So just past Elijah's part is Anubis for the rest of the chapter. It will fluctuate from the present to the past. Each segment of the past is being viewed by the Mikaelsons, but if I had them watching it in a Harry Potter Pensieve-esque situation it would extend like four-five chapters and I didn't feel like doing that. So this is what we've got.
Sorry I didn't respond to any of you in the last chapter. I just knew I was going to start giving things away for this one if I did. But I read everything you all said and I appreciate you guys more than you'll ever know.
-40-
Elijah
All was excruciating pain.
Elijah hardly registered what had happened in the moments after he'd been jabbed with the toxin or how he'd been relieved of the torture. One moment he was watching Isolde run tendrils of the void through Marcus' body and then the pain was all he could think about.
Like molten lava running through his nervous system, burning him from the inside. Elijah had hoped for death.
Yet he was glad death had been denied to him as he staggered forward, watching with shock and fascination as the enormous beast before them consumed all the souls Vera had raised from the New Orleans' scattered burial grounds.
"We still have to send her to the Prison World," Emeric shouted to Vera as the whirlwind for the monster's own mouth slowed and began to fade away and he lowered back onto four legs, shaking the earth under his weight, "we can deal with revelations about Anubis later on!"
"How did you not know?" Niklaus was asking, working up into a frenzy that Elijah couldn't hope to control, even at his top form.
And he wasn't anywhere near top form at the moment. In fact, he felt weaker than he had as a human at this point. He needed blood, but looking around all available bodies were Alexander or Mikaelson. No feeding opportunities to be seen.
"Anubis was dragged to the underworld immediately upon our ascension into godhood." Theon explained as the monster bellowed, resuming its mission to get to Vera, the earth quaking beneath its paws. "The only power we knew was his was a complete dominion over the soul. We had no idea what else to look for."
"A constant protector. Lashes out at those who would strike Isolde. Utilizes ice and cold temperature. You call the bloody things that lash out of Isolde void tendrils. None of this clued you in?" Niklaus was near manic, accentuating his points with exaggerated gesturing. All signs that Niklaus was ready to go on a killing spree, or do something else unadvisable. Especially right this minute, as this staggering behemoth that lived within their mate closed the distance between them and wasn't feeling particularly friendly.
"That's not the most pressing issue at present, Nik," Kol stepped up from behind Niklaus and moved until he was beside Vera, "You cannot send her into a veritable tomb alone. I'll go in with her."
"As will I." Finn stepped forward, stopping on the other side of Vera.
Niklaus rolled his eyes, pushing his way between Kol and Vera but looking at Emeric as he spoke. "All the enemy combatants in this city have been vanquished?" At Emeric's nod Klaus continued, a look of many meanings passing between the Pharaoh and the Hybrid. "Then I, too, will go. Keep Rebekah, Elijah, and Freya safe whilst I am away."
Elijah frowned deeply, pushing himself off Theon, despite the gods' muttered quip about 'foolish, prideful vampires' as Elijah stepped forward. "The four of us go, I am recovering."
Klaus opened his mouth to argue, but Vera cut them off as the monster was upon them, growling down with saliva dripping from razor sharp teeth the size of a fleet of city buses. "Fine, there's no time!" A beam of magic shot through the air, engulfing all they could see.
And then they were slammed through some kid of shimmering purple vortex, deposited unceremoniously onto flat earth. The monster right above them, shadows and darkness shedding off it and it tried smashing its head against the dirt ground. Its shrieks echoed in the surrounding suburbia as it crashed into a house, then another, tendrils lashing out in all directions.
Niklaus gripped Elijah by the arm and wrenched him to the side just in time to avoid being crushed under a tendril, pulling him off to the end of the neighborhood and atop a roof to watch the monster slowly fade away. Isolde's form returning.
"What the bloody hell is…" Kol crouched, leaning forward as if it might help him better see what was happening, "... is that two people forming?"
"Looks safer to approach now." Finn said, dropping down from the rooftop and heading toward where Isolde and someone else were reforming as the monster slipped away.
