My first fanfic so don't judge too harshly. This is set a few months after the Throne of Fire ended. If you like, review and tell me what to write about next! Thanks:)
A Christmas Gift
Sadie POV
"Sadie, Sadie, SADIE!" yelled a small child who was jumping up and down on my bed, where I had been sound asleep a second ago. "Wake UP! It's Christmas!"
"Ugh, Felix, how did you get in my room?" I grumbled. I hated waking up early.
"Carter told me to come get you so you can leave to meet your Dad and Mom and all the gods in the Underworld!" he said so quickly I barely understood.
That made me excited. Usually I never got to see my parents, unless the whole world was about to end and they needed to advise us on how not to screw everything up. It had been a few months since we'd seen all the gods back when we made Ra king and everything again.
Now, we're just hoping that more magicians can join us to help in the fight against Apophis. If that doesn't happen…well, the world as we know it will be sucked up into evil and chaos. But who's worrying right?
"Heeelloo?" Felix shook me out my thoughts. "Seriously, get up or you're going to miss seeing everyone!"
Everyone?...I thought. I hope that includes a certain black-haired, toilet paper god…
"Right." I said. "You can go now, I'm getting up, I promise."
The nine-almost-ten year old boy ran out of the room, happier than I'd ever seen him. He'd probably be joined by about 10 penguins, which he was obsessed with.
I crawled out of bed and went in the bathroom, where I took a long, hot shower, trying to wake up. When I finished, I put on my usual t-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket. After blow-drying my hair, I brushed it out carefully, showing the red streak that stood out against my caramel blonde hair.
There was a knock on my door, and I heard my brother's voice.
"Sadie? Are you done yet? We have to go."
"Yeah, one second, Carter." I responded.
After a quick check in the mirror, where I noticed with dismay that there was a new pimple growing on my forehead, I pulled on my combat boots and walked out.
The inside of our enormous Brooklyn mansion was adorned with tons of beautiful decorations. Every inch was either green, red, gold, silver, or purple. I was in awe.
"Wow."
"Do you like it?" asked my good friend Jaz, another magician.
"It's amazing." I said. "Too bad Wa-not everyone can be here to see it."
She smiled at me knowingly.
"Of course Walt would've loved to be here, Sadie, but there are things he needs to do right now."
"I know." I said sadly.
Walt, one of our trainees was out looking for a cure for the curse that was passed down through his family from the pharaoh Akhenaten. Basically, he was going to die in less than a year. It made me choke up just thinking about it, not to mention that he was one of the only two boys I had ever kissed.
Jaz put her arm around me and we walked down the staircase to the gigantic hall. There, all of our trainees were laughing, dancing, and singing to the Christmas music being played loudly. A 30 foot tree was decorated in thousands of ornaments and lights.
Carter came up to me, dressed in a deep green sweater and slacks like a dork. [Just admit it, Carter, you are a dork.] Like I cared about dressing up for any occasion.
Carter must've not approved my outfit, as he shook his head and smirked a little, which had me confused.
"What?"
He had been holding something behind his back, which he took out now. It was a long rectangular box. He handed it to me, and I took a peek inside.
"Oh, bloody hell, no! There is no way-" I started.
"Mom told me you had to wear it, no questions asked. So if you want our mother, who we only see once every 2 years, to be mad at you on Christmas, then that's your decision."
I stood there, flustered, until finally stomping back up the stairs, box in hand.
Standing in front of the mirror, I wanted to be angry. I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn a dress. But to be honest, it didn't look too bad. It was nice. [Stop smirking, Carter.] My mom knew what I liked. It was red and black with a little sparkle, long sleeves, and didn't have a poof skirt, thank the gods. The neckline was scooped, not too low, obviously, because my mother picked it out. I felt pretty. But I kept the combat boots on, since one, she didn't send shoes, and two, I had to keep a little of myself in the outfit.
I walked back down the stairs slowly, still staring at everything.
"Ehhemm." Carter cleared his throat. He smiled and said, "You look good, Sadie. For a stupid little sister."
I punched him in the arm, lightly, [Yes Carter, it was light, you're just a weakling.] and said, "You're not too bad yourself. But don't let it get to your head."
It was still pretty crazy, in a happy, warm way, around the mansion. People were giving each other presents. I sighed. Hopefully it would still be this cheerful in the Underworld. I doubted it.
"Lady Kane?" I heard a voice. "Is that really you? Ah yes, I see the combat boots, never mind."
I turned, ready to retort. It was Anubis, god of funerals and death.
He smiled his blindingly gorgeous smile at me, which made my legs turn to jelly. He was always so annoyingly hot. Anubis looked like a teenager, even though he was thousands of years old. He was wearing a black button down shirt and pants, with a red satin tie. Just staring at him made me speechless, an unusual occurrence.
"What? Is there something wrong?" he asked, his chocolate brown eyes filled with concern.
"No…uh…it's just…you look really…nice." I stammered, my face growing hot.
His face relaxed.
"Thank you, Lady Kane. And you look beautiful, dressed like a proper woman." he said grinning.
