Rarely did Hades ever find himself unnerved and today was one of those rare times.
Given all the rumours he'd heard about Set, and what Anubis had disclosed during their sessions, he'd expected the god of chaos, storms, war, and the desert to be more… forbidding. He'd expected him to exude a sense of malevolence. And he felt a flicker of shame for thinking that, knowing he too was often unfairly judged by mortals and even fellow gods simply because his domain was death.
But the god seated across from Hades didn't feel malevolent at all. His smile could inspire a thousand poems, and he probably had a bevy of admirers falling at his feet. Set reminded him a bit of Eros in his appearance: handsome, disarming, and playful.
One could easily mistake him as harmless. He carried himself in an unassuming manner, but his charm was undeniable. It was easy for one to forget they were in the presence of a powerful and ancient deity. But if you paid close attention, you'd notice the vacant, perpetually bored expression in his eyes. A detail Hades did not overlook, and the reason why he didn't dare let his guard down.
"You look like you don't know what to do with me, Hades. Or should I call you Doctor?" Set asked, a ghost of a smile playing about the corners of his mouth.
Hades blinked, which made him realize Set hadn't blinked once since entering the office.
"Honestly? I don't. You're not what I was expecting," Hades admitted.
"Did you think I'd come in here and cause chaos? Murder everyone in sight?" Set said with a smirk. "Although, seeing as how most everyone in your realm is already dead, the point is rather moot."
"No, no. It's not that. I, uh… your appearance is throwing me off. I've only ever seen Anubis in his animalistic form. I assumed that was his true face, not a mask," Hades explained.
Set was wearing an elaborate headdress in the image birdlike creature Hades didn't recognize, and his face appeared fully human.
"Oh, Anubis doesn't wear a mask; he really does look like a mutt," Set said. "He could easily wear his 'human' face, but I think he chooses to look like an emaciated mongrel on purpose. I wear my human face because, frankly, no one knows what in Ra's name my beast form is supposed to be; not even me. We just call it the Set animal. Fitting, isn't it? That my animal is as ambiguous as my place in the Ennead is," he added, pondering aloud.
Hades clasped his hands on the desk. "Is that why you're here? You're feeling lost?"
"Oh, heavens no!" Set laughed. "I'm here to amuse myself. I got quite an earful from Anubis the other day about how my acts of wrath are tripling his workload and yada, yada," he said, holding up a hand and mimicking a talking mouth.
"He actually got quite emotional about it and let it slip that he's been seeing a therapist, A.K.A. you," he pointed to Hades. "I got curious, and since I have nothing better to do… here I am. What exactly is it you do here, and what gave you the idea to provide such human services to our kind?"
Hades clasped his hands and regarded the god before him. He couldn't tell if Set was genuinely curious and asking in good faith, or whether he working an angle of some sort.
"Gods aren't invulnerable nor are we immune to the same emotions and mental health issues that plague humanity. I simply want to help our kind deal with them in a healthy manner," Hades explained.
Set rolled his eyes. "How magnanimous of you. But I bet it doesn't hurt that you're now privy to prime blackmail material." His lips slowly stretched in a knowing smirk.
"I would never use my patients' private information against them."
"Why not?" Set exclaimed, genuinely shocked by Hades' immediate response. "I would, and so would every other deity I know. Do you have any idea the power you hold in the palm of your hand?" He slapped his own palm for emphasis. "You're a better god than me, because I'd use whatever information Zeus and the others have been feeding you to grab more power for myself and expand my territory beyond this gods-forsaken kingdom of yours."
He leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"Your Underworld smells like mildew, did you know that?"
Hades' eye twitched. "Yes, I know. We've been working on that."
Persephone had told him the exact same thing during her first days in the Underworld. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about it. With the exception of the Asphodel Meadows and the Elysian Fields, most of the Underworld was cold, dark, and damp.
"How exactly did you plan to amuse yourself by coming here?" he asked.
Set leaned back in his seat and shrugged. "I don't know. What do you usually do with your patients; just let them yap your ear off?"
"Essentially, yes."
"Yeesh! And you actually enjoy this? I know how much of a bore Anubis can be, and you willingly listen to his woe-is-me spiel? Know what I do about you Olympians, I don't know how you tolerate the rest of your patients. Be honest; what's really in this for you?"
"Do you have something against Anubis? This is the second time you've spoken disparagingly about him," Hades asked, ignoring the rest of Set's commentary.
