that once vast, fertile sea was gone. Each new god was constrained to make an unbreakable vow to join us in taking upon ourselves the burden of caring for the cosmos.
“A set of laws was established, and we turned our attention to fashioning mortals. Worlds more numerous than you can conceive have been shaped and nurtured by us. Your Earth became our most cherished achievement. When we were satisfied with the work we’d done, I built Heliopolis and settled here to watch over the many worlds and the beings that inhabited them.
“Now our duties include being the champions of the poor and fostering truth, goodness, and justice. Our aim is to use our powers to attain perfection and harmony. We took the ankh as our symbol, for it represents life and it reminds us of what was sacrificed so that we could come into being.
“We move through the universe like a great wind stirring the fires of progress. Though we are unseen by mortals, our presence can be sensed in every dawn, every sunset, every brush of scented air on your cheek, and every raindrop. We are a part of everything and everything is a part of us.”
“So Seth was one of you, then?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “Seth was a happy, curious child. He loved his family, was fascinated by the way the worlds were made, but the day he was imbued with his powers, everything changed. At the time, I thought we were being punished. That there was nothing left for him to inherit. I didn’t see it for what it was.”
“What happened? What powers did he get?”
“He received the most terrible and mightiest power of all of us. One that had the potential to destroy everything we’d created—”
“Wait. If you made an unbreakable vow to protect the Earth and pretty much everything else in the cosmos, then why was Seth trying to destroy the ancient Egyptians? Didn’t he have control over his new power? Why did you have to recruit Amon and his brothers to stop him? Why is he in a cosmic holding cell, and why was Sebak so adamant about wanting him loosed?”
I knew I was rushing him and asking too many questions. It was obvious. But I felt the weight of saving Amon pressing upon me, and Tia’s directness had influenced me to push for answers that we weren’t getting. I was growing impatient with the process of learning what we needed to know.
“Seth didn’t technically break his vow,” Amun-Ra said. “He just sees things a little differently.”
“A little differently?” Horus exclaimed. “He seeks our demise!”
Amun-Ra sighed. “Seth has a different definition for caring for the cosmos. You see, he came into his powers much later than his siblings. Isis was a powerful spell maker. Osiris ruled over things unseen and could call upon the elements to do his bidding. Nephthys’s power was quiet, subdued. She could see into the very heart of a person and understand them fully, truly, in a way no one else could. This is why she became Seth’s wife.”
“But he didn’t love her,” I said. “He wanted Isis.”
“Yes. He wanted her but he didn’t love her. At least, not in the way Osiris did. Seth was obsessed with Isis and her power. He wanted to use her to make his spells. His wife, Nephthys, became intensely jealous, not because she didn’t love her sister, for she did, but she needed and craved the love Osiris shared with his wife. She wanted that with Seth. Unfortunately, he was not in the correct frame of mind to offer that.”
“He never will be either,” Horus interjected.
“I’m afraid I still don’t understand,” I said.
“That’s because I’ve gotten ahead of myself. The only reason I even bring up Seth’s relationship with his siblings is balance.”
“Balance,” I echoed.
“Yes. Each god was given a gift, every one of them important in a different way. Seth’s gift was perhaps the most important of all because he is how the universe maintains balance.”
“How so?” I asked.
“He’s evil,” Horus explained. “He balances out our goodness.” Amun-Ra frowned but he didn’t contradict his nephew, who, emboldened by his uncle’s pause, continued. “Seth was created to stir up trouble. The cosmos needs that spark of dissonance, that cord of uncertainty to create. Without it there is only perfection. How do you understand up if there isn’t a down? Or comprehend love without hate?”
“So let me make sure I’m getting this. Seth’s job was to cause contention, purposely, so that…what? Mortals don’t