"It's not like I had a choice." I mumbled, but smiling at his complement.
"Shall we?" he asked Carter and I. I'd completely forgotten my brother was standing there.
A black shadow appeared in the air. He gestured for Carter to go first, then held a hand out for me. I took it and together we walked through the portal, disappearing into black nothingness.
When we arrived, the place was even more insane than I imagined. It didn't make sense that the Egyptian gods would celebrate Christmas, but I guess it gave them an excuse to have a huge party.
"Children, Anubis, Merry Christmas!" exclaimed my father/Osiris as he hugged Carter and I. I never could get used to the deep blue color of his skin.
"Hey, Dad it's good to see you." said Carter. "Err, I didn't get you anything...I didn't know..."
"Oh, don't worry, nobody gives each other presents around here. We're really just doing this for you two." Dad assured him. "And Sadie, don't you look wonderful! I think the last time I saw you wearing a dress, you had barely learned to walk."
Anubis and Carter chuckled. I glared at both of them.
"Well, I didn't want to disappoint Mom." I smiled sheepishly.
"Yes, I'm very glad you decided to wear it." my ghost mother appeared next to our father. She looked the same as I'd always remembered-beautiful-but it was still surreal to see her, since she was dead afterall.
"You both look so grown up, I'm going to cry." she smiled. "Come, let's join the rest of the party."
We followed behind, and I noticed Anubis walking next to me. I waited until Carter and my parents had gone a little farther ahead, and held Anubis' arm to stop him.
"Anubis?"
"Yes, Lady Kane?"
"Call me Sadie, you really need to stop calling me a Lady." I corrected him.
"But you look like such a lady tonight, I couldn't help it." he smiled at me.
Suddenly, I realized that the last time we had been alone like this, it was my birthday, and he had given me my first kiss. That thought made me blush a very deep red, and I also lost my train of thought.
"Erm...I wanted to talk to you about...um...my...birthday present." I managed. I stared down at my feet.
"Oh. Yes, I probably should've...asked...before I...did that." he said. At least he seemed just as flustered as I did.
"I didn't really mind so much." I said quietly, still not looking him in the eyes.
Horus, Isis, and Bast, my used-to-be-cat-turned-cat goddess, rushed over to us.
"You guys are missing the party!" exclaimed Bast.
Although I knew Isis was still I bit angry with me over de-throning her son, Horus, even she seemed to have caught the Christmas Spirit. She smiled at us, as if she knew what I was thinking, which was probably true since she had spent some time living in my body.
"Come, Anubis, you can talk another time." said Horus.
"Yes, Sadie, this can wait." said Bast, narrowing her eyes at me. She wrinkled her nose at Anubis, who she didn't approve of since his alter ego was a jackal, or large black dog. They'd had a few bad run-ins with eachother.
She pulled me away towards the center of the room.
I looked back at Anubis, who met my eyes with a look that I translated as, Later.
I turned away reluctantly. Bast rolled her eyes when she saw the expression on my face.
"Honestly, Sadie, I do not know what you see in that dog." she said disgusted.
"He's not a dog, Bast."
She rolled her eyes again. "Whatever you say. Anyways, let's have some fun, shall we?"
Bast and I danced to the Christmas music and joked around for a while. The place that usually intimadated me was actually decorated in a comforting way. Probably my mum's doing. There was even a large Christmas tree, although there weren't any presents underneath. I tried not to feel too disappointed. I was munching on a gingerbread cookie when my mother drifted, literally drifted, over to me. She followed my gaze to the tree.
"I'm sorry we couldn't get you the pile of presents like we used to, darling."
"No, mom, it's okay. Don't worry." I assured her. "There are more important things to think about right now."
"Yes, about that. I wanted to talk to you about...boys." she said tentatively.
I froze. Oh gods, this is about to get major awkward, I thought.
"And..?"
"Well, I've noticed how you tend to act when around Anubis."
I went quiet.
"And I've seen how he acts around you, so I know that the feelings are mutual."
I was shocked. How could my mum see so much? Was it that obvious?
"This, as a mother, makes me very happy. Of course the boys would like you." she said, reaching out as if to fix my hair. "But, you know who he is. We both know how it will be if this goes any further. I've talked about it with your father."
"And..?" I asked again.
"We've decided to approve you two being together. Let's just say that this is our little Christmas gift to you." she smiled.
My eyes widened. I didn't realize that anyone else knew about Anubis and I, or that it was even this serious of a matter.
"Does Anubis know?"
"He doesn't know a thing. We figured you would want to tell him yourself." she said, still smiling.
And then I was grinning myself. I threw my arms around my mother, wanting to give her a hug, only to find that I went straight through her body.
"Oops." I said. "That may take some getting used to."
She smiled sadly. "I wish you wouldn't have to. But there are many changes that we can't control from happening, so sometimes we just have to keep living our lives, taking it all in along the way."
"Thank you mom. For everything." I said sincerely.
"Your welcome sweetie. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you, too."
