Anubis

⁂ P r o l o g u e

The god of the dead was in dire need for more real estate.

Not that he really needed it. If anything, it was more of a want, but to him there was no difference between the two. His throne room alone was massive. Djed pillars crafted of solid gold were running from floor to ceiling - wherever the ceiling was, that is. If one was to crane their neck back and look up, they'd see nothing but blackness, the gleaming pillars disappearing inside it. At the exit, there was an extravagant statue of a man on either side, with the head of a jackal and Egyptian garb. A throne was in the midst of it all, shining bright, intricate carvings all over the onyx surface.

The room was bursting at the seams with power; both the inhabitants seconds from tearing out each other's throats. Or, rather, the younger deity was. Dressed in torn jeans and a Coca-Cola t-shirt, he was a stark contrast to the suit-clad goddess standing before him. It was quiet as they stared each other down, the only sound that of the gurgling of a fountain near the throne.

"I need," the young man snarled, "to expand."

Anubis' appearance was misleading. Among the mortals, he could pass off as a boy headed to college, but he was older than some of the other gods. This age was his preferred form.

"You will not expand."

"You dare come to my domain and tell me what to do?"

"Yes," the goddess said, her eyes glinting. "You are not to proceed. That's an order."

"How dare-"

"You don't frighten me, little boy."

Anubis growled. "I am over two thousand years old!"

"And yet, you behave like a little brat. The mortals live less than a fraction our lifetime but they all seem to mature quicker than you. What will it take for you to realize that the world is not yours alone? Another millennium? I'm not getting you any more real-estate. Had you not insisted on your own personal pool in the middle of the Underworld, this would not be a problem."

"I need more."

Nephthys remained obstinate. "This order is coming directly from Ra. Until Osiris-"

"Tell the old man I don't care. He can give me what I want or I can take it. I can just start evicting people. A curse to raise the dead. Let them scare the ba out of Ra's precious mortals."

"Anubis, you aren't evicting anyone. Must you insist on throwing one of these tantrums every century? Sending the dead back to the living will do nothing to change Ra's mind."

That was where she was wrong. Ra would care. There was a particular breed of people who would cause havoc upon arrival - they were the ones with unfinished business. Those that he knew would want revenge. Bloodthirsty beings. That sort of instability with a curse sprinkled on top would get Ra's attention and get him to cave.

"That depends," Anubis said, "on who I send back."