will be best if you do as they ask for now. Save the snarkiness for when they really get started." My father and I didn't always get along, but I always liked his ideas. And comments. I just had to make sure he and Paul never met - that would be scary.

I shrugged, yawned (bearing the enormous fangs), and shifted again. This time I resumed my Guardian form - complete with jackal-head. I took a deep breath, savouring the smells. Being an Anteater did give me a heightened sense of smell, but it didn't beat having a dog's nose. Now I could smell the emotions on those around me, and I was puzzled.

Ra was calm, as usual. The others, however, all had tinges of fear in their scent. Horus and Set were both amused and scared, Osiris was angry and scared, Isis was nauseated and scared, while Nephthys was sad and scared. The gathered Guardians in the shadows were plain terrified. I cocked my head to one side, surveying them all, and decided to gamble.

"What are you all afraid of?" I asked quietly. Ra didn't react, but the others all gave signs of being startled. I knew I was starting to worry them. I'd never exactly socialised with them - I'd always been the one in the shadows, first guarding the dead, then ushering the dying through the gates. I was the only one who always put my work before my life. As a result, there was much about my powers that the others either didn't know, or didn't understand.

Osiris spoke again. "We are here to discuss your recent abuse of power and disregard for rules. Anything else is immaterial."

"Abuse of power?" I thought for a moment, then smiled. "Ah, you mean Mary. Why was that abusing my power?"

"Your job is to usher souls through." Thoth spoke this time, beak clacking. I suppressed the instinctual urge to lunge at him - it came with having a predatory animal form. "If the souls are unworthy of passing over, it is not up to you to tip the scales in their favour."

The other Guardians nodded. My hackles raised slightly. "Mary was nine. She was innocent. She was a good soul. She was worthy of passing over - the actions of others, however, trapped her and many others in purgatory. If I had done nothing, the child would have endured an eternity of torment at the hands of others, and would have unintentionally brought down a hospital - killing many before their time. I did what I had to do, to spare as many people as I could." My hackles were now fully raised, and my teeth were often bared as I spoke. I could smell the fear pouring off those around me. It was intoxicating, causing me to reveal more than I normally would have.

Horus spoke this time. "Cousin, why didn't you talk to the rest of us about it? We could have helped."

This calmed me slightly, and the fur on my neck flattened again. I could smell the relief from many of the Guardians, and realised it was me that they were afraid of. That hurt.

"I didn't need help. The humans managed quite well with a few hints." I neglected to mention that I knew that sort of 'meddling' would have been shot down immediately, so I hadn't bothered asking in the first place.

"And the second item for discussion?" Isis asked in her quiet voice.

"Disregard for rules?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Osiris nodded.

Set chuckled. "Well, he is my son. You can't really expect him to follow the rules all the time." He was willing to cut me some slack on this point, and I grinned at him. Anything that annoyed Osiris made him happy - and I was clearly annoying most of the others.

"Anubis," Osiris thundered, "you will sever all ties with the girl and her family. We have let your friendship slide over the years, but we will not allow a wedding to some human whore!"

Before anyone could move, I was on the table, crouched down in front of Osiris, one hand at his throat. The other was clenched at my side, and as the others jumped up, I growled loudly. Everyone froze - I wasn't restricting Osiris' breathing, but if someone made a wrong move, I could easily snap his neck. It wouldn't kill him - he was immortal - but he wasn't invulnerable. He would still be paralysed.

The smell of fear was almost overwhelming. This time even Ra was unnerved - no one knew what I was going to do next. I looked deep into Osiris' eyes, and knew I was in danger of having my powers taken away. Strangely, I didn't really care.

I took a deep breath, then spoke, growling at the same time. "If you ever call Zoe that again, I will break your neck. You know I can do it, you know I can make your afterlife hell. That's why you're afraid." I slowly released him from my grasp, then turned and walked across the table, jumping off the end. The others started talking, some shouting at me, some shouting at Osiris. I kept walking away from them all, until I heard my father call after me.

"Anubis, we don't want to see you corrupted by strangers!" He was trying to win me back. He should have known better.

"They're not the strangers, Set." He flinched at my use of his name. "It's all of you who are strangers to me." I walked through the doors, letting them fall closed behind me.

The last thing I heard was my mother screaming for me to come back.

***

I stood outside the meeting room, leaning against the wall. I took several deep breaths, then shifted to my human form again. My heart ached - I'd just alienated my entire family. Sure, we'd never been exactly close, but it had never gone that far before. I couldn't help myself though - when Osiris had insulted Zoe, I had to protect her. Even if she wasn't there, I had to defend her honour.

I shook my head, then started walking. I needed to see Zoe. I needed to talk to her, to make sure I was doing the right thing.

When I phased to her house, I found her on the roof, stargazing. I stood at her head, looking down at her. She smiled up at me, then reached up a hand to pull me down with her. I settled down next to her, but instead of her curling up into me, I curled into her. I was too confused, I needed safety. I needed Zoe.

She seemed to know what I was feeling, and gently stroked my hair. I tucked my head in the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent, letting it drive away the smell of fear that lingered in my nose. I wrapped my arms around her, letting her soft touch wash away the memory of holding Osiris' throat.

After a few minutes, Zoe kissed my forehead and lifted my face to look in my eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?" She whispered, concerned.

I sighed. "I've done something stupid... and I can't undo it. My family... they hate me now." I could feel the emotions in me being stirred around - sadness, confusion, anger, loneliness... and a feeling of overwhelming love for the girl whose arms I was in. Zoe held me close again, going back to running her fingers through my hair.

"It'll be okay. I'm sure they don't hate you. It'll all blow over. You'll see." She spoke in a low, soothing voice, obviously upset that I was sad.

"It won't be okay," I stated flatly. "They tried to forbid me to marry you. I refused to give you up. Things were said, I lost my temper, and now I can't go home." I closed my eyes, letting her hold me and drive away the bad feelings.

"I don't have a family anymore," I whispered.

"Of course you do," Zoe held my face in one hand, making me look at her again. "You have me."