"Now why don't you go talk to someone who you actually want to talk to?" she smiled knowingly. "It's getting late."
I laughed. "Okay, see you later."
She drifted back into the crowd of gods and goddesses, disappearing. I searched for Anubis, but couldn't seem to find him. Frustrated, I saw Carter talking to Bast and walked over to him.
"Have you seen Anubis anywhere?"
"Nope. Why?" Carter asked.
"Ugh! Nevermind."
I left a confused looking Carter and walked away from the crowded mess of gods and goddesses. I ended up in an empty corridor, extremely frustrated.
"Where are you Anubis?" I mumbled to myself. I was beginning to think I would never get the chance to talk with the teenager god.
"Sadie?" I heard a voice behind me.
When I turned, Anubis was only foot away from me. I took a step back in surprise.
"I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" he asked. It was dark in the corridor, but his glowing brown eyes still seemed to have an effect on me.
I stared for a second.
"Sadie...?"
"Can we go somewhere?" I asked. "Besides this place."
He nodded. Beside us a black shadow portal materialized in the air. He held my hand for the second time that night, and we stepped through.
Our feet landed with a crunch on cold, snowy ground. Gravestones were lined up in rows all around us. There was a very small stone church, which seemed extremely old, although apparently was still in use, because we could hear a chorus inside singing, "Ave Maria." Everything about the place was magical.
Anubis could only materialize in graveyards in the mortal world for short periods of time, so I knew we wouldn't have very long. The sun was setting outside, and the snow was falling softly. I hadn't realized I'd been gone for so long. Christmas was almost over.
"Where are we?" I asked Anubis.
"London. I thought you might miss it."
I smiled. London was my home until I became a full time magician. It was hard not to feel homesick at times.
"I do. It's so pretty in the winter." I said. "I'm surprised you even remember."
"I remember quite a few things about you, Lady Kane."
"Sadie."
"Sorry, Sadie. You just look so...different. Usually you're dressed so intimidating."
I raised my eyebrows.
"You think I'm intimidating?" I asked incredulously. How could a god, with immeasurable powers, be intimidated by me?
He nodded.
"Wow."
"But don't take advantage of that. You see, I'm a very vulnerable person."
"Person?"
"Okay, God." He look irritated. "But most days I feel very human."
"How?" I seriously wondered.
"Well for one, I'm constantly thinking about humans. A few in particular."
"And which few would those be?" I asked suspiciously.
"Okay, just one." he laughed.
"Oh." I understood now.
"But it's not like it'll do any good. I'll never be able to change who I am." he said sadly.
"But I like who you are."
"Do you? Even if I'm doomed to spend my days in the Underworld eternally, dealing with death and planning funerals while you're up here-"
"Trying to save the world?"
"Yes. Not to mention that neither of our parents would ever allow it." he said angrily. Anubis looked down at the ground and kicked a headstone.
"Sorry, Candace." he muttered.
But I knew something he didn't.
"That's where you're wrong," I told him confidently.
"What?"
"Well, I was ch-chatting with my m-mum, and she agreed with my f-father to approve of us...if we..you know...were..t-together."
His eyes glowed with excitement.
"You know this for a fact?"
"Would I l-lie t-to you?" I said teasingly. My teeth were chattering from the cold.
Anubis' face relaxed, and noticing that I was shivering said, "You must be freezing, I'm so sorry."
"A-Anubis, I'm f-fine."
"I'll be right back," he said, ignoring me. A portal appeared behind him, and he was gone before I blinked.
I stood there for a moment, wrapping my arms around my body to get some warmth. Then the portal appeared again, and Anubis came out holding his own black leather jacket.
"Here." He helped me put my arms through and zipped it up. It was way too big, but I felt instantly better.
He took a step back, looked me over, and grinned.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just..it suits you."
I blushed. Discreetly, I breathed in the scent of it. It was a mixture of Egyptian inscense, fresh air and his own muskiness. Delicious.
"You know, I never gave you your Christmas present." he told me.
"I didn't ask for anything." I said, confused.
"I know. I wasn't sure when the appropriate time would be, but I guess now might be okay, if you want."
"Um...sure?" I was still confused.
"I'm not very creative.." he said slyly.
"Are you going to give it to me or not, Anubis?" I asked, growing impatient.
He chuckled. Anubis took a few steps closer towards me, until he was only a foot away. I sucked in a breath.
He brought his hands up to cup my face, and tilted his head in. I could feel his breath.
When he was about an inch away from my mouth, he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Sadie."
Anubis pressed his lips softly against mine, which melded at the touch. It was just as sweet as the first time, but this kiss was longer, and held more promise. Plus, it helped that I wasn't being chased by a psycho vulture goddess and her baboon pet.
After we broke away, a little reluctantly on my side, I wrapped my arms around him. He put his arms around my body, squeezing me closer.
"So what happens now?" Anubis asked.
"Does it matter? Let's just stay like this forever." I snuggled against him.
"Whatever you say, Lady Kane."
Do you like it? Did it suck? Too mushy? I like mushy, sorryy! Revieww pleasee:)