Author's Notes; Semi-mythological Egyptian AU. Conflict. Plot. R18 at the end (Anal). Wily tries to start a fight with Zero over who keeps X, but Zero scares him and the researchers too much. Zero dies, but is revived and given his wings back by the deities Isis and Osiris. Zero and X tearfully celebrate the reunion with love-making. Please enjoy.

After Zero had finished showing X the Great Pyramids and Sphinx, they found Wily and the other researchers just outside. Wily looked annoyed. "Give us X, Zero." Zero shook his head. "That I cannot do. He has made his choice clear." Wily snorted. "His choice is irrevelant. There's no denying that he needs a home." Zero snarled, showing Wily and the other researchers sharp serrated teeth. "This already shows me what kind of caretaker you would be. A very poor one indeed." Wily only grew more annoyed and the other researchers were losing their nerve. "Are you challenging me, kreatin?" Zero smirked, drawing slowly closer to Wily. "I have no moral problem with fighting for a mate or any other keepsake. My kind never backs down from a fight." Just to prove his point, Zero let out a low menacing roar. His roar scared the other researchers off and made Wily quiver and take a step back. The redhead smirked. "As I would expect from humans. Stay away." He warned as he walked past Wily and back into the desert.

X had shifted to Zero's back again, clinging to him. He couldn't watch Zero's argument with the researchers and Wily, but he heard everything. "You would...fight for me?" Zero nodded as he walked. "This is rare. Many demons mate with many others. It is but a small amount of demons that devote themselves to a single mate. To us, competition over a mate is seen as a contest for mating rights. I would have fought your presumed godfather without hesitation, had he not showed cowardice. I feel he sees you as an object, not a living being. I cannot say I am in favor of such treatment." X nodded, clinging harder to Zero. "Wily has no children of his own. I was starting to get the feeling he wouldn't know what he was doing. He can be rather harsh." Zero agreed. "So I have seen, firsthand."

Zero resumed his patrol around the tombs. X was filled with wonder once again in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Zero had to walk in a very specific path in both, very aware of the traps that lay in wait. This gave X more time to enjoy the sights from Zero's back. Zero saved a special place for last, Hatshepsut's tomb and temple. X grew more curious as Zero walked into the temple. "History overlooks my ancestor so much...What was Hatshepsut like, Zero? You knew her." Zero nodded. "So I did. She was kind for a regent queen. She was more into trade than fighting wars or remaining isolated. In personality, she was very giving as well. She kept me off patrol throughout her reign. She even had these anklets fashioned for me. Her name is on the back of each. I fail to see why she is near lost to the history of this land. I do not understand why Egypt would see it as so bad that a female make great contributions back then. I realize that views were rather narrow, narrow enough to have her statues look more like a male than female, but this is rather lousy in my eyes. I have nothing but respect for her. Sometimes, the thinking of your kind eludes me. A good example would be the pharaohs viewing themselves as deities and being expected to act like deities. It is rather childish to me. Demons view humans trying to be gods as absurd and laughable." X chuckled. "I guess they just didn't know any better than we do now. Some people can be rather silly."

Zero stopped before a throne of pure gold. He turned his back to it and X slowly slid off Zero's back and onto the throne. Zero gave a contented growl at the sight before kneeling all the way down before X. X blushed when he spotted Zero kneeling. "Zero..." Zero smirked. "That throne is rightfully yours. It is you who would be pharaoh if the dynasty still stood. Tell me what you would do with me if you were in such a position." X blushed brightly. "You would be relieved of your duty and kept at my side. You'd be my advisor and my beautiful consort." Zero looked up. "You would not marry within the royal family? This was normal way back when." X shook his head. "Such things are frowned upon today. Royals might marry other royals, but they can't marry siblings anymore. We call it incest and its been known to cause deformities in the offspring." Zero nodded. "So I see. Things have changed."

Back at the oasis, dusk had fallen. X and Zero were getting comfortable in the grasses of the oasis near the water. Zero settled on his side and X snuggled against Zero's warm chest. X felt Zero's left arm hold and pull him close as they settled to sleep. Both boys fell asleep around the same moment.

