In which a long lost family member rolls in to save the day.

oooOOOooo

Mother

Nephthys wished she had never lived this day. She wished it from the bottom of her heart. Unfortunately a wishful thinking was not enough to change reality. Nothing was enough to do that in fact. Nephthys was actually choking from sadness. Watching her grown-up son being so helpless and suffering by his father's hands made her want to break down in tears, but she couldn't allow that to herself. She had to help Anubis somehow. So she tracked down the god's mind, only to find it filled with Chaos and Disorder. However, Nephthys was not a member of the Four for nothing. She had enough power to penetrate through the haze of Chaos and began to destroy it. In the meantime Anubis, who was about to kill Horus, lost his concentration and newly found strength, but also his inner suffering started to fade. She saved the falcon god from eternal unrest. However, the thought made her grimace a little. After all, she just disobeyed a direct order made by said god all those centuries ago: she was not allowed to ever return to the Council of Gods. Yet here she was.

Then again, she did not say she wanted to rejoin the group. Yet.

Nephthys shook her head a little. There was no time for such thoughts. Right now she was here as a mother and not as the Goddess of All Waters. If Horus dared to interfere into her business, she would fight back as a mother. She had every right to do so.

- Your Majesty – she said softly, bowing a little to the completely baffled Horus, before hurrying to her collapsed son.

Anubis was in a terrible shape, both mentally and physically. He was covered in cuts and bruises, his left shoulder was in bandages. His mind was completely torn up, shaggy, ragged from the pain and fatigue he had to endure for the past hours. It was a miracle that he was still sane at all. Nephthys sat down onto the dry pavement next to him and pulled his head onto her lap. The water covering the ground retreated from them at her command. Anubis moaned pitifully, eyes shut tight. The Chaos in his body fought back, trying to counterattack her attempts, but Nephthys was not only sad but very, very disappointed and angry with her husband. These two emotions gave her enough power to slowly but very steadily oppress Seth's influence.

Horus carefully crept closer to them, watching the scene nervously. He was ready to strike any moment the jackal god would prove to be hostile. Nephthys spared him a quick glance then returned her attention to Anubis as his son twitched a little and opened his eyes.

oooOOOooo

If there was anything Anubis learned from this day, it was that there was no limit to suffering and pain. One would think there is. But they are wrong. He didn't remember much from this past hour, save the mocking laughter of Seth, the maddening pain, the feeling of being burnt to death, the presence of Horus and his own miserable pleadings to him.

Then a blue light came and started washing away his misery. It was so… soothing. And familiar. But yet again, he failed to recognize it, no matter how hard he tried. Seth's laughter became an angry roar but the sensation was victorious over the Chaos God, forcing him to retreat from Anubis' mind and body. Once again he was free, but he didn't know whom he should thank. He tried opening his eyes and they obeyed. So he had control over his body once more.

The first thing he saw was a pair of sparkling deep blue eyes. Then a face and dark hair surrounding it. Those eyes…

- Ni—Nicole? – he managed to choke out.

- Partly, my dear – the woman smiled warmly, relief written all over her face. – Do you know who I really am?

Anubis tried to think, but it was really hard and he was exhausted. He had seen those eyes before Nicole, he knew that much. He wanted to remember. And suddenly something popped up.

He was lying very comfortably. He really liked it here. It was warm, it was soft. What else could he ask for? So instead he turned his attention towards his surroundings. There was something big and bright and blue before him (was it sky?) but he also saw strange long blades of green from the corner of his eye, surrounding him and his comfortable place. It was strange really. Some of those long green things had yellow and brown hair or crown on top of them (papyrus reeds?). Then he felt a cool breeze and someone leaned in his line of vision, blocking out the big blue thing. That someone was covered in something dark blue, even the face (clothes?) and only the eyes were visible. He reached out towards them. They were so pretty. They were deep blue and sparkly, and something shone in them. Those bright things got out of her eyes and ran down on her face behind those dark blue things. He tried to reach even harder with his little hands, wanted to grab one of those shiny little pearls. But they were too far away. The person said something, he didn't know what it was, and then leaned closer and he could feel warm lips meeting his forehead behind that dark blue thing. Then the figure got distant again and the next thing he knew he was covered up with something black. He yawned and stretched with his little arms. Darkness meant sleep. So he fell asleep.

