Recreated (18 page)

“I was alarmed by my discovery, to say the least. The others didn't believe me, and Nut and Geb were far too enamored with each other to listen to my warnings. Even though I sent their father, Shu, to keep them apart, they managed to find a way to be together. They gave birth to Isis, Osiris, Nephthys, and Seth, and when their children came into their various powers, my theory was proved correct. After that, there were only small fragments of life-giving energy left in the Waters. It was undeniable. The rest of my family finally agreed with my theory.”

“So what did you do?” I asked, fascinated by the story of his origin despite the distraction of having to repeatedly kick Horus's foot away from mine. Finally I shifted my chair far enough out of his range that he would have had to get up to reach me. Vexed, he shot me a tormented look so full of wanting, heat crept up my neck.

“Nothing at first. We weren't sure what we
could
do. But ultimately we decided to finish what we had begun. Through eons of study, we learned that the Waters of Chaos had been, at one time, the birthplace of all life in the cosmos. The circumstances of our creation had left it nearly bereft, sterile. The nine of us came together in a great council called the Ennead, and even though the children of Geb and Nut were still too young to understand fully, we made a pact.

“We fashioned lesser gods from the remaining traces of the Waters of Chaos. Anubis, Ma'at, Thoth, Khons, Bastet, and several others came into being at that time. We carefully distributed the remaining powers of the Waters of Chaos between them and then that once vast, fertile sea was gone. Each new god was constrained to make an unbreakable vow to join us in taking upon ourselves the burden of caring for the cosmos.

“A set of laws was established, and we turned our attention to fashioning mortals. Worlds more numerous than you can conceive have been shaped and nurtured by us. Your Earth became our most cherished achievement. When we were satisfied with the work we'd done, I built Heliopolis and settled here to watch over the many worlds and the beings that inhabited them.

“Now our duties include being the champions of the poor and fostering truth, goodness, and justice. Our aim is to use our powers to attain perfection and harmony. We took the ankh as our symbol, for it represents life and it reminds us of what was sacrificed so that we could come into being.

“We move through the universe like a great wind stirring the fires of progress. Though we are unseen by mortals, our presence can be sensed in every dawn, every sunset, every brush of scented air on your cheek, and every raindrop. We are a part of everything and everything is a part of us.”

“So Seth was one of you, then?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “Seth was a happy, curious child. He loved his family, was fascinated by the way the worlds were made, but the day he was imbued with his powers, everything changed. At the time, I thought we were being punished. That there was nothing left for him to inherit. I didn't see it for what it was.”

“What happened? What powers did he get?”

“He received the most terrible and mightiest power of all of us. One that had the potential to destroy everything we'd created—”

“Wait. If you made an unbreakable vow to protect the Earth and pretty much everything else in the cosmos, then why was Seth trying to destroy the ancient Egyptians? Didn't he have control over his new power? Why did you have to recruit Amon and his brothers to stop him? Why is he in a cosmic holding cell, and why was Sebak so adamant about wanting him loosed?”

I knew I was rushing him and asking too many questions. It was obvious. But I felt the weight of saving Amon pressing upon me, and Tia's directness had influenced me to push for answers that we weren't getting. I was growing impatient with the process of learning what we needed to know.

“Seth didn't technically break his vow,” Amun-Ra said. “He just sees things a little differently.”

“A little differently?” Horus exclaimed. “He seeks our demise!”

Amun-Ra sighed. “Seth has a different definition for caring for the cosmos. You see, he came into his powers much later than his siblings. Isis was a powerful spell maker. Osiris ruled over things unseen and could call upon the elements to do his bidding. Nephthys's power was quiet, subdued. She could see into the very heart of a person and understand them fully, truly, in a way no one else could. This is why she became Seth's wife.”

“But he didn't love her,” I said. “He wanted Isis.”

