Rebirth

[Jared Vanders]

Pain.

Pain flashed everywhere. Set - it had been Set. Osiris couldn't believe it even so. Osiris knew his brother's heart was dark, but he still didn't believe that Set could do this.

Pain - even as he breathed. Each breath hurt. Each breath brought exhaustion. Osiris didn't even try to use his magic. He knew he couldn't stop this. Maybe someone else could be he couldn't.

Osiris saw her. His Isis, always so beautiful. He wondered if she was really there or just a hallucination. His hand reached out to her, almost too weak to do so. And before she grabbed her hand, everything went black.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

Isis ran as fast as she could. This day was just getting worse. First Set - and now her Osiris. She had to find him - she had to find him right away.

She followed after the Egyptian commoner in front of her - one of the ones that was hiding her and her husband from Osiris traitorous brother. Isis had insisted that they not do so, but her subjects would have nothing of it say that Osiris and Isis had taken care of them, it was now their turn to take care of their gods. The thought of it almost elicited a curse from her lips, but her light held her together. The one thing in all this darkness that made her smile.

The man led her to a small room. There he was, her Osiris. He was lying on the ground, body broken. The tears she had been holding in came from her eyes, causing hot streams through the dust on her face.

"No...no...no,"
she said.

Osiris reached out to her and she took his hand. "I'm here, my love. You can't leave me."


But as she said the words, Osiris' eyes shut. "I'm sorry my Lady, we did everything we could."
the young man next to her said.

The man though Osiris had died, but he hadn't. Isis noticed the rising and falling of the chest. As long as he breathed, he still had a chance. Her hand went instinctively to her stomach - to her light - as she prepared herself.

[Jared Vanders]

Osiris awoke in darkness. The pain was still there - still unbearable. He looked around, seeing only a bright light in one direction. Osiris wondered at this and what it meant, but it didn't take him long to figure it out. The afterlife had come to claim him.

In the darkness he heard a voice from far away. "No!"


It was his love...his Isis. "I'm sorry my love. Not even we can prevent the afterlife from coming to claim us."


Osiris started moving, slowly towards the light, ready to accept his fate. Every step he took diminished the pain he felt.

"I can't be a mother alone."
Isis's voice called out to him, seemingly far away.

Osiris stopped, caught off guard by the words he heard. Mother! Isis was going to be a mother! He couldn't leave. Not now.

Osiris turned and stepped away from the light. Pain shot through him as he did. His steps became more difficult, until he dropped to the ground. The darkness disappeared and Osiris could see himself on the ground, his Isis over him. The world spun and he felt breath enter his lungs - felt his heart beating - felt the immense pain.

His eyes opened and Isis was there, her cheeks stained with tears. Her hand held his. "I'm here my love."


Osiris stared at her and smiled before falling fast asleep.

[Emily Shale-Vanders]

"I'm here my love."
Isis spoke as she heard breath enter her lover's lungs. She saw his eyes open and whispered silent thanks. She couldn't believe it.

Then Osiris smiled at her. A knowing smile. Had he heard her cries? Osiris passed out, but his chest rose and fell indicating he was asleep. She heard whispers from behind her, and she summoned her magic to listen.

"He's alive. She brought him back from death."


More whispers of a similar sort came to her ears. They didn't know that Osiris had never truly died. She would let them believe. They needed hope, and would need more in the days to come.