Chapter Text
When Maat placed Set's heart upon the scale the last thing anyone expected was for a bright golden-red*1 light to surround both Set and his heart and for a voice none had heard in a very long time,believed to have faded, The Great Creator: Atum.
"My great-great grandson has suffered enough and I will make sure he gets justice and you stupid descendants of mine learn the truth." Atum's voice boomed through the hall shocking everyone who started to speak into silence. “The truth of Set's life will be told through song and scene. Now Watch."
With that last command the glow turned into a floating mist so fine it looked like a shining cloth, floating above Seth.
Incredulously and for once shocked beyond words, "……What the fuck Maat?" Ra asked.
To which she said, "..I don’t know either Ra." looking back and forth between her scales and Seth's quiet, kneeling figure before continuing "Nothing like this has ever happened and like you, I had assumed that Atum faded.-" before she could finish she was cut off by who else but Isis.
Enraged and shouting "No! I refuse to believe this anything but a trick to get out of his punishment!" huffing she wnt to speak again when, THUD!! She was shoved back into her seat by an invisible force and couldn't move. When she tried to speak, nothing came out just her lips flapping with nothing to say. Enraged she yelled silently.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted," looking pointedly at Isis' sulking figure, "Set could not have done this himself. His powers are still restrained, no one here save for Nut and Geb, maybe would remember Atum's voice. They were shocked as well." Maat looked around before sighing softly and continued.
"I propose we do as Atum commanded. From what he said, it would seem there is more to this than it would seem. I am the Goddess of Justice. Not judging him fairly would go against everything I stand and represent. I want all the facts before I proceed with the judging of his heart." as if that was all that was needed the doors were covered with the same light. It pulsed before opening, that same light gently pushed the demigod Anubis into the room before slamming shut.
Atum spoke again, “Anubis has the right to be here and know the truth unfiltered. Not the lies others have told him of his father."
A girls voice came from the mist before it panned to show a group of children in front of one of Set's old temples. The girl standing in front of the group being the one who spoke.
Ok. Put on your listening ears for five minutes!
Got them on? Good. Now just listen:
Long ago, there lived a man
His name was Carlo, and he was priest of
This temple where his God was worshiped
With me?
"I thought we were to hear of Set, not these children?" Taweret asked. Wondering why these children were in front of the abandoned temple.
"Maybe they talk about him?" Bes suggested "They are in front of one of his abandoned temples after all."
Karla's the god, yeah.
No! His god's name is
Set, and he's infamous
People come to pray from near and far
Got it
Good
Now, there's a rumor going round
The image shifts, panning down and shifting through the grounds below, showing the tunnels beneath. Sitting there was a muscled man back facing the viewers, with brown hair and tanned skin.
That in the tunnels underground
There lives
Ooh! Wait, I know, can I guess?
Sure, if you can.
A mysterious phantom! Me! Right?
The mist phased back to show one of the boy's excitedly waving his hand around, smirking widely before the girl continued and the scene shifted back to man...
Right, well, mostly..
"So they're talking about something related to the temple. Perhaps a story passed down surrounding why Seth abandoned it?" Thoth suggested looking at Seshat, who not looking away from the front said "It's possible but I think there's more to it."
All of a sudden as Set started singing though he looked surprised as if he didn't mean too...
But the twist is that this ghostly
Evil presence isn't monster, but man
Now, this man had been blessed
With a gift he possessed
Musical talents completely unmatched
"Oh!" exclaimed Ihy delighted. "Now I remember. He's one of my blessed!*3 Atek. I wondered what happened to him." he finished solemnly.
But, as you often will find
In epic tales of this kind
This gift came with a curse attached
"Wait! I never cursed him! I blessed him?! Who cursed one of my blessed!?" Ihy shouted enraged looking around the hall at the other gods.
Hathor though her face was calm, was sweating anxiously on the inside 'Shit! Why'd he have to find out?! Those people never should have said he was incomparable in music and beauty! I wouldn't have had to curse him. Hmph! I can't let Ihy know it was me or who knows what he'll do to me!'
The scene changed to the man now known as Atek turned around and you could see his face half covered by a cloth mask , painted with a Nile crocodile, holding a qanun*2.
A face that was hideous
And so jarring
He wore a mask to cover all the scarring
Cool!! The boy cheered.
And lived underground inside a hole.
Wait. A hole? Why a hole?! The enthusiastic boy queried, interrupting once more
All his life, he'd been tormented, teased, and taunted
But now his hunters would become the haunted
The world that always made him feel unwanted would hear the toll
The sounds of a tortured soul.
(A.N. I'm no longer adding the parts where the two talk during the song except one part until the end)
Atek was shown to now be playing a qanun when he suddenly looked up and slowly stood,
One day at his qanun
Distant sounds of a soprano
Drifted towards him from the temple above
Atek walked up to the temple and saw..
Sweeter than a bird
In all his life he'd never heard
A sound like this, and he was instantly in love
The voice, of course, was Carlo's God
A younger Set; singing & dancing under the moonlight, beads in his hair and silks on his shoulders.
"Set can sing? Well now, that is interesting. I had thought his singing right now was because of Atum." Sekhmet smirked.
"That would be because I blessed him as a child when I heard him singing with the birds in one of the gardens." Bes bragged.
"Did you know he could sing Anubis?" "Of course I did! Father always sang for me if I asked." Anubis answered his mother Nepthys.
