I'M BAAAAACK! OH KIDDIES, DO I HAVE PLANS FOR THIS.

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I leaned against the pillar, thoroughly bored as I watched a defendant stammer for his soul. He was obviously guilty, anyone could see it. He was a greasy little man, maybe 5', and round as a barrel. He had been drunk when he died, resulting in his eyes appearing to be watery, even when he wasn't crying. Which, as I was finding out, he did a lot. Though he was a ghost, and therefore transparent, he seemed to turn a sickly shade of green when he caught my eyes, the crocodile tears flowing down his fleshy face. I glowered at him, not bothering to hide my disdain.

"I swear, I n-never kill-killed her-" he tried to plead at me.

"Enough," Osiris said firmly, holding his blue hand up. The hall went quiet and the greaseball turned his attention back on Osiris, who looked less than amused.

"M-my lord," the little man started again, sweat dotting his forehead.

Osiris shook his head, impartial to the man's fear. "Anubis, weigh his heart."

Finally.

I stepped forward, the man's heart appeared in my hands. As I walked towards the scales, a loud crash echoed from behind the stone doors of the temple. Everyone in the court jumped from surprise.

The crash was followed by yells from the guards, growls from a herd of jackals and the shrill voice of an angry british girl.

Before anyone could react, the door burst open and a blur of a girl ran by, closely followed by at least twenty undead guards and five murderous jackals.

Sadie darted to her dad, who looked shocked to say the least. The guards skidded to a halt, unwilling to throw their spears that close to Osiris. My jackals, however, had no such qualms, and all of them rushed at her, mouths foaming and eyes glowing, while Sadie was trapped with her back against the throne.

Sadie stifled a shriek and raised her hands in defense.

Time seemed to slow to a near stop. I dropped the heart and leapt towards her, changing mid-air into an enormous jackal, landing between Sadie and the pack, a horse-sized barrier between them and her. Anger coursed through my veins and I snarled, gnashing my fangs at my minions

Time whirled and my jackals seemed to hit an invisible brick wall as soon as they saw me. They all dropped to their sides, belly up, a sign of submission, in an instant. They whimpered meekly and the guards dropped their spears. All eyes from around the court seemed to be looking at me in various degrees of fear.

"Anubis," Sadie whispered, her voice shaking. "You've set the floor on fire."

I looked down in surprise. At my paws, blue fire seemed to be leeching, flowing through the cracks on the floor like water. The greaseman was hoping from foot to foot, trying to avoid being burned. The guards, unable to feel pain, were slowly having their feet melted into their shoes. The smell, to say the least, was horrendous.

I shifted back to a human form and summoned the fires back. At once, the floor returned to normal, if not smoking slightly. The jackals in front of me were still on their side.

"Get up," I grumbled, avoiding the eye contact of everyone. I nudged the leader of the pack with the toe of my boot. "Go put everyone back at their posts. None of you get dinner. Shame on you all for attacking Osiris's daughter," I looked at them all, meeting their glowing eyes. They were intelligent and they knew they'd done something wrong.

The jackals got up, all with their noses to the ground, looking like I'd just whipped them. This was the first time in centuries they'd ever been in trouble, and definitely the first time their god had delivered punishment, even if it was just a withdrawal of a meal.

I was about to go pick up the heart I dropped when I felt a sharp jab at my back.

"Why are your jackals so bloody mean?" Sadie exclaimed sharply. If I hadn't been used to her voice, I might've flinched.

"Did you just punch me?"

"Yes." She crossed her arms and tapped her shoe, looking at me as if I was the one in trouble. For a moment I was caught off guard at how blue her eyes were. I had the sudden, irrational urge to kiss her again, despite how angry she looked and how much trouble I had been in the last time.

"Anubis."

Realizing I hadn't answered, I shoved aside my urges. "What?"

She glowered at me, her cheeks turning red. Even though she was angry it was really very cute-

"Why do your jackals keep trying to eat me everytime I come over? Everytime I come over, your guard dogs just about take my hands off!"

"They're supposed to keep intruders out," I stepped forward and spread my hands. "You are an intruder."

Sadie's face went bright red with anger, even her nose. She looked like she was going to rip my arm off and beat me with it and yet I still found her adorable. Behind her, a fire blazed up towards the ceiling, feeding off her anger.

