Charms

Reposted Fanfiction 🥥🧀🩸

[rebornofstars-deactivated202510]

ok time to lock the fuck in *opens discord* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens tumblr* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens gmail* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens youtube* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens an unstable vortex in time and space* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens ao3* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens discord* ok time to lock the fuck in *opens tumblr*

[cluelessandsapphic]

rewatching crush (2022) and we dont talk about this film enough. yes, it has it flaws but its still great lesbian representation and fucking hilarious.

[lunescore]

LUNE’S KINKTOBER CHALLENGE:

DAY 1: SEVIKA [somnophilia]

DAY 2: AMBESSA MEDARDA [masturbating]

DAY 3: VIOLET [exhibitionism]

DAY 4: CAITLYN KIRAMMAN [shibari]

DAY 5: RAN [impact play]

DAY 6: RENATA GLASC [blood play, forced orgasm]

DAY 7: CASSANDRA KIRAMMAN [dacryphilia]

DAY 8: GRAYSON [phone sex]

DAY 9: ABBY ANDERSON [omegaverse; heat/rut]

DAY 10: ELLIE WILLIAMS [overstimulation, role reversal]

DAY 11: PUPPY GIRL!VIOLET [cock caging]

DAY 12: PUPPY GIRL!SEVIKA [breeding]

DAY 13: ABBY ANDERSON [choking]

DAY 14: ELLIE WILLIAMS [power imbalance]

DAY 15: JINX [friends with benefits]

DAY 16: WEREWOLF!AMBESSA MEDARDA [knotting]

DAY 17: JINX [edging]

DAY 18: GRAYSON [fisting]

DAY 19: CASSANDRA KIRAMMAN [tentacles]

DAY 20: RAN [kidnapping]

DAY 21: CAITLYN KIRAMMAN [nipple clamps]

DAY 22: RENATA GLASC [wedding night]

DAY 23: SEVIKA, AMBESSA, GRAYSON [triple penetration]

DAY 24: ELLIE WILLIAMS [stalking]

DAY 25: ABBY ANDERSON [throat fucking]

DAY 26: SEVIKA [piss kink]

DAY 27: RAN [cock and ball torture]

DAY 28: JINX [body worship]

DAY 29: RENATA GLASC [oral sex]

DAY 30: SEVIKA [egg laying]

DAY 31: CASSANDRA KIRAMMAN [infedility kink]

© lunescore 2025 • all works on this masterlist are my original writing. do not repost, copy, translate, or claim as your own.

[doodlenoodleh]

Carol + Therese

[itspage82vivan]

MIRACULOUS LADY BUG has GONE ON 4 ENTIRELY TOOOOOOOOO LONG.

[nostromosdead]

Let It Rip! (For Better or Worse.) - Parts 1 & 2

Ellen Ripley x Y/N (gender-neutral). Y/N is a paleoanthropologist recently hired by Weyland-Yutani for initially unknown reasons. (Will probably post this on AO3 too!)

The Nostromo was a labyrinth of steel and shadows, its corridors vibrating with the steady hum of the ship’s engines. Though everything was objectively fine at this moment, there was an unspoken tension in the air. Something thick and almost suffocating seemed to cling to every surface. Yet, for now, that fragile peace held, allowing you to explore this strange new environment at your own pace.

You walked slowly, the weight of your satchel pressing into your side—a familiar comfort in a place that felt anything but. The worn leather strap, softened by years of fieldwork, reminded you of the sun-baked, humidity-ridden dig sites where you’d spent most of your career. The decision to leave that world behind, even temporarily, hadn’t been easy. But the company’s offer had been impossible to ignore. They’d been almost desperate to hire a paleoanthropologist, yet frustratingly vague about why they needed one on a deep-space commercial towing vehicle. (And, to be fair, there weren’t many specialists remaining in the field, given Earth’s rapidly declining state.)

You still weren’t sure what they expected you to find out here, but you’d answered the advertisement anyway, drawn by the promise of a hefty paycheck. Hell, if anything, you assumed you’d end up being shown a bunch of archaic plant fossils and have to sheepishly inform them that they meant to hire an archaeobotanist. But, until then, you could spend a few months in space, collect your money, and eventually get back to your real work. Whatever this was, it couldn’t be more complicated than deciphering the mysteries of a bunch of rocks, right? Right. If The Company had found something of interest, it probably wouldn’t even end up being evolutionarily significant. After all, non-specialists mistake plain ole pebbles for artifacts all the time. Surely this case would be just like any other.

The mess hall was quiet, the soft hum of machinery your only company as you poured yourself a cup of something hot and vaguely coffee-like. You cradled the mug between your hands, letting the warmth seep into your fingers as you surveyed the utilitarian design of the room. Everything on the Nostromo was built for function, much like the old fossils and lithics you studied—stripped down, ‘bare bones,’ essential.

And that’s when you noticed her.

Across the room was Ellen Ripley, her tall frame partially obscured by the dim lighting. She stood at one of the ship’s consoles, her fingers moving deftly over the keys. The attention she devoted to a seemingly minute task was focused and intense. There was just something about her—a calm, commanding presence that made you feel both curious and cautious. Kinda like if the jump and subsequent drop you feel in your gut from a rollercoaster never truly got to dropping bit. That is to say, it was an air of perpetual anticipation.

You hesitated, unsure whether you should approach her or not. Did you even have the credentials to approach her? Wait–did The Company even operate like that? Note to self: look into the social dynamics that exist between varying Weyland-Yutani positions of power. You’d heard about Ripley even before you set foot on the Nostromo—everyone had. If anything, in the form of a warning or two. She was known for her temper in conflict, as for her level-headedness and quick thinking under pressure. It was a reputation that both impressed and intimidated you. But here, in the quiet of the mess hall, she seemed almost halfway approachable. Almost.

“Y/N, right?” Ripley’s voice broke the silence, smooth and unflinching as she turned to face you.

You nearly dropped your mug in surprise, having been locked in a bout of overthinking. “Uh, yeah. Hey! That’s me.”

Ripley’s gaze was steady as she took you in. Looking you up and down, just once, as if that was all she needed to make up her mind. “How are you finding the Nostromo?”

“It’s… different,” you replied, struggling to find the right words. “Not what I’m used to.”

Ripley offered a small, almost imperceptible smile. “I imagine not. What made you sign up for this?”

You shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “The company was pretty insistent they needed someone with my background. They didn’t say much about why, though.”

Ripley raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. “And that didn’t bother you?” Her voice was deep, and her question was stern.

“Oh it did,” you admitted, “buuuut… they’re paying me well, and I figured, why not? A few months in space, then I can get back to my real work.”

She studied you for a moment, as if weighing the validity of your words.

Ripley nodded, her expression eventually softening a smidge. “Fair enough. Well… If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

You felt a rush of gratitude manifest in the form of a flushed face; the tension in your shoulders easing just a little. “Oh-thanks, Ripley. Though, I hope you don’t regret that offer—I’m someone who tends to ask a lot of questions.”

She gave you a final nod before turning back to the console. “I figured as much. See you around.”

Part 2:

The days aboard the Nostromo had begun to blur together. It was a monotonous routine, occasionally punctuated by moments of fleeting curiosity. You found solace in the ship’s quiet corners, as your mind was occupied with the strange fossils you were hired to study. Not only did they appear to be actual fossils of some kind, they came with an added bonus of not entirely making sense. They were like nothing you’d seen before, and the vague instructions from The Company did little to help you understand why they’d been so adamant about having a paleoanthropologist on board–after all, what did these have to do with humans or their hominid ancestors?

Though, after your initial orientation, there was definitely one thing that Weyland-Yutani did make very, very clear.

Under no circumstances were you allowed to report your research, or its potential findings, to the rest of the crew aboard the Nostromo. They knew you were a hired researcher, aiding The Company in its various goals and ambitions, and that was where the line was to be drawn.

The rule hung over you like a shadow. It was a constant reminder that there was more to this mission than you’d been told… what had you gotten yourself into this time? A few weeks in and you’d mostly kept your head down, focusing on the work, but the unease gnawed at the edges of your mind. And then, there was Ripley.

You couldn’t help but notice her—how could you not? She carried herself with a quiet confidence that commanded attention without ever having to demand it. There was a natural strength to her, evident in the way her muscles flexed beneath her uniform as she moved with precision and purpose. The cut of her jawline, the sharp focus in her eyes, the way her lips pressed together when she was deep in thought—it was honestly hard not to be captivated.

Unfortunately for you, you’d find yourself stealing glances whenever she was near, and not to mention your heart skipping a beat when her gaze met yours. It was ridiculous, you told yourself. There were far more important things to worry about. Like, what the fuck even are the strange fossils you were suspiciously being paid to study, under the unsettling restrictions imposed by the company, to boot. But the warmth that spread through your chest whenever she was around was undeniable. You could think of it as a small comfort amidst the growing unease, or, more realistically, a sporadic social opportunity for unnecessary, internal panic that loomed on the other side of every bay door. Thank God nothing would ever actually come of it, you reassured yourself.

It was during one of these quiet moments, seated at a small workstation in the ship’s research lab, that you heard the soft hiss of the dreaded sci-med bay door sliding open. You looked up to see Ellen Ripley stepping inside, her presence instantly filling the room, akin to the drop in barometric pressure before a storm.

“Y/N,” Ripley greeted. Her voice was smooth and steady, but carried a note of curiosity. “How’s the research going?”

You leaned back in your chair, trying to steady your nerves. You knew damn well that that question was an act of defiance–and a cool one, at that. But, you couldn’t give in without putting your job on the line. “All’s well on my end, thankfully.”

It was a bold-faced lie. What you really wanted to say was ‘confusing, mostly, Ripley! These samples… they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen! It’s almost as if they don’t belong in any known classification! This is a brand new species that might even defy taxonomic classification! Unless, I just don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, which is always an ever-present possibility. The Company wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information.’

But, you couldn’t. So, you just sat there, awaiting a response from her that at least somewhat mirrored the back-and-forth of a typical human conversation.

Ripley frowned, undoubtedly unimpressed. Her brow furrowed as she moved closer to your workstation. The subtle way her muscles shifted and flexed as she crossed the room was revealed by her rolled-up sleeves. The taut lines of strength tracing down her arms didn’t escape your notice, and you found yourself momentarily distracted by the effortless power she exuded.

“I see The Company’s ideals have gotten to ya,” Ripley half-teased. “They’re real keen on never telling you the whole story.” she said, her tone laced with frustration.

Despite her apparent aggravation, her presence was comforting. You hadn’t physically spoken to another human being all day. In fact, you weren’t even sure what the time was right now, having been so wrapped up in your own research, and the anxieties that accompanied it.

You hadn’t realized how much you’d come to appreciate her company until now. There was something warm about her that made you feel less alone in this strange, cold place.

“Any idea why they wanted you, specifically?” Ripley asked, her tone curious, but tinged with something else—concern, maybe.

You shook your head, glancing down at the samples you had just spent the past 9 hours or so investigating. Your eyes were begging for them to be put away.

“No clue,” you gave in a little. “…It’s like they were desperate to have someone with my educational background, but they’re keeping me in the dark about who’s, what’s, where’s, and why’s. To be truthful, I’m starting to wonder if I’m missing something obvious...” you lamented. Carefully, you returned the evidently-ancient objects to their respective lockbox.

