"When I am in one of my philosophical moods,
I am inclined to wonder whether all families are as difficult as mine."
- Amelia, The Golden One

-
3
Seth and His Brother
-

"It's Ayame."

"What about him?"

"He's gone."

Yuki felt a chill pass through him at Shigure's words. He might not care too much for his brother, but there was something going on here that was not quite right and Yuki wanted nothing more than for all of them to get back on a plane and go home. However, all of them meant all of them, and currently Ayame wasn't the only one missing.

"Hatori-san disappeared," he informed Shigure. The dog's eyes darkened as Yuki continued. "One minute he was here with Momiji and Haru, and then he walked outside and no one has seen him since. And…" He shifted his feet and glanced around warily. "Something is going on. I feel… strange." It sounded weak and childish when he said it aloud, but it had felt like it needed to be said.

Shigure surprised him by nodding. "I feel it too. Like there's someone talking to me in the back of my head…" His voice trailed off, then he shook his head violently as if attempting to dislodge the voice. That wouldn't work; Yuki had tried it.

Their helplessness in the situation galled him, and Yuki turned away from Shigure to glare evilly at the wall, seeing in it an image of the absent Harakhte. He had never wanted to do something so badly in all his life. But… what? They had no idea where they were. The only thing that could be confirmed was that the desert stretched away as far as the eye could see in all directions. The people of the town spoke only their native language and pretended to misunderstand any attempts at speaking to them with simple hand signs. The only transportation in the village was an ancient car that had no fuel and a trio of camels who had to be the most disagreeable beasts in the history of the world. And their airplane, still sitting on the other side of one of the giant dunes, slowly being swallowed by the desert; Harakhte was the only one who could fly it. Yuki felt justified in saying that he would die before ever again climbing into an airplane that was in the vicinity of that man, much less piloted by him.

The only good thing was that he had seen almost nothing of Kyou since they had woken up after their landing two days ago. The cat spent almost all of his time with Harakhte. Whether or not that was good was debatable, but it kept Harakhte away from Tohru and Kyou away from both her and Yuki. Any costs could not outweigh the benefits. And he was slightly envious; at least the damn cat was doing something. If only Yuki could stand Harakhte's presence long enough to speak with the man. It might alleviate the tension.

He gritted his teeth in frustration. "I'm going out," he said to Shigure shortly as he stepped out of the door. He was halfway around the building before Shigure had a chance to respond.

Yuki slipped around the side of the building, away from the village. He climbed the side of the sand dune and sat for a few moments. He hated it here, and it wasn't just the feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed him at times. Something about this place… The vast emptiness of it, the lack of vegetation or any kind of life in the huge expanse of sand with the heat that rose off of it and battered against anyone it could find like the waves of the ocean, though infinitely less refreshing… He should go inside. It wasn't good to sit out in the sun for long periods. But inside meant people, though fewer people than they'd started with.

Yuki sighed. He had the feeling that the worst hadn't happened yet. He stood up to go back down to the village when something caught his eye. A movement, down near the foot of the dune, around on the side away from the village. It looked like a person… He knew who it was. That long, white hair was unmistakable. "Nii-san," he called as he made his way down, relief he hadn't known he could feel filling his heart. "Shigure said you had disappeared." He came to a sliding halt in a spray of sand next to where Ayame was standing.

His brother did not acknowledge him at all. He simply stood there, looking out at the desert as if in it he saw the image of something he loved. "Nii-san?" Yuki said again. He reached out to touch Ayame on the sleeve, but before he could the snake suddenly seemed to realize he was there.

Ayame turned to look at Yuki. His eyes seemed darker than Yuki remembered them being before. In fact, the man who stood before him didn't really look a whole lot like his brother at all. He began to draw back, but suddenly Ayame spoke.

"Brother." The word sounded strange coming from Ayame's mouth, as if he had never said it before- as if he had never spoken anything before and was learning the sounds of the words. He was acting very strange, and Yuki had just decided to go and get Shigure when Ayame held out his hand to him. Hesitantly, Yuki reached out and took it, intending to lead his sun dazzled brother back to the village.

Something sharp pricked his wrist. He snatched his hand away and bent his head to examine it. Two holes, like pinpricks, dotted his wrist. Yuki glared up at his brother. Ayame stood there, his hand still outstretched, and curled around his wrist was a snake. It flicked its tongue at Yuki and hissed softly.

Yuki stared in disbelief as the strength slowly left his body and he fell to his knees and then face down in the sand. He dimly felt Ayame pick up his body and carry him somewhere, but his fading consciousness knew nothing beyond that.

-

Haru was keeping an admirable reign on his temper. Of course it helped that he was mostly sticking around Momiji. The rabbit was calming, despite his general excess of kinetic energy. Everyone was agitated about what had happened, being abducted by the mysterious Harakhte, and Haru knew it wouldn't take much to set him off. Going black wouldn't solve anything. He remembered Hatori telling him to try and stay calm, and to keep an eye on Momiji as well as Tohru.

Tohru was taking him and Momiji to see the temple. Or at least that was what she said Harakhte had called it; glancing at the entrance, Haru couldn't see why you would keep a temple in a rock. On the subject of Harakhte, he seemed to have disappeared and Kyou with him. No one had seen anything of them for almost two days. The strangest thing about that, was that no one really seemed to be worried. Well, Hatori and Shigure were, but Kagura wasn't. Or if she was, she wasn't letting anyone know about it, which was just as uncharacteristic for her. She spent most of her time with Tohru, who retained her strange trust of Harakhte. Tohru maintained that the strange man meant them no harm, but could not find anyone who would agree with her.

