And here's the fanfiction of the Ennead! Have fun reading)
Hot. If only he could get rid of the shenti as soon as possible. Yes, this is a desert, but it can't be this hot!... The sand burns his bare feet. All the scorpions have melted and lie roasting in the sun. Apparently, the goddess Ra is feeling particularly cheerful today.
Anubis is literally bouncing across the sand toward Kynopolis, where the life-saving shade and the market are located. The shenti is starting to burn; the black color is literally killing the jackal, who also has that mask on top. Just a little more, just a tiny bit, and he'll enter the market, reeking of spices and the sweet smell of fruit.
Two familiar silhouettes stand near a stall, choosing fresh apples. It's Maat and Thoth — what an unexpected meeting! They couldn't really explain why they wanted to eat like humans, but it's worth noting that Maat was a pretty good cook. Anubis had come to the sage's library several times to recall forgotten knowledge, always managing to show up right at lunch or late dinner time. The goddess would happily feed the stray jackal who kept appearing from the shadows, thus taming him. The reincarnations provoked by Osiris had greatly affected Anubis's mind, making him behave like a wolf or a dog. Sometimes he didn't even notice his instant reaction to a whistle or his hunting instinct when spotting a bird in the sky. But now, stepping on the cooled, trampled sand in the shade, the guide wasn't thinking about any of that. He needed to find a clothing stall and buy shorts — otherwise, the shenti would fuse to his butt and thighs.
"Anubis! Long time no see! You haven't been to Kynopolis for ages, even though this is the main center of worship for you." Thoth greeted him with a friendly smile. Maat also turned around but didn't say hello until the jackal came closer. It wasn't in her nature to shout across half the market, especially to someone who might not even pay attention.
"Hey, Thoth. Hello, Maat. Where's the clothing sold?" Anubis shook the sage's hand, bowing slightly to the girl. She didn't resemble the kind and sweet Hathor — on the contrary, she was very strict and authoritative. This didn't scare the guide, but it at least made him cautious.
"Good afternoon, jackal. We're heading there now, so you won't mind walking with us. Besides, there are some unresolved questions." The goddess took the bag of apples and placed it in the basket her husband was holding. From his expression, it was clear the load was quite heavy — the basket was tilting forward, and the man could barely lift it off the ground. Anubis, figuring he'd have to walk with them anyway, took the basket from Thoth's hands. The ibis gratefully thanked his friend for the help, folding his hands like Buddha, and the two of them trudged after Maat, who walked without even acknowledging the gentlemen lagging behind.
Time dragged on. He wanted to tear off the shenti and bare his august body to everyone. Sanity was slowly leaving the jackal's already battered head. And on top of that, Maat had started some meaningless interrogation, as if collecting compromising material!
"...So, I see. We have time for one more question. What did Osiris do when you decided to reshape the Duat?"
"Sewed my mouth shut and my eyes. Is that all? I need to find shorts." Anubis shifted from foot to foot, looking at Thoth, who had settled on his haunches — the jog through the market had already worn him out.
"An interesting punishment. You're free. Thoth, take the basket, we're going home." The girl took the load from the guide's hands and set it down next to the stunned ibis. How had they gotten so much? Maybe Anubis would agree to help again? Ah, well, it didn't matter — the jackal had already vanished from the man's sight the moment Maat released him.
The god of death stood by a tent, carefully examining the entire assortment of trousers. Shentis, skirts, pants, shawls — everything for self-respecting Kynopolitans. The saleswoman looked fearfully at the jackal who had appeared out of nowhere, worshipped by the entire city, and mentally prepared words of praise in case he suddenly became angry.
"May I see those shorts?" He stepped under the tent, almost standing right next to the woman.
"Anything for our lord!" Anubis was annoyed when they called him that. Calling the god of death and the Duat the "lord" of the living — what nonsense.
No matter how hard the guide tried to pay for the goods, they wouldn't take his money, saying he'd already done so much for those who had passed on. They almost brought him all their earnings from today as a gift — at least five or six stalls. The other merchants and residents of the city looked with reverence at the young man hastily leaving the market, hiding a deep blush under his jackal mask.
Finally, the stuffy black shenti fell from Anubis's thighs, replaced by light, fitted shorts that wouldn't ride up in battle and expose the god's charms to everyone. The sand was still hot. His thighs no longer burned, because the gifted garment, although just as dark, fit snugly enough to be unnoticeable and reached only to the upper third of his thighs.
The desert today was treating everyone who dared to stick their nose out before five in the evening to its scorching sun. So Horus, Set, and the Greek, returning from the jungle, all got caught in the crossfire. In theory, the sky god should have been alone, but the caring Isis had assigned the previously disgraced Set to accompany him — and, of course, the Greek. Imagine the surprise of the war demigod when he saw a slightly pale silhouette bouncing along a dune. There was no doubt — it was definitely his son! But why was he running? Was someone chasing him? And where was the shenti? Things smelled fishy when the god of death fell onto the sand and rolled down. He'd been killed!
Set got there before it even registered that a god couldn't be killed, especially by mere mortals.
"Anubis! What happened? Get up!" The frightened father flew over to his still-lying offspring, ignoring the two companions of the hike, who were calling both of them by name.
"Set? What are you doing here?" The jackal stared in confusion at the man shaking him, looking past him at Horus running up ahead.
"Are you wounded?" The former ruler stopped shaking his son and began to quickly examine him, not removing his hands.
"What gave you that idea?" The sky god dropped to his knees next to Set and pressed his head to where Anubis's heart should be. It wasn't beating.
"Uncle, he's dead!" Horus exclaimed, trying to find a pulse on his brother's neck.