And the Phantom went and sought him
To become his secret student, and his muse
And if you think he found this oh-so-
Enigmatic virtuoso
Kinda impudent, then I've got some shocking news
Different scenes of Set and Atek together flash by, the pair dancing through the temple at night, Atek kissing Set's hand after tucking a desert bloom behind his ear and Set shyly smiling with a blush. Then it shows another where they are talking at night.
'You could have anyone my desert rain, but you chose me. Not to mention Nepthys. I guess what I'm getting at is, Why me? A mere mortal?'
Set looked at Atek for a moment before leaning in, pulling off Atek's mask to kiss his scarred cheek and said, 'Why wouldn't I? You are unerringly kind even after everything you've been through, talented and frighteningly smart. My beautiful musician,'
Bringing his hands to cup Atek's cheeks he continued.
'As for Nepthys, why would I want to stay with her after she cheated on me with my own brother? She was Peace & Home where I was War & Chaos.' Set sighed stroking Atek's cheek with his thumb before continuing.
" I think I loved the idea of her. Not Nepthys herself. Of coming home to peace after war. Not to mention she has never made me feel like you do.' Set finished staring lovingly into Atek's eyes.
'Now, kiss me my phantom musician.' he demanded as he leaned in.
'Anything for you my love.' And their lips met in a loving and passionate dance.
Because he fell, and fell hard
He was battered and scarred
But he could see that inside, there was more
Something alluring, he'd find
In the sadness behind
That terrifying mask he wore
"So you cheated on Set with Osiris hmm." Sekhmet sneered. "So much for the Goddess of Peace and Mistress of the House." scoffing Sekhmet turned to Ra and stated, "So, now I understand why you hate her and called her hypocritical."
And though he was hideous
And he was perfection
Through music, they found their connection
A bond beyond their own control
And though his mortality tormented him and chilled him
His compositions haunted him and thrilled him
His mesmerizing melodies fulfilled him, made him whole
The sounds of a tortured soul
He was god, and he was man
Set was shown to be collecting the Bloom Immortal. A flower he made just for his Atek. One that when made into wine would allow Atek to become a god as well, so they would never need part. he knew it would work having asked both Thoth and Nub.
Giggling softly
"Soon. Soon Atek we will no longer need to hide. You'll be able to live with me and finally meet Anubis and we can be together always!" Set spoke to himself excitedly. Gently caressing the white and gold flowers lovingly.
It flashes back to the children and the girl says, “Zeke, less talking more listening 'Cause here's where it gets interesting.” Seth starts to sing again.
Set has a brother, some
God named Osiris who's tall and handsome
And not all that pleased about his latest beau
The scene shifts to show Osiris pacing angrily, arms crossed and muttering to himself. Suddenly he looks up and out his window determined.
Angrily, Osiris tracks him
To his lair, where he attacks him
And they battle in the passageway below
And when he took his last breath
The Phantom welcomed his death
He'd rather die than live apart
Still singing Seth was now also crying, his tears turning to sand once they hit the floor.
"NO ATEK!! Osiris how dare you!?" Ihy bellowed before breaking down as his mother folded him into her embrace.
"Osiris! What could have conceived you to do such?!! I had already given them my blessing! I knew you had betrayed your brother and Isis already but you murdered another god's blessed! Your brother's other half?!" Nut asked angrily. Hardly believing she had misjudged one of her sons so completely that he was an entirely different man.
When it was over and done
Osiris had killed him—he'd won
But he'd lost Set's trust
'Cause though he was family, yes
And a god
The Phantom's love was so much deeper
A loss that nothing could console
No more, he'd see that face that once had chilled him
No more, he'd hear that music that fulfilled him
And people say that that's the thing that killed his heart, made it cold
He abandoned that temple and was never seen there again.
"But get this." the girl spoke.
When they returned to find the Phantom and unmask it
They never found a body for the casket
They say he had, depending who you ask it, one last goal
"One last goal?" the boy whispered entranced.
To this day, inside that temple, or near it
If you listen very closely, you can hear it
The songs of a tortured spirit's final role
The sounds of a tortured soul
"That's the basic plot, anyway." the girl nonchalantly shrugged before sitting down
Looking astonished the boy asked, "So it's about a person who died at a temple," pausing to look at her in confirmation before saying
"And then haunts it forever?" he finished.
"Yes." the girl succinctly answered.
"So you're saying father found someone he loved enough, to find a way to make him an immortal." Anubis shakily sighed "That you wanted to introduce him to me. You wanted me to meet him father?" he asked
"Of course I did Anubis. If things had gone as planned he would have been my husband and I had hoped that, even if you didn't see him as a parental figure, that you'd at least get along." Set said sobbing. "I loved him so much Ihy. I went to mother for her blessings in hopes of being able to live with him forever. I'm sorry, so sorry that Osiris murdered him because of his sick obsession with me." he finished before breaking down again.
Ihy stood and rushed down the stairs to Set. He kneeled before Set who looked to be bracing for a blow, before firmly hugging him to his chest. "It was not your fault Set. I can tell that you loved him, STILL love him in fact. I am glad that Atek knew love before he died. Thank you for loving him, for cherishing my blessed. It's Osiris who needs to pay for the crime of killing another God's Blessed." Ihy finished speaking and hugged him tighter.