Who's ready for the world to fall to piece? I know I am! Also, don't forget to review because the more reviews I get the less likely I am to start killing… how I do love my killing.

Chapter 18

House of Heaven

I knew something had gone wrong before even opening my eyes because Colton was no longer with me.

I stood amid a beautiful master bedroom red drapes scooping around the bed frames like seashells. A single window sat on the wall, and when I peered over the edge I realized I was definitely still in the Du'at. Though it's certainly nicer than the last few Du'at levels.

"Your mother loved it too," at his words, I spun to find Anubis fingering the bed sheets with a sad smile. "Not that she'd ever have admitted it. This was our room for about the week our marriage lasted."

I didn't really care about Nina and Anubis' disastrous marriage; I wanted to know where Colton was.

"Care to sit down?" Anubis despite us both knowing the answer was a firm 'no'. "Fine then. I'll give you your answers, but first I'd like to tell you a little story."

The look of disgust on my face must have been clear as I shook my head, "Look, I get you're a god and all and to you everyone must look like a baby, but I don't want to hear a story. I want to find Colton."

Anubis seemed neither to care about nor to hear the threats clinging to the tip of my tongue, "Colton is in no immediate danger. Now I won't ask again. Please, sit down and listen to my story."

With no other option presenting itself, I plopped down on the bed with a sigh. Clearly pleased, Anubis began his story, "Imagine there's a goddess who hates everything because it was once hers and now isn't. Now imagine she thought she could finally get it all back only to have her pawn die."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I told the god annoyed. "I already know the story of Raet. Blaw blaw blaw."

Anubis shook his head, "You think you know the story, but you don't. Raet lost everything when Nina died, and she decided Eddie and Nina were to blame. Unfortunately, Nina was past the point of pain and Isis had placed a spell on Eddie's family to protect them. There was no way for Raet to get her revenge."

I wanted to scream, but since I knew I wasn't getting out of here until I listened I kept my tongue. (Something that clearly pleased the speaking Anubis.) "Then I married Nina and made her a goddess. Suddenly there was a way for Nina to be human again and a way for Raet to punish her." I almost felt bad for the wistful Anubis despite the fact that every moment he spent talking I wasn't with Colton, "If I had known what would come of it I'd never have made Nina human again. I'd lock her up for a hundred years to save everyone from the pain Nina's humanity caused."

Even before he spoke, I had a feeling Anubis didn't care that if he hadn't made Nina human I'd never have been born at all, "Raet was patient, so patient even I was beginning to think she'd just let it go. Then, you and Colton were born and she took you. That was her ultimate revenge. In her mind, Eddie and Nina took the thing she loved the most-power. In return she took the things they loved the most-their newborn children. Raet took you and raised you as her own. I never knew you were with her; she hid that well. I had known, unfortunately, what else she was up to these past 16 years. Before you were even born Raet raised and army to overthrow King Horus, but they failed. So, she needed a new tactic. Raet figured that the only way she'd become the head of the gods again was for Horus to willingly give her the position. To do this she needed a bargaining chip, but there aren't many things Raet can just steal that matter to Horus. Actually, there is nothing Raet can just steal that matters to the King of the Gods, but that's beside the point. She's smart though, oh so clever, and she realized the only thing Horus does care about is his family. If she was to kidnap the Osirian, who Osiris has a responsibility for, then she'd have control over Osiris. If she has control over Osiris Raet has control over Osiris' son, Horus."

No. Anubis couldn't be saying that… "But Osiris and I aren't dumb and we figured this out same time she did." Oh. Good. "So we took precautions. We knew you and Colton were being born: a new generation of Chosen One and Osirian. We also knew that at some point or another Raet would draw you two to Osiris' sarcophagus where, once the Osirian touches it, she'd have full control over Horus. The easiest way to keep that from happening was to make sure the Osirian just never touched the coffin. Now we could have done that by killing the kid, but come on we're not evil. Instead, we just plucked the Osirian from the trials right before they got to the sarcophagus."

Hearing that Colton too had been removed from the hell Raet had created finally let me release the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. Colton really was safe and probably somewhere close.

I wanted to hug Anubis, until I realized he wasn't done. "Thing is, second Raet thought she'd lost we'd have a big problem. We needed Raet to think she'd won until it was too late. The solution was presented by, ironically enough, another persona of Ra-one your mom knows as Elena. See who can be the Chosen One and who can be the Osirian depends on blood, but the Osirian and the Chosen One have been falling in love and having kids for centuries. The bloodlines are so tangled it doesn't really matter. Sure, we've always gone with the boy for the Osirian and girl for the Chosen One because call me sexist all you want girls are better at magic guys at protecting. But it doesn't have to be that way. If Osiris and I wanted to the son of the Osirian could be the Chosen one…"

"And the daughter of the Chosen One could be the Osirian."