The day of peace was coming, two days to prepare a location, not enough time to think of neutral ground but to use Neapolis instead. It was now a moment of anxious waiting and cautious optimism as peace drew closer and closer. Acmeus, now Magister Militum was marching a Legion down to Neapolis, escorting their emperor, Imperator Marcus Lenox who on his personal steed still wearing his Legion General's armor but this time with a wreath crown on his head to denote his status. Around him were Praetorian Cavalry cohorts protecting the Emperor as they went South to Neapolis and meet their counterparts from Egypt to negotiate peace terms.

And yet to the North, marched Crassus's legions as he exited the Balkan and enter the Italian Peninsula, his goal was clear, to take back Rome, not long ago he was ousted from his seat of power. Now he intends to take it back by force with his army moving in closer to the Po Valley. To the West, his reinforcements from the Scipii landed near Rome by the Tiber River, taking advantage of the situation to link up with Crassus in an assault to take the city while the northern frontier was an open door with no legion to protect.

Watching from a nearby treeline, Discordia giggled gleefully as the Roman legions of Crassus marched into Mediolanum and head South at full speed to reinforce the Scipii's Legions and Marines. "Well now this looks like a fun strife to indulge in! Much better than the Boys only club known as the Senate." Discordia sarcastically remarked as she viewed the situation through the lens of her telescopes while Hades stood behind her still a firm and stern deity up to this point. "I see that you are quite interested in sowing discord among men for the sake of it Discordia. Disturbing indeed." Said Hades in a deep ominous voice as his bony arms crossed in front of him.

"Of course I do Hades! Why wouldn't I? They need to brighten up their days with some jealousy and rages every now and then! What's your reason to jump on this bandwagon?" She asked him teasingly while lounging lazily on a rock. Much to his annoyance he sighed out and looked back at the smoky manifestation of his memories, his Persephone and life with Zeus on Olympus and Poseidon ruling the sea. "My brothers were gross. Disgusting rapists and adulterers." Said Hades in a terse one as the smoke in his hand showing Zeus in one of his escapade with a mortal woman.

"True, father never cared about me, Athena was always his best. He was a whore." Said Ares in a crude and brazenly disrespectful tone while polishing his massive sword waiting for something to happen to them. "Now now Ares, with Zeus gone we just need to focus on tying up loose ends, namely Anubis. Nasty job but must be done regardless. Am I right?" Hades turned around the ground of rogue deities as a hooded figure came out of the shades of the forest and came towards them, the first thing Hades and Loki could see was an amphibian pair of lips with herpes on them and a dark purple colored slimy skin.

Loki at the time sat on a rock hunched over while sharpening one of his stabbing swords. Many literal backs felt its cold and sharpened stab into bodies. Though despite it being as sharp, and as shining as it was there seems to be an issue with Loki desiring it to be sharper. As the hooded figure came closer to the group Loki looked over and huffed out. Looking down to the sword he spun it around in his hand unsatisfied, and dug the blade back into a hilt on the side of his hip. He jumped off of the rock, and smirked towards the hooded figure. "So what's the news now? I can feel some violent stuff about to happen! Look at them all! All those roman fools about to fall right down into a big trap. Or at least kill and die for no reason. It's lovely when you think about it." Loki said before making a hyperactive giggle.

"Oh don't worry." Said the hooded figure in a suspiciously Eastern accent, dry and lacking the versatile phonetics and sounds of other more extrovert civilizations as he grinned at the group. "A nasty business shall be covered by the most diligent of workers. Workers of Kek." The figure let his hood fall off behind his back revealing his frog face to them with a pair of glowing dark navy blue eyes and an Egyptian styled crown on his head.

The crown was apparently styled in an oval shaped tablet with a cobra at the top. But instead of the usual types that other Egyptian deities wear, this one seems twisted, the cobra's jaw was prominently opened with its tongue lashing out. The cobra's frill was even bigger and had spikes protruding out on the sides. "My lord wishes you fortune in your work. I will signal you when to pull out when things become too hairy. Remember, we must ensure the death of Anubis, he knows too much and his wit is undeniably sharp. Unlike the feeble bird brains who raised him." Said the frog deity to the group of rogue galleries.

Seeing Kek up close and personal wasn't a pleasant sight to take in even for Loki's hectic nature. There was something very demented about him. At least compared to the other egyptian deities he looked either monstrous, demoic, or abnormal compared to the others. Despite his inner gripes Loki managed to hold his tongue, and focused on the other deities to insult. For his sake at least it was the best thing to do. "Right so throwing that dog a bone won't work. Unless of course we steal the bone from one of his graves. Unfortunately you just missed Hades putting my son into some weird place. Don't know why since he was doing a good job and wasn't finished yet. Oh well you saved me some time and effort pal. But I can't just get him out of his forest to do a dog fight with Anubis so we need something else to work with here O Ruler of Kekistan." Loki said.

"Yes indeed." Kek grinned widely revealing a smug expression on him as he crossed his arms looking at Loki and Hades. "Perhaps the God of War Ares my enlighten us on his method." Said Kek as Ares hopped on the ground in a sadistic manner manner with his sword and shield hand to show how he was essentially a bloodthirsty killer. "I'll run this blade through his gut and send him to meet Zeus myself! That's how we'll do it!" Ares excitedly exclaimed with his sword held up in hand. "Splendid, bloodshed while your sons play that board game for eternity." Said Hades with a sigh at his nephew. "I'll leave to your devices." Said Kek as the frog deity began to disappear into dust and left them to decide their methods.

Loki watched as Kek dissolved into dust giggling to himself. He looked back to the other rogues with a large wild smile on his face while his eyes flared a green color. "Oh boy! We get to kill us a jackal today! Okay first you guys distract his weird animal headed friends and I can get in all invisible and then stab him in the back! Is there anything I'm missing? No its perfect. They won't attack me because they won't see me!" Loki shouted in a hyper active glee, but he was clearly missing any type of strategizing.

"Oh joy." Said Hades in a sarcastic tone as he sighed out hearing the way Loki made his words increasingly insane and erratic.

[hr]

Anubis was still in Neapolis camping on his still being repaired camp as his Guards took turn keep up their watch of the surrounding area to ensure that no one would attack them in a sudden. Anubis himself was sitting in his tent with his Xiphos sword in hands, he spun it around while the blade was planted on the ground with him watching the sun's movement and the shadow's gradual almost stilted movement.

He waited for news of the incoming Roman Counterparts. His scouts had already told him that Lenox was moving towards Neapolis with his personal legion and Praetorians to protect him. He waited for two days since he sent out the message to Lenox and now he was expecting results and sense of self control.

Along by his side was his own adoptive fatherly figure Thoth as he peered towards the horizon next to Anubis. He had a firm gaze locked onto the distance in front of them overlooking much of the countryside where the legion would have room to march. Thoth looked over to Anubis and then rested one of his hands down on the jackal diety's shoulders. "Yes. yes. The wait can be ever so agitating, but I feel this man would not be the one to turn against his own words." THoth spoke in a wise tone.