Ripley was silent for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she studied where the fossils had been on the table.

“Well…” she eventually began.

“…maybe it’s not about what you’re supposed to find. Maybe it’s about confirming what they already know.”

A chill ran down your spine at her words. You clearly hadn’t thought of it that way before. But now that she’d said it, it made a disturbing amount of sense. Why else would everything be so secretive?

Ripley was quick to notice the genuine look of concern growing upon your face.

Before you could voice your growing unease or be offered any solace, the lights flickered.

Just once, but it was more than enough to catch your attention. The ship’s hum seemed to deepen, a more subtle change that you probably wouldn’t have noticed, if not for the sudden, rigid shift in the warrant officer’s demeanor.

Ripley’s eyes snapped to the lights, her expression tightening, voice deepening. “That’s not normal.”

You jumped up. The tension within you thickened like a storm cloud about to burst. It took a lot to make you cry, and this was bordering the ‘a lot’ category.

“Ah, well, what do you think it is?” You stammered to ask your far-more-experienced companion.

“Could be nothing,” she said almost casually, but the look on her face told you she didn’t really believe that. “But, we should check it out… just to confirm. Come on.”

With great haste, you followed her out of your assigned lab. Your heart began to pound loudly in your chest. Don’t get me wrong—you’ve had more than your fair share of dangerous experiences in your line of work. Artifact looters and site raiders, mostly. The key difference here was that those guys are always humans. And humans were something you were intimately familiar with, having devoted your life to studying their origins, on top of being one yourself. (And yet; you still found yourself fumbling to understand a certain Ellen Ripley, but now was not the time for that.)

The corridors of the Nostromo felt different now—they were darker, and much more oppressive. As you walked side by side with Ripley, your brain forced you to take note of the way her shoulder occasionally brushed against yours. Each order of guidance and direction sent a jolt of electricity down your spine. Despite these bright moments of contact, the cold metal walls of the height-deprived hallways seemed to be closing in around the two of you. The shadows were longer and deeper than before. The childish unease you’d been desperately trying to ignore now felt almost impossible to shake.

Ripley led the way to the ship’s control room, her movements quick and efficient, but you noticed the subtle tension in her shoulders. She was worried, too, though she hid it well. This fact was the opposite of reassuring. The door slid open with a hiss, and the two of you stepped inside.

Dallas, the ship’s captain, was already there, along with crewmates Lambert and Parker. They looked up as you entered, their faces reflecting the same unease you felt.

“What’s going on?” Ripley asked, her voice immediately slaying whatever elephant previously resided in the room.

“Power surge,” Dallas replied, his tone grim. “Not sure what caused it. Could be a malfunction, but…” He trailed off, his eyes meeting Ripley’s with an unspoken understanding.

“Could be something else.” Ripley finished for him.

A heavy silence fell over the room. You felt Ripley’s hand brush against yours—whether by accident or intention, you weren’t sure—but the brief contact sent a yet another shock of warmth through you. If anything, it served as a reminder that you weren’t alone in this. You wanted to focus on the situation at hand, but it was hard when you could feel the heat of her body so close to yours—especially when the room in which you stood was fucking freezing.

Dallas turned back to the controls, his jaw tight. “We’ll keep an eye on it. Everyone stay sharp.”

As the meeting brief broke up, you found yourself lingering, hesitant to return to the isolation of your workstation. Sensing your apprehension, Ripley’s eyes caught your own. Her gaze softened as she stepped a bit closer.

“Hey, Y/N.” she said quietly, her voice a low, gentle murmur. “We’ll figure this out, okay?”

You nodded, your throat tight with a mix of fear and something else—something warmer, more uncertain. “Yeah… thanks, Ripley.”

She gave you a small smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Get some rest if you can. We might need it.”

As she turned to leave on that somewhat ominous note, you couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something much darker. But, whatever it was, you had a feeling that your job was about to become a hell of a lot more complicated.

[kimpossibly]

symptom of life | rain carradine

pairing: rain carradine x fem!reader

warnings: mentions of blood (that’s not actually there)

summary: in the middle of her journey to yvaga, rain discovers r’s cryopod has opened.

author’s note: I LOVE RAIN CARRADINE I LOVE RAIN CARRADINE I LOVE RAIN CARRADINE THAT’S ALL :) send me rain requests if you want! i’ll be writing about her either way lol also this was supposed to be smut but I changed it last minute LMAOO, lmk if that’s something you guys are interested in seeing!

The first breath felt like a splash of ice cold water.

She was bathed in light the moment her eyes opened—white light, the kind that seared your eyes like staring directly into the sun. Sun. Rain.

Her hands stretched out and found the cold, hard, top of the cryopod. All it took was a little push and, with a hiss, the door swung open. Warm air flooded in. Like a creature reborn from its mechanical pod, she slinked out of her chrysalis and left, leaving only the vague imprint of a body behind as proof she was ever there.

As for Rain, she was on edge the moment she heard clanking from somewhere in the ship. At the sound, her heart nearly leapt into her throat, her toothbrush frozen in midair. At once, her mind was flooded with horrible realities—another Xenomorph had made it onto the ship somehow and was now lying it wait to sink its teeth into her. A parasite had crawled into the ship and was waiting for the perfect moment to spring on her and do its dirty work. Either way, she was screwed. Even worse, so was Andy. So was Y/N. Rain’s heart clenched at the idea of the two of them, helpless, locked in cryopods, oblivious to the terror around them. Even worse, she could picture the moment they awoke to find Rain a cold corpse.

No. Quit that.

Abandoning her toothbrush, Rain crept into the hallway, her fingers itching for a gun or a stick or some kind of weapon. Anything, really. But no, she was on her own. She should be used to that by now. Slow step by slow step, she followed the direction of the clanking, every movement a cautious twitch. She willed her heart to slow, but nothing would help. Eventually she entered the wide room where Andy and Y/N’s pods sat. Except now, something had changed—one of them had opened. Her body went cold.

She practically threw herself across the room to the still closed cryopod, and found Andy’s peacefully sleeping face in beneath the glass window. She let out a breath.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” she whispered in relief, both to herself and to him. She looked to the empty pod, half expecting to see a bloody mess where Y/N was lying. But she saw nothing of the sort. The pod was just…empty. As though she’d gotten up and walked out of her own accord.

At once, Rain’s head was on a violent swivel, searching the room for her. She dashed out of the room and down the opposite hallway, her breath coming hard and fast. She was here. She had to be.

“Y/N!” she shouted, her voice sounding starkly unlike her own. She turned corners and searched rooms quicker than she ever thought herself capable of.

After a few minutes she was worried she was going to run herself in circles. She walked and walked and walked, barely keeping track of where she'd been and where she was heading. She searched like a madman, scanning every corner for her. She’s in here, she kept repeating to herself. I just have to find her.

“Rain?”

She froze. The voice was soft, gentle, like the voice of someone who didn’t believe what they were seeing. It made her arms cold and her face heat up all at once. She turned, and there she was, standing at the end of the corridor, her left arm still wrapped in a thick bandage like it had been when Rain put her in that damn pod. The sight of her caused her chest to seize, her eyes to burn, and her heart to pound in her chest.

Y/N, on the other hand, picked up her bare feet and ran at Rain the moment she saw her.

It was less of a hug and more of a desperate attempt to hold on and never let go, their chests colliding with such force that the air was knocked out of both of them. Rain wrapped her arms around Y/N and squeezed, ignoring the burn in her arms and the tears that cropped up in her eyes. Y/N’s shoulders shook with tears that she didn’t know were coming, but in an instant they were there, tracing warm rivulets down her cheeks.

“Hey…” Rain whispered into her shoulder, her voice choked, “you’re okay, baby. You’re alright.”

“I didn’t know w-where you were,” Y/N sobbed. Her voice was muffled in Rain’s shoulder. “I-I thought—“

“I know, I know.”

Y/N pulled away, cradling Rain’s face in her hands. “Are you okay? Where are we going?”

“I’m okay,” Rain said, smoothing Y/N’s wild hair out of her face. “We’re heading for Yvaga.”

Y/N’s eyes widened at that. She sucked in a breath, almost afraid to ask, afraid to jinx it. “Yvaga?” She breathed. “We made it?”

At that, Rain’s face broke out into a small smile.

“Yeah. We did.”

They were heading towards Yvaga. After everything they went through, all the shit that they survived, they were finally getting what they wanted. They weren’t going back to Jackson’s Star, they didn’t have to worry about being forced to work until the day they both died. For once, they were going to see the sun.

Y/N leaned in, pressing her lips to Rain’s. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been in that pod—hours, days, months—but it’d been too long since she’d been able to feel like this.

Rain kissed her hard, grappling onto her waist like she’d lose her if she let go. She pulled away from the kiss, leaning her forehead against Y/N’s, her breath coming hard and fast.

“I love you,” she breathed, “so fucking much.”

Y/N felt tears sting her eyes—not the ones of fear and loss that she’d been used to lately. Real fucking tears. Happy ones.

“I love you too.”

[itspage82vivan]

Just finished White Lotus s3e1 everything was fine until the last 4 minutes 😭

[l3m0ncyan]

New to Life | Chapter 9

Steven Grant/Marc Spector x Hispanic!Teen! Reader

Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Warning: angst (again)

Note: when y’all see -()-, play Cien Años by Pedro Infante. Gives you a better feel on the scene ;)

———————————

You take a deep breath in and your eyes widen. When you lifted your head, you were met with a coughing fit from your throat. Smacking your chest with your hands to try to get the oxygen in your lungs moving again.

Squinting at how bright it is, you feel as if you're in a fever dream; neither it nor you feel real. Your muscles appear to be numb, but they are beginning to move again. It's chilly, which makes you want to hug yourself, especially since you were in 90-degree weather just a few minutes ago.

“Jesus! You ok Y/N?”

That voice sounds familiar. You turn your head to the left and notice someone from the past. It was one of your close friends from middle school. They looked just like how they did before. You gulp and stare at them confused on why they are there.

“How- what?” You try to regain your breathing.

They just smile and give a small laugh, “You fell asleep. We’re you up all night watching your senpai~”

Your entire body cringes. You really did try to bury all the embarrassing memories from your puberty years. All the incorrect Japanese pronunciations you and your friends attempted. You guys fetishized gay men in comic books and anime. You close your eyes, hoping to keep those thoughts at bay before ripping your brain out.

Speaking of which, you begin to turn your head around rapidly. You notice you are back at the same old spot where you and your old friend group would hang at during lunch. Sitting by you, we’re the rest of your them. All still looking like they did before.

"Anywho, last night I was watching Yuri on Ice, right? Man! When Yuri and Victor kissed I was scream-"

“How? We’re not- I graduated highschool, how am I back?” You look around to look for clues on why you’re there.

They each looked up at you as some ate chips or food from the school. They held a puzzled look.

“Man are you ok? Did you eat some of Justins edibles?” One asks with a joking tone.

You look down and realize you're not wearing the pants and green shirt Marc lent you. Instead, you were dressed entirely in burgundy oversized sweatpants and a hoodie. What happened to Marc? How about Steven?

That’s when the faint memory comes to you like a flood. You were shot by Harrow. You limped and fell onto Marc’s arms. Last thing you remember is just him saying to stay awake. Then it just faded black.