“Yes. He wanted her but he didn't love her. At least, not in the way Osiris did. Seth was obsessed with Isis and her power. He wanted to use her to make his spells. His wife, Nephthys, became intensely jealous, not because she didn't love her sister, for she did, but she needed and craved the love Osiris shared with his wife. She wanted that with Seth. Unfortunately, he was not in the correct frame of mind to offer that.”

“He never will be either,” Horus interjected.

“I'm afraid I still don't understand,” I said.

“That's because I've gotten ahead of myself. The only reason I even bring up Seth's relationship with his siblings is balance.”

“Balance,” I echoed.

“Yes. Each god was given a gift, every one of them important in a different way. Seth's gift was perhaps the most important of all because he is how the universe maintains balance.”

“How so?” I asked.

“He's evil,” Horus explained. “He balances out our goodness.” Amun-Ra frowned but he didn't contradict his nephew, who, emboldened by his uncle's pause, continued. “Seth was created to stir up trouble. The cosmos needs that spark of dissonance, that cord of uncertainty to create. Without it there is only perfection. How do you understand up if there isn't a down? Or comprehend love without hate?”

“So let me make sure I'm getting this. Seth's job was to cause contention, purposely, so that…what? Mortals don't get too complacent? Too happy?” I asked.

“It's a bit more complicated than that,” Amun-Ra said. “There is a place for chaos. Humans understand and appreciate peace only if they know the horrors of war. They can only grow if there is an obstacle to overcome. The cosmos is only balanced if there is a way to experience the bad along with the good.”

“Okay.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Then what went wrong? Why is he locked up?”

Horus seemed unwilling to answer this time and deferred to Amun-Ra, who sucked in a breath. “Seth is imprisoned not because of causing chaos but because he wants to unmake
all
that we have created.”

“Including us,” Horus added.

“What? Why would he want to do that?”

“He's jealous,” Horus said pettily. “He wants to rule it all.”

Amun-Ra narrowed his eyes at his nephew. “Seth seems to have determined that the only way to truly bring balance back to the cosmos is to attempt to refill the Waters of Chaos.”

I tilted my head. “But I thought you said they'd been completely drained.”

“They have been,” he answered.

“Then how would he refill them?”

“He'd destroy us all in the hope that when we died, our energies would return to the place they originated from,” Horus said. “The only exception in his mind would be him and his chosen mate, Isis. With Isis at his side and the Waters of Chaos filled with our life energies, he believes that the balance would be restored with one perfect god and one perfect goddess to rule it all.”

“That's a long shot. Isn't it?” I asked. “I mean, there's no guarantee that your life energies would refill the Waters of Chaos, is there?” Horus glanced at Amun-Ra and a long, meaningful look passed between them. “What?” I pressed.

“When Seth made his first move, the attempt that took Osiris's life, a part of the power that Osiris had been endowed with returned to the Waters and another portion, we are unsure as to how much, remained with the one who murdered him.”

“Seth,” I declared, blowing out a breath.

Amun-Ra nodded. “Isis stopped the process before it was fully realized and used a powerful spell to remake her husband, but he was not the same as he once was. He was lesser somehow. Isis made it clear to all of us then that she wanted no part of Seth's plan and that she considered him her enemy.”

“Yes, Osiris, her husband, was the first mummy. Right?” I shifted forward in my seat and sipped from my goblet.

“Correct,” Amun-Ra said. “When Isis became pregnant, a thing that was forbidden, there was very little energy in the Waters of Chaos to create a god. I had to bestow their child with some of my powers so that he might live.

“Because of this, we learned that our powers could be freely offered to another. That is how you became a sphinx, after all. Isis gifted her lions with a portion of her power, and now that energy resides in the two of you.”

I folded my arms. “I'm surprised you didn't punish her for creating the sphinx spell like you did when she tried to save her husband. It's cruel to keep them apart.”

“Isis misunderstands my intentions. What you see as cruel, I see as necessary. Isis broke the law and a consequence had to follow. Despite the law, I am merciful. They are allowed to see one another. As often as her duties allow, I grant her permission to visit the afterlife.”

“Still, it seems wrong to separate two people who love each other like that.”