Anubis blinked and he found himself back on the pavement with the same blue eyes above him.

- Mo—mother? – he finally said in a low and tired voice.

The woman warm smile grew wider, tears welled up in her eyes.

- You do remember…

Horus sat down next to them but did not say a word. He knew when to shut up.

If Anubis had been in better shape, he still wouldn't have known what to do, how to react. Maybe he would have jumped around like an idiot, almost going nuts from happiness. Maybe he would have launched himself at her and hugged her so tight he would nearly crush her. Or maybe… he would just stand there, unable to say anything, unable to move or gesture or something. He honestly didn't know what he would have done. But now he was very weak and tired, he hardly had the strength to lift his arm up. So he just lied there motionlessly. However, he allowed a tired faint smile to show up on his face and he felt tears filling his eyes as well, even though he tried to blink them away.

- I… I l—love you, Mum – he managed to say in a hoarse voice.

He had always wanted to say that sentence. As much as he was emotionally attached to Isis, the goddess was not his mother. He had never called her "mum", only by her name and later "Milady" when she and Osiris became the royal couple. He just knew even as a very small child that she wasn't her mother.

Everything had gotten clear about Nicole: why she didn't have any family photos, why she possessed a divine signet necklace, why she knew so much about the Egyptian mythology, and of course, her story about her disastrous family life.

- I'm… I'm not an—angry, Mum – he added finally, remembering that Nicole's greatest fear was that her son would hate her for abandoning him.

- I know, honey… I know – sniffled Nephthys, wiping of her tears of joy from her face.

Then she looked up at Horus.

- I am sorry, Your Majesty, for disobeying your—

- Don't… talk about it – Horus interrupted uneasily, casting his eyes onto the ground. – I was an idiot back then. You are more than welcomed back among us. I'm just glad you showed up.

Anubis too glanced at him.

- We've got some talking to do – he mumbled, expressing that he wished to hear the details of this "disobedience".

- Yeah, about that. And also about that neat little blood red linen you got there – retorted Horus a bit angrily.

Anubis closed his eyes and sighed in defeat:

- I always knew I had it – he mumbled. – Never wanted to use it, though. It was just… there. I was too afraid to mention it to anyone.

- It's because of Seth, huh? – Horus asked.

- Yes – Nephthys answered sadly. – He did inherit a small amount of chaotic power from him. But it is for later. Right now we have to stop Seth and restore the Universal Order.

She lifted her hand that held the hovering blue orb of ink. From it a smaller part broke out and fell onto Anubis' neck. The jackal god gasped, his eyes opened widely as the powerful magic spread across his body in a blink of an eye. He felt the marks of the red ink, holding his essence like ropes, dissolving. Huge amount of magic, his own magic flooded his body once more. It was so fast it felt quite unpleasant, but only for a few seconds. His physical wounds healed and he finally found the strength to sit up slowly, though he still was far from being in top shape.

Nephthys moved to his side, the three of them forming a triangle on the pavement. The goddess let the blue orb sink into her sleeve as she inspected her son more closely. She had to smile a little. He had grown into a fine man. She wondered if he had a girlfriend or even a wife. It wouldn't be surprising if he had. She quickly dismissed the thought, though. It wasn't the time for it.

- Feeling better? – asked Horus.

- Much better – nodded Anubis. – Though I'm still not the best. Good luck taking down Seth.

- Gee, thanks…

- I believe you two should work together – said Nephthys softly. – It would be far more efficient.

- On the contrary – Horus shook his head. – It would be disastrous.

- Like all those other times in the old days – added Anubis awkwardly. – We messed everything up…

- Well, it is time to put that rivalry aside! – Nephthys announced in a strict voice, like a real mother. – The entire world is at stake now, we cannot allow bickering among ourselves, now can we?

- No, but… how the pit are we supposed to take down Seth when both of us are tired and beaten up? – mumbled Horus, not daring to talk louder.

- I can give you some hints – the goddess said slowly. – I haven't been his wife for centuries for nothing. I knew some very… surprising facts that maybe can be used against him.

- Like what? – Anubis' ears shot up.

-… Seth is in pain – Nephthys said simply after glaring at the rampaging giant in the distance for a second.