I died? You think to yourself and start to get up. This isn’t right. Wasn’t the afterlife supposed to be just clouds and sunshine? Not middle school of all places.

Before you can try to walk around to find where you were, the bell rings. That same bell that always told you it was time to go and endure lectures while you dealt with some of the most annoying people.

Your friends begin to pack up and one gestures you to come along as they see you stunned there.

“Come on, we’re gonna be late for history”

You blink and just nod, not questioning it. You follow them through the hallways and nostalgia just comes to you.

There’s the restrooms where you and your friends would die laughing. The spot where you guys would meet up in the mornings. Where you would hide as you and your group would spy on another as they had a romantic moment with their partner. Wrinkling your face, you feel the second hand embarrassment come again.

You notice some of the people are old classmates but notice how some of the teachers walking look way too familiar. As you walk past by one, you examine their face and see that they look like Donna. You may be going crazy but you know damn well that she wasn’t at all part of your middle school years.

Then comes another teacher, the girl who Steven stood up in their date. Again, she may be older than you but you know that she would not be a teacher in this time.

Continuing to tag along, your feet walk on their own as they begin to remember the route to your old history class. You and your friend walk in, heading straight to your seat. You take in the decorations and the way the desks are arranged. Just like how they looked 6 years ago.

She begins to gather her supplies while sitting next to you. You simply sit and look around. As you feel and smell the air, more memories begin to surface. You notice the kid who used to bully you all year in the corner of your eye. One example would be when he teased you about having a crush and then proceeded to tell them about you. However, he dropped out of high school and is now struggling as a want tobe rapper. The karma almost makes you laugh.

Staring at him for too long causes him to notice you and make a disgusted face. He jolts his body forward, as a way to scare you or that he’ll fight you. You roll your eyes and continue to look around. You forgot how childish kids from back then were, you wonder how they would react to seeing their past selves.

"Watch out, his girlfriend is coming" Your friend whispers to you. You furrow your eyes.

You hear a chair move and footsteps coming your way. Looking up, you see one of the kids friends coming up to you. The girl who had a crush on him which caused her to be the rudest and nastiest person. She was only stuck being his friend to try to win him over, which never happened. Instead, she lost all that friend group by highschool. Now she’s studying to be a nurse. Jeez do you feel bad for her future patients.

“Why the fuck are you staring?,” she says and then smirks, “Wait don’t tell me you have a crush on him!”

She begins to cover her mouth and gives her high-pitched laugh that always annoys you. You just stare in amusement. Noticing her features, she is still her young self. You look back at your body and see that you have accomplished puberty. Meaning you must be an 18-year-old among a bunch of 12 years olds. And no one cared, which leads to more speculation that you are not supposed to be there.

“Hello! I’m talking to you!” She snaps her fingers infront of you, “oh my god, why were you staring at me? Oh shit! Don’t tell me your a lesbian! You have a crush on me don’t you?!”

She continues to laugh and at this point you are trying to hard to not pull this girls hair. Being older, you should have an advantage on keeping her quiet at least. Remembering the rumors of how her dad was seen sleeping with her moms sister, you decided to use that.

“Girl are you okay? I know that your dad loves to keep it in the family, if you know what I mean” you whisper, “but you don’t gotta be a bitch about it”

This shit might be real cringy in the future or wouldn’t work but right now it might be the best someone hears as a roast in middle school.

She stands there in shock, “Fucking bitch” she says before stomping back to her seat.

You can hear how the guys are snickering and her telling them to shut up.

The door then opens and the teacher comes in. Expecting for the old 7th grade one to come in, instead you see a slouched man walk in with coffee in his hand. He’s wearing a cream cardigan and brown button up underneath with slacks.

“Alright how was lunch, gators?” A British accent comes out.

You shoot your eyes up to the front and see Steven smiling to the class. Everyone returns it and hear some respond back. He nods and prepares whatever it is on his desk for the lesson. You however are still in shock to see Steven in an environment like this.

“Todays agenda will be on Egypt. My favorite subject” he sighs dreamily.

You stand up instantly, “Steven! What the hell?”

Everyone in the class stares at you and whisper to each other. Your friend just looks at you weirdly and avoids their gaze at you.

Steven is caught off guard and clears his throat, “Now Y/N watch your language. Also it’s Mr.Grant, sit”

“No no no, you aren’t a middle school teacher, you are or well were a gift shopist”

The same girl from before chuckles, “Damn she’s a crackhead!”

There are a few laughs and Steven shakes his head, “G/N that wasn’t very nice. Y/N you seem tired, why don’t you head to the nurses office?”

He gestures outside and you see another face, Marc wearing security clothes. It seems like he came by to check out what the ruckus was all about. Seeing that you are the one disturbing the class, he gestures for you to come out. Seeing the two in the same place was weird but you quickly snap out of it.

“Oh come on! Don’t you see how you guys look the same?!” You point at Marc.

“I mean we are brothers…” Steven smiles.

The class yells a ‘what’ and begins questioning him, just like any would. Steven puts his hands up to try to quiet the class down. He says something but you can’t hear because Marc is pushing you out the door

You two walk through the hall with small steps being heard. The hallways are empty and all the classroom doors are closed, when usually there were some open. Once the door closed from your history class, everything was quiet. You looked over to Marc who was just staring straight ahead.

“Marc, you have to listen to me. You have DID and Steven is one of your alters. You had powers that came from a god named Khonshu!”

Marc shakes his head, “You probably have a fever or something”

“It’s true! We were in Cairo trying to find the tomb of Ammit!”

“Alright alright, how about you tell that to the nurse” he opens the door to the nurse's office and pushes you in.

Before you can turn to try to explain more to him, you are met with the door shutting in your face. You stand there trying to think of what to do next. Well, the only thing you can do is play along. Maybe it's a dream or something while Marc and Layla are trying to help you on the other side. Like those weird dreams people in comas get.

You turn to where the nurse's desk is and there are chairs lined up against the wall. On the opposite side, there are two doors that lead to the main office and the vice principal's office. Walking through the center, you notice that one of the kids sitting there.

However, they look older than the rest of the school. Pausing by them, they look up and your heart stops.

It was the guy who you saw at the alley that one night. He wore a hood and all his clothes were dark. His under eyes were dark and he seemed over everything.

"You. You gave me that fucking parasite thing!" You confront him. Walking to him in a stand off-ish way.

He furrows his eyebrows and scowls, "What are you talking about?"

"I tried to help you and all you did was cause me problems! If it weren't for you my parents wouldn't be-"

"Is there something wrong?" a feminine voice pops in from the corner.

Layla is standing to your right with a badge hanging around her neck. Her hair is tied back and she seems more, happy. She’s wearing a long grey cardigan and tight jeans.

"Layla! Please tell me you remember what happened!" Ignoring the guy sitting, you run toward her, "You were with Marc and me trying to find Ammits tomb, we were chased by mummy priests!"

She shakes her head, "Oh Y/N, I believe that was just a dream you had" she places her palm on your forehead.

You move her hand away, "It wasn't! I don't know what's going on, but I know that this," You wave your hands around the air to gesture to the school, "This isn't real, it's all fake!"

Layla pouts and places a hand on your shoulder and squeezes it reassuring, "Y/N...I believe you need to see your counselor"

You stare at her and she notices your confusion. She then gestures to the left, a door where a sign hangs with the word 'counselor'. You look back at her for reassurance and she simply nods.

You take slow steps, mainly because you wonder who might be behind that door. Maybe Khonshu? You kinda chuckle at the thought of Khonshu listening to every kid's problems. Maybe even wearing cardigan like Layla and Steven did. Drinking coffee or eating salad for his lunch every time.

When you open the door, you see a desk with a comfortable chair in front of you. A bookcase with many books and small decor is located in the back. Nonetheless, you can identify small objects. When you look closer, you notice that some of them are statues of Egyptian gods, the same ones you used to stock in the gift shop. Aside from the decor, the counselor is nowhere to be seen.

Footsteps are then heard from behind, "Sorry, I went to get a donut from the cafeteria, the staff bought a few dozen for us. Well not the student but you know”

A man walks in and heads to his desk. You stand there in shock as you see the man who killed you. The one who was the cause of you and Steven having to be in Egypt all of a sudden. He has his grey hair that's slicked back while wearing a cardigan. Harrow takes a bite from the donut and looks at you with a smile.

Was he smiling because he knows he killed you? Or because he won?

You glared at him as you sank into the chair. He notices and slowly nods his head. Putting the food down, he dusts off any crumbs from his shirt and takes out a file from a drawer. He then takes out a pair of glasses and puts them on.

You take a glance at it and see your picture clipped onto the documents. On the said documents you can tell it has information on you but not precisely what since it's upside down.

“It’s nice to see you again L/N, but from the looks of it, you don’t seem to agree” he gives a small laugh.

You don't say anything and just stare at him. He takes in your silence and sighs.

"Y/N, I have noticed lately that you have been staying in this, fantasy world. And this fantasy world has taken up your mind that caused you to not be able to tell what is real and what is not," You don't say anything but just give him a scowl.

"Look, I know. I too feel like going into a world where I feel like I am a powerful...what is that one show you kids like?" He thinks and then snaps his fingers, "Tokyo ghoul! A ghoul creature with those tentacles, but that's not real Y/N. What was real, was when you used to be an excellent student and daughter-"

"What do you want? Why, why are you acting like I forgot that you shot me" You finally breathe out.

"Y/N I am only trying to help. I never shot you. If I did, you would probably be in the hospital and I in jail" he laughs.

"You think I'm stupid?" You stand up and lean your body on his desk using your arms as support, "You shot me out there! At the tomb, because you were trying to steal Ammits ushabti thing!"

"I see Mr. Grant's history lessons have been also feeding into your imagination...Y/N this has become rather worrying and I might have to-"

You slam your palms onto the table, "I am not crazy! I am not!" You begin to pull your hair.

"Right, Y/N I am saddened to say this but I will have to call your parents so we can come up with a...plan on ways to help you"

“No...you’re not doing anything until me and the others stop you"

You hear the door open and security Marc is standing there ready to take you away. You look around for an escape route but the room is too small to do anything. So the only plan is to push through Marc and run out.

Of course, Marc grabs you but you use what he taught you before to unlatch himself from you. Layla calls out to you but you ignore her calls and run through the door. You pause to look around where to go but see Marc marching to you.

You follow your feet's lead and turn your heel, beginning to runoff. Running through the corridors, you notice that there is no one else there despite the fact that you recall the number of people ditching or going to the restroom. Hearing Marc and Layla call out to you send your adrenaline skyrocketing. You notice a few Egyptian jars strewn about the halls as you run.

What? You think to yourself

You don't even know where you are running to but you are hoping that this dream ends with you waking up to the real Marc and Layla. Feeling your legs begin to burn, you look for any door near but there isn't any. You then realize that the hallways keep going and that usually you would have been met with a wing of classes.

You turn one corner and see a door. Hoping it's unlocked, which it is, you rush in and close it immediately. You crouch down to hide your silhouette from the small window. Taking in your surroundings, you see that you are inside the janitor's closet.

Hearing the voices of the fake Marc and Layla fading away, you decide to stand up cautiously. Looking through you see the coast is clear and you open the door.

