"Stand up therefore, O Horus, for thou art counted among the gods."
- The Book of the Dead

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10
Horus before the God of Chaos
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It seemed like they had been walking forever. Something was smothering him, almost like when they had approached Apep- only this, rather than fighting everything he was, simply oppressed him, flattening him under its power and anger. Harakhte shivered, fear gnawing at the edges of his consciousness. He was worried about Kyou; the cat still had not accepted Harsiesis. Without Harsiesis, there was no hope of defeating Seth.

Harakhte's thoughts were interrupted as Tohru stopped. Before her the passage opened up, widening into another cavern. She took a deep breath and walked forward the last few steps that would take her into the cave, the incarnations of Horus flanking her.

As Hara stepped into the cave he noticed instantly that it was far larger than the one where Apep had confronted them. The rock ceiling vaulted far upward and light chased darkness from all the corners without actually brightening anything, in a manner that defied all reason and science. A river lay before them, again coming between them and their destination. In the center of the chamber rose an altar of stone, upon which lay a body and before which stood the one they sought.

When Seth turned and looked at him, Harakhte fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the sheer power of the god's gaze, and something deep within him quivered.

-

Ayame looked really great, Kyou had to admit. If evil overlord of the world was the look you were going for, that is. He was every inch Seth- the Seth that Harsiesis, in the back of his mind, recognized as his mortal enemy. He wore the familiar pleated kilt, dyed an unsettling black and hung heavily with gold, matched with a breastplate trimmed with gold and studded with carnelian that glinted redly in the light like blood. Carnelian and gold twined around his throat and around his arms at the wrist and just above the elbow. The headdress of the pharaoh fitted his head perfectly; the cloth framing his face should have been white or gold banded, but was as unrelentingly black as the kilt. His eyes glowed, their usual disquieting pale green made even more disturbing by the intensity of the power that backed them, and the mere sight of him made Kyou want to turn around and run away.

Which, of course, meant he took a step forward.

Kyou could see Yuki lying on the altar. He was dressed like a pharaoh just as Seth was- in the back of his mind Kyou wondered at what point the rest of the group had missed out on the costume party- the drooping headdress replaced with the double crown of Egypt, and he was wrapped loosely about with a large white cloth that almost completely enveloped him. His head was tilted back slightly, his eyes open and staring vacantly up at the ceiling, and nothing about him indicated that he was in any way, at all alive. He never blinked or shifted his gaze and his chest didn't move. His arms were folded over his chest and he held the crook and flail in hands that seemed stiff, as if they had never held any position other than their current tight grip.

Harsiesis was growling, pulling wildly against Kyou's restraining hold, lunging toward Seth. I must destroy him! the god panted with exertion and denied bloodlust, screaming madly in Kyou's mind. Kyou told him to shove it. There were not going to kill Ayame, so he'd better just forget it right now. Kyou advanced slowly but steadily toward Seth, their eyes locked, each step perceptibly smaller than the last, until he came to a stop, trembling with anger. His body refused to move forward, but he clenched his fists defiantly and tried to force it. Nothing happened. Seth's gaze seemed to be laughing at him.

A hand slipped into his and he glanced behind him to see Tohru standing there, smiling shyly but firmly. She held Harakhte's hand in her other hand, and she brought their hands together. As they touched, Kyou felt a thrill of strength pass through him but when he looked Hara in the eye the falcon said simply, "Harsiesis."

Kyou could feel the god, within him, trying to respond, but he dropped Harakhte's hand as if it had burned him. He saw Hara's disappointed look, but he couldn't… He couldn't give in. If he did… Who knew what would happen?

What will happen if you don't?

He knew Harsiesis was behind that thought. I'm not the giving in type, he responded, and felt Harsiesis grin in approval.

It is not giving in, Harsiesis whispered, his voice sounding suspiciously like Harakhte's. It is acknowledging yourself, my cousin from the east.

Kyou took a deep breath. "Tohru," he said, glancing at her, Apep's words fresh in his mind. "Stay back." She nodded and, taking a few steps back to stand by the doorway where they had entered, smiled at him encouragingly. Tohru… he thought. She had faith in him, that he would make everything all right…

He turned back to Harakhte and nodded wearily. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again it was with a gasp of surprise as he threw his head back and breathed in deeply. He lifted his hands and looked at them, as if he had never seen them before. He rolled his shoulders, as if testing his range of motion, feeling out his body.

"Kyou-kun?" Tohru questioned tentatively from where she stood. The eyes he turned on her were hard as polished amber. She said, louder, more assertively, "Kyou-kun." He blinked at her, and his eyes seemed to get softer.

"Tohru," he responded. He shook his head lightly, as if clearing the last of cobwebs from it, and turned to the falcon. "Harakhte," he said.

Hara smiled. "Harsiesis," he responded and put his hand on the cat's shoulder. Harsiesis' eyes half-lidded and he purled softly in the back of his throat. "Riese," Hara said, more softly, then pulled Harsiesis against him and wrapped his arms around the cat. "I've missed you," and it was no longer the man talking, but the god inside him, and this was obvious even though the two seemed bound so tightly together as to be indistinguishable.

"And I you, brother," Harsiesis responded, returning the embrace. They parted, Riese pausing to touch Hara's face. "I have returned, and I will not leave you again." Hara sighed with contentment. Riese turned and looked at Seth, who seemed to be immensely amused by their little display. He lifted his lips in a snarl and he felt Hara move beside him so that they faced their foe together. A few steps forward and then they broke into a short run until they came to the edge of the river and leapt lightly across it.

-

Beware… Apep had said. Beware when you face Seth. When you enter his presence, take nothing with you that you fear to lose…

Kyou shivered. He had thought that those words were meant to refer to Tohru, and he'd tried to keep her out of it as much as he could, but as he passed over the river something whispered, and when he glanced over at his wrist- in an almost automatic gesture, brought on by years of consistent, paranoid repetition- his heart seized in his chest to see that his wrist was bare, and only a soft brush of black and white dust against his skin, as it drifted down to land in the water of the river, even acknowledged the fact that any such thing as a bracelet of beads had ever clung to that appendage; as if the life and sanity of not only the wearer, but everyone he knew, had never depended solely on its existence.

Harsiesis screamed.

Seth smiled.

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