Prompt 1: A soulmate AU where everyone has bracelets on their arms that start a dark colour and lighten as time passes and they grow closer to their soulmate and when they meet each other it falls off? Except there's a malfunction with Anubis' and Nico's and theirs stay black (which indicates death) so they're pretty much depressed all their lives until they meet and their bracelets fall off?

Prompt 2: Nico's death and he becoming a god.

A/N: I took some serious liberties with this one.


Anubis really despised the whole soulmate ordeal. Not only were Egyptian gods not supposed to have soulmates, so he was the only one who'd ever gotten a bracelet. And to top the shitty cake of shit, his bracelet was black, which meant that his soulmate was dead.

He'd had the bracelet for as long as he could remember, the pitch black mocking him for over five thousand years.

During the first thousand years he'd been sad, cursing the powers that had let his soulmate die. After that he got used to it and started to loathe the black band. He'd considered cutting it off, but he valued having two hands more than he hated the accursed bracelet.

Needless to say, he'd never searched for his soulmate. It hadn't really stopped him from pursuing the company of others. He wasn't too picky about genders, none of them stuck around long enough to matter anyway. Humans had such short lifespans. They either died of some illness or other, or old age, which was not even comparable to Anubis' lifespan.

Even though he might enjoy the physical company of others, he never felt any sort of attachment to them, or romantic feelings. And they didn't seem to like the fact that he had a dead soulmate, staring at the black bracelet as if it offended them. He didn't care, only seeking the physical sensations to fill the empty hole where his soulmate should've been (it was never enough).

He had been hanging around in the duat for way too long at this point. He sometimes missed the simple humans, because they too had soulmates. None of the Egyptian gods could ever understand how he felt.

He kept to his duties, chaperoning the souls to the Hall of Judgement. He always reverted to his cold, indifferent self when he was the Lord of Funerals and Embalming. He did sometimes guide those that had black bracelets. He had to comfort them at times when they realised that their own death meant that they would never meet their soulmate. It was especially bad with the young souls that had so much longer to live, and then realised that their other half would live their entire life with a black band.

There were also the old souls that had lived their lives with a black band, and Anubis couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for them, their lives were so much shorter than his, they knew nothing of that kind of pain.

He was supposed to collect another soul and guide them through the duat. He had travelled to their grave, surprised to find it in Venice. He usually waited a few days after they were buried to collect them, but for some reason he was heading there the day after they'd been buried.

When he arrived, he immediately noticed the presence of the soul, because they felt odd. He could feel the hairs on his arms rise as his eyes focused on the soul.

It was a teenager. He looked to be around eighteen.

Anubis frowned as he took in the boy's behaviour. Normally the souls were confused, but this one seemed to be self-aware. He looked distressed, twisting some cold coins in his hands.

As he walked closer, the god could hear the muttered curses, was that Ancient Greek?

The boy whipped his head around to stare at him when he drew near. He frowned at him.

"Who are you?" He was gripping the hilt of a black sword now. He must've been buried with it.

Anubis raised his hands. "I mean you no harm. I'm Anubis."

The teen's expression fell instantly. "What?"

"The Egyptian god of Funerals-"

"Yeah, I know who you are." The soul waved a dismissive hand at him.

That was a surprise. Most people didn't usually know who Anubis was.

The teen ran a hand through his hair. "This is all wrong," he muttered. "You're not supposed to be here for me."

Anubis tried not to feel offended. He knew how to do his job. "Yeah, well, I'm here either way."

The soul scowled at him. "No shit, Sherlock."

Sherlock?

Anubis hadn't expected the soul to act so oddly.

"I'm not supposed to go to the Hall of Judgement," the soul said, flinging his hands in the air.

"I'm pretty sure you are, though. Otherwise I wouldn't be called here."

"No, you don't understand." The teen sighed. "I'm a Greek demigod. I don't have any affiliation with the Egyptian gods at all."

What?

"Huh?" Wow, that sounded so articulate.

"I'm supposed to be in the Greek Underworld."

"That's why you have the Drachmas, to pay the ferryman."

The boy nodded. He sighed and flopped down on his own tombstone. When he leaned his arms on his knees, Anubis could see the black bracelet on his wrist.

"I'm sorry that you won't get to meet your soulmate." What was he saying? He never felt sympathy for the souls, but he felt it for this one.

The teen looked confused for a second before understanding crossed his features. He glanced down. "Oh, right. No it's been black my whole life."

"Mine too." What?! Why would he say that to this complete stranger.

The demigod didn't seem to mind, his eyes flickering down to Anubis' exposed wrist. The god squirmed under his gaze. It felt like he was looking straight through him.

"I didn't know Egyptian gods had soulmates," he muttered.

"They don't." Stop talking, you idiot. "It's just me."

The boy's eyes softened. "Oh, that must totally suck. I can't imagine having a black band and no-one to talk to about it."

Even though Anubis knew that the teen's lifespan was infinitesimal in comparison to his, he still felt like he understood what it felt like.

"Yeah, I guess."

The demigod looked at him for a second, before getting up. "I think it's best if I speak to Osiris about this." He slipped the Drachmas in his pocket.

Anubis nodded. "I agree. We'll travel through the duat to the Hall of Judgement."

The demigod raised an eyebrow. "The duat?"

"It's a space between spaces. It's a bit hard to explain."

"Oh, so it's a bit like shadow-travelling?"

Now it was Anubis' turn to raise his eyebrow. "Shadow-travel?"

"Yeah, I'm a son of Hades, so I can travel between places inside the shadows."