Everything changes as you walk out. It's not the same walls you remember from middle school. It was now an all-white hall with brick walls and tiles on the floors. It is lit by fluorescent lights, which give the space a cold feel. This time, there were several doors leading to who knows where.

Although it looks creepy, you were actually happy. It meant that you didn't have to experience pubescent years again plus deal with being called crazy. Also this is a sign

You place your palms on your knees as you catch your breath. Practically laughing. Now you have to find out where you were and how to get back to the real world.

You begin to walk through the hall to where there are two wide doors. Pushing them open, you notice how in the second part there have dangling lanterns that are swaying side to side. Continuing to walk through, you see how there are rolling steel tables with white towels folded on top.

Instantly, you hear voices coming from the next part. Still paranoid about Harrow sending fake Marc and Layla, you carefully push the doors open.

Your gaze is drawn to a figure exiting a room with caution. It has dark brown curly hair and is dressed in a white sweatshirt and sweatpants. The way they're coming out makes you think of someone.

"Marc?" You say in a low tone.

He turns around and his eyes widen at the sight of you. He stands still for a minute, trying to comprehend if you're really the one standing there.

"Y/N?" he almost smiles with saying your name.

The two of you stand like that for a few seconds before another figure comes out with a black outfit this time and with timid language. He looks confused as to why Marc might have stopped.

"Is that..."

"Steven" Marc grins and gestures to Steven.

Steven turns to you and smiles widely, "Y/N?"

You don't think about what the next steps should be because all you want to do is hug them. Perhaps it's to ensure they're real or it could be that you really missed them. The ones who stood by your side when you were lost in a different country. You dash forward and practically leap into their arms. The two hug you tightly, scared that if they let you go, you would leave them again.

You two stay like that for a few seconds before you pull away. You glance from Marc to Steven, puzzlement finally hitting you.

“This is so weird,” you breathe out, “how?”

“I really dont have a reason” Marc shrugs.

“He just found me locked up in a sarcophagus. We’re you locked in one too?” Steven looks at you.

You shake your head, “Nah, I was actually back at my old middle school, it was weird. You were a history teacher, Marc was a security guard, Layla a nurse, and Harrow a…counselor?”

The two look baffled, “Harrow? The one who’s trying to end the world?” Marc asks.

You nod, “Yup, he wanted to send me away I think because I was crazy for imagining gods and curses”

“Ironic because it seems we are in a mental hospital” Steven looks around the hall.

Remembering you two were still there, you squeeze yours eyes trying to think, “Wait quick question, what happened after I was you know, shot?”

Marc breathes in, “Harrow and his men found us, Layla ran away luckily while I tried to distract them. But…”

“We we’re then shot by Harrow” Steven grimaces

“Which had you guys killed” You confirm.

The two nod and you stand there with a hand on your chin. If the three of you died, why were you in weird places? Especially a mental asylum? You weren’t all religious but wasn’t heaven supposed to be clouds and rainbows? Unless you did not go to heaven or hell but are now stuck in purgatory. Not a goal on your bucket list might you add.

“Then that means, we’re dead while Harrow is out there trying to kill everyone” You begin to panic.

Steven thins his lips and pats your back for reassurance. Marc shakes his head and looks to the opposite side of the hall.

“No, we are getting out of here. We aren’t staying dead,” Marc looks firmly at you and Steven, yet it feels like that last statement was directed more toward you.

He motioned for you two to follow him and he begins to take long strides while checking if it was safe to go. Steven sort of followed his movements but you just walked normally and checked around.

You three passed by an open room with another sarcophagus inside. There was a banging from inside, and it was shaking. Because it was standing, you were surprised that it didn't fall with the sudden movements.

“Any of you opening that?” You asked

“No”

“Don’t think so”

Taking that as a fair no, you guys continued to walk to the end of the hall where there was another steel table with towels. By the wall, we’re more white chairs lined on the wall. Most importantly there was another pair of big doors at the end.

When you see heavy footsteps approaching and a large shadow looming on the other side of the door, the three of you come to a halt. You stand guard, looking for any weapon you can use because you can't use your powers. The footsteps become increasingly close. As your anxiety grows, you can hear your heartbeat through your ears. You stand your ground between Marc and Steven, ready to fight anyone.

The doors swing open and out comes a hippo with gold circle on top of her head. She wears a dress with a blue beetle placed on her chest.

You three look up at her in shock, feeling your heart pounding. There’s a moment of silence before she raises her hand and waves.

“Hi!” She says cheerily

This immediately causes you three to scream in terror. You grab both Marc and Steven's arms and hug them tightly, hoping to keep the hippo at bay. As a result, the two lean on you for protection as well. You're all hugging for dear life at this point, like one of those cartoon characters.

-

Your screams continue and you notice that you are in a different place again. The screaming dies down and you see that you are back to the old counselor office, except Harrow is infront of you.

“Calm down. Y/N? Y/N. Your mind is spiraling out of control” He looks at you with concern.

You breathe in heavily, still trying to get a sense of how you ended back there.

“You keep coming back to being a student in middle school to a fantasy you have created where you are some hero’s sidekick in London. Plus some reason, make Ms.La Fouly, Mr.Grant, and Mr.Spector a parental figure…”

You squeeze your eyes and slowly open them to try to keep the pain in your head from growing. Looking at Harrow confused he continues on.

“Y/N, why is it you don’t accept your parents?”

You scoff, “Alright this is funny, really, but I gotta get going” you begin to stand up.

“Y/N were still not finished, please let me help you”

“Nah, you ain’t trying to help. You’re just pretending to be I don’t know,” you gesture your hand to him, “A counselor? Really?” You laugh.

“This is real Y/N I am not some villain made up in your head. I am just a man who rides the bus to get here and who tries to help young teens, like you, find yourself”

Shaking your head, you try to walk away.

“Please Y/N, we are close to making a breakthrough. Last time, you said something about a car ride?”

You breathe in and bite your cheek. To the corner of your eye, you see a cane appear next to the door. Eyeing it, you see a crocodile head on top, it was Harrows. Moving your hand close to it, you grab onto the stem and turn to Harrow.

“Hey, thanks. I really do feel very…counseled but uh, I really don’t like you” you walk closer to Harris and wind your arm back with the cane in hand.

The door opens and security comes in, holding you back while one tries to grab the cane from you.

“Let go! He’s going to kill everyone! Listen!” You screech but hear the electric sound of a taser.

Seconds later, you are met with a static feeling to your side and you fall down. Everything becoming blurry.

-

Your vision returns to normal, and instead of falling, you are now standing between Steven and Marc. Your screams subside, and you take a deep breath to try to comprehend what has just occurred.

“Oh shit, that was a real mind trip” you give a small laugh and hold your head. You let go of the men and take a few steps back.

Marc who is also trying to understand what happened, looks over to you “Did you go somewhere different too?”

“Yeah? I take it you did too” you begin to regain your breath.

“Are they always this intense?” The hippo asks Steven.

“Them? Uh well him almost every day. Her, not so much” he shrugs. He looks over to you to see if you are alright. All you do is just hold a thumbs up.

The hippo nods and then points to Steven and Marc, “Are you two like twins?”

“No” Marc counters but Steven doesn't, making Marc give a sigh.

She nods and then looks at you, “Are you their sister?”

You give a fake laugh, “Uh no. I’m actually a friendly neighbor of theirs"

“Ok, great. This really cleared this whole situation up for me” she smiles.

"Yeah, same here. I thought we were shot to death" Marc breathes out.

The hippo giggles, "Oh well this will really bake your noodle, but I am afraid you guys are actually quite dead"

You three stiffen up and stare at the hippo.

"Sorry what?" You smile awkwardly smile.

"I'm dead? Were dead?" Marc clears.

Steven stares into space in shock. You for an odd reason are taking it rather well; either it was due to the realization from earlier or you are going through shock.

"Actually I have..." she pauses and begins to pull out paper rolled together, "Hold on, it has been a minute since we've had a soul pass through here"

She unfolds the paper and reads off it, "Aha! Okay, here we go. Welcome, gentle traveler- Er well travelers" she corrects herself.

She starts to use hand movements to make the welcome seem grander.

"To the realm of the Duat"

Steven then blurts out, "Duat? The Egyptian underworld...this is Tawaret, goddess of women and children, and she is guiding us through our journey to the afterlife"

"The afterlife? This is our afterlife?" Marc asks and begins to walk around, trying to comprehend this is where he will stay for eternity.

"An afterlife. Not the afterlife. You would be surprised how many intersectional planes of untethered consciousness exist," She then gives a small gasp, "Like the Ancestral Plane. Oh! Just gorgeous"

"Wait, then why are we in a…"you take a second to look around, “mental ward?”

Tawaret snaps her fingers, "Actually I have cards about this hang on," she begins to flip through many cards, “Ahah! So since the Duat is something that the human mind can’t comprehend, you may perceive this realm as something more easily recognizable for you, a psych wards the first but hey, we can roll with it right?”

“Then why would we imagine this realm to be a psychiatric hospital?” Steven asks.

“Because we’re insane” Marc exhales, “we’re insane”. He begins to walk away slowly and begins to ramble on why they or he is insane.

“I mean a talking hippo and bird, you being out of my body, you being dead,” he points to you, “and now the afterlife right?”

“Marc?” Steven calls out to him.

You look at him as if he really did lost it. Maybe it was some sort of shock he was going through.

“Hey man, I don’t think we should wander off” you look back to Steven for guidance but he just apologizes to Tawaret for Marc’s actions. Sighing, you continue to stare at Marc as he begins to walk away.

“Oh man, Dr.Harrows right” Marc continues

“Dr Harrow?”

You tilt your head, “Was he a doctor for you?”

“Psychiatrist” Marc clears, “Ill prove to you guys right now that we are insane. I’ll open these doors and we will be back at the ward where no gods exist and Y/N is just away at college”

You look to Steven again, whispering how Marc has lost it.

“I feel conscious enough to know that I am definitely not part of your hallucinations dude” you cross your arms.

Marc ignores you and walks towards two set of doors, “Watch, there’ll be a bunch of patients and there’s Crowley probably about to yell-“

“Hey hey Marc, don’t go in there” You warn

“Marc? Marc” Steven gestures to Marc to stop.

Marc opens the door wide, “Bingo-ohh! Oh my god!”

You and Steven follow behind to see what stopped Marc.

Walking through the doors, you find yourself towards the front of a ship that is covered in wood planks. At the edges, there are tall poles that have those same orange lanterns hanging above. Infront of you, there is what seems to be a scale that has an Egyptian statue holding both plates. At the end of the boat, there is another statue of a god.

Aside from the ship, the sky is covered in purple toned clouds which hide a yellow tint sky. Instead of hearing waves crashing against the ship, you hear grains of sand crashing from the weight.

“I’m not crazy” Marc laughs in relief, “I’m dead, we’re dead”.

“I’m glad you aren’t, didn’t want to deal with that” you tease.

He looks over to you and his smile falls, realizing now that you too are dead. “Where did you say we’re going?” He looks over to Tawaret.

“We’re sailing to A’aru. To the field of Reeds, right Tawaret?” Steven asks her.