"Had I known she would regain control immediately I would've insisted Vera return us within a few hours, instead of Isolde's stipulated forty-eight." Niklaus grumbled, ushering Elijah along.
"Oh do cease your complaining Niklaus, I'm quite tired of hearing you go on and on. It is non-stop with you." Finn quipped, glaring over his shoulder at the hybrid, whose brows raised with a sarcastic smile that screamed 'fight me.'
"Welcome to the party, brother." Kol grumbled, crossing his arms and also glaring at Niklaus.
"Well look at dull Finn, catching a stride. Big man these days, impressing gods," Klaus began as they gathered beside Isolde and whatever else was forming, "talking back to his siblings. Asserting some kind of false claim to dominance. Mother would be proud."
Finn glared harder. If that were even possible. And Elijah wanted to ram his head into the concrete. He wondered if he shouldn't have found a way to toss the three of them aside before Vera summoned that enterenge… portal… whatever it was.
"Children, please, there are more important matters at hand." Elijah interrupted before Kol could get started, too.
The four of them spilt apart and gathered in a circle surrounding the two as Isolde's features began to distinguish themselves. The newcomer's features began to distinguish as well and Elijah began to notice several similarities between the two.
He wondered just how this was able to happen, if his hunch was correct.
A few minutes in, both beings opened their eyes with a gasp.
"Isolde?" Finn asked, taking one step forward.
The newcomer was on him in an instant. "Deepest apologies but I'm not yet finished speaking with my sister," the man, Anubis, Elijah realized, spoke with a soft voice. A deceptively soft voice. Like a politician who robbed his constituents blind whilst promising them the world. "Take a walk down memory lane, it should help clear things up, tighten that bond."
"Bis, what are you doing?" Isolde clutched her head as she came too, looking around them all. "You said you had no intention–"
"Bis?" Kol asked, bewildered. "As in Anubis?"
Anubis tisked, turning to Isolde with kind eyes and a soft smile. "I have limited time to hold this form. The only reason I am able to do so now is because this place is parallel to the Earth. Grandmother's rules don't apply here. I have much to tell you and no time for their interruptions. They'll be fine, it's just a nap. With vivid dreams of the past, translated for their viewing pleasure."
Anubis waved his hand at them all, "Nighty night boys," Anubis whispered, and the last thing Elijah saw was Isolde's disapproving frown as he slipped into sleep, "dream well."
Anubis
The Present
Anubis huffed a laugh through his nose as all the Mikaelson men crashed to the ground around them, locked in a dream state. He turned back to his dear Mune, who's concern and disapproval warred over her face.
"They're fine," he ensured, closing the distance between them to lay his hands on her upper arms, meeting her eyes with all the sincerity he had in his heart, "I swear it."
Mune deflated, believing him as only she ever did and his cold heart warmed.
He could never hurt Amunet.
"I chose them, after all," he said off-handedly, knowing she would latch onto this information and demand an explanation.
Mune threw her head back and groaned. He grinned devilishly. Reaching up to fuss her hair up before drawing away as she rushed to fix it.
"You can't just say that and pause Bis, you know I'm going to need you to explain."
"Jack." He pointed at her with a smirk. "Well, all but one, I should say. I have complete dominion over the souls of our grandparents' creations, Mune," he drew his arms up, fingers lacing behind his head with a shrug. "I felt when your soul bond was born. He drew my attention, so I watched him grow. Watched his siblings grow. Witnessed their struggles. Alone and together. I came to appreciate them all. In their own ways they were all perfectly imperfect. Like us. But you were never to meet him. I had to create the perfect storm of circumstances in everyone's lives in order for things to line up the way they did. Had I not, he would've been dead a few days ago. Killed by that Matt boy Samael spared."
Mune's jaw ticked, again a war in her expressions. "Tell me everything."
The Ancient Past
A small boy of five hid trembling in a dark corner, knees tucked to his chest and wiping furiously at his wet face, refusing to acknowledge that the mean things his mother's husband had said to him had hurt him so much that he was crying.
