Even If It Means War || Ennead

Punishment

"We've been having these family reunions a lot more often lately," Bastet leaned back in her seat as she looked at the rest of the gods that have once again been assembled in the palace. No info had been shared with anyone, what it was about this time.
The pharaoh himself, was nowhere to be seen while the gods gathered around and took their respective places. Only Maat and Isis stood in the front, discussing something.
The atmosphere was tense, everyone could tell, and even the sun shone harsher than ever.

A familiar face made it to the podium, where he was once judged upon. The whispers picked up their volume as Seth stopped, his head hanging low, an unreadable expression on his uncovered face.

The last time anyone had seen him, he was a redhead. The color of blood, they said. The blood of his innocent victims, they said.
Now his hair was the color of charcoal, making his skin appear yet another tick paler. He didn't have the royal appearance of a king anymore, nor the bravado and big mouth. He was quiet, not uttering a word.

Ra looked him up and down with her glittering eyes, a simple smile on her lips. It had the rest of them wondering whether she knew what all this was about. If she did, then she didn't show it.

"Ennead! Gods of Egypt!" Maat's voice echoed through the air, pulling the attention away from Seth and back to herself, "As the goddess of truth and justice, it is my duty to punish those who do wrong and bring the truth of their actions to the surface."

The goddess looked down at Seth's slumped figure, "I have reason to believe that I have failed to uncover the entire truth the last time we have gathered for a trial."

The whispers grew louder yet again but Maat shushed them with the sign of a hand, "Seth has killed thousands of innocent women and children, for that I have punished and demoted him. But recent events suggest, that his punishment was not scaled correctly."

Maat looked around before she continued, " I have not uncovered the entire truth, in fact, I didn't even try. I was caught between my opinion and my duty and therefore made a mistake."

To hear the goddess, who usually did her job so diligently, admit to what might very well be considered a crime was enough the ignite the interest in even the least invested gods.
"What do you mean, Maat?" Nut spoke up, looking between Maat and Seth.

"I mean, that I have reason to believe that we did not uncover the truth behind Seth's madness and that said truth might have changed the outcome of the trial."

Huffs of protest could be heard but neither Maat nor Seth paid it any mind.
"Seth, do you swear on your heart to speak only the truth?"

Seth lifted his head, "I do."

A heart appeared on the scale, which was displayed in such a way that everyone would be able to see even the slightest tip of it.

"Can you tell us again what happened the night you killed your brother? Your version of the story this time."

No one expected the former god of war to look so...hesitant. He had made a name for himself with his constant outrages and his fierce attitude, and seeing him so mild was unusual.

"That night...I found out that my wife had lied to me." he began, "Anubis wasn't mine, he was Osiris' son. When I went to confront him...he–" Seth paused, "he drugged me and admitted that he stole my seed so that Nephthys and I wouldn't be able to conceive. He made a flower...out of my seed." Seth's eyes were now glued to the floor but the scale did not tip.

"When I woke up again, he tried to use Nephtys' gift of fertility to give me the ability to bear him a child. He said it was because he loved me. I refused but...but he had extracted the components of Anubis' soul to use his body for the child he wanted us to create. I begged him to stop and he agreed once I gave up and let him rape me. I killed him, to save myself and my son."