Amun-Ra steepled his fingers and considered me. “Sometimes sacrifices must be made and we must give up the thing we want most in the world so that others might live contented and happy. Isn't that right, Nephew?”

“Wouldn't he actually be your great-grandson, not a nephew?” I asked.

“The life I instilled within him called for a reevaluation of our relationship,” he said with a frown. “He is actually closer to a son to me now than anything else, but Osiris chafes at the mere suggestion of it, so I took on the role of his uncle instead. Willful though my charge may be.”

Horus righted himself in his chair with as much dignity as he could muster. “I had to grow up quickly and try to protect myself. Seth came after me at a young age,” he said with a yearning look in my direction.

“You fought with him. Amon told me,” I said.

“Yes. Seth saw me as the weakest of the gods and therefore the easiest to destroy. He knew Amun-Ra was much too powerful to come after him directly, so his plan was to siphon off the energy of the lesser gods first, starting with me. I also represented his defeat, for I was the product of the union he failed to extinguish. He declared my birth an illegal act willfully realized by my corrupted parents, and one that deserved the ultimate punishment. I was the embodiment of the very thing he despised the most, and he was determined to kill me until Amun-Ra intervened.”

“Isis became naturally distraught after Seth made several attempts to kill Horus,” Amun-Ra added. “She poisoned me in an effort to learn Seth's true name so that she might destroy him before he killed her son.”

“Hold on. Amon told me that Isis poisoned you so that she could find out
your
true name so that you would help Horus. He said she wanted Horus to be your heir.”

“Either one would have served her purpose,” Amun-Ra went on. “If she obtained Seth's true name, she could put an end to him, and if she had mine, then she could control me and make me destroy him for her. I am the only one powerful enough to do it, not having given birth to any children of my own. And being the first god to come forth from the Waters of Chaos afforded me the opportunity to learn the true names of all the members in my family. Isis wanted to stop Seth once and for all. If any of us survived the unmaking Seth was attempting, she wanted it to be Horus. When I refused to give up either of our names, she asked me to take Horus under my protection instead, and I did.”

“So you made him your heir?”

“I don't see my relationships with my family members in that way. We are all equal in my mind. Even those gods who have more limited powers have duties that are vitally important in the creation and maintenance of the universe.”

“I disagree, Uncle.”

“I know you do. But I cannot help loving Seth as much as I love you or your mother.” He turned to me. “To soothe her, I told Isis that Horus would receive the opportunity to win a special gift, one that would make him powerful enough to ensure that Seth could not destroy him, but that Horus would need to pass a series of challenges before winning it. It was not a gift I gave away lightly.”

“You're talking about the Eye of Horus, aren't you?” I asked.

“Yes. When I presented Horus with the three trials to test his worthiness, Seth appeared and demanded that he be included. I thought a supervised competition between the two gods might go a long way toward helping Seth return to the fold, to give Seth a chance to prove himself and show the others that he was not the man they thought he was. But Seth used his powers to unmake Horus's eyes. In losing his vision, Horus saw clearly for the first time. His suffering helped him to understand the needs of others. And I knew then that he was truly worthy of the prize.”

“I found Nebu,” he said. “Even blind I was able to defeat Seth, thanks to the falcon who kept me alive.”

“Wait,” I interrupted. “Amon told me you never found Nebu, that the one who did would become the heir of the sun god.”

“Nebu and I disagree on the matter of who found who,” Horus answered with a cocky smile. “Even so, Seth didn't like what happened next.”

Amun-Ra grunted. “Seth was angry, but even he could not find fault with my decision. Horus was given new eyes, including my most powerful gift, currently in use by your young man, Amon. Despite outward appearances, Horus does make sacrifices for the greater good from time to time.”

“Amon is currently in possession of my golden falcon
and
the Eye,” Horus groused. “That's why I've been grounded here for so long. Without the Eye, I'm vulnerable. Perhaps the company of a beautiful woman—women,” he corrected with a wave of his hand to indicate both me and Tia, “will help me forget my troubles.”