“Ah so he’s the smart one?” She smiles

You nod, “Yup, trust me. This guy knows more Egyptian facts than a history teacher”. You pat his back and he smiles. Pretty much taking it that you are somewhat proud and happy with it instead of embarrassed.

“Gladly appreciated then. Oh, well if your hearts balanced in life, then you will spend eternity in paradise. The Field of Reeds!” She smiles.

You nod and continue to look around the ship, avoiding the edge of course.

“But before we get there, I’ve just got to do a quick little…” she walks closer to Marc and Steven, plunging her hands into their chest.

You gasp as you hear squishing sounds before she pulls out two hearts. The hearts look like marble that were sculpted into that shape.

“Oh goody! It worked! Here was little old me worrying I’d blow your chest wide open” she smiles and walks down to the scale.

“Wait what?” The two say

“What’s she doing?” Marc’s eyes follow Tawaret.

“She’s weighing our hearts on the Scales of Justice and the feather of truth. Egyptians believed your heart was the sign of who you really were in life. If the scales balance by the time you end the journey, then your soul is allowed into the Field of Reeds”

“What if they don’t?” Marc asks.

“You get thrown overboard. Whoo!” She cheers and makes a gesture of you falling off, “You will then be dragged down by the dead into the Duat, where you’ll be frozen in sand forever”

She then looks over to you and smiles, “Oh right, let’s not forget you”

You back away, “Hey hey, not after you saying my chest might explode!”

Tawaret waves it off, “Oh you’ll be fine! I promise”

You hesitate for a second and take two steps towards her. Marc and Steven look at you both with worry.

Tawaret then puts a hand in your chest and you feel your breath stop. In your chest, you get a cold and airy sensation and is then stopped when she pulls out another white heart.

“See easy” she then takes it away.

Another scale then appears and Tawaret places your heart on it. It begins to go up and down, meaning you would wait to be balanced. You begin to feel your chest, thinking that you were left with a gaping hole. Fortunately you were fine.

The two men walk to the edge and you cautiously follow behind. You guys look down and see dunes of sand and rocks around. The thrashing of the grains of sand fill your ears.

“Oh ok, yeah uh if the boat to Mogarts scared me, this shit is freaking me out more” you step away and the boys do the same.

“It’s alright you won’t fall” Marc reassures you.

“Yeah, and if you trip, we’ll just catch you” Steven smiles and you smile back at them.

“I don’t care what this hippo says. There’s no way we’re ending up down there. And we’re not going to the Field of Reeds, either” Marc whispers to the both of you.

You pout, “Oh and here I wanted to go explore it. Have a sweet vacation” you sarcastically say. Unfortunately the boys don’t take it as a joke and stare at you.

Holding your hands up in surrender you reassure them, “Jokes! Just jokes”

“Right, well what are you proposing?” Steven gazes at Marc.

“If it comes to it…kill the hippo and steal the boat” Marc whispers even lower.

“What?!” You and Steven say.

“Um fellas?” Tawaret calls to you three.

Walking up, you see how Marc’s and Stevens scale is still trying to balance but this time there is a rusty sound coming from it.

“What? Why is it doing that? Why is it moving like that?” Steven inspects.

“I don’t know. I do not have a card for this” she gives an awkward laugh. She takes the hearts off the scales and notices the change, “It’s the hearts, they aren’t full. It’s like they each feel incomplete”

“What does that mean?” Marc crosses his arms.

“Without balanced Scales, the Duat will eventually claim your soul” she says seriously, “This boat contains all of a life’s memories. Now I don’t know what you two have been hiding, but my advice is get in there and show each other the truth. Balance your scales before we reach the Field of Reeds”

They nod and Steven looks over to you, “What about her? Is she alright at least?”

You look at Tawaret with hopeful eyes and she walks to your scales next. She sees how they almost seem balanced but they are moving slightly still. She looks at it confused and grabs your heart and sees the scale balance.

“What does that mean? Do I have a empty heart or something?” You ask, waiting for her answer.

Tawaret turns your heart at different angles and stops at an area, “It seems like, your heart has a crack”

You take a long blink with the news, “Excuse me what?”

“Hmm, if theirs are incomplete then that means you just need to fix it. Perhaps there are a few memories you decided to block out. Just get closure from them and soon you would be able to cross over” she smiles.

You slowly nod, “Wouldn’t Tumblr eat up the picture of my heart and what you said just now”. You look to the other two and they nod.

The three of you make your way back to where you came out of. The doors shut behind you and are now met with the long hallway from before.

“So how are we supposed to do this?” Marc walks down the hallway.

“Not sure…You think Laylas all right?” Steven asks.

“You really like her huh?” You smirk at him and he just gives you a blank stare, “I think she’s fine, she’s a strong woman”

“Knowing her, she’ll go on a suicide mission to stop Harrow herself”

“That means we better hurry, doesn’t it?” You nod to Stevens comment.

“Know what Layla would be all right with?”

“Don’t, just don’t say it”

“I’m just saying there is one hippo and three of us. And this ship can’t be that hard to steer”

“Marc, we are not about to have all the gods come after us just cause we killed their sweet hippo goddess” you look at him.

“Oh are you falling for her too?” Marc tilts his head.

“What? No! I’m just saying-What do you mean by too?” You feel your face heat up.

“You we’re quite fond with Hathor. Specifically her avatar” Steven backs up Marc.

“Oh you’re in on it too. But hey she’s a pretty lady and I can’t help it” you shrug.

Marc smirks, “Right, then you wouldn’t mind me telling her about your teenage crush on her when we get back to the living world?”

You turn to Marc and point a finger to him, “Spector, don’t make me tell Layla how you call out for her in your sleep”

Marc stays quiet and scoffs, “No I don’t…when have I ever?”

“Back at the hotel mate, I hear it even when I’m away” Steven teases.

“Oh you too huh? Don’t act like I haven’t forgotten about that kiss back there”

“That was unexpected, not gonna lie” you thin your lips.

Steven turns red and shakes his head, “Shouldn’t we be trying to cross over?” His voice going high pitched.

Marc and you realize, causing you three to stop.

“Oh yeah, so uh I guess,” you look to a door and notice a yellow light coming from within, “I’ll be going my way then”

Steven grabs your shoulder, “Wait shouldn’t we come with you?”

You look to him and Marc who wear a concerned expression. You gently smile, “I think I’ll be fine. Plus I don’t think you would want to see my cringy memories or you with me”

They hesitate but nod, letting go of your shoulder, Steven holds up his pinky finger.

“Promise me you’ll be safe and that together we will go back” you stare at his offer and then at him. He seems to be a bit serious even while smiling.

“Jeez, you make it sound like you won’t ever see me again” you laugh. You bring your pinky to Stevens and bend them together. From the corner of your eye, you see Marc standing awkwardly waiting for you to say something to him.

“Do you want to promise too?” You smirk.

He rolls his eyes but brings his pinky to you too. You two wrap your pinkies together.

“See you later” he smiles.

“Later”

You open the yellow lit door and wave to them as you enter.

-

Walking in, you notice how you are no longer in the white walled ward. Now, you are back to your middle school hall way. This time it is longer than it usually is and notice doors close together on either sides.

You walk down the hall and see how one doors window is showing a view of a memory. In this memory it is where you are talking to Steven while working back at the gift shop. Smiling at the memory, you continue on and see that on the opposite side, there is another memory of you and Marc eating a hawawshi.

Continuing on, you see a door open. A bit creeped out, you walk cautiously towards it and see a classroom. However the few desks are moved towards the sides to make a path through the room. At the front there is a white board with a teachers desk by it.

Catching your eye, you see that the walls are covered with many flyers. Stepping closer, you notice they aren’t flyers but past certificates and awards you received from elementary to highschool. Seeing them all together, it sets in that you really did get many.

You turn to the other side of the wall and notice old work from your school years with high scores. The ones that you notice more are the ones from kinder and such. The ones where you were tasked to draw or count the shapes. Remembering how easy life was back then.

“Man, do I wish I can go back”

You then notice one sheet marked with a red color, 11/30. It was a low score. You remember when your teacher showed it to your mother during conferences. Did it make your mother angry? Yes it did.

Even with all these high scores and achievements, this one thing she didn’t let slide. You look down and then hear a quiet chime. Turning to the sound you see how the scale from before is on the teachers desk.

Walking towards it, you grab your marble heart and see how on the crack, a glowing white piece filled the beginning of it. You still had more to go but now knowing what the goal was, it would be easy to get back to Marc and Steven.

Walking back out, you look for another door to go to. With the amount of doors, it feels like it’ll take forever but thankfully the ones you needed to go into made themselves obvious. At the end of the hall you notice another open door. Shrugging you decide to walk towards it.

Through it, you see how you are back in the living room of your house, the one where you spent your childhood. Nostalgia hit you so much with how the furniture was placed and the old decor. Even the smell was driving you to past memories. You look around and walk into the kitchen, there your mom is chopping vegetables to make lunch.

She looks younger and probably a bit happier. She had her hair tied in a low ponytail and she wore a blue striped shirt with cargo pants, while wearing sandals.

“Y/N! Ontas?” She called out.

Hearing small footsteps running in, a little girl runs through your body giggling. Your mother picks her up and kisses her cheek. The little girl giggles in return as her mother kisses spots that are ticklish.

“Ay mija, te ensuciaste” she smiles and wipes off whatever it is on the girls face.

The little girl then turns her face, there you notice it’s little you. You smile as you see her jump down and grab a juice box from a pack.

“Háblale a tus hermanas que me ayuden a cocinar” your small head nods at your mothers command and you run to your older siblings room.

Following behind, excited almost to see the old room where you used to hang out. To feel like a cool kid. Well before you were kicked out by the preteens.

“My mom says to help her cook” your voice being high pitched catches you off guard.

You never knew how your voice has changed until now.

Your older sister rolls her eyes and nods. You look more into the room and see the bright colors and the 2000s style decor.

Your child self however was not too interested on seeing the details and walked into your room that you shared with your parents. You only had bits and pieces of how it used to look but now it was all cleared up. You saw the old queen bed, the corner where you had your toy box, the box tv, and the old drawer filled with your clothes.

Tiny you walked over to your toys and pulled out two dolls. There she started to play with them, coming up with a whole scenario for them. Crouching down, you smile at how you had no care in the world. The only important thing to you was whether Clawdeen and Barbie would find the missing jewels.

The door opens to your mother grabbing her purse and changing out of her sandals. She looked over to younger you.

“Me falta ingredientes para el ceviche, voy a la tienda, quieres ir?” She asks you. You shake your head and lift your dolls.

She nods and says she’ll be right back. Hearing the car drive away, you continue on to play with your dolls. Soon enough, your oldest sister walks into the room.

“Hey, can you keep a secret?”

Younger you nods.

You start to remember, you don’t like where this is going.

“We’ll…I will be moving out and I got the house. Want to go see?” She grins at you.

Of course this excites you. Dropping everything, younger you nods and begins to grab her shoes. You follow behind the past you and your sister. Taking a better look at your older sister, you can see she has her belly growing. This was back when she was pregnant of your first nephew, you realize.

“Alright, remember, it’s a secret. So you can’t tell my mom” she places a finger on her lips.

This realization hits even more when you see the rest of your siblings getting ready. You shake your head automatically and back away, seeing yourself happy to see your older sister and nephews future home.