Set said crying was for weak children. And that they weren't supposed to be weak. That no children of Nephthys would grow to be anything less than strength personified, or he would ensure that Nephthys had no children.
But Anubis was not strong. He was small, and sickly. He spent more time with healers and priests in the temple than he did in studies with Amunet. He coughed almost as often as he breathed and was bedridden more often then he could walk freely through their home.
"Bis," a soft whisper floated through the darkness toward him and he curled further in on himself, scared to let Amunet see him being the weak baby Set told him he was. Amunet was never mean to him. His twin was the only one who visited him in the temple when he was sick. Who told him made up stories about things that made him smile and forget his illnesses. He felt hands gently grasp his wrists and pull his arms down, and he closed his eyes. He couldn't handle it if Mune started to hate him or say cruel things like Set because he was a weak child. "Bis it's okay. Open your eyes. It's just me. Just Mune."
Anubis sniffled, opening his eyes because it was Mune who'd asked. "Go away," he shoved her back, burying his head in his arms as she broke her fall with her hands, the light of the moon illuminating her wide eyes before he could shut his own.
He heard shuffling, like she was standing up. There, she would leave now. She wouldn't see.
But Mune did not leave. Instead, he felt her sit down beside him, her hand smoothing over the back of his head as she hummed mother's lullaby.
He hadn't heard it since Mother left them months ago to find Isis and his brother Horus; the rightful Pharaoh who'd been displaced by Set. The song sounded different coming from Mune. Higher pitched. Bis liked it.
"- it's okay to be sad, and scared," Mune said, stopping the song right in the middle as some of Bis' tension had eased, he froze back up again at her words, "I'm sad and scared too."
"Set…" He started to say, peaking one eye at her over his folded arms, but Mune frowned and he quieted.
"Set is a mean bully, Bis, his words are worth nothing," Amunet declared with such a fierce look that he couldn't refute, "when Horus comes home he will be nothing."
She removed her hand from the back of his head and grasped his just tightly enough to be a comfort. "And we'll get stronger, together, and make sure he's too scared of us to hurt you or me ever again. Okay?"
But Anubis' heart sank at her words and the tears sprung to his eyes again, hiccuping as he took a breath that shuddered under his emotional upheaval. "How can I get strong, Mune? I'm always sick."
Amunet didn't laugh at him. Didn't throw his hand away like he was pathetic for asking. She just scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder while he trembled with the effort to keep his crying quiet enough that they wouldn't get caught by Set's guards.
"There's more than one kind of strength."
Anubis looked up sharply, disbelief in his eyes though Mune just smiled and nodded at him. "In fact, I just know you're stronger than all of us."
"Not you," he shook his head vehemently, remembering all the times she'd snuck into his rooms past multiple guards to bring him extra bread. The times she got caught and beaten for her insolence and tried again a few hours later, bruised and scabbed over but still with extra bread for him to eat. And how angry it made him he couldn't do anything to help her. "I'm not stronger than you."
"We'll see." Amunet said with a smile, pushing herself up to stand and extending a hand down to him. He took it.
The Present
Mune was not happy as he detailed all the ways the Mikaelsons ruined their lives over the course of the next two decades in what their lifetime would've become had he not meddled in their fates.
"It was a tragic end, really. Klaus and Elijah's murder-suicide. Rebekah ends up with Marcel, completely unaware that Thoth existed though they are a natural bond. Freya would do well, as would Kol after much death and heartache. Finn wouldn't get a chance to live his life for more than a few months here and there, mostly in another's body, before a final death." Bis explained, examining the destroyed neighborhood as Mune stood with a deep frown, looking off in the distance.
Anubis sighed, shifting closer to his twin and nudging her shoulder with his. She was taking this better than he thought she would. That wasn't to say she was taking it well, either. "This is a brighter future. I have toiled in the underworld for centuries…millennia, really, to ensure this path would be better for us, for them."