As his words spoke the two of them felt the ground make a gentle rumble below their feet. It at first started off as a minor quake, and barley shook either of them, but it gradually increase in its intensity becoming more and more like a massive Earth shaking vibration. Thoth's eyelids opened up wide as he looked towards the direction of what sounded like hundreds of marching feet. To his own shock he saw in fact marcus Lenox had come with a large legion as his protection. The shocking thing for Thoth was how many loyal guards Leonx had amassed. Almost as if he was the one thing the Roman legion rusted. Thoth looked to Anubis with his eyes still large. "Well then… I must say he made a grand entrance. I leave you two to converse. I still am needed with bellona still. Be right back." Thoth said stepping back towards the many tents erected for a makeshift base.

"Pray that we have peace." Said Anubis as he then stood up from the ground and mounted on Ramiel's back to gallop down the dirt part of the hill towards the neutral ground of the city, a massive crop area of Neapolis's grapes harvest. The jackal deity rode towards the negotiation tent which was a small tent set up with a table inside the tent with seats for Anubis and the Imperator to negotiate. "The Egyptian are punctual o Imperator. We must not disappoint them with our Roman diligent." Said Acmeus, the now newly minted Magister Militum of Imperator Lenox beside the emperor looking at the tent from an opposite hill as he waited for his emperor remark on the situation.

Lenox nodded to Acmeus and continued uphill towards the negotiation tent. However, Lenxo still made a stern frown while heading towards the tent. "I understand this. Our goal is simple however, and he should understand the importance of mutual cooperation. Our main goal now is to heal our empire. The cost might be great, but it's better than incurring a new conflict. I doubt they want to feed the flames more than they already have been." Lenox said while entering the tent. He paused for a brief moment, and placed his hands again behind his back while his muscular chest puffed out a bit. He let off a slow sigh gathering his final thoughts together before moving up towards the tabe ahead of himself.

"Withdraw, cede your land, and I will stay my blade." Said Anubis in a terse laconic tone almost Spartan like manner to Lenox. It was clear cut and straight to the point and the deity handed Lenox a map of the proposed borders of antebellum Rome. The map itself depicted Rome to hold four major cities around the land of Latinum, Rome the capital on the Tiber River, Neapolis the port city to the south with Capua in between.

The North of Rome had two cities of the Julii family that Lenox hailed from, Arrinminium and Arretium, this made national defense an easy task as they only need to funnel the enemies into specific kill zones that they can fight. The Gaul remained in Roman's hands a spoil of war Lenox earned years ago with his Legion suppressing various Gallic tribes in the regions, namely the Arvenaci.

Looking to the map Lenox remained quiet for a moment, and kept his face without much of an expression at all. He rested his back against the back of the chair, and crossed one leg over the other resting the side of the calf over his thigh. He then crossed his arms over his stomach before looking over to Anubis with a more intense stare.

"So you're essentially telling me now what i have known for a very long time now. All that land we posed, but had no control of. Shed from Rome. unnecessary territory." Lenox said as he leaned forwards again to point to specific points on the map. "You're still granting Rome a way to trade, and establish outside contacts. Here with our port city Neapolis. Our capital dearest to many still belongs to us, and the land i many years ago gained for Rome from the expense of barbarian tribes. All still left to us. And there is just enough here for us to make a defensive stand." Lenox said in a stoic calm voice. Unlike what Anubis had seen so far from loud mouthed messengers, and louder emperors his was a shock to see some who still had a mind in the empire.

"Will you accept this?" The jackal deity asked sternly trying to make sure his point is short and clear cut. What he lacks in subtly he made up for it in raw brute strength and nerve wracking leverages. The jackal deity crossed his arms in front of Lenox making a frown at the Roman Emperor before finally sighed out. "One war with Rome is more than enough, better to have Rome stable and developed in a safe manner." Said the deity as he let the Emperor thought for a moment to consider his situation, he had multiple ports for trades along the coast of Latinum that he controlled and the colonies along the coast of the Gauls. The only thing left to do was how to use the earning of Rome's Denarii and the silver it can make from trading.

Lenox looked around for a moment to his right and left, and then at the table. His larger muscular hand rested on the table and tapped looking for an object. "I think this will do for us. This won't be an easy rise back to health for Rome. Do you have something I could write with? I know there is some paper signing here." Lenox said. He stopped for a brief moment and looked over to Anubis once again. "However, I can't guarantee the entire population will enjoy this decision. Nor can this agreement fix the issues in Rome immediately. The only thing I can ask for is some type of support while a slow reformation goes under way. One more thing is the state of our beloved goddess who we know fell in your current operating base. The people are concerned for her well being." Lenox said in a softer tone than before.

"Bellona is recovering it will take time. Perhaps she'll be better when Rome is in good health again." The Jackal deity would then hand over an inky quill for Lenox to sign his name on the peace agreement between Egypt and Rome as the jackal deity himself signed his own name on the document's copy for the Romans. He then stamped the Egyptian Royal Seal of Approval to give the document legitimacy that it needed to make sure that peace is ensured, albeit it was still greatly debatable whether the peace will last.

But while they were signing their agreement, Acmeus himself on the opposite hill had one of his runner came up behind him and spoke into his ears, the Magister Militum himself gasped in an appalling manner before he himself began to take in the information his runner gave him before he quickly gallop on his horse down to the tent where the two were concluding their signing of the peace agreement.

"Salve Imperator! Words have reached my ears that Crassus has been sighted, he is marching to take Rome as we speak and his allies the Scipii had linked up with him to the North of the city!" Said Acmeus in an urgent tone to the emperor as he looked terrified by the revelation of Crassus marching against them to thwart the peace agreement.

Hearing the current news Lenox remained calm and placed the palm of his hand over his face. He made a long drawn out sigh of disappointment while it sounded like very faint curses left his mouth. He removed his hand from his face and frowned disgusted. "Why is his mind tinted in such way it creates a chaotic mess for many others?... This needs to end now. And I need to end him... The future of Rome, and the better of the people depend on this agreement. And I won't let a maddened rabid emperor stand in the way of that…" Lenox said in a much darker tone as he stood up.

He turned his head towards Acmeus and placed his hands behind his back again. "Let us move now. Rally our legion and form a defensive formation before pushing up. We have to do this now or there will be no Rome." Lenox said. However before he spoke up again he turned his head back towards Anuis and made a thoughtful frown. "However, we may not be alone. Anubis. Would you desire to write history with us and enjoy a cooperative assault on Crassus's legion? Without belona on our side we are in a weakened state. Yet I feel you're oddly capable of leading what you have made along with us. We will give Bellona our power, but we need yours to fuel us further. To make an end to this conflict for the better." Lenox spoke.

"It'll be an honour. But bear in mind, I am only here to end a conflict a fruitcake started. And nothing more." Said Anubis as he stood up from his seat as he went out of the tent and mounted on the back of Ramiel and gallop back to his encampment. As he rode his horse, Acmeus and Lenox themselves were galloping back to their legion to prepare them for a forced march up north to retake Rome and put an end to the Roman Civil War, no matter how brief the Civil War might be, Rome must have peace.

Anubis came up to the entrance of his encampment bearing the agreement that Lenox apparently willing to uphold and handed it to Ra first and foremost before dismounting. "Pack up! We'll be moving North, one last loose end to tie up." Said Anubis in a booming baritone to the various Jackals in the camp, the warriors heeded his word, understanding that there was one last battle against their enemies.