“Oh don’t go. Please, don’t go” you look at your younger self but she can’t hear.

Following behind your siblings, when you walk through the door, you are now at a different house. The house in which your sister moved into. Everything was still empty and there were a few boxes and furniture still waiting to be set up.

You see how younger you is running around with all the big space. Your parents house was small, and you remember always watching movies and shows where it showed a family in a big house. Fantasizing that you would get to experience having your own room. Being able to walk up and down the stairs. Especially imagining walking down to see your family sitting all together watching tv just like those tv shows did.

Hearing whispers from the corner, your attention on younger you is taken and you turn to where your two older sisters are talking.

“My mom can’t know” Your sister who was pregnant said, “She’s going freak out and I don’t know what she’ll do but she’ll try to keep me at the house”

You tilt your head, you don’t remember hearing them talk about this. Then again, you were just a kid who wanted to play in their imagination.

“Yeah don’t worry, we won’t say anything. Just make sure we get home before she comes back” Your other sister says.

You feel your self freeze up and your heart pound faster than it did before. The part from your memory was coming close, the one you didn’t like thinking about.

“You guys have to go now. Before she comes. Just go!” You look into your sisters eyes but she doesn’t notice your presence.

You breathe heavily and run your hand through your hair. At this point, you are having an anxiety attack. Closing your eyes, trying to imagine a different place, you open them to see that you are at the front yard of your parents house. You look around and see your mom standing outside, angrily watching as she sees you and your sisters come out of the car.

Your sisters don’t notice since their talking but once they turn their faces become grim. Younger you smiles, seeing that your mother is home. Running up to her for a hug, she shoves you back.

Your throat tightens as you see younger you look hurt as she stares back to your mother.

“Onde estaban?!” She yells at you three.

Your sister stares down, “Nomas fuimos a la tienda por algo…”

Your mom not believing it, looks at you, “Y tu? Me vas a mentir también?!” She harshly says.

Remembering how your sisters said to keep it a secret, you stay quiet for a second, “A-a la tienda…”

You stare at younger you afraid. You just want to go and pull her away. To scream at your mom to leave her alone. In your child self, you were thinking about your father coming to the rescue but he was working. Obviously, you never really got to see him since he always overworked himself. Leaving you and your sisters to deal with your mom.

Suddenly your mother grabs child you and drags her to the car. Hearing your sisters telling her to stop, your mother ignores them and pushes you into the passenger seat. She walks around the car and hops into the drivers seat.

“No, no, no. I ain’t doing this. No” you turn and run into the house.

-

The house is no longer one but now a classroom. This time, it was your old elementary classroom. More nostalgia comes through as you see the past school supplies laying around. Taking a moment to calm down, your attention is caught when seeing your old teacher sitting at her desk and infront of her is you and your mother. This time you are a bit older, probably 8 years old now.

Walking towards the three, you hear your teacher talking to your mother.

“Su hija está siendo bien en sus lecturas, pero en las matemáticas no tanto,” your teacher then pulls out a worksheet from a folder and slides it to you mother. On it, it shows many math problems and on the corner of the sheet is the numbers 11/30 with a red circle around it.

You mother doesn’t say anything and nods. Your teacher explains ways on how to help you understand the problems and how to work through them. She then hands her a stack of what seems to be practice problems.

After the conference ends, you follow behind your mother and younger you out the school. Walking to the car, you mother begins to talk.

“No entiendes esto?” She shows younger you the low scored sheet. All you do is shake your head.

“No…pero ando tratando-“

“Como es que no lo entiendes? Tu prima Jessica lo puede acer, a ella le dieron un certificado”

Younger you stays quiet and just looks down.

Well maybe it’s because she doesn’t have to stress out with shit from you every single second, you glare at your mother.

You and your mother step into the car and begin to drive away. You stand there as you see them leave. You roll your eyes and turn around.

-

This time it is night now. Loud music is blasting and you hear people laughing. You see many tables scattered with leftover food and a few bottles of beer around. Taking in the surroundings, you see that you are at your aunts old house.

Trying to figure out who the party is for, you walk around and see a table decorated with the name of that same cousin your mother compared you too. Everything decorated beautifully with candy and such scattered.

You groan, knowing damn well it’s a party for her birthday and with her getting an award your aunt made it a big deal that she decided to host a huge celebration because of it.

As everyone danced, in the corner of your eye, you see now 13 year old you sitting at a table. Away from everyone, just watching them with hatred. The way everyone was faking it. The way they hated each other but pretended to get along. You hated it.

You had a black jacket with a green shirt underneath. For pants you just had a normal pair of jeans on with sneakers. Back then, you never cared for parties which meant you didn’t pay much kind to your outfits.

The music is suddenly turned down and your aunt calls out to everyone, saying how she has a speech. Pre-teen you rolls her eyes as she has her arms crossed. People gather around her and your cousin, waiting for what the announcement will be. Fortunately, you are at a safe distance where you are away but can still hear what she will say.

“Hello! I’m glad everyone was able to come and share their time for my daughter,” she says with an accent, “Nomas quería darles gracias por venir y también para felicitar a mi hija. Es una niña muy inteligente, y estoy muy orgullosa por ella. Ella a ganado muchas certificados y premios, que más puede pedir una madre. La quiero!”

Everyone cheers, yelling praises to your cousin. You see past you look at your parents who are also part of the cheering crowd. Her expression falls and saddens. You’ve never seen them be so happy and proud of you. Instead that attention was going to your cousin. Someone who wasn’t even close to them.

You scowled and turned to your cousin, staring at how she and your aunt hugged each other tightly.

That scowl then fades and you frown. You would never admit this, but you did feel envious of them. Why did your cousin have that kind of relationship with her mother? It never seemed like she had to try to please her. Anything she did made her happy. Hell, it made your parents happy. To top it all off, her father comes in and gives her a hug, following with a “Te quiero”. There it was, something you never heard your father say to you.

Even after everything you did, your parents never did give you the attention you deserved.

When you tried, all your parents would do is just say a “Well done” and move on with their day. Anything you did, it never went noticed. You always wondered whether they even cared about your effort.

Someone walks to younger you and takes a seat by her. It’s an older man, with grey hair and wrinkled cheeks. Wearing a thick jacket and holding a cane.

Recognizing your grandfather, you walk closer to him and kneel down to him. Feeling tears trying to escape. You smile and reach out to feel his face but your hand goes through. You slowly pull your hand back and sigh.

“Hmm, estas la primera vez que los miro así de felices junto” he says rather amused.

Younger you turns to him and smiles, “Si, me sorprendió. No vas a ir a bailar?” You say with a teasing tone.

He scoffs and shakes his head, “Si voy, no me van a dejar. Van a tratar de obtener su herencia al mentir que me quieren”

Young you just nods and smiles, “Quien crees que no lo está fingiendo?”

Your grandfather takes a second to think and turns to you, “Tu”

“Porque?”

“He estado aquí en la tierra el tiempo suficiente para decirte quién solo está ahí para ti cuando necesitan algo y cuando alguien solo necesita alguien a su lado ”

You smile, remembering the quote that he told you that night, now using it everywhere you go. And that quote is probably what helped you befriend Steven. You were able to tell he was a person who just needed someone by his side, and it was true. He has never been happier. Even with Marc, all he did need was someone but he tried pushing them away. That was until you broke that cycle.

Remembering you were still in your memories, you looked around to try to leave. Perhaps it was enough to make your heart no longer broken.

Seeing a door open at your aunts house, you walked over to it and walked through. Ending up in your parents living room, the one of now, or technically from a few months ago.

-

Past you was sitting on the couch, your leg bouncing as you thought of how to break the news to your parents. Your mother and father walked in and sat on the couch, they both smiled as they waited for you to speak up. It was weird how they were more happy now than they were a few years ago. That’s what grandkids did, they became the parents you wished you had.

“Uh, tengo algo para decirles…” you twiddled your thumbs trying to get the confidence to tell them. To tell them that you were accepted to Kings College London. A college with nursing programs and such. How you were planning on moving out there, away from here.

“Una universidad en Londres me aceptó. Tiene un programa de enfermería y tiene buenas críticas”

You sense your parents tense up and look at each other.

“Estás asegura? No ay otros universidades con la misma programa aquí? Así que te puedes quedar en la casa” you mom says and looks to your father for support.

He stays quiet for a moment, “Que es la diferencia allá? Vas estar estudiando la misma cosa come acá. Una sobrina que tengo, estudia en uno en-“

You cut him off, not wanting to endure more comparisons “Dicen que pagan para el vuelo y donde me quedo”

It was a lie of course, you were saving up money to afford a flight over there plus to get your own place. All you wanted to do was leave. All your siblings had moved out already and you were alone. Alone with your parents criticisms. Alone with the comparisons. And alone with dealing with their arguments.

Your parents nod and hesitate, “Pues, si es la universidad que quieres ir, no te podemos parar”

You were actually surprised they let you go. But you were glad. You were able to meet Steven, Marc, and Layla.

-

With a blink of an eye, you were then transported to the backseat of a moving car. You looked around and hear your mother yelling at someone. Moving closer to the front, you see how younger you from before is frozen on the passenger seat, looking down.

“No puedo creer que me hayas mentido. Después de todo lo que he hecho por ti” your mother grips the steering wheel.

“Sorry mami,” younger you says but it goes unnoticed.

“Ya estoy lidiando con tu hermana que nos avergüenza con su embarazo. Te lo puedes creer? Tenemos una puta en nuestra propia casa”

Shaking your head with how she insults your sister you glare at your mother, “How can you say that about your own daughter? Especially infront of your youngest”

“Sabes, tuve que casarme con un hombre que ni siquiera amaba ni él me ama. Dar a luz a sus hijos por los que me sacrifiqué tanto. Solo para que me traten como una mierda” your mothers voice breaks and begins to cry.

This is where younger you starts to think over this statement. Seeing her own mother hurting and saying how having kids was a sacrifice, a seed was planted. If she or her sisters weren’t born, her mother would have been happy. Maybe there was a way to make her happy and that was to be the best in the family.

“Mami, lo siento, no te mentiré más” younger you pleads, hoping that she’ll just turn back and you get to be home.

Younger you is crying at this point but your mother ignores it. She continues on about how her own family hates her.

“Al mejor me tengo que matar, así ustedes pueden estar feliz” she says which causes your child self to freeze and shake her head. Telling her mother not to, that she’ll miss her.

“Ya párale! Nomas es niña! Nomas fui niña!” You yell out to your mother. Tears are now rolling down your cheeks and you feel your throat clench.

This was the memory you hated. The one you despised. It reminded you how any good you’ve done for your mother, goes unnoticed when one bad happens. But it mostly made you think of how you still try to appease her when all she ever did was build anxiety in you from the start.

-

Blinking again, you are now standing and you are under a green tent. Infront of you is a coffin with many people surrounding it. Everyone wearing black and crying. There are a few chair set up around with a few personal items.

You see your aunts and cousins holding tissues up their noses as they sob. Next to the coffin, you notice 14 year old you just staring at it. You’re not crying. You wouldn’t be showing everyone else your emotional side.

Walking close to the coffin, you see the ring of flowers that are by it, have a picture in the middle. It was your grandfather. It was his funeral. He died a few months after that one party, no one knew he would. But the tumors in his torso said otherwise.