"You can tell them that, when you tell them the truth about what you've done, Anubis," Mune's voice was rough and panic surged through him when he saw the tears that welled in her eyes as she turned her head to glare at him.
No no no, she wasn't supposed to be upset with him. He'd done everything he could for her, to save her, to aid her. Why was she angry?
"You severed Kol's soul bond to the woman he would marry, connected her to Emeric. Severed Elijah's bond to the woman he would love–"
"But he kills her. Leaving Klaus' child motherless. Not all bonds are good."
"Regardless, Bis, you rearranged their fates—"
"With good reason!" He defended, starting to really panic because Mune wasn't understanding why he did the things he did. That he did it all for her benefit, and he'd even thought about protecting the Mikaelson's while he was at it! She should be proud that he showed concern for others, for once. "Do you not like them? If you don't want them I can sever the connections. But know that I can't reconnect souls after severing a bond and they are good for you. Surely you must see that."
Mune pulled in a long breath, rubbing her temples in frustration, then exhaled slowly. He waited for her to speak again, trying to control the knot of trepidation that formed as she seemed to deliberately misinterpret his actions.
"It's not about me. They are not going to see you severing their connections and binding them to our family as a good thing, Bis. They're going to be upset."
"This is the better option." He pushed imploringly, not understanding why they wouldn't be okay with it. Amunet was the best thing that could've happened to any of the Mikaelsons, the rest of his family less so, but nevertheless. "This way ensures their lives. All of them."
The Ancient Past
Nine year old Anubis coughed long and hard into his arm before he looked up from his clay molding to peer menacingly down from his perch on the golden statue of Sekhmet at the little hellions known as Thoth and Ma'at. His youngest siblings.
The second set of twins by Nephthys were wild, social creatures who pulled everyone they knew into their orbit.
Even Mune was enraptured with them, and Bis was annoyed by that. Mune had precious little time to spend with him when the spawn of Set were dangling off of her like weeds from the Nile.
Thinking about it, the clay molding in his hands squished between his fingers and he shook it off, accidentally dropping large chunks on the heads of both Thoth and Ma'at who'd just circled around the statue he was perched on, playing a game of tag.
"Anubis." Bis froze, hearing his name stretched darkly, he felt sudden fear that she thought he'd hurt them intentionally.
The one thing he didn't want was for Mune to see him the way everyone else did. The way even their older brother, Horus, saw him. A weak hindrance. Like Bis was a wretched parasite, no meaning to his life beside draining others of theirs. Anubis looked over to see Mune's arms crossed and an angry glare trained on him.
He dropped off the head of Sekhmet with wide eyes. "It was an accident."
Mune deflated and nodded at him, pushing past him to get to the younger twins. He felt his own anxiety start to fade, because Mune wasn't mad at him. She knelt down between Thoth and Ma'at, both running to her and wrapping their arms around torso, crying into her neck on either side.
They both smirked at him over Mune's shoulders. A twin set of sardonic gazes that had Anubis fuming when they whimpered and cuddled in closer to Mune.
Those pathetic, simpering, conniving little creatures. Anubis sneered at them from behind, where Mune couldn't see him. How could she so easily love those little bottom feeding brats? The children of that monster Set. They would grow to be monsters themselves, he knew. They were already showing signs of it.
Set betrayed his own brother, killing Horus, Mune, and Anubis' own father. It was just a matter of time his children would do the same.
He tried to find words to express this to his twin but they wouldn't reach her even if he tried. Mune always looked away from the worst in everyone to see what others couldn't, Bis understood this about her. But there were limits.
"Anubis is sorry." Mune said to them, running her hands soothingly up their backs as their cries turned to sniffles. "He didn't mean it."
He didn't mean it, no. But he wasn't sorry. Not at all.
"He's not going to do it again."
Yes, he would. And he'd ensure he wasn't caught by dear Mune in the future.
"Right, Bis?" Mune looked over her shoulder at him and he pasted a soft smile on his face for her sake.