Set frowned, but something about the expression wasn't quite right though Hades couldn't put a finger on what.
"What do you mean? I love Anubis. He is my stepson, after all. Why wouldn't I care for the spawn that came from my brother and wife's betrayal?"
"I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not," Hades sighed.
"Neither can I," Set smirked.
This was going to be a frustrating session, Hades thought. He didn't believe for one second that Set had any intention of opening up and taking this seriously.
"I wouldn't hold it against you if you felt some resentment toward Anubis," Hades tried again.
"Oh?" Set arched a brow, the bored look in his eyes giving way to mild interest.
"As you said, he's living proof of your wife and brother's betrayal. It's natural to harbour ill feelings. However, Anubis isn't the one at fault and shouldn't bear the brunt of the resentment you feel toward his parents."
"And he hasn't." There was a beat of silence. "Has he been claiming I've punished him for Nephthys and Osiris' affair? Why is everyone so hung up on that? It happened eons ago. I'm over it, and everyone else should be too," Set drawled, rocking his chair back and placing his legs on Hades' desk.
Hades' eye twitched at the subtle display of disrespect.
"Are you truly over it?" he asked calmly.
Set's eyes narrowed to slits. "I hate repeating myself."
Hades splayed his hands on the desk in a placating gesture. "All I'm saying is… a deep rage like what you felt for Osiris doesn't just vanish overnight."
"You presume to know what I'm thinking or feeling quite a lot. Are therapists supposed to do that? If so, your patients are wasting their time and their money on a quack like you. You are not your patients, how could you know precisely what's going on up here?" Set tapped the side of his head.
"It wasn't my intention to assume. That being said, what name would you give the emotion you felt if not deep rage? People don't just kill and dismember their siblings for no reason at all."
Set blinked for the first time since he sat down.
"And therein lies the flaw in your thought process. I am not 'people'. Don't try to ascribe human morality to me. I'll have you know, I killed Osiris because I felt like it. My brother is an arrogant arse who needed to be taken down a peg or two. I was the only one with the guts to do it."
"By hacking him into pieces and scattering them all over Egypt?" Hades asked.
Set gave a careless shrug. "And he came back to life not long after and added another domain to his rule. What's the issue here? I scratched an itch and got a moment's reprieve from Osiris' stifling presence. He got to expand his power and now works closely with one of his sons. Everyone involved got something out of the ordeal."
Hades' lips thinned.
Set's blasé attitude was unsettling. While he exhibited the same arrogance and narcissism most deities shared, there was something different, something missing.
There was no driving emotion behind Set's cruelty, no passion behind the chaos.
Hades couldn't get a read on him.
"Did you know Osiris would be resurrected when you killed him?"
"I didn't. Isis and Anubis were very meticulous about keeping their plans under wraps. Nephthys too. I'm actually more impressed with her for keeping the secret so well. She's never been able to hide anything from me, not even her desire for our eldest brother. The guilt at their ill-fated affair was written all over her face."
"So, you killed Osiris thinking his death would be permanent; leaving the throne unchallenged and free for you to claim. A win for you, and death for your brother. And what about the trauma your violent acts inflicted on those left behind?" Hades pressed. "Anubis, forced to live with the knowledge that his biological father was murdered by his stepfather. Isis, left without a husband. And Nephthys, no doubt carrying the weight of responsibility for what befell Osiris and Anubis."
Set let out a huff of laughter. "I am not responsible for their emotions or actions and reactions. And I certainly don't appreciate you trying to guilt-trip me or cast me as the villain in this story."
He leaned forward and tapped a finger on the desk with each statement he said. "Osiris pursued my wife. Nephthys welcomed his advances and betrayed Isis and myself. Do they sound like the victims in all this?"
"Ever heard the saying 'two wrongs don't make a right'? Just because someone hurt you doesn't mean you should hurt them back."
"Why not?" Set asked, eyebrows knitting into a frown. "We don't allow mortals or lesser beings to go unpunished when they disrespect us. I did to my brother what I would have done to any mortal who dared to cross me. You keep saying we're not as different from mortals as we'd like to think, so by you logic my reaction was very much warranted and justified."
Hades' eyes lit up. "I thought you killed Osiris simply because you could; not as an act of vengeance," he pointed out smugly.