He then went into the Strategos tent where Bellona was still resting from the encounter they had two days prior. "Crassus is back, making an attempt to take Rome again as usual. I'll be marching to collect his soul. At least the Romans would be spared of my blades." Said Anubis as he began to pack his satchels and rucksacks for a long journey.

However, as Anubis was busy packing his belongings for the war ahead of him he failed to notice just what methods were chosen to heal, and get Bellona back into a more healthy state. When he finally did notice his eyes were greeted to the sight of Thoth working his feathery hands into Bellona's bare back. In fact she seemed to only have white towel concealing her back and read while she layed on her chest while Thoth was incharge of providing therapeutic massaging treatment.

Thoth himself looked over to Anubis with an awkward blush on his face, and his eyes much wider than normal while bellona faced over to Anubis with a brow raised up questionably. "uh...Little privacy here? I think i'll just have to miss out on you messing Crassy up finally." Bellona said dryly while Thoth continued to make an alarmed stuttering sound.

"Trust me, you won't have to see his head on a platter." Said Anubis dryly before he proceeded to exit the tent to gather up his Jackal Guards, his army of course need time to pack up their tents and various belongings into rucksacks and satchels. The Jackals would then grab their weapons and equipment and gather into formations to begin their march from Neapolis to meet Crassus north of Rome.

"We'll march along the East coast of Italy, Imperator Lenox will meet them head on in the West. Then we'll come in on their flank and finish Crassus's army." Said Anubis to Ra and Anhur as he mounted on Ramiel's back to ride out and lead his army. "Don't worry about it Anubis, I'll make sure that the Jackal Guards can keep up at full speed." Said Anhur as he looked over to Ra and chuckled to his father as the Slayer of Enemies twirled his javelin in hands. "Now is the time to borrow those chariots." The lion smirked apparently he was intending to use the most iconic weapon in Egyptian Arsenal to fight his more heavily armored foes.

Ra himself was in a more anxious state of mind right now having read through the agreements the Roman's had made with the Egyptians. He however nodded while rushing out with the other deities. "Good. The won't soon forget our weapons and our crafts we made. This will be a show of our pride and of our strength. And I'm fairly certain our chariots will bury theirs. Just a hunch." Ra spoke before holding his hand out. In his hand a gathering of white shining light gathered and collected glowing bright and bright before a pole like length built up and solidified in a golden staff. His own personal weapon. Ra then looked back to Anubis with a frown. "Now are you sure this Lenox is to be trusted? I don't take much to outsiders. Thanks to Set's powers, but he's a Roman as well. Why would he want to decrease the size of his own empire?" Ra questioned.

"Because Ra, they can't control such a vast expanse of territories. They'll be crushed underneath their own weight. And he knows it." Said Anubis before galloping off with Ramiel and led his army of Jackal Warriors out to battle once again in a forced march up north. The Vanguard element of Egyptian Army march out in long columns with the infantry in the middle and cavalries on the flanks to scout and screening force to prevent enemy flanking attacks.

[hr]

As the army of Anubis and Lenox forced march their ways up to Rome to intercept their enemies, the Knarr transport ship of the Viking was moving ever closer to the shores of Italy. It was with the grace of Freyr that the Knarr ship itself was his personal vessel which can transform into a golden blanket that can be put into anyone's pockets. As the ship came to the port of Arriminium, the populace there saw the vessel's incoming from off the coast and were terrified by the sight of Viking raiders.

"Oh Jupiter gives us strength Viking raiders!" One of the dockworkers shouted out to the Romans in town, frightened by the sound of having raiders coming to them, the citizens of Arrinminium screamed in fear and started to run away from the streets and hide inside their homes and shuttered their windows and locked their doors. "Oh where is Vulcan?! We beseech you for help!" Another citizen cried out and ran to their homes and waited for the possible plundering to be done with. The Knarr ship then came ashore of the now terrified city with Viking Warriors dismounted from the decks armed with longswords and battle axes, some raiders even brought bows and arrows and round shields to protect themselves. Their chainmail armor granted them an easy balance of mobility and protection.

Vulcan himself stat down casually on the steps of one of Rome's forum halls while tinkering with a blade that conducted magma through it. It didn't take long for him to hear the frightened cries of many of Rome's inhabitants calling out for him. "Oh just great. And not a well fit man in sight for this one. Vikings? More like the giant men of the north." Vulcan companined standing up. Surprisingly despite his crippled state from long ago he still managed to dash through the city streets with the forge on his back burned and churned full of scalding hot magma.

Strangely enough for Vulcan, he saw that the Viking raiders of the Knarr ship apparently grabbing a hold of some left over silks, random knick knacks and other treasures in the docks area of the city and haul them into the ship. A sight that was pale of the bloodthirsty burning and pillaging and sacking that had become common stories of Roman Garrisons in Germania. "Help! They're stealing my precious ring of family lineage that I stole from another guy!" Cried one random citizen as he was tied up by the Viking warriors before being hauled away onto the ship.

As the ship left however Vulcan summoned up a black metal cannon from air he had craft before. The cannon itself already was burning and coursign with bit of lava like rock glowing orange in between cracks on the metal of the cannon. He smiled with his teeth showing through his grin before firing a single cannonball towards one of the ships as they left the city. However the cannon fired split into 6 different scattered projectiles before striking the side of the ship. Each projectile blew up in a fiery blast. "Stay in your forest up North! You best not pick a fight with the master of smithing and weapons crafting!" Vulcan boasted in a gravelly voice.

"Run for your lives lads! It's the Roman Mechanic of doom!" Shouted the leading Viking warband chieftain as he turned around and ran back to the ship for escape from Vulcan's attacks against them. But as they head back and run, the Vikings saw a dark horseman coming up on their sides, the horse stopped in its track and kicked up its forelegs a bit before regaining its sense of balance. "Really? Plundering at this hour for the sake of personal conveniences? I expected more from the warriors of Asgards." Said Anubis, as it turned out, the rider himself was Anubis which meant that his army must be near or in fact just outside of the city.

Vulcan charged forward to the ship, but skidded to a halt sensing power coming from Anubis. Only the amount of power Anubis had was the amount only a deity could handle. Seeing another deity he stopped in his tracks confused. "Hey! There's someone old Vulcan can work with. Uh. That is if you're on our side! I think." vulcan side dropping his cannon on the ground. It hit the ground and shattered the road into a large cracked gash. Looking to Anubis however and noting the canine appearance it took awhile for him to gather this was the Egyptian general. "Oh wait a minute… You're that guy slaughtering the legions down south right? Are you here to fight me now. I got my hands full with viking amatures who think they can pillage and terrorize without punishment! I have a good mind to slap them silly with my banhammer!" Vulcan boasted. A literal massive forging sledgehammer appeared in his hands with the blunt end of the massive object seeping lava.

"Belay that! I have work for those Vikings." Anubis exclaimed to Vulcan much to the Viking's surprises as they look up at him scratching their heads seeing the stoic deity of the dead apparently handing them a pouch full of silver Drachma coins. "Take them. I want you to be a raiding band up north, along the Po River, there's an encampment by Roman Legions loyal to Crassus. He's the one you want not trinkets here." Said Anubis in a stern voice as he dismounted from Ramiel's back before walking towards the Knarr ship, he knew that Gunter was inside the vessel probably onboard preparing the ship to be loaded with spoils of war. "You can unload the stolen goods, silver Drachma would do you better." Said Anubis to Gunter on the deck of the ship.