"Children," Osiris cleared his throat. The fire died back down behind Sadie and I looked behind me. There were scorch marks on the pillars from where the fire had been feeding off my energies. I felt my ears turn pink. It wasn't like me to lose control of my emotions.

"I think you two need to be separated before you burn down the temple," Osiris said pointedly, gesturing for me to leave. I didn't bother arguing, slinking back off into the darkness, making myself invisible so I could still hear.

Osiris dismissed court, and the greaseball of a soul was led stammering, back into a holding cell. Officials slowly made their way back to their rooms, or to conduct business in other areas of the halls. When they were all gone, Osiris faded into his host's form, Julius Kane.

"Dad!" Sadie ran and jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Julius smiled and the sternness of court faded from his face. He hugged her back, and held her there for a few minutes.

She looks so happy, I thought to myself, lingering invisible in the corner. She looks beautiful.

And she did too. Her hair was streaked with dark blue and haphazardly braided, many of the pieces had fallen out when she'd ran from the guards. She was wearing jeans and a loose fitting cotton blouse. My hands began to itch with the temptation to wrap my arms around her, to hold her close to me-

"Why must you antagonize Anubis?" Julius sighed, pulling away from his daughter and holding her at arm's length. "You know he will snap at you."

Sadie shrugged, unbothered by her father's words. "He won't hurt me. Now, his mangy mutts-"

Julius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. I knew he found it infuriating that Sadie didn't fear anything. She would tease the guards to get them to chase her, play with Ammit, and most disturbingly, she was hell-bound to pet the jackals. In the month since she'd been gone, she would show up occasionally, and it always resulted in mayhem.

"They are going to bite you one day," Julius said. "And you torment Anubis just as much as his jackals. I know that you know he has a soft spot for you, but I'm worried you're going to get hurt-"

"Anubis wouldn't hurt me," Sadie repeated firmly. She twisted out of her father's arms and turned away from him. "Why can't I ever come over without the world trying to end or you lecturing me about leaving Anubis alone?"

I bristled. It was not Julius's job to decide whether or not I wanted to be left alone.

Julius must have realized he'd offended Sadie, because he dropped the subject. He put one arm around Sadie and squeezed her tight, kissing her forehead.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," he said. "I don't want you to think I don't want you here. Sometimes I just wish you wouldn't arrive in such a scene."

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just wanted to pet one, and then all of a sudden they were all chasing me."

"Its okay. Why don't you stay the night?" Julius offered, ignoring Sadie's irrational reasoning. "There are plenty of spare rooms."

Sadie's eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly.

Julius clapped his hands together, which summoned a ghost of a butler.

"Please prepare a room for my daughter, and let the cooks know we'll be having company at dinner," Julius said. The ghost bowed and then disappeared into the mist.

"Run along now, sweetheart," Julius said, patting Sadie's back. "Your mother is around here somewhere." Said grinned and ran off down one of the hallways. "And don't be petting the jackals," Julius called after her. She was already out of earshot.

"Stop eavesdropping Anubis, come out from there."

With a start, I dropped the invisibility spell. "How did you know?"

Julius shrugged and gestured for me to follow him. "Even when you're invisible, there's still a lingering darkness, Anubis."

We began to walk through the halls. I kept my eyes down, waiting to hear my punishment for not leaving when I was told.

"Anubis, I know you like Sadie," Julius said kindly.

My heart stopped and I refused to let myself look up. Relations between gods and mortals were forbidden, extremely forbidden. If anyone knew how much I liked her, she would be killed. The mere thought made my blood turn to ice.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, we will keep it between the two of us."

I couldn't help it, my head snapped up. "What?"

Julius chuckled, and to my shock, he patted my shoulder.

"I think it will pass," Julius explained. "You've been alone for a very, very long time. It's only natural that you would latch on to the person who ended that isolation."

I felt my face going hot and I looked away. It was much more than that. So much more than that.

Julius continued, oblivious to my thoughts. "Sadie is strong willed and very hard to handle. I think if you were to have a few conversations with her, you would discover that. All you need is to see how different you two are, then your feelings will pass."

I felt lightheaded. "What do you mean?"

"She's staying for dinner, maybe try talking to her?" Julius prompted.

"I'm not very good at talking," I muttered, staring at my boots.

Julius patted my back again, "with Sadie, I doubt you'll get a word in anyhow."

And with that, we parted and Julius left me, standing alone in a corridor.