Past you then turns to your cousin who is sobbing and talking about how she was very close to your grandfather.

“I always talked to him and he always had jokes to tell” she blows onto her tissue.

Anger boils within 14 year old you and just stares at her. But the thing to tip her off was the next line.

“He told me before he died, that I was one of his favorite grandkids. The only one who tried to spend time with him, if only I had more”

That was it, you needed an outlet for emotions and here was your chance.

“Can you shut the fuck up?” You snarl at her

Everyone pauses and stares at you, “Excuse me?”

“You know damn well you never talked to him. You never did. You said it yourself, that he was an annoying old man!”

She looks around and furrows her brows at you, “I would never say that!”

Her mother then steps in, “No le hables a mi hija de esa manera. Sé que los celos te están engulliendo, pero tienes que controlarlos”

“Y/N, ya párale” your mother says firmly.

Ignoring her, you look at your aunt, “Oh, no me digas eso cuando lo sepas muy bien, acabas de jugar a la buena hija solo para que puedas conseguir terreno!”

She looks shocked and stays quiet.

“Y/N ya!”

“Por qué ustedes están actuando como si ahora el los importaba cuando siempre lo ignoraban? Todas ustedes son perras-“

Slap!

Your cheek was stinging and you stood there shocked. You slowly turned to see that your mom just slapped you.

“A mi familia no se habla así!” Your mom. Your own mother. Standing up to her sister instead of her own daughter.

You turn to your father who was standing behind her. Hoping he would stand up for you, but he doesn’t. All he does is just shake his head

You glare at them, “…Claro, no me sorprenden que los quieren mas que su propia hija”

Your mothers eyes widen. You push past everyone and as you walk past a cooler filled with beer. You grab one and just walk away as you hear your sisters protests.

You follow behind past you and find her sitting by a tree as she stares into the distance. With the beer already open, she takes a large sip. Her eyes are tinted red and she continues to grip onto the beer bottle.

You remember the thoughts from that day.

You hated how this family worked. How your mother always chose her family instead of the one she made. How your father was never there for you.

Then it went to sadness. Why did your grandfather leave you? Didn’t he know you would be alone? That the family would be in chaos without him. Or was this his way to escape it. If so, she wanted to escape it too.

Past you took another gulp of beer and let the heavy tears fall. Those quiet tears then became loud sobs. She then threw the bottle and cried into her arms.

As you watched her cry, you couldn’t hold it in anymore. You didn’t even notice how past you disappeared and how you were now alone. You dropped to you knees and sobbed.

Remembering how you were just a kid who wanted to have fun. To make her family proud. All this responsibility on her shoulders. Having to deal with her mothers negative thoughts. You were just a kid.

A kid who wanted to have a mother who was as caring as the ones from movies. Where she would be happy with anything you did. One that didn’t compare you at every chance she had. A mother who wouldn’t use you as an outlet for her problems. One that chose you before anyone else.

Wanting a father that you spent most afternoons with. One that wouldn’t miss your birthdays or award ceremonies. Who would make you laugh. Where he would stand up for you. One who would spend time with you no matter what. A father who protected you from every danger.

Your cries became loud and you screamed out, holding your arms close. Your throat hurt from the sobs but you didn’t care. All the sadness from years ago were finally coming out. You tried to breathe but crying made it hard.

A few feet away, the scales were starting to balance out again. You couldn’t see it, but the crack on your heart began to heal the more you cried. This was all you needed.

You lift your head up, trying to calm down. Your eyes felt swollen and your body weak. The ground began to change from grass to wooden floorboards. Continuing to hold your chest, you saw how the scales balanced. From behind you hear Tawarets voice come close.

“You did it. You balanced your scales” she said with a warm smile.

You stayed on your knees and looked up at her, “Does that mean…”

“You can now be in the Field of Reeds”

-()-

Turning your head slowly, your view is no longer a sky painted with purple hues nor sandy dunes. Now it is a sky with a yellow sunset. Looking down, you are no longer on hard wooden floors but soft earth. Up to your shoulders we’re many stems with a fluffy top.

So this was the Field of Reeds.

Even with Steven describing it, you never thought you would see it yourself. Or even believed it would be this beautiful and calming.

You just stay staring out to the sun as you feel a soft breeze hit your face, drying up all the tears you let go of before. Your breathing began to regulate and you continued stay on your knees.

At this point, you didn’t care where you were or what had to be done. You even ignored Tawaret who stood behind. All you wanted was to take this moment of peace.

——

“Where is she?” Marc walks away from the hippo, trying to find you.

He too was in the Field of Reeds now. Except he wasn’t exactly happy, no he found it as a step back from trying to leave. Plus now, you two have lost someone from the trio.

“She is over there,” Tawaret pointed to where you continued to sit in the distance, "She has sat there for almost thirty minutes. Quite worried about her". Marc took a quick second to stare at you before he began to walk towards you.

No longer crying but just holding a stoic expression as the reeds gently hit your body. Staring at the sun, expecting it to go down but after minutes passed by, it still stayed in the same spot. Something you liked since you never got to see the sunset.

Footsteps came near but you ignored them. Marc walked to your side and looked at you. Making sure you were alright but the red, puffy eyes said something else.

“Y/N?”

You didn’t respond which caused him to crouch down to your level. Taking a closer look, he can see your tear-stained face. You were in deep thought before you began to talk.

"You know, the real reason why I moved to London wasn't just because my 'dream' school was here, but to run away from feeling overlooked" Marc decided to sit down, readying for the conversation.

"I thought that being here would stop me from wanting my parents to appreciate me. Even a slight bit of it," you laugh, "yet I'm over here trying to become a nurse just so my parents can see that I was worth the effort."

Marc remains silent and gazes out at the sun. You just needed someone to listen and hear you out at this point. You seemed to be keeping everything inside back in the living world. It reminded him of himself, back when he was a teen.

"It's even more degrading when I even apologize for every mistake I make. I can't even remember a single time in my life when someone has apologized for hurting my feelings."

That's when you finally turn to Marc, eyes warming up again with tears threatening to fall, "I've been the best I can be, and my parents don't see it. Why? Why don't they?"

Marc draws you in for an embrace, pressing your head against his chest. Your body reacts to each cry you make, unbothered that you appear vulnerable. Marc’s hug feels protective and safe, something that you needed. You pull away and wipe your face after he notices your body relaxing.

He thinks of the next thing to say, knowing that you are hurting from whatever memories you have seen.

“I don’t have a clear answer on why your parents can’t see you, but just know they have to be blind,” he smiles and places his palm on your back.

“You have got to be the most hardworking and kind person I have met. Before you and Steven met me, I remember seeing how you got shit done at the shop. How at the same time, you would stand up for Steven when others didn’t. How you have the balls to go and what? Tag along to try to save the world? What person your age does that?”

“I heard rumors that Spider-Man might be 16, saving the world” you sniffle.

“That’s because he has powers that he learned to use and a suit to make himself look pretty. He signed up for it but you didn’t, and you still went out there to kick ass, like how you were throwing guys into the river back at Mogart’s.” he gently elbows you.

You give a small laugh and it makes Marc happy to see you feeling better.

“Kid, just know that no matter what your parents think, me, Steven, and Layla will always have your back. And if it makes any difference we think you are the best daughter there is” he smiles.

“Really?”

Marc nods and you smile at the gesture.

“If we do get a tomorrow, will you guys be there?” You ask, hopeful at the question.

“Of course” He hugs you and you hug back.

When you let go, you look around trying to find the other twin. “Where’s Steven?”

Marc frowns and looks down, “The Duat got him…”

You look at him and your eyes shift more wide. Steven the one who made you see the better side of the world was gone. You felt a sort of emptiness in your heart and you wanted to do something about it.

“Is there a way to get him back? There has to be right?”

“There is,” Marc smiled, “But if we try to, we won’t be able to come back here”

You pause and take a look around the plane. It was beautiful and quiet of course. It was the peace you always looked for, but, if Steven wasn’t there to share it with him, what was the point. After everything Steven has done for you, it would seem unfair to not try to save him.

“So what do we do?” You begin to stand up and so does Marc.

“We’ll go back and go through a gate to get us back to our bodies” He said with a determined tone.

“Yes, but he also forgot to mention that you two will be returning to bodies filled with led” Tawaret appeared from behind you two.

Whipping your heads around, you looked up to the hippo goddess.

“Marc might be able to come back with the help of Khonshu but unfortunately for you Y/N…” she held both her hands.

“…I would just die again and come back” You say, aware now of your choices.

Marc stares at you and shakes his head, “No, I won’t have you die again. We’ll figure something out. Khonshu probably has some kind of healing magic or something for you”

Tawaret thinks for a moment and hesitates, “There may be a way. Maybe having Y/N become an avatar for Khonshu might work”

Marc shakes his head, “Not happening”. He looks away and ponders for a minute, “…I can maybe strike up a deal to have you be his avatar, temporarily”

“What kind of deal would we be talking about?” Furrowing your eyes as you wait for his answer.

“…I would stick around him longer after we stop Harrow”

You knew Marc and Steven didn’t like Khonshu as much as you did. Noticing the way they seemed more laid back when he was gone, you would understand why they wouldn’t want to be with him anymore. But he was willing to leave that behind just so you can live.

You stalled but nodded to the offer. Marc took this as a sign to go and he began walking away. Following behind, the scenery changed to no longer a bright yellow scene but to the dark purple from before. This time, you two were on the sands of the Duat.

Looking around, only dunes were seen from a distance. That was until you two noticed a tall rock but it had gods carved on a side. In the center there was two big doors with engravings

Aside from that, infront of them was Steven. But he was frozen in place and his body was made out of sand. Half of his body was also deep in the sands, meaning he’d probably been there for a while.

Walking close to him, Marc crouches down and so do you. Now face to face with Steven.

“Man Steven, this does not suit you” you give a small laugh but really it pains you to see him like this.

Marc smiles at your comment. He moves his head closer to Steven and speaks in a low tone.

“I don’t know if you can hear me…from the moment you arrived, way back then, we were so young. You saved me” Marc’s voice begins to break.

Seeing as how he is having a moment with his alter, you stand up and give him some space. You wonder what it was that they saw that caused you three to be there. Besides that, you did wonder what it was that caused Marc to have an alter.

You remember searching up more into the subject back at the hotel and ways one would gain it was through trauma. Recalling the emotions you got when you thought of Marc’s past ached your heart. You never tried to ask him about it since it may have been triggering to think of.

Your thoughts then stop when you feel your toes to your ankles becoming weak. Looking down, you see that your body is slowly turning into sand. If you stay there longer, you might look just like Steven.

Peering back at Marc, you saw that his body was turning into sand too. Although it was a whisper, the last thing you hear Marc say was;

“You are the only real super power, I ever had”

Marc puts his hand on Stevens and they are then turned into sand. Freaking out, you stare at them and then at yourself. Shocked that you still weren’t turned even though you and Marc had been here for the same amount of time.

“No, no, no, no! Guys come on!” You limp your way to them but stop when you hear the large doors before you open, revealing a bright light.

Using your arm as shade for your eyes, you look down to the two and notice their heart glow a pale yellow. Crinkling sounds are then heard from Steven and his head starts turning back to normal, soon his entire body, plus Marc and they both breath out. The heart disappears and they sit there now conscious.