"Of course. I'm sorry for hurting you Thoth, Ma'at."
The Present
It was clear to Bis that his previous information had upset his sister. Her own morals dictating that his actions were wrong. Anubis did not agree, but there was more to be said that had nothing to do with the Mikaelson's and he could feel that his form would last maybe an hour longer in this world.
"There is much we must discuss, dear Mune, walk with me." Bis dropped his arms, holding one out to her.
She took his hand but her eyes were on the Mikaelson's. "I can't leave them here without me. This place is a prison for a dangerous Siphoner. He could pull power from them and do the gods know what with it."
Anubis waved his free hand. "Fear not. Kai Parker won't touch them." At his sisters' disgruntled, questioning glare, he elaborated while tugging her along. "He is nowhere near your mates. We're going to him, and we will talk on the way. Trust in me. As you've always done."
Manipulative? Of course. But she had always trusted him. There was no need for her to stop now. He had nothing but the best intentions for her. And the Mikaelsons.
Yet Mune was still reluctant. So Anubis took a breath. Perhaps slowing down to speed up was the course he should take. He turned to look at his sister, his patent 'Trust me Mune' smile spread over his face.
"Kai Parker is my soul bond. There are things I need to explain to you. And also things I must say to him before I am unable to hold this corporeal form outside of the portion of my soul that is in you. The Mikaelson brothers will be stuck in the memories I have lined up for them for another hour at least. Even if they somehow awaken early, they will be fine. They are thousand year old adults. Though they do often act like five year old children, it is not your responsibility to look after them like they are children." He touched the tip of his finger to her nose lightly, smiling wider when she squished it up in response.
"I'm sorry," she batted his hand away, "I'm still stuck on 'Kai Parker is my soul bond.'"
"By the gods, Mune!" Anubis let out a long suffering full body sigh with an accompanying eyeroll, now reducing to literally dragging her along. Despite her soft protests, she did not struggle as they headed down the sidewalk, away from the dreaming brothers.
The Ancient Past
Set struck a twelve year old Anubis across the face so hard it sent him tumbling to the floor, smacking his head off the tiles. He clutched at his head, spotting blood on his fingers as he struggled to stand and defend himself as his step father pressed his attack.
Anubis braced for the pain as she just managed to struggle to his feet as Set was there, readying his hand again.
The sound of the hit reached him, but the pain never did. Anubis opened his eyes to a horrific scene he wished he could forget.
Mune clutched her face, a red mark across her cheek and eye that would bruise badly, he knew. Her lip was split, blood dripping from the wound, but her eyes were fierce, cold, and angry. And Anubis's rage bubbled, fists clenched.
"Amunet, move out of the way." Set growled, taking a step closer to Anubis.
"I will not," Mune growled right back, slipping on her own blood that had pooled at her feet from her split lip to get in between Set and Anubis, "lay another hand on him and face my wrath."
Set laughed, the sound of an arrogant guffaw that twisted Anubis' gut to hear. "Child, I will not tell you again to step out of the way. You will regret defying me."
This time, she looked at him with those fierce eyes. "I will not."
The young twins, now seven years of age, giggled from the corner of the room, waving at the elder twins from behind Horus' back. Delighted at the trouble they'd caused. Lying to their father, pointing fingers at Anubis for sabotaging the temple of their mother. Two 'eyewitness' accounts of seven year old brats against Anubis' claim to innocence.
Set raised his arm and swung. Anubis serged forward to take the hit that was meant for him and save Mune from her own protective instincts but he was just a moment too late. Set smacked Mune and sent her entire body into the wall several feet away.
"Anubis has defiled your mother's temple. There must be punishment, and you will stay out of the way and be silent."
Anubis' rage climbed to a new height in that moment, as he saw Mune slumped against an alabaster parapet in one of the temple's many courtyards. His fists clenched at his side, teeth grinding together. He took one step forward while Set's back was turned, grabbing one of the training javelins off the rack beside him.