Set waved a dismissive hand. "Both reasons apply. My brother had everything one could ever want: immeasurable power, hundreds of thousands of followers, and the love of a beautiful, loyal woman. There was no reason for him to covet what was mine." His nostrils flared. "He thought he could have whatever he wanted because of who and what he was. I simply taught him what the rest of us peons already know. Every action has a consequence."
His smile dimmed, and a shadow passed through his eyes as he leaned forward once again.
"Of course, for my brother, those consequences ended up becoming a reward. He was made king even in death."
"And you didn't get to replace him as pharaoh in the land of the living," Hades said evenly. "That must have been a hard pill to swallow especially since it was Osiris' son who ascended to power."
"There you go again, rehashing old news."
Set's expression remained mostly neutral, but a slight twitch flickered in his right eye.
Hades rested his chin on his clasped hands. "Just because its old news doesn't mean it doesn't still bother you. You lost to your brother again."
Like a switch being flipped, Set's face twisted into something dark and lethal.
A vortex of biting wind tore through the office, carrying with it the dry, earthy scent of the desert. His eyes flashed red as he effortlessly shoved Hades' desk aside, sending it crashing against the wall.
The winds ripped the headdress from Set's hair and carried it swirling toward the ceiling.
Set grabbed Hades by the front of his robes and yanked him to his feet.
"I did not lose to that green-bellied fool or his one-eyed spawn!" he shouted over the roar of wind, his grip tightening. "The only reason Horus sits on the throne right now is because the other gods took his side. And it's only because they fear me that they won't let me rule!"
Unfazed by the outburst, a proud grin crept across Hades' face. A display of emotion at last. He was glad to see that Set wasn't completely devoid of feeling.
Hades though Set exhibited sociopathic traits. And while there was no cure for such a personality disorder, it could be managed under the right conditions.
Perplexed by Hades' reaction, Set called off the winds and stepped back.
"What's with that?" he asked, gesturing vaguely to Hades' face.
Hades calmly smoothed the wrinkles from his clothes and floated his desk back into place.
"That was the first time you showed genuine emotion since we started. I think we're finally starting to get somewhere."
Set scoffed. "We're getting nowhere. You deliberately provoked me to get the reaction you wanted, because you think I should feel a certain way about my actions." He stepped over to where his headdress had landed, picked it up, dusted it off, and placed it back atop his head. Then he turned his unnerving gaze on Hades once more. "You want me to be genuine, Unseen One? Fine. I'll give you genuine."
He took in a deep breath and released it.
"Osiris should have known better than to behave like a dog in heat and let his carnal urges get the better of him. He got what was coming to him. I felt no regret then, and I'm not about to start now. I have nothing against Isis and she's fine and happy now after everything that happened, so there's no reason to dwell on the past.
I am the god of chaos. I don't understand why people act so surprised every time I cause chaos. I am behaving exactly as nature intended me to; same as every other god. That being said, this has stopped being amusing, so I'll be taking my leave."
Hades knew there was nothing he could say to stop him, so he nodded.
"My door is always open, if you ever feel like continuing this conversation."
"I won't," Set drawled, walking out of the room.
Mere moments after he left, Charon burst into the office as Hades was cleaning up the mess left behind by Set's winds.
"I don't know what you did to anger that bastard, but his storms are tearing through the Underworld. You need to stop this madness before they reach the Elysian Fields and Asphodel Meadows," Charon panted.
Hades followed him outside.
Thunder and lightning cracked across the realm as far as the eye could see. Violent winds tore through the land, uprooting trees from the orchard. However, instead of rain pounding down from the skies, a torrent of beetles and locusts poured from the heavens.
Down below, Shades and nymphs ran for shelter, shrieking in pain and panic as the magical insects swarmed. Cerberus' howls echoed on the wind, but Hades couldn't tell where he was.
Thanatos, the Furies, and Persephone appeared around him, all demanding to know what was going on.
"You know, this would actually make for a good punishment in Tartarus. We should ask this Set guy to set this up for us in one of the levels," Megaera said, then started laughing. "Get it? Set it up, cause his name is—"
"We get it, Meg. It's not as funny as you think it is. In case you didn't notice, we have a serious problem to deal with here," Tisiphone hissed.
"I was just trying to lighten the mood. So, what's the plan, boss?" Megaera retorted.
All eyes turned to Hades, waiting for a response. He took a steadying breath and made a mental note to send Set a letter officially rescinding his offer to return to the Wellness Centre for therapy.
He'd also need to adjust the Underworld's wards to keep that bastard out for good.