Ennead || Unseen

First End III

A loud crying echos into the hall where you sit, the familiar wail of a baby. You let out a sigh, closing your eyes, trying to quell a cough that itches up your throat. There's only a few gods around, all of them giving you a wide berth of space.

You're thankful for the distance, along with the thicker fabrics you chose today. You're getting paler, your nose eyes and mouth periodically dripping with fluid. You wouldn't want to cause a stir just yet....

Starshine. You called her starshine. That's stupid.

And probably blasphemous since the one closest to you happens to be the star of this solar system herself.

You forget your blasphemy as you're approached however, by a figure you haven't seen in a while. You slowly stand up but she lifts a hand up, to say you don't need to.

"Honorable Nu, God of the primordial waters. I've come to inform you personally... and to ask you for your blessings."

Ma'at bows before you as you blink... and then blink again. You sigh, tapping your fingers against your thigh.

"...so, did he finally propose?"

"...yes." She raises her head to look at you with that resting bitch face per usual. "I know of your closeness so it feels just to have your favor."

You squint at her. Surely that's not all... you grin.

"You two very much do have my favor, though I can't help but think this is your way of, should I say, 'balancing the scales'? Your mother's support was conditional upon my son's powers and now you've come to offer me your own for my support?"

Her eyes widen but she stays silent... before sighing and closing her eyes, nodding. "Yes, that is my intention. I will give you this favor if it is deemed reasonable."

You smile and hum, tipping your head up as you ponder what favor to ask...

"...Have you ever thought about motherhood?"

She takes a step back. "What??"

"I just... want your opinion, your true thoughts about it. Is it something for you? Maybe not motherhood as a concept but just... raising a kid?"

"Well, I commend those who do. Though, I wouldn't."

You look at her, more closely now. As expected, she is brutally honest with you but it seems more brutal on herself. You've never once seen her so... uncomfortable. You can't help but frown.

"Say that Thoth wants a child though, will you give one to him? Or if he decides to have one, will you help raise them?"

She's silent and now even further away from you.

"...I cannot say unless I am in that predicament. But we have talked and do not intend to have children... I have matters to attend to so I suggest you tell me your favor, Honorable Nu."

"...treat the children with care but not more than that. They will all be traitors."

She seems to want to ask you more questions but Geb opens the door and stares straight at you. It's almost unnerving but you can handle it. Slowly you stand up, using the walls as support, trying to hide your ragged breath.

You pass by her wordlessly and follow Geb back inside. You can already see that bright blonde hair from across the room, small little tufts crowning her head.

Nut sits on the bed with her other two children. Isis seems to be sleeping while Osiris seems to be staring straight at you. You must contain the urge to chuck the eldest child straight out of the window. Well, even if you were alone in the room, you're not really capable of holding up yourself, let alone a baby who seems to be rapidly growing. It's only been like two- three days and he's so much bigger.

it's ew, it's disgusting, you hate it.

"You two seem awfully interested in each other... but don't you want to see the newborn?"

You quickly look back to the person you're half doing this for. You nod and slowly sit onto the bed, your added weight waking up little Isis. She starts to cry. You just sigh and take the fabric of your sleeve and past it over her, channeling your cooling energy over her. She slowly calms down, as if water washed away her strife. A little trick you'd do with baby Thoth.

"You seem to be experienced in childcare, Aunt."

You look up to Nut, expression blank as she watches you. And yet you can see a smile in those eyes.

"...again, I'm not your Aunt, Uncle, anything in between."

She's silent once more. Man, this is the most silent couple ever. At least Tefnut will give you a bit more small talk than that. You sigh and offer your hands out. Nut silently puts her baby into your hold and you bring her close to you.

"Little Nephthys..."

You're extra careful with her though maybe you don't need to be. For a crybaby as an adult, she seems pretty calm. In fact, she's been pretty silent all this time, even with her sister's crying. She just stares up at you with her little gem-like eyes. You can't help but smile. She'll be arguably the least fucked up of the batch.

Honestly, you still have no idea what the whole mirror dimension thing was and you guess you'll never know. You'll never read another Manhwa again once you get back home.

You slide a few strands out of the infants face and begin to tell her parents her fate.

"Sorrow will fill this girl's life, please think of her... and forgive her."

The two parents look at each other, before looking at you.

"Nu... how do you know all of this?" Geb asks, fucking finally.

You let little Nephthys grab your finger in her little palm, squeezing your finger to death.

"I just do... I'm not laying curses on them or anything, I'm just... trying to prepare."

Ah shit, you shouldn't have blurred that out.

"...prepare?" You can hear the rest of that without him saying; for what?

You just smile without them seeing, another drop of black sludge rolling down your chin.

Nephthys is staring now. Her little hand releases your finger and she stretches out her hand. You decide to give her back to Nut. She lets out a little baby sob.

"Oh, I know baby, you wanna play with me more. But I must leave." You coo as you slowly stand up again, quickly glancing to check if- yep, stalker baby still staring.

"...Be Careful, Nu." Nut simply says as you slowly walk out of the room.

As soon as you exit, other gods walk past you and file into the room. They dodge around you like a leper and honestly, you're feeling like one now.

You lean into the wall a bit too hard- almost slamming into it as you stand exhausted. Your body aches as you slide down the wall into a crumpled pile on the ground.

"Oh my~ How the mighty have fallen... I thought you promised me the truth before you died?"

You groan quietly and look up to see Sekhmet standing above you, smug as ever. You grit your teeth and order her.

"Pick me up and take me to a room."

She grins.

"With pleasure~"