"Well, I'm the god of death, so it's logical that my heart is stopped. And why all the fuss?" The guide sat down on the sand. Three pairs of surprised eyes stared at him.
"Wait. You have no heartbeat? Is Osiris behind this?!" The war demigod removed his lover's hands from his son's neck and pressed his own ear to his chest. Amazing...
"I don't remember. I never had one." The young man tried to pull away from the contact, but Set wouldn't let him, pressing close.
"Whoa, buddy, you're a walking dead man! Are they all like that in your Duat? Then I'm not surprised those creatures are corpse-like too." The Greek crouched down, trying to look into the death god's eyes.
"They're not creatures. They're jackals. They just had the misfortune of dying at human hands." Anubis had nowhere left to move, and his clingy father still wouldn't let go, so he tried to gesture for Horus to remove the red one. The sky god, without hesitation, pulled the war demigod away, finally allowing the death god to stand.
"Why did you fall?" The future ruler of Egypt ignored his uncle's furious glare, which looked ready to turn him into shish kebab.
"I just decided to roll down the slope. It's fun. I like rolling in the sand." Ah, right — the animal part hadn't gone anywhere. Only now did everyone notice the fitted shorts above his knees, so desperately inviting a touch.
"What scandalous pants you have, jackal. Watch out that no one bites you." The Greek chuckled, something indecipherable happening in his own pants.
"What do you mean?" Anubis was a stranger to everything related to love and that sort of thing. He'd only kissed Osiris, and even then under duress. And now someone was saying that to him. How was he supposed to react?
"Your buns are a nut, just begging to be sinful. Right?" Before the Greek could react, he received a solid smack from Set, who definitely didn't appreciate such a comment about his son.
"Shut up, you pervert! Don't you dare use your little jokes about my child!" To be fair, this "child" was a head and a half taller than his father and broader in the shoulders — but the war demigod didn't see anything odd about that. His son would forever remain that cute little boy he used to kiss every time he came to sleep with him.
Anubis had died from a curse. Set no longer hoped to see him. But a few months ago, he had encountered him in the form of the god of death. If he hadn't cut off Osiris's hand — if he had recognized his son in him — that child would now be living an ordinary, even happy, life. But fate had treated the jackal cruelly, so his father had lost him right in his own arms, staring into eyes blackened with infection. When the flower on his chest withered, Set had lost his mind with rage and cut Osiris to pieces again — this time with particular hatred and cruelty. They were both fathers to Anubis! How dare that cursed drowned man do such a thing to his own son?! And now, looking at a perfectly alive jackal, the war demigod was not about to lose him again.
"What's the big deal? The shorts really are very revealing, so I hinted at it. By the way, Anubis, where's your manhood? I don't see it for some reason. Or are you a eunuch?" Now the Greek was being stared at by Horus — apparently, he wasn't feeling positive either. What kind of day was this, everyone so aggressive!
"Eunuch? No. I just don't need it. I removed it completely, but I can bring it back. I just won't show you — you're a man." Wow, what a statement! Set exhaled in relief and started stroking his son's head.
"Good boy. Right thinking. Nothing for him to look at — he has his own." So Anubis was still untouched. Praise the heavens. The red one would personally rip off the barrel of anyone who dared to encroach on his boy's innocence. Father, what can you say.
"Uncle, we should go. Maybe we can take him with us? Mother asked to meet your son the other day." Horus looked at the jackal, who seemed lost in thought.
"Why? Does she need something from me?" Anubis knew in advance that such sudden requests for a meeting, especially from the ruler of Egypt herself, didn't happen for nothing. What if she wanted to judge him? Or execute him?
"Probably regarding the Duat. She knows about your rule there and about your improvements. Mother would like to know how you managed to reshape the underworld." The sky patron was also burning with curiosity — only a true god could create something like that. Was Anubis that powerful?
"Then I refuse. I will carry that secret through life. Torture me — I won't say a word." The Greek snorted, drawing the attention of all three.
"Really? Then can I start?" Whether it was a joke or not was unclear, but a suddenly appearing staff in the jackal's hands cut short the Greek god's amusement.
"First defeat me, little god." A proper brawl was brewing — you could see it from the saliva starting to drip from Anubis's chin. That happened when he was angry and baring his teeth to bite.
"Easy, easy! I was joking! Don't bite me — I don't need rabies. Ahem, forget it." The Greek raised his hands in a peace sign and waved them slightly, as if renouncing the idea of battle.
"Dangerous jokes you have. So, you're not coming?" Horus's head was already baked; he wanted to get to the temple to his mother and cool off by the cold waterfall.
"No. I have business in the Duat. If you want to meet me — find someone dying and wait until I show up." Anubis turned and trudged toward the cave he'd been planning to roll down the dune to.
"Wait! If anything, you know where I live. Come by." Set said it with such care that envy flared up in the sky god. Honestly, what had he expected? Anubis had died in his father's arms, and Set couldn't spend much time with him now — while he and Horus had only sex. Besides, the lovers saw each other almost every day, which couldn't be said about the guide, who only appeared in Egypt for Thoth's knowledge and Maat's cooking.
All night, Set thought about his departed son. He replayed the moment of his passing in his head: his own rage and furious scream, then bitter tears of loss. Tonight, he had another shitty dream. Anubis, dying, through wheezes and groans, blamed his father for his death, grabbing him by the throat, trying to strangle him and take him to the Duat. The man no longer resisted. In the end, the dream faded as soon as the gates of the Duat opened. Set jolted awake in bed, trying to catch his breath. Out of the corner of his eye, in the shadows, he noticed a painfully familiar disappearing jackal mask.
Anubis is always watching over his daddy. He is his personal curse.