"Yes sir! Do what he says lads! He's not to be provoked! Especially when you're a mortal man!" Gunter said with a quick speaking voice. It sounded both quick and got the point across to the other vikings. As he waited Vulcan grumbled to himself and relaxed seeing Anubis had the situation within his paws controlled.

As such the hammer he had with him turned back into a massive of moldable lava before seeping back into Vulcan's forge on his back. The lava streamed over Vulcan's arms and gathered back up into the hull of the forge. Listening though he heard the nervous vikings gathering up various pieces of trinkets in boxes. However, Anubis mentioning Crassus peaked Vulcan's interests. "What is Crassus doing now? I thought I felt the legions divide up into two once that other fellow took over. Lenox or something. Damn though I should know his name since he's actually got gears and cogs working up in his thinker." Vulcan said as the vikings on board pushed various boxes and crates back onto the street. Gunter giving Anubis a more nervous smile before backing away.

Anubis would then turned to Vulcan with a calm expression on his face but this time it was showing concerns greater than simply ending the war that was being fought by the Romans and Egyptians, "He's trying to reclaim Rome with whatever forces he had left with the Scipii. We're going to put a stop to it once and for all. But I need to know who's backing him to get an army together let alone transporting them here so quickly." Said Anubis as he stroke his chin trying to rationalize the events thus far seeing that the Romans were probably aided by deities to move themselves so quickly in so little time.

"So I should probably stop forging them weapons in the first place then… Riiight. I got you. No hard feelings right?" Vulcan asked pattern Anubis on the shoulder. Oddly enough a brazen shoulder guard appeared on Anubis's shoulder in a brass coloration. Vulcan looked back to the goods the vikings relinquished, and nodded. "Yeah i think we can get along nicely if we can get riff raff out of the city. And this entire broken civilization. Tried to fix it, but they just keep breakin' it." Vulcan said with a pout.

"I'll take the Vikings along to the North first. The rest of the Roman Legions under Imperator Lenox should be following up with my own forces. For now we'll have to do some raidings to destroy their supplies." Said Anubis as he then mounted back on Ramiel and grabbed the reins tightly in his paws. "I'll see you in Rome when victory is achieved." The jackal deity stated before riding off with Ramiel towards the entrance of the city where the Egyptian army and the Jackal Guards were seen moving along the road up north to the Po river. To remedy their problems with orthodox logistics, they adopted hammocks for transport.

Three persons per hammock, this allow them continuous march and rest without problems while their logistics simply follow along with waggons hauled by oxens and buffaloes or donkeys. The horses were reserved for cavalries like Anubis's elite Hetairoi or the chariot riders who rode to battles on scythed chariots. "We're having Vikings coming along, now all we need is a…" Before Anubis could finish his sentence however, a bolt of lighting struck the bushes in front of him, from inside he saw Ratatoskr scurrying out to meet him and Ra.

The squirrel seems to be a mix of excitement and heart broken as he scampered over to the two high ranking leaders of the Army. "OMGs OMGs OMGs! I saw the Roman Legion of fat toad Crassus marching down from the North! They're camping by a crossroad between Arretium and here. Also I saw a bunch of suspicious looking deities around them, Hades, Morrigan, Loki, hot babe Hel, you named it they got it!" The squirrel squeaked out hopping up and down on the ground.

Ra at first found himself to be startled by Ratatoskr's sudden appearance, but hearing his quick speaking frantic words this was easily something Ra could put off to be some type of stunt Ratatoskr performs to entertain himself. Ra crossed his arms and squirted down to Ratatoskr's level judging him carefully. Minus the wisdom Thoth had. As the thought he looked to Anubis with a frown and a second opinion. "I'm not certain of this… Should we trust him Anubis? This could be one of his many publicity stunts. He does this a lot… Normally your good at judging others." Ra stated in a firm tone.

"Not much evidence to believe him right now. Do you have anything else to waste your time with Ratatoskr? We're at war here if you don't mind." The jackal replied with a dull tone trying to give Ratatoskr a reason to leave them be. However Ratatoskr's ears were rather droopy indicating that he was distressed by something but not by Anubis's words. "Well...there's the death of Odin that I haven't told you about. He's gone! Eaten by my BFF Fenrir!" Ratatoskr screeched out before bursting into hysterical tears and crying, he grabbed a handkerchief from his satchel to wipe his tears away and blew his nose.

For a moment Ra felt some part of his mind stop working. In fact stop completely. Both seeing a genuine expression from a normally chaotic deity, but also the prospect of another ruler of a pantheon dead. However, as he thought on this harder and harder he realized he too was another ruling diet from his pantheon. He looked to Anubis wide eyed, and gulped. "Wait that prophecy came true then! They were right! That demon mutt is going to slay their entire pantheon! And worse we just lost another commanding deity! Anubis…" Ra started to look around his surrounding growing ever closer to Anubis feeling paranoia bit him. He breathed in and out, and brought a hand to his chest right above his heart. "Oh by all the god remaining I think I'm next! I'm the head of this pantheon, and we are destined to meet this demise! Oh mother what have we done!" ra stammered already exhausted. His older heart sore from his panicked beating.

"Calm down!" Anubis growled out holding Ra in place to make the sun deity stop his paranoid induced spasm before looking at Ra in the eyes finding that there was something he felt not right. "If Ragnarok is coming true, then what about Jormungandr? How come that serpent hasn't attacked anyone yet? Let alone surfacing from the ocean of the world?" He asked Ratatoskr in the face before the rodent scratched the top of his head finding something too did not sit right with him. "I don't know." He shrugged, "Ragnarok stone says that first it would be Jormungandr to rise from the ocean of Midgard, then Fenrir eating Thor and bring destruction to the world by eating the sun and moon." Said Ratatoskr before he began to pace around trying to make sense of situation's lack of Jormungandr's involvement or even his rise before hand.

Ra himself made slower breathing motion only taking longer slower breaths of air than he was before. He wiped his head off and looked back over to Anubis. "Well maybe they got something wrong with their prophecy. I don't understand…. Is there a conspiracy currently happening out to target the leader of each pantheon?... Speak rodent lives are at stake now! Mine included!" Ra shouted.

"I think there's a conspiracy alright! I saw Hel made visits to Fenrir and she helped him break free with a stolen Magic Staff of Sun Wukong. Oh and I even saw Hades along with other rogue deities talking to each other about why they joined. There's Bakasura, Scylla, Medusa, Arachne, Ah Puch and so much more. But I think us rodents will survive all apocalypses." Said Ratatoskr with a giggle about the latter part all the while Anubis stroke his chin hearing this. "I was blamed for the murder of Zeus. So there's that, I'll be taking a look into this conspiracy." Said Anubis with a pat on Ra's shoulders before riding off with Ratatoskr scurrying up on Anubis's back to tag along.

As the day came to an end, Anubis had arrived at the forest where the Roman legions were stationed. The dark and cold misty forest was a far cry from the warm and sunny deserts of Egypt and its oasis, to say nothing of the summer land of Hellas and its nearby Asia Minor cities. He would ride on Ramiel's back closer into the forest's interior with Ratatoskr on his back, the two kept watch as the place seemed to have an eerie feel to it.