"Anubis did no such thing." Mune hissed, Anubis watched her struggling on shaky arms to hold herself up as blood dripped from her mouth, blood seeping between her teeth as she pushed against the wall to stand. She must have bitten her tongue. And that only added oil to the fire in his heart. "He wouldn't."
Well let's not get carried away, Mune, Bis thought, I would defile Mother's temple. I just didn't this time. Still, her faith in him sent warm feelings through him. She would see that returned a hundredfold. For eternity.
Anubis raised the javelin and with all the strength he possessed, just as Set readied to do something unidentified but likely very painful to Mune, jabbed the sharp weapon right through the center of Set's back.
Set whirled around with a deep, menacing growl. The weapon was protruded from his back as he took a quick step forward and grabbed Anubis by the throat in his only hand. Before he had a chance to fight back he was slammed against the ground and he screamed as agony ripped through him like nothing he'd ever felt.
Mune was screaming, he could hear her, and then she was there. Clawing desperately at Set's face and arm, kicking him and calling for guards. For Horus.
Anubis was beginning to lose consciousness as he saw Mune's nails split and break on Set's skin, ribbons of blood dripping from the marks she'd left behind. Set lifted a leg and kicked Mune, her entire body once again flying until she smacked against the wall once more.
And then Horus was there, armed guards all around. The eldest brother twisted the javelin in Set's back and Set hissed, letting go of Anubis who coughed and sputtered as oxygen returned to his lungs.
"Have I not warned you to leave my brother and sister be?" Horus was saying, but Anubis was more focused on recovering enough to move.
"Your weak, pathetic brother—"
"Yes he is weak and pathetic," Horus interrupted, "but that does not make him any less my brother. You have defied my order."
"I am more than you, boy–"
Anubis tuned them out. His entire world view centered on Mune.
As soon as he could, Anubis scrambled to get to his feet. He fell over immediately and gave up on walking– crawling instead to Amunet's side where she was unsettlingly still. He lifted her head to his lap, tears falling too easily from his eyes and for once he wasn't concerned with how he would be perceived by Set for showing his emotions.
He brushed Mune's hair out of her face, holding his palm over her nose as soon as the hair was out of the way. She was breathing.
The young twins fell to their knees in front of where he sat, cradling Mune's head and crying as the fight between Set and Horus began. They were wide eyed and afraid, the beginnings of fat tears welling in their gazes and any bit of affection Anubis may have had for them snapped away for good at that moment.
Ma'at's hand trembling as she reached out to touch Mune's leg– the closest thing she could reach.
"Do not," Anubis barked with a venom he'd not known he could possess, the rage in his heart echoed by his tone and the hatred in his eyes, as Ma'at and Thoth both jumped back, lips trembling as the tears fell. "Do not touch her."
"We didn't mean it." Thoth said in a small voice as Horus threw set through the west wall the guards followed the fighting outdoors. "It was a joke."
"A joke?" Anubis bit out. "It was a lie. Do you see now what a lie can do?" Anubis growled, gesturing wildly toward his injured twin, himself, the building, and the fighting happening just outside. "It can kill. It can destroy. Your intent was to get me killed. And you've nearly succeeded in getting Mune killed. Mune." Abubis' voice raised until he was shouting his sister's name and the younger twins were shrinking back in wide eyed fear. "Mune who has never done anything but be better to you thank either of you deserve. I will never forgive you. From this day forward, the two of you and I are not family."
The younger twins scrambled to get away as Anubis lowered his forehead to his twin's, willing her to wake up. To be okay. He needed her to be okay.
Amunet jolted awake, seizing up and crying out in pain. Bis felt like his soul left his body as the fear drained out of him as he held her as close as he could as she sobbed and clutched at his arms in utter agony.
He would never forgive Thoth and Ma'at for getting Mune hurt. Not if he lived for eons.
So Bis is kind of a sociopath. Or maybe he's just like an abused dog that's only loyal to the one person in his life who showed him kindness? This is a two-parter. Maybe even three, depending on how long the next chapter gets I may have to split it.