This demigod was surprising him more and more. It was a refreshing change of pace.

Without further ado, he opened a portal into the duat. He stepped inside and waited for the other to follow.

They walked alongside each other in companionable silence.

"I'm Nico, by the way," the teen spoke up.

Anubis looked at him.

"It felt weird to know your name with you not knowing mine." A light flush had appeared on his cheeks, barely visible in the darkness of the duat.

Anubis felt a smile stretch his lips. "Thank you, for telling me. Most people don't. They just glare and curse their own death."

Nico scoffed beside him. "They never heard "don't shoot the messenger"?"

The god looked at him again, an almost fond smile (what?) worming its way onto his face. "I guess not."

Nico looked at him, a shy smile on his face.

As they walked, Anubis noticed that their auras were swirling together. That had certainly never happened before. The signature of their energy was almost identical. He could feel the demigod's slide softly against his skin, almost caressing him.

He chanced a glance over at Nico. He looked like he had noticed it too, his eyes flickering around, watching where the energy flowed around him.

He suddenly turned his head to look at Anubis, his mouth open as if to say something. He didn't get the chance as a voice spoke up.

"Well, hello dog-boy."

Anubis rolled his eyes as his eyes fell on the form of Bast. "Oh, look what the cat dragged in. Oh, wait, that is the cat."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she walked closer.

Anubis had noticed that his and Nico's aura had stopped mingling. It felt empty.

"What do we have here?" Bast purred, her eyes directed at Nico.

For some unknown reason, Anubis stepped slightly in between them. Why did he feel like he wanted to protect this teen he didn't even know?

Bast raised an eyebrow at his reaction, her eyes narrowing as she studied his companion. "Well, I suppose we should let him inside."

Anubis nodded mutely, walking towards the big door that led to the inner halls. He heard Nico follow suit.

He opened the door for the demigod. "Here you go."

Nico glanced at him. "I'm kinda scared now. This place is huge." He stepped slowly inside.

Anubis felt his gaze soften. He placed a comforting hand on the other's shoulder. "You'll be fine." (That was a lie. His soul could be swallowed by Amit, but he was pretty sure Nico knew that already.)

A searing pain drew his focus to his wrist. He let go of the demigod's shoulder as he stared at his wrist. The bracelet was coming off. He heard and saw it fall to the ground, along with the one that was on Nico's wrist.

Blood was rushing in his ears. He looked up at Nico's face, seeing the surprised look in his eyes (with a tiny hint of hope).

"What-" he started, but the door had decided that it would close at that moment. He stared with disbelief at the closed door separating them.

"No!" He banged his fist on the door, but knew that it would not open again until the judgement was over. Oh, no. The judgement.

Anubis leaned his head on the door, feeling tears start to drip from his eyes. He had finally found his soulmate, and now he could lose him forever, with no chance of his soul ever being reborn.

He felt a hand land on his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

"I'm sure he'll be okay," Bast's voice spoke up. "He won't give up now that he found you."

Anubis choked back a sob. He leaned down and picked up the black bracelet from the ground. He turned it over in his hand. The item he loathed to see his entire life might be the only thing that he could remember Nico by. He clutched it in his hand, anchoring himself.


It felt like forever before the door finally opened again.

Anubis shot to his feet. He all but ran inside.

Nico was standing next to the scales, a frown on his face as he stared at Osiris.

"You're okay," Anubis breathed as he stepped close to the other. His hands hovered a couple centimeters from the boy's arms. He wanted to pull him against himself, but didn't want to overstep any boundaries.

Nico seemed to read his mind as he stepped into his space, his hands coming up behind the god's shoulders. He let himself be pulled in, gripping Nico's jacket in return. He could feel the other's shuddering breath.

"Hey," Nico muttered against his shoulder.

Anubis felt his chest clench. "Hey."

He wanted to stay in the moment, but also wanted to know what had happened in his absence.

"What did he say?"

Nico stiffened in his arms. "He said there was a reason I was here and not the Greek Underworld."

"And?"

Nico pulled back slightly to look at him. "My soul's supposedly been reborn two several times, with different parents. He said that the reason was that our souls are so strongly connected that my soul has refused to stay in the afterlife."

Anubis' head swam.

Nico's cheeks flushed. "I guess the fact that you are immortal is why my bracelet never reset, or that our souls were so connected, or something."

Anubis smiled at his ranting. "I've waited for you for five thousand years, Nico."

The teen flushed harder, redness all the way from his hair to his neck. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long."

Crap, he was cute. "Can I kiss you?"

A strangled sound escaped Nico's throat. He nodded.

Anubis wasted no time on leaning forward to brush his lips against the other's. He could feel Nico shiver as he titled his head to fit their lips together.

The teen's lips were soft and pliant under his. He was about to deepen the kiss when he heard someone clear their throat. He turned his head and saw a slightly uncomfortable looking Osiris (there was a tiny smirk on the edge of his lips).

"I am very happy for you both, but I believe that Nico has to tell you something else."

Nico stepped away, straightening his clothes. Anubis tried not to pull him back in.

"Um, so-" Nico started, twisting a skull ring on his finger. "I'm kinda a god now."

Anubis felt like his eyes would pop out of his skull as he stared. "What?"

Nico shuffled his feet. "Yeah. Um, the god of the Undying."

Anubis only gaped at him. What was he saying?

"So, I'm immortal too."

Those words jolted Anubis' brain into action. He pulled the other god into a crushing hug. "So, you'll stay with me?"

Nico chuckled. "If you'll have me."

Anubis placed a bruising kiss on his lips. "Of course."