As if someone was watching them. "Oooooh~ Ooooooooh~ Ooooooooooh~" Ratatoskr made pseudo Ghost howling noises as they rode into the forest, Anubis of course held up his paw at Ratatoskr's face to shut the rodent up. "If we're ambushed then it's on you." Said Anubis in a stern voice as they went towards the light sources of the nearby encampment, following Anubis were the Viking warbands to provide assistance. They soon caught sight of a Roman camp down the valley of the river where four guard towers were guarding the corners of the camp.

No doubt they would rain down fire arrows, the camp itself had various Roman Legions veterans for the most part with Celtic mercenaries as well as some Thracian following them. "Ooooooooh I didn't know he was that rich, maybe I should steal some slaves from him." Ratatoskr quipped and giggled at the sight with a devious grin on his face. "Quiet you." Anubis snarled at Ratatoskr while remaining hidden inside the bushes observing the camp seeing that the security was tight obviously to prevent anyone from infiltrating it easily.

With Anubis still was Gunter of Geats who stayed relatively close to Anubis. He however looked to the Roman camp with fear despite him trying to keep a focus on courage. However, it was difficult for him to manage his courage when looking deep into the Roman camp. Enemy soldiers scouting the camp well adorned in heavy armor with some of the deadliest weapons Gunter had laid eyes on. Well crafted thanks to Vulcan's previous influence, but much more professionally made compared to much more crude viking methods. "You know me mum told us as kids about waking dragons in their caves. Their home turf where they would be the strongest. I feel we are about to wake this one…" Gunter said anxiously.

"And wake it with fire you will." Uttered Anubis as he hand up various jugs made from clay with a clothed lid on the top of it. "Toss these into the camp's guard towers. Burn them down first and foremost before tossing more into the camp's supply sheds." Said Anubis as he handed out the various jugs to the Viking warriors in the group and gestured them to spread out to cover the camp's four angles. Gunter himself would follow Anubis and Ratatoskr closely to burn the Southeastern tower of the camp.

They would then begin to make their approach slowly towards the camp, they hid behind bushes and shrubs to obscure the line of sights of the Roman archers in the tower. Anubis himself was crouching down with a hood over his head covering him and his pointy ears as he and Gunter came to the base of the tower and its wall where they saw spiky stakes prepared to impale anyone coming close.

"They weren't exactly wanting any type of company… nor are the exactly hospitable… Alright. Let me try out me throwing skills again." Gunter said anxiously. He acquired one of the jars given to him by Anubis, and held it in hand before one of the other viking warriors came by with a cloth lit up already. The cloth ignited the top of the jar Gunter had in hand only on the top. However as the jars glew a faint orange Gunter began to test his throw predicting the arch of the jars andwhere it would fly. Back and forth his arm moved as breathed in and out adjusting his aim before settling on a position to throw. "Alright… here goes. Eda don't screw me aim on this one." Gunter said before chucking the jar to the top of the guard post. Instantly the jar cracked open releasing flammable connects which ignited instantly and spread across the guard tower nest lighting anyone and anything else in it on fire.

"Fire! Fire! Antonius we're on fire!" The archer screamed out as they were rattled out of their safe space as the tower began to be lit up from its legs by the fire. Other towers were soon lit up as well as the Viking warriors began to toss in more fire jars into camp's supply shed and the tents for the Legionnaires.

This set the encampment on fire as the Roman Legions struggle to put out the blazing inferno, Anubis then slammed his scepter on the ground, opening a portal on the ground from which, bony and skeletal arms came out grasping at the fleeing Roman legions and their Celtic and Thracian Auxiliaries and Mercenaries.

"Got them where I want them." Said Anubis as he casually waltz into the camp with his hood slowly came down revealing his face to Crassus and his fellow legionnaires. They saw their death, surrounded by flame and the embodiment of the Underworld stood before them apparently was about to unleash his powers on the Roman aggressors.

"Behold the Ashen Horse and he who sat on it had the name Death. And hell followed with him." Said Anubis in an ominous voice making some of the Praetorians shivered in fear seeing him stepping towards them with his sword unsheathed. "I fear...no judgement. Open your books, learn it well and write in blood. I am Anubis. I am the Scourge of Rome, by what name will they know you?" The jackal taunted them making some other veteran Legionnaires dropped their weapons and equipment before running away. Anubis grabbed hold of Crassus's head before slashing his sword across his neck, severing him completely as he held the bloody head of Crassus in hand.

Gunter continued his brave assault on the Roman camp despite many of them already being terrified. He whistled to his other men behind him to follow his lead as he still had many of the jars still with him. "Quickly while they are shitting their pants lets snatch their weapons! Let Anubis take care of this one!" Gunter shouted while he scavenged the camp for various pieces of Roman weaponry. Other vikings followed along with the plan as well. Gunter however took a short glance back at Anubis feel a cold shiver move up his spine genuinely creeped out by how cold Anubis could be. He decided to warm the remainder of the camp up by flinging the remaining jars towards structures, and tents behind Anubis ironically given the already menacing jackal some ambience and fire effects. A total accident on gunter's part.

Some of the Viking men who were busy with plundering the Roman camps found various Swords, armor and Roman weaponry that they can use. Others even picked up various trinkets and priceless jewelry and artifacts such as Roman rings belonging to the Nobles of the Roman societies. "Me wife will love me more with this here Roman booties!" Exclaimed one of the beardy Viking warrior with orange beard on his face as he poured Roman treasures and armored skirts into his bag of loots.

"Please hold still while I take a picture of this here epicly badass and menacing scene thank you." Said Ratatoskr with an enormous glee on his face as he prepared to take a photo of Anubis with his smartphone. But just as he was about to press the button, he saw the ground below Anubis suddenly turned black as ink, and a vortex with a shade of purple opened up with someone rising from it. He saw the bony figure of Hades with his clothes rising up as the Greek lord of the Underworld locked Anubis in his vortex unable to escape.

The sudden appearance of hades caused Gunter to stop his mad pillaging of the Roman camp and witness another god of the dead standing before them. This time though the Greek god of the dead. IT was an odd encounter and an odd sight. Though more terrifying for Gunter to see since his own god he wanted to win was in peril. "Oh fuckin' a. We got another one! Oh this one isn't on our side! And he's a bigger fuckwit! Hang on i'm coming Anubis!" Gunter shouted. He was a mortal though without any of the special abilities a god would have. All he had was blind devotion and a flammable clay jar. Though after he threw the jar at Hades it was only his faith in Anubis that was protecting him.

"Know that I don't take this personally, it's just business." Said Hades in a cold and impersonal tone, this was clearly a shift in opinion from the beginning of the perilous conspiracy and war that ensued. "None taken." Uttered Anubis before he was being blown across the camp into the forest, knocking down trees behind him as the jackal grunted feeling his body being roughed up by the hostile deity.

To make matters worse, Hades was soon joined by the hostile deities such as Ymir, Father of the Frost Giants and of course Loki and his daughter Hel to take on the lone Jackal. "Tah-night's forecast: A freeze is coming to town!" Said Ymir in a thick Germanic accent as he prepared his ice club for smashing Anubis. "Oh the cheese and ham he took, it's running off on the bad side already." Said Hades with a sigh at Ymir's ice pun.