“Marc? Y/N?” Steven looks at Marc and then at you with a smile. Beginning to stand up he begins to nag you two, “You guys came back? What the hells wrong with you two?”

“I did a whole speech there” Marc smiles

“Hey I couldn’t leave my best friend behind” you grin.

Steven struggles to walk to you but you grab him before he falls. He gives you a squeeze and Marc joins in.

“Jeez will the gods know us for hugging huh?” You poke fun at.

They pull away and laugh. Seeing that the gates are open, you three hear a loud rumble come from behind. Looking back, you see a large wave of sand coming towards you.

“Oh shit! Come on!” You help Steven drag Marc to the gate, since he is still turned to sand.

“I’m slowing you guys down, just go without me” Marc says.

“Hell no” You shake your head.

“Nope, we are almost there. We can do it”

You guys continue to limp your way as fast as you can. Adrenaline pumping as you hear the sand coming closer.

That’s when you hear a loud laugh come from behind. Turning back you see Tawaret sailing her ship on the the wave.

“Osiris, you old softie!” She then rams the ship against the wave, giving you three time to cross, “Now run!”

Steven puts his arms up and cheers, “Hippo!”

“Let’s fucking go!” You roar as well.

Marc begins to pull you two back as he says to go. You guys continue to charge but you begin to slow down.

Remembering what would happen after you come back to the world stayed in your mind. Marc and Steven would have to deal with Khonshu just for the sake of you. How could you do that to your own friends.

“Come on! We’re almost there” Steven yells out.

You let go of Marc and stand still, thinking of the choice you would make. Sensing that you were staying back, the boys look at you concerned.

“What is it Y/N? Let’s go! We’re almost there” Steven smiles.

“…kid?” Marc notices your in deep thought.

You gulp and look into their eyes, “I can’t have you give up your freedom from Khonshu, just to let me live another life again…”

Steven looks at you confused, “What? No, Y/N you still have much to live for”

You shake your head, keeping your grin and feeling your eyes water once again, “Thanks for making me look forward to life and making me feel cared for,” a few tears fall.

“Y/N, it’s alright, we don’t mind being with Khonshu. As long as your with us, that’s all that matters” Marc tries to grab you but you push his hand away.

“Marc, thanks for listening” you look at Marc and then turn to Steven, “And Steven…thanks for unlocking that door for me”

Putting both hands on them, you use all your strength to push them through the gates. They yell at you to stop and to come with them but you ignore their pleases. With one final push, they then disappear through the bright light.

You stand still as your body is turned into sand. Closing your eyes, you feel a sense of coldness consume your body, then everything turned dark.

-

Marc stands up as bullets fall out of his wounds. Cloth begins to wrap around his body until he is covered in grey. He looks at himself through the reflection of the water around him and makes the mask disappear. Walking over to Y/N’s body that was left by the tomb of Alexander the Great, he crouched down and moved the hair out of her face.

Steven then grabs control of the body and stares at her with grief.

“There has to be something we can do, she can’t be gone”

Marc gets control again and also stares down, “There’s nothing, least we can do is stop Harrow. She would have wanted that”

Steven stays quiet, “Can we at least take her body somewhere else? She shouldn’t be around other corpses”

Marc nods and picks Y/N up, walking her out of the pyramid.

Outside, Khonshu awaits for them with his staff as the sun begins to set. Once Marc is near him, he places Y/N’s body down where the sun hits her.

“I see the maggot didn’t make it out” Khonshu comments

Marc glares at him as he positions her arms over the stomach.

“I did not mean to offend. In honesty, I will be missing her snarky remarks” Khonshu says.

Marc ignores him and gives Y/N one last look before he leaves. He was planning on coming back, to give her a proper burial and ceremony. Away from Egypt and England, back to where she was safe. For now, he was about to release the anger he was feeling on a few in Cairo.

-

You open your eyes and see that you are back at the Field of Reeds. Everything was the same, with the sunset and plants everywhere. However this time there was a statue standing by you.

“Ah your here!” Tawaret says.

Turning to her you tilt your head, “Why? I thought-“

“That darkness would be your eternity? Nope! Luckily for you, someone wanted to save you” she grins.

You scrunch your brows together, “Are you making me your avatar?”

“Oh no, although I did like you, I found another. You may know her”

“You got Layla didn’t you?” It immediately clicked.

She nods and then remembers why you’re there.

“Right! Y/N someone wants to meet you” she gestured to your side.

You follow the direction and find yourself looking up at a woman. However she had the head of a cow with horns. The horns had gold rings on them and in between the horns was a red circle. Her ears had piercings and her head was adorned with long gold strands that gave shape of hair. She wore a red long dress that had a blue ribbon tied around her waist. On her biceps and wrists, she had blue adorned cuffs. Around her neck was a gold Egyptian collar that had many blue and red jewels.

Aside from her appearance, she gave a gentle aura which made it easier for Y/N to feel comfortable around. She smiled down at you and gestured to Tawaret that she was free to leave.

“Hello Y/N, you may not remember me, but we have met before”

You continue to stare at her and think of where you might have met a goddess. The day you went to the Ennead hit you and your eyes widened.

“Hathor? W-what happened to-“

She frowns, “Yatzil, sadly was killed by Harrow. Her spirit although is running free in the Field of Reeds, something you may be familiar with?”

You nod and rub the back of your neck. Yes, you might have developed a small crush on her avatar but Yatzil was kind. Being killed just for trying to save humanity sparked something you.

“So I take it you want me to become your avatar instead”

She nods, “Precisely, I found you to be the one suited to be one. Aside from the irony that you and Khonshus avatar are friends just like how me and him were, is enough reason. However, the way you stick by friends till the end, literally, was something that made you stand out”

You breathed in, prepared for her question. You wouldn’t lie, it was quite exciting but with the way Marc made his experience with Khonshu sound, made you think otherwise.

“Y/N, do you accept becoming my voice and protecting all of those worthy of my love?” She says.

Thinking about the powers you already have back in the living world, you feel like you are cheating in life.

“Can we make this a temporary thing? Like just after we kick Harrows ass, you and me go out separate ways? I don’t know, I feel like I am being given too much power for puny mind to comprehend” you use your hands to speak.

Hathor laughs at your remark, “You are quite funny, unfortunate I won’t have you as my avatar for long. Yes, unlike Khonshu, I am fine with that offer”

Surprised she didn’t send a lighting bolt at you, the choice is easier to make now.

“…alright, let’s go” you extend your hand out.

She smiles and shakes your hand, wind begins to spiral around you and reeds go flying. Vision becoming blurry, you swear you passed out.

-

With a great gasp, Y/N immediately holds her rib area. The pain coming rapidly back as she is revived. She looks around and notices that she is no longer in the dark tomb from before surrounded by water. Now she is laid on sand with only the orange skies left from the sun, turning into a shade of pink and purples. Beginning to sit up, she feels a wave of air from behind.

“Then rise and become my Noble Sun ” Hathor’s voice is heard from behind and Y/N begins to stand up, letting go of her wound.

Yet there was no wound and she felt stronger than ever. She extended both arms as she felt a sort of power coming through. Wind was rushing around her, making her hair rise up.

As her eyes began to glow white, her clothes began to transform into something else. Her shirt lost its sleeves and collar, becoming a red top that rounded on her chest. A gold armor piece then enveloped over her waist that had bumps. Pants turned into grey cotton ones and her shoes changed into golden boots that had leather pieces to tighten them.

From the waist below, came out the same color red of her top to create an open skirt, outlined with gold. A big piece of gold armor came around her wrist that went almost up to her elbow. On her biceps were gold cuffs that had blue jewels on them.

To finish the suit, a gold Egyptian collar appeared around her neck that had vertical blue pieces of metal that created a pattern. From the top of the collar and up was another gold piece that had ridges on them. Finally a band of gold, wrapped around her head with the symbol of Hathor; two horns connected with a red jewel in the center.

Y/N looked down and up to her arms, feeling the new outfit. She smiled seeing that she looked like a hero. She felt a piece of metal touch her arm and she looked down. On her side was a gold thick piece shaped as an ankh. Seeing that she was confused, Hathor gave a small laugh, “Concentrate your power on it”

Y/N listened to her command and the ankh suddenly extended which caused her to hold it away from her. She analyzed the piece and noticed the end was sharpened to act like a spear. Concentrating her focus on it again, the ankh shrunk back to its normal size. Holding it with both hands, she smiled.

“This is something else”

————————————

Picture of suit + visual of Hathor

Okay so I apologize for making this shit too sad and making the reader you cry but it was part of the plan 👍🏼.

Also why did I change it from calling the reader “her” to “you” and then back to “her”? Well it was to show that in the afterlife, you are more aware of yourself and shit like that. Like before, you were focusing on what Marc was doing right? But now it’s just focusing on you and your “backstory”. Also I apologize if it sounds weird, it’s been long since I wrote it in second point of view.

Btw with the song I chose for when you go into the Field of Reeds, I wanted the same feel from the show where that one Spanish song plays when Marc goes there. So why not use a old popular song 🤷🏽‍♀️. You can change it if you want but I felt like it fit. Also when you read it, imagine yourself in the field to be more with the reader LMAO

I hope y’all liked it and stay tuned for the next chapter :)

Taglist: @itsjusspele @dustyinkpages @moongirln @scoliobean

[hawkmoonie]

would yall be mad if i rebranded this blog as a hawkeye/moon knight account...

be honest

yay moon knight

no hawkeye only

Voting ended onFeb 22, 2025

i feel like a day is too little time and a week is too much time so i went with a week to vote pls i would love ur input

[utenatenjougf]

her: she must be thinking about other women

what i’m thinking about: louis! what? WHAT? it’s morning. i lost time. things got a little heated- with a boy! things got heated with a boy. i was at home picking lint off the sofa- i said to join us! the night’s gone, the room’s soiled, and once again i’m sat here with mop and mindlessness to clean it up. so the room got dirty, so what? i’ll clean it up. no, i clean it up! you make the mess, and i clean it up! mark it on the calendar, align it with ursa major, louis’ tri-annual FUCK OFF AND FIND ME with apologies to follow. i’m sorry. to seek comfort in the arms of lowlifes, and unfortunates, and broken children? fine. oh fine? fine. it doesn’t sound like fine. BUT REVEALING OUR NATURE TO A REPORTER YOU MET IN A BAR TEN HOURS AGO? what if it was published? I WAS HAVING SOME FUN! like we don’t have enough to fear after paris- i was in the middle of ending things when YOU- no, you nearly passed out on the floor next to him, louis! out on your feet from the drugs you stuffed him with- oh this is boring! you’re boring! YOU ARE SO BORING! and here come the drugs. COLORLESS. up the fangs. FLAVORLESS. down the throat. DULL. into the heart and off the fingers, feet, and wallowing brain. DULL NIGHTS, DULL WEEKS, DULL MONTHS, DULL AS FUCK! suffocation by the world’s softest, beige-est pillow. the ten hours i spent with that boy were more exciting, more fascinating than DECADES with you. oh there it is, the half-blank, half-apocalyptic look. but what does it mean tonight, huh? does he wanna lick my boots, or chop my hands off? is it the gremlin or the good nurse tonight, huh? okay, okay, perhaps. but am i as boring as the blather