Haru tried not to think about it. A strange feeling filled him, the feeling that it was not yet time for him to think about such things. Now was a time for dancing and laughter, said a musical voice in the back of his head. Soon it would be time for anger, but not yet. So he smiled at Tohru and followed her into the dark cave. Once inside he noticed it was far lighter than it was outside. Outside, over the desert to the east, there was a storm brewing. But here, in the temple- for that really was the only word that could describe this space- everywhere was light. Haru noticed Momiji looking upward and followed his gaze; no electricity or earthly fire of any kind lit the temple, only the sun's own light, reflected back and forth by mirrors which were angled properly to direct the waning light to the maximum efficiency.

The statue in the center seemed to glow with its own inner light. Haru was struck with a sense of familiarity when he looked at it. Horus… A part of him knew that name. His eyes drifted past the statue to the far wall. Osiris. Another name that was familiar to him, though his conscious brain wondered where he'd pulled it from. It was the name of someone… dear to him. Infinitely dear.

A strange chill passed through him. Something bad was happening… but Haru was unable to move. After what seemed a long moment, he wrenched his eyes away from the wall paintings and glanced at Momiji. He noticed that the rabbit's eyes were glowing, and he wondered absently if his were too.

"Hatsuharu-san? Momiji-kun?"

Haru glanced up at the sound of Tohru's voice. He must have faded out for a moment there. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing!" she said hurriedly. "You just looked strange there for a minute. I didn't mean to disturb you if you were enjoying the art or something!"

"No," Momiji's voice was uncharacteristically solemn. "We should go back now. There is a storm coming in." He glanced at the thin sliver of the horizon visible through the doorway. "And it will be night soon."

"Ah, yes," Tohru agreed. With a sudden smile, Momiji grabbed her arm and Haru followed them as they went back to the village.

-

It was like a novel. One that he should have written, Shigure thought. Maybe he had already done so, but the plot was too neat to be anything else. Harakhte had planned every move from the start, and that crazy man had some kind of help because the damn voice in his head would not shut up. Shigure snarled softly to himself as he paced the darkened room, alone with his black thoughts.

Everything was proceeding according to plan, the voice said. Everything was going to be alright. What about Ayame? Hatori, Yuki, Kyou? They were all missing, along with Harakhte. What about them, Shigure asked the voice. Where were they? Not in the village. He'd looked. In every little hut, despite protests and with the help of the two village curs who'd been only too ready to lend a nose. Nothing.

"Shi-san."

He stopped pacing and looked up. Kagura was standing in the doorway. She looked hurt and confused, but also frustrated and angry. Not too far away from where Shigure was at the moment. "What is it?"

She shrugged uncomfortably, but he sensed what it was she was looking for. "Come here," he said as he sat on the edge of one of the beds. She came and sat beside him and looked up at him.

"What's going to happen?" she asked, almost unwillingly.

He sighed and placed an arm around her shoulder. "I don't know," he said honestly. "This Harakhte has something planned, and it seems to be happening without any aid from us and despite our rather pathetically unorganized attempts to prevent it." His words were serious, but his voice was flippant and she responded to it with a small smile. He continued, his tone becoming more serious. "Kagura-chan, whatever happens…"

"I know," she said. She turned to smile at him. "I… I'm scared. Mostly for Kyou-kun though." Her face grew dark. "I do not like this Harakhte," she stated firmly.

"You are not alone in that sentiment," Shigure agreed. He gave her a quick hug. She pulled away and stood up, seemingly stronger from the quick contact. He smiled to himself. The curse didn't mean they didn't need to be touched; it just made them look for comfort more from each other rather than trusting in the outside world.

Kagura looked up, hearing something outside. "Tohru-chan and the others are back," she called to Shigure, going out to meet them.

She didn't look back, didn't see Shigure sitting on the edge of the bed shivering uncontrollably. The voice… He looked up. There was a shape standing in the doorway. It cocked its head to one side and lolled its tongue out at him, wagging its tail in recognition. He blinked bleary eyes at it, rising from the bed, staggering toward it. Whippet thin body and tail moved off into the darkness, entreating him to follow. Why not? It would be fun! He'd always enjoyed a good time. As he walked out into the night his steps became more sure, the way clearer even in the dark. A smile pulled at his lips. This was the life! Now, the only thing he needed was someone to show the way to and his night would be complete. Hmm, speaking of…

Ahead of him stood two shapes outlined to his eyes, darker against the blackness of the night. His canine companion wagged its tail at them recognizing their scent. They turned glowing eyes toward him. "Anubis," one hissed.

He nodded with a grin. "Apep," he greeted the dragon of the underworld. Apep narrowed his eyes. The back of his mind, the part that was still Shigure, recognized that face and knew another name went with it, but the presence of the third person in the group overran his entire consciousness. Power radiated from him, like the rays of the sun or the heat of the desert, and he seemed to feed off the desert itself. His hair was a nimbus of cold light in the darkness, and his smile was cruel. Anubis bowed before him. "Seth," he breathed.

"We are all come. It has begun," Seth intoned. "Osiris is fallen. Horus draws near." He turned glowing eyes on Anubis. "Bring them, Guide of the Dead."

Anubis inclined his head. "As my lord commands."

-