As the group of deities ran up to take on Anubis, the jackal tossed down a collection of smoke bombs to cover his escape with a cloud of smoke that blinded the eyes of Hel, Ymir and Hades as they struggled to hunt for his signs on the ground, Anubis himself was ducking down in the bushes and crouch walk away to their back to return fire on the group. He first attacked Loki with his Mummify bandage and combo it up with his Grasping Hands and Death Gaze ultimate attack.

Loki himself grunted while anubis's surprise attack took it toll on him. The final attack being his signature gaze of death left Loki stunned momentarily. Though Anis could at least see Loki's face scowl at Hel. "What are you doing girl sick him for me!" Loki shouted. He looked and went invisible for a brief moment before disappearing while Hel was left alone to deal with Anubis.

From her own hands came glowing orbs of channeled mana energy that she fired towards Anubis. She was unlike her father though. Unskilled since they veered off away from Anubis. "Aaw crap… Don't hurt me! Dad help!" Hel shouted completely untrained as she was stuck out in the open. Just open enough for Gunter to throw a short Gladius he stole from the Romans into her shoulder. "Got em! Okay where is our trickster?" Gunter said while Hel had to hold her bleeding shoulder.

Unfortunately for Gunter, before he could interrogate her properly, he felt an icy breath blasted him from behind, leaving him frozen in place, Ymir came marching towards them as he prepared to smash Gunter with his club only to have Ratatoskr intrude on him as the squirrel came crashing down in a dive bomb manner. "Look out below!" The rodent squeaked out excitedly as he crashed on the ground stunning Ymir in the process before the rodent made a flurry attack around Ymir and bolted away in quick succession.

The frost giant became enraged and ran after the roden and summon an ice wall in front of Rat to corner him first before slamming his club on the ground, summoning a carpet of ice spikes rising up and struck Ratatoskr's tiny butt cheeks, causing him flying into the air holding his rear to soothe the aching pain. "It's a cold air up there!" Ymir remarked at Rat as the rodent flew up. The commotion however soon caught the attention of the forces surrounding the area as Lenox and his Legion saw the lights and heard the sounds of the embattled Anubis. From the looks of it, he wasn't fighting the Legion of Crassus.

"Oh no. Acemus We have a blitz occurring just ahead… Deities. I see a couple of Norse deities. Ymir who could freeze us, Loki who's mentality i can't quite grasp and his equally crazed daughter… no its worse. They have Pluto as well. Against Anubis though?" Lenox asked puzzled as he looked below towards the rampant battlefield. As he saw Loki made quick appearances using his blades to narrowly miss each time Anubis moved and dodged his ever crazed swings. It wasn't a sight leno enjoyed. "Let's not be cowards made an agreement, and we will damn well follow through. Legion full speed now! If we can surround Loki he'll have nowhere to run or flash. But keep distance from Ymir. Archers focus on Ymrir's eyes! Go move!" Lenox commanded.

"Archers at the ready! Loose!" The Captain of the archers ordered as they fired off their arrows at Ymir, raining hails of arrows down on the Giants as he held up his hands to cover his face from the rain of arrows that came down piercing his limbs and dented his icy blue body. "Not this time…" Hades uttered ominously as he dived into the underworld and resurfaced behind Anubis and used his ultimate attack, his Pillar of Agony like a vortex to pull Anubis into his grasp while the likes of Arachne and Medusa began to rampage into the lines of the Romans. Legionnaires struggled to hold their lines, using their Scutum to shield themselves from Medusa's arrows and her gaze while struggling to hold their grounds against Arachne's spiders.

As the forward line began to waver, they were saved by the timely presence of Horus who landed on the battlefield slamming Medusa and Arachne back in a powerful shock blast. The Egyptian falcon crown prince drew his sword with a traditional shield on his hand as he glided towards the two and engage them in combat using his bronze sword. Medusa slithered away but not before spitting out toxic venoms at him while Arachne had her spiders to keep Horus occupy. At that moment, Anhur and Ra were seen entering the fray to aid the embattled Anubis and drive off the hostile deities.

"Brother catch!" Horus screeched to Anubis as he tossed to Anubis a bow and a quiver pouch, it was a bow that seemed to work best with Anubis the most. "Lord of Bones", an aptly named bow for Anubis. The weapon itself was a recurve bow with a bony like motif on it, its arrow were said to have the power of the Duat shattering the enemies of Anubis in one blow.

Anubis was then joined by Gunter again as he held dual sword in his grasp. Brave and yet foolish. "Oh man i think i'm in too deep this time lads. If i'm gonna die i'll do it for glory!" he shouted. Though his eyes were keen on spotting the trickster god knowing him to be a more dangerous deity than the rest.

His eye however wasn't quick enough as Loki dashed out of his invisible hiding and made shallow cuts past Gunter's viking armor causing the viking to spin around stunned before Loki then made a cut into the viking's back. Loki however didn't expect the viking to throw yet another melee attack by chucking the short sword he had into Loki's knee. "That'l- ach!- keep yah still!" Gunter said stumbling around injured, but not broken.

Loki himself fell to a knee confused. "Oh what type of attack is this?! Cheaply throwing your woman like toys!? That's dumb…" Loki stammered trying to get back on his two feet. He grabbed the sword from his knee and huffed. "But a mortal viking man like yourself isn't going to break my might. Bitch." Loki added.

"Gunter!" Anubis shouted out seeing the Viking being hit by Loki's attacks before the deity fired his Mummify stun attack on Loki, ensnaring him in the process before rolling in and fire his arrows in successive drove, this left Loki punctured and full of holes on his body but not quite enough to die instantly.

However, Anubis was not done yet with the renegade trickster, he blew out his Plague of Locusts at Loki, ripping his armor flesh apart before forcing him back away from the Viking. Taking the loll in the fighting as Roman Legions and Egyptian army and his own Jackal Guards began to attack the fleeing remnants of Crassus Legions and the rogue deities, Anubis knelt down and checked on Gunter's wound before tearing out some linen bandages to hold Gunter's bleeding just in case.

Gunter however tried to push Anubis back as his ongoing battle determination drove him more to keep on fighting. Despite his injuries as well. He however looked towards where Loki had fallen. Loki himself looked much more battered with the locust attack leaving much of his clothes torn up. Blood seeped and soaked into Loki's clothing while he got up. Or at least tried to as Hel herself sat him back down after rushing to his side. Her much more harmless side coming through as she used golden orb of healing to soothe Loki. His wounds closing up while she gazed at Anubis. "I think daddy's girl is a little angry. She isn't well skilled though! You can take her easy!" Gunter shouted while Hel's darker side came through her appearance literally changing to a purple and black color scheme and her hand holding orbs of violet colored light. Eyeing Anubis, but unaware full of other deities around her.

