Someone asked that I provide a list of which character matched up with which god. I stuck it here, because I thought this was the earliest I could put it without spoiling anything. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion: Kagura is Taueret; Hatsuharu is Hathor; Momiji is Thoth; Shigure is Anubis; Hatori is Apep; Ayame is Seth; Yuki is Osiris; Tohru is Isis; Kyou is Harsiesis, and Harakhte is obviouslyHarakhte, but Harsiesis and Harakhte together make Horus.

"They shall see me… the Eye of Horus burning with fire before my eyes.
They shall open the holy paths to me…
The place which is closed is opened… By the Eye of Horus I am delivered."
-The Book of the Dead

-
6
Into the Underworld
-

When Hathor spoke to him, it was the strangest feeling- like there was music playing in his head. Haru looked out from his eyes, a passenger in his own body, watching Hathor dispatch the creature of Seth with ease. It was a strange experience, and while he would not have chosen or allowed such a thing if he had been in a position to do so, Haru found watching Hathor, melding with the god's mind, invigorating. They thought in many of the same ways, the only difference was the goal. But at the moment the goal was the same, though they both gave it a different name and face.

There was only one main point of contention between them, but it happened to be a rather large one that came into focus rather sharply as Hathor turned toward Anubis and prepared to rain fire down upon him. Hathor did not care much for Anubis, but he knew that the disembodied spirit of the god would survive any attack he made- the attack would be intended to slow Anubis down rather than destroy the god. The body he had possessed would be destroyed however, and Haru beat against the walls of his mind in an effort to wrest back control of his body before Hathor succeeded in killing Shigure. Don't kill him, he told Hathor, only to receive a puzzled Why? in answer. The god did not particularly care about what happened to humans who stood in opposition to him.

Fortunately, Anubis blocked Hathor's first attack, doing so almost contemptuously. "Who's playing games now, cow? Your hits are weak. Come now," he grinned, "put some effort into it." With that, Anubis snapped his fingers and the jackals that had been crouched at his feet snarled and leapt at Hathor. His mind focused on a less physical attack, Hathor failed to dodge the dogs, and they succeeded in bowling him over. He brought his arm up in time to keep the first one off his throat, and a foot in the face of the second kept it from disemboweling him. He tried to keep an eye on Anubis, in case the god decided to attack, but a look informed him that Anubis had other worries.

Taueret had snuck up behind Anubis and tackled him; the pair went rolling over the sands. Thoth guarded Isis; Harsiesis and Harakhte were arguing. Hathor narrowed his eyes at the dog with its teeth fastened in his arm. Do you mind letting me help? Haru said, annoyed. That is my body you're getting torn up. Hathor growled low in his throat, but acquiesced to Haru's request. Finally, Haru thought, feeling Hathor's rigid control relax. Haru promptly pulled his arm closer and bit the jackal hard on the nose.

Yelping in surprise and pain, the animal released its hold on Haru's arm. The second dog stopped chewing on his shoe and dived for his throat; Haru head butted it viciously. He could feel Hathor's admiration of his rather direct technique. May I suggest a compromise? the god asked.

"Compromise?" Haru murmured, his attention still focused on the forms of the retreating jackals.

Yes. If you will look to your left slightly…

Haru looked left. Glowing eyes filled the darkness, crawling over the sands. Uh oh…

Yes, Hathor responded. Seth's army approaches. If I may?

Haru sighed, but nodded. He felt Hathor again take control of the body they shared. A strike of the blue fire scattered the approaching figures, slowing them momentarily. Hathor turned toward the group. "Thoth!" he called. "Into the tunnel!"

The rabbit nodded, guiding Isis- Tohru, Haru thought- to the doorway that Anubis had opened with the intention of using it for himself. Hathor narrowed his eyes and scanned the night, but he could not find Horus anywhere. He would worry about those two later; Taueret was fighting Anubis. Hathor jogged over the sand, moving in the direction in which he had last seen the pair.

He found them, Taueret seated in the sand, Anubis, unconscious, with his head in her lap as she stroked through his hair. No, Hathor thought. That is not Taueret.

It was Kagura who looked up at him sadly, and it was Hatsuharu who knelt beside her in the sand.

"I punched him in the stomach," Kagura said, "and then hit him over the head with a rock. You'd think Shigure of all people would have seen it coming…" She trailed off, and Haru wiped the tear from her cheek without a word. Together, they lifted Shigure between them and carried him to the others.

-

Tohru cried out when she saw the sad trio that came toward the group standing just inside the mouth of the tunnel and went running to them. Kyou's face was like granite as he watched them approach. Like granite; until Haru's eyes met his and the ox said softly, "He's not dead."

Kyou turned away so that they couldn't see his face, so that he wouldn't have to look at them. With everyone gone, with what Harakhte had told him, he felt as if he should be in charge somehow. As if, since this mess was all his fault, he should take responsibility, and maybe for a moment he brushed against the edge of the reason why Hatori never smiled. And in that moment, when they carried Shigure toward him, when he had thought the dog was dead, he felt the most overwhelming sense of failure. Harakhte had explained to him that Yuki wasn't really dead, not yet- he was in something of a coma until the completion of the ceremony, when his fate would be decided either way. But if Shigure was dead… It was true. It made everything real in the most horrible way, because Shigure was the one who'd made him stay, the one who made him go to that stupid school, the one who cried like a baby every time he and the damn rat broke the stupid door, the one who talked to him about things… told him that someone would love him, even though he was the cat.