Around midnight, a sandstorm and a cold breeze woke X up. X whimpered for Zero and clung to him tightly. It was then that he noticed something was wrong. Zero wasn't breathing and he didn't feel as warm anymore. X lost lots of tears, keeping Zero tight. "No, Zero...Don't leave me..Please come back..I beg you.."

When the sandstorm cleared, X felt eyes on them. A man and a woman in ancient Egyptian garb and jewelry had their eyes trained on the dead demon. X looked up at them. "Isis...Osiris..." Isis looked at X. "We are sorry for the loss of your benefactor, little one. His judgment has come." Osiris had a black heart on a golden scale, being weighed against a feather. Defying any logic, the heart was lighter than the feather. X sniffled. "Please...Revive him...I desire that heart." Isis looked at Zero's body. "He has proven to be pure. This is not as we expected. His kind are notoriously hostile and evil." X shook his head. "I've never once seen him hostile unless he felt either of us was threatened." Osiris took the black heart off the scale. "What say you, wife? If these words are true, might he live again? Or shall we send him back to whence he came?" X shook his head again. "No, please...Leave him here with me. He's seen so many things...He belongs here...I need him." Isis closed her eyes. "He shall live once more and resume his duty. This time, he shall do it with much more ease." She opened her eyes and walked behind Zero, moving his red mane. She rubbed her hands over the wounds were Zero's wings were supposed to be before stepping away. A large black pair of wings appeared, sprouting from the former sight of the wounds. Both had a large demonic black hand with red claws on them. The black heart in Osiris' hand had disappeared and now he held a black and red glowing fuzzy sphere. Isis nodded. "Put his soul back. He shall live." Osiris pushed the sphere into Zero's chest gently before he and Isis faded into the desert.

It took a few minutes. X listened for vital signs carefully. He finally heard a heartbeat, slow and weak. He could feel Zero starting to draw breath again too. He slowly looked up, watching Zero's head. Zero's eyes slowly opened, glowing in the dark, and looking behind him. His wings folded on his back, their hands rested on his shoulders. Zero then looked down to X. X sniffled as tears rolled down his cheeks. X's tears told Zero all that had happened. The redhead gently licked X's forehead, losing a tear of blood. X couldn't see the tear well enough but saw the stream on Zero's face.

Zero began to move, pinning X down to the leaves that served as their bedding. X was awash in tears of joy, releasing Zero as he was laid on his back. He barely felt Zero remove his loincloth and didn't see Zero remove his own. X lifted his head after a while, then his upper body. Zero crawled to and over him, easing X back down. He eased X's upper body down and then his head. X's green tear filled eyes watched the demon looming over him. Zero lost another tear of blood as his already hard length prodded X's rear gently. X blushed brightly as he kept his focus on the glow of Zero's eyes. He reached and held Zero's right hand with a sniffle. Zero watched X's green eyes passionately as he gently pushed inside X's entrance. X uttered a weak moan when Zero entered him. Zero rubbed his cheek against X's as he slowly pushed deeply inside X, pushing his whole length in. X rubbed his cheek against Zero's, moaning a little more. Zero gently thrusted inside X, staying slow so X could feel him. X's moans grew louder, enjoying how Zero felt inside him. He watched the glow of Zero's eyes on him, feeling Zero was trying to tell him something but didn't have the words. Zero growled in pleasure, growling louder when he felt himself cum deep inside X. X came between them and panted, dropping his head at last with focus on Zero's eyes. The glow of Zero's eyes drew closer as Zero's body relaxed on top of X. Zero lost one more blood tear as he snuggled X's cheek and closed his eyes. X reached his arms around Zero's shoulders, holding him tight. 'Stay inside me...Don't leave me...' Zero gave X a contented grunt as he relaxed. Both boys resumed their sleep. X checked him in his sleep for breath and heartbeats, just to be sure he was still alive.