"Aaaagh! Annoying bird boy needs to cool down!" Ymir growled as he swatted his club into the air trying to hit Horus but to no avail as they struggled to hold their ground against the overwhelming numbers of their enemies. "I have you now!" Ares shouted as he used his chain to grab hold of Anhur, Sekhmet and Ra and slammed them together in one clump.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ymir breathed out his Frost blast and frozen the trio of them instantly. "Stay cool sun bird." Said Ymir as he began to use his ultimate attack to detonate what amounted to an ice bomb that fired off shards of ice in all direction to cover for Loki and his rogue deities retreats. "We will meet again soon…" Said Hades to Anubis as the Lord of Tartarus melted into the dark forest leaving Anubis with an ice shard lodged into his abdomen area with his blood seeping up into the ground and the jackal having muscle spasm and twitches on the ground trying to pry the ice shard out.

As he pried the ice shard from his gut he felt a familiar feathered hand cover the back of his palm. The hand was black in color with some hints of cyan blue or green. The hand brushed Anubis's away and held onto the ice shard. What sounded like an Egyptian spell turned the ice into water, and the water itself glew a bright blue while healing the wound inflicted on Anubis.

Anubis felt multiple hands stand him up before he waturnedaroudn to see it was Thoth who healed him then. THough his face was of course filled with worry, and anxiety. "Anubis! Alright the spell I acted out should stop the bleeding, but the air is still tender. My goodness this was not a normal conflict…" Thoth said while Ra casted a circular patch of healing sunlight over the others to heal their wounds mostly heal them. "Yes… This explains some to me, but not completely. How many others are needing a sun tan? Please step up." Ra said. He got Gunter to join in the sun spot on the ground with the viking catching his breath after the fight of his life.

"Ugh...They...they...are organized, they have someone backing...them." Said Anubis with a cough as he struggled to get back to his feet as he used his scepter as a walking cane with Horus helping his brother to walk about. "They should...h...have-left something...in the forest." Said Anubis as he coughed out blood on the ground before walking towards the forested area where residual Mana energy were left with Horus aiding him to move about.

The two entered the dark forest of death where they found remains of slain Romans, cut down by hails of arrows and slingers while others were stamped on by their own comrades. Bands of mercenaries left behind their weapons and equipment to run faster. "Ther...there, in that bush, I can feel it, something inside of it." Said Anubis as he pointed to a bush in front of them by a tree bark. Horus aided Anubis walking towards it as they saw what appeared to be a cobra symbol carved into the bark and on the bush, there was something left behind, a calling card, a totem of a snake on a stone pedestal with a tablet crown on its head while its frills were extended to look intimidating to others.

As weak as Anubis currently was due to his injuries there was something about the calling card that cause Ra to suddenly to fall to his knees. The simple sight of the totem caused him to develop a sinking heart as he felt himself sink to a much lower level. "That can't… No! We killed you! We were done with you! You died and your legacy was cut brother!" Ra shouted in disbelief and outrage. Thoth himself held Anubis up and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Unbelievable... Anubis. This was before your time, but now…. I think time for all of us could be running short. Apep is somehow… he's cheated death." Thoth said in a hopeless tone.

Anubis as he was gripping his wound looked at the totem before slamming his sword into it, smashing the totem apart into pieces, an act that would be akin to destroy the soul of Apep via a proxy. However to Anubis, the usual methods will never work twice as apparently with the other deities in a single Cabal, Apep would no doubt be more powerful than before. "I'll find him and finish him if I have to...no one escapes the Duat on my watch." Anubis stated in a stern voice as he sheathed his sword looking at the remains of the totem before glancing at Ra and Thoth. "From now on, do not trust a single prophecy, Odin trusted a lie, and fell to complacency. He would have no doubt fallen from grace in the mortal's eyes. Despite his wisdom." Said Anubis in a spiteful tone as he held his wound.

Ra however crossed his arms after standing back up to his feet. He made a stern frown to Anubis and scoffed. "That's the only thing we have to go on though for the future boy! This is something you can't comprehend since you haven't faced this! Neither you or your brother have faced this before… Only me and… oh him… Set. We followed through with Neith's prophecy, and slayed the beast. We don't have mother dearest with us now. To make matters worse Loki and his cohorts could at any moment get Fenrir back to slay usas well. It appears Apep will use him against us as well. What more could have Odin done to prevent this prophecy? The wolf was unkillable. At moment now the ground beneath us could erupt fully while Apep work his evil. He's probably on his way now to get Fenrri." Ra stammered.

"So what? We will just simply live in perpetual fear and uncertainties? Odin fell for a lie and he ensured that whatever Ragnarok said must come true. Why do we have free will and individuality that our mortals also enjoy? If we're not using those traits then we shouldn't have existed in the first place. I'll do what I must to stop Apep." Anubis replied sternly as he was taken away by Horus to avoid further conflict with his elders. But as the two left, Anhur sighed out seeing that the divide was becoming ever clearer. The youth was taking a stand while the old become complacent.

[hr]

3 weeks later…

It was dead at night now in Egypt, the wind blew quietly across the deserts and mountains, whispering its eerie songs across the land of the Nile while the royal family slept peacefully in their rooms. But all had become ever more weary of life and the world around them.

"You can not face him alone Anubis! If you're dead then how can the dead be protected?" Isis protested with her son in the garden of the palace as the impulsive Jackal huffed out at his mother now growing ever more frustrated by the lack of support at home by his family members. "But if I do nothing then we would be destroyed by something that cheated death! He could be anywhere by now, and I must be certain where he is!" Said Anubis to Isis who began to sob at him as she held his shoulders with her hands trying to reason with her son. "You are a God Anubis, you need to be certain of what will happen, a prophecy had helped us once it could help us again." She reasoned with him apparently her ground was reduced to little more than a flimsy excuse. "A God? What is a God? I'm no difference than the mortals underneath me." Said Anubis with a sigh.

Disappointment, bitterness, lost, those were Anubis feelings towards his own kin, a fallen and lazy kind. A complacent collection of entities that sat on its ivory tower and follow the lies of prophecies. An over glorified prediction at its core with a strong emphasis on the powerless of those involved. A massive contradiction to the first fundamentals Anubis learned, individuality and personal agency. He had a dark hood over his head with his personal weapons slung on him like an assassin all the while he dragged Ramiel out of the stable with him, shushing at the horse to keep silence as they rode off from the palace's ground into the distant horizon, before long, the two were gone from sight, disappeared into a cyan green portal.

[hr]

2000 years later…2 years prior to meeting Angie and Logan

One morning during the summer, Thoth was at his usual place, a balcony in the Royal Palace speaking his memoir of the Graeco-Roman War to a royal scribe as he wrote down the accounts in hieroglyphic pictograms. Before Thoth however was a statue of Anubis, one made by the Greeks from limestone and marbles depicting Anubis on Ramiel's back with his sword held high at focal point. At the base of the statue, a title was enshrined in a glorious bold font made of gold. "Megalos Anubis", Anubis the Great, Liberator of Hellas, Judge of Two-Lands. Guardian of the Duat. The many titles that seemed to follow Anubis without a moment of hesitation.

As Thoth was working on his account of the Graeco-Roman war, one of his servant came into the balcony, a bald headed priest bearing a falcon on his hand. The falcon took off and transformed into Horus as he stood up before Thoth clearing his throat, but this meeting was clearly not one of joy or simple familial business. Horus was seen sighing out and began to speak to Thoth. "I have something you would like to hear first and foremost, the whereabouts of Anubis." Said Horus.