But Haru said no. He wasn't dead. Kyou discovered he could breathe again. "Is he…" He hesitated, not quite sure how to phrase the question. "Still…"

"Yes." Momiji's voice was soft; Kyou could barely hear him, and he wondered what the rabbit was thinking. Haru and Kagura had placed Shigure on the sand, and Momiji knelt beside him and placed a hand on his forehead. "Anubis still possesses him. I can cause him to sleep," he looked up at Kyou, "but only Seth or Horus, or Anubis himself, can lift the spell of possession."

Kyou nodded. He looked at Harakhte, but for once there was no fire in his gaze. "Put him somewhere he'll be safe, and we'll worry about him later."

Momiji nodded and touched Shigure's forehead again. The dog seemed to take a deep breath, and then relaxed as if into a deep sleep. It occurred to a corner of Kyou's mind that putting people to sleep was not something Momiji could usually do, but dammit he refused to think about the reason they were hear. Not now. Now, as they stood around Shigure, it was just them. Now…

"Kyou-kun." Kagura touched his sleeve, and when he turned to look at her she pointed to the opening of the tunnel, behind them now as they stood just inside the tunnel's bounds. Crouched and crawling there in the semidarkness something grunted and growled. Or rather, a lot of somethings. Haru stood by the opening; blue fire in his hand outlined the shapes that crawled just beyond the edge.

"What…" Kyou began, but was cut off.

"The army of Seth." Harakhte stepped forward, calling forth himself a ball of pure sunlight that sat in his hand and illuminated the passageway they were in, as well as the desert and the creatures that crawled there. "He has called them to his aid, to hinder us."

At these words, a jackal in the front of the group jumped at them, slavering jaws wide. Hathor struck it down almost without looking and glared at the others.

Kyou glared at Harakhte. "But Ayame's the snake…" He trailed off as Harakhte shook his head.

"That was a point of connection, but Seth controls the desert and everything that resides within it. He worked with Anubis while the jackal served him, but now he commands that power himself."

"Kyou-kun." Kagura again, this time sounding strained, and he turned angrily away from Harakhte to go to her.

She was standing beside Haru- no, he glared at the cow, Hathor- in the entrance to the tunnel shaking with exertion. He touched her shoulder and called, "Kagura?"

Her eyes snapped open, glowing faintly red, and it was the goddess who responded, "He turns my own against me. I cannot hold them for long; the power of Seth is great."

Kyou opened his mouth to question her further, but the loud grunting of wild pigs, accompanied by a strained noise from Hathor as he fell to his knees from the exertion of holding back the army, stopped him. Kagura/Taueret turned to him and spoke what Kyou was thinking.

"Go," she said. "Hathor and I will guard the door behind you and protect Shigure."

Kyou paused, then nodded. Harakhte lead the way into the dark tunnel, the light in his hand before him, followed closely by Momiji and Tohru.

And Kyou followed after them without looking back, because Taueret had said that she would protect Shigure- and he thought that if the goddess could promise him that, then perhaps there was some hope for them. He felt Harsiesis stirring in the back of his mind, and thought, Not yet. Soon, I… But, he took a deep breath, just give me a little more time. He thought he felt the god nod as he followed Harakhte into the darkness.

-

Tohru was scared. Outwardly she was calm- and a sense of peace filled her inside as well. But something dark was coming, and it frightened her; like the night Kazuma took Kyou's bracelet. She would have to be strong, like she was for Kyou then, and listen to her heart and do the right thing… but it scared her. It was a coldness in her bones- the idea that something was horribly and irrevocably wrong. Had she spoken of the feeling, Harakhte or Thoth might have counseled her that it was nothing more than she felt Isis' grief. But even if she had spoken, if her fear and desire to not be a burden had not kept her silent, she would have dismissed such an explanation. The answer was not so simple, and Isis was trying to tell her that, but the voice of the goddess was soft and dim, as if she was calling from far away.

"So? What next?" Kyou's voice sounded harsh coming suddenly as it did out of the darkness of the tunnel behind her.

Harakhte, who lead them, stopped and turned toward the small group, letting the glow that nestled in the palm of his right hand fall warm over the others. When the light of it- pure sunlight- touched Kyou he seemed to drink its light in as he inhaled.

"You must understand," Harakhte said, "I have no personal knowledge of this quest. All I have are the same whisperings of the gods that you hear, though I have been trained to listen better. And I have the stories that I grew up with. That is all. I…" A muscle in his cheek twitched- from fear? Tohru thought. "I could hazard a guess. But I'd rather not. Thoth?" he asked, turning to the rabbit.

Momiji's eyes were huge in the semi gloom as he turned to regard Harakhte with Thoth's ancient wisdom shining out of them. "You belittle yourself and your knowledge. You do not wish to guess, Falcon, because your guess would be correct." Harakhte flinched, and Thoth continued. "Only one thing stands between you and Seth now. I say only one, but it may as well be thousands." Thoth continued to speak, but Momiji's face grew increasingly sad. "I will tell the story for the outlanders, so they may understand. Every night, as the sun passes through the underworld, there arises one who challenges it- who would, if he could, prevent it from ever rising again. He hates Horus, with everything that is in his being. And he is strong. Stronger than Anubis. And we are two fighters down." Thoth's eyes regarded Harakhte and Kyou. Kyou looked grim and Harakhte, if possible, looked even grimmer.

Thoth finished, though they already knew who it was- knew him by one name or another. "He is Apep, the great dragon of the underworld."

And Momiji said in despair, "Ha'ri."

-