Thoth looked to Horus, and quickly sprung over to the falcon prince. Thoth grabbed both of Horus's shoulders and brought him closer to his face. Thoth's eyes wide and alarmed by the information. "Wait! No don't wait! I need to know now! I need to know where that lost child has gone off to! Horus how did- no nevermind! Where is he?! Has he been safe?" Thoth asked with questions coming in quick order.

"Well he has been well for the most part. Just not the most social character around the neighborhood." Said Horus in a hesitant manner to Thoth before whispering into Thoth's ears about the exact location of Anubis. "He's in a place called Animalia. A universe composed almost exclusively of Mammals without human mortals. He lives there for 2000 years now and has been a sort of farmer there." Said Horus to Thoth's ears as the falcon prince began to summon a portal to the location of Anubis's whereabouts, Thoth would see the sight of the Nile river banks, a bushy river bank at that with palm trees and high grasses to hide in. The High Vizier would see a hooded figure resting by the Nile apparently focused firmly on the river itself.

For a moment Thoth hesitated to even walk through the portal despite his long lost adoptive son being right there in his grasp. Even after 2000 years the issue he had now was the way they had all left off. A massive disagreement made all those years ago. And despite this Thoth slowly moved one of his feet forwards going through the portal slowly moving through it. Though not without emotional break down as he felt his tears ducts tingle and moisten slowly gathering on the break of tears. Even after crossing through the portal eh couldn't raise his own wise voice even if it would mean reuniting him and his long lost family.

Anubis himself was sitting by the river bank, his hood and cloak seem to fit with his fur the most, an all black apparel that kept him cloaked at night and looked ominous to the eyes of others as if he was a truly terrifying grim reaper stalking on them, preparing to take their souls. The jackal was apparently looking at something, a collection of papers, notes and bank cheques, it was no doubt that he was well off and was sending money to someone, the papers said that the recipients of the money was a "Charlie Pawliberius Frost", but Thoth hadn't seen the name clearly yet as Anubis gathered the paper and put them into a folder.

Thoth despite watching Anubis carefully saw now was his opportunity to speak. Despite his fears he flexed his throat muscles and tried to force air out past his vocal chords. Still though not much, but a croak came out from his mouth. He snapped his finger and swore in his mind t himself, but then tried again. "...A….Anu… Anubis… Anubis." Thoth said weakly in a quiet voice. He felt his ears water more as a gripping sadness pulled his entire being downwards mentally, and yet he stood up. Fatherly standing there waiting for whatever outburst may come from Anubis.

Anubis heard the voice of Thoth and for the first time was moved to hear it, not the usual brooding and gruff baritone of a man battered to the point of near emotionless. He hid the papers inside the satchel hung on his side before standing up from the bank and turned around to face Thoth. The jackal remained unchanged, his physique remained the way it was 2000 years ago with toned muscles and abdomen six packs. Though the most noticeable differences were his clothing, he now wore a more rugged and almost peasant like outfit of the modern time with his weapons remaining traditional and covered in the wrappings of his dark cloak. "How did you find me?" Anubis asked Thoth, a dry but seemingly perplexed tone.

Already the words felt like a stabbing knife of rejection to Thoth as he simply made a sad bird like cooing noise finally letting only of his tears slip past his eyelids. He grabbed both of his hands in a begging gesture as he watched Anubis. "Th-that's the thing… I don't know. H- Horus. Your dear brother came t- to me, and told me where you were… You're still as healthy as you were when you left us... We all missed you, but… i suppose you aren't wanting to return to us." Thoth said. Depression in his voice.

Anubis sighed out to Thoth as he slumped his head down seemingly to denote his own depression and perhaps something that had happened to him long ago that Thoth didn't know of but affected him greatly. "I can't return...I've seen it with my own eyes...mortals are more reactive than Gods. Give them a prediction of impending events and they'll steer the boat away from certain dooms. If they're smart enough." Said Anubis in a more cynical tone that was alarming even to Thoth. It was like his apathy towards deities and others have gotten the better of him and rendered him emotionless. "I'm sorry for running away, but I doubt back then you would listen to me let alone Ra." Said Anubis with a guilt ridden tone as he sat down under the palm tree crossed legs.

Thoth feeling a metaphorical dagger at his throat was too afraid, and too anxious to even sit down next to Anubis. Rather he stood up nervously and gulped in his fears, and tried speaking again. "Well… That was the whole reason why you fled from home. And family…" Thoth said as he approached Anubis again getting closer. Each step felt like a step closer to his own death."B-but nothing has changed! No event has occurred and what ever occured has since stopped. No Set… N- no Apep… I- its. We didn't listen… You're right. You're absolutely right." Thoth said in a defeated tone.

Anubis remained quiet, he didn't reply not even in a smug victory tone that rubbed off of Thoth or Ra behind the hawk's back as the jackal sighed out and stood up from where he sat. "I knew something wasn't right. One detail not in line with the alleged absolution of prophecies and fates and everything unraveled." Said Anubis in stoic tone to Thoth before holding the ibis's shoulders to keep him firm and steady before hugging his adoptive father in.

"I missed you too...but never had the time to ponder it." Said Anubis as he began to sob at Thoth, the wise ibis would soon pick up something, he found that Anubis was by the riverbank the whole time and nearby was a necropolis, a large burial ground for the local populace of the town of Lycopolis.

Thoth couldn't resist hugging Anubis in and letting his weaken mental state break through as he sobbed tears of bitter sweet joy. He barely saw the riverbank as wet tears blurred hsi vision. Yet it still somehow drew his interests. "B- but why here?... In this place? Where are we right now, and wh-why did you flee here? Y-you don't have to answer my question, b-b-b-but I love you… I missed you, and time never healed the wound in my heart, and my soul…" Thoth said.

"I just felt this place wouldn't ask a question about my appearance." Said Anubis as he began to lead Thoth up the sand slope towards the burial ground, the jackal arrived at the tombstones that seemed to be ancient, two tombstones with a grey stone texture on them with large oval shaped appearance on them, they hadn't been moved or uprooted since their placements here. On one stone it was written in Hebrew, the writing translated to "Rest in peace, in loving memories Yochebed, wife of Ahmad."

The other had similar writing but the tone was even more sombre than the one for the woman in question. "Rest in peace David/Set Sutekh. In loving memories to the robbed young." Said the tombstone as Anubis laid a flower on it to show his love and respect. Thoth could tell that there was something, some history Anubis had with the tombstones. Especially the one that said "Set Sutekh" on it, clearly it wasn't that of Set himself but a child, one that Anubis knew.

Thoth himself began to feel slightly ill as the emotional drive hit him. In fact the wise deity didn't need to take long to understand what this was here. He stepped back feeling a wild sadness suddenly hit him from before to the point it made him feel a digging fear. "N-no. Please tell these aren't… Make my beliefs, and theories wrong! Please… I can't know about this now…" Thoth said in a desperate tone.

He felt Anubis's hand on his shoulder gripping him before the jackal turned Thoth away from the sight of the graves and walked away from it. "No, you don't need to know. They're ancient histories now. It's best to let the past be buried." Said Anubis as he walked away with Thoth as the sand blew over by the wind covering their traces as the two began their long process of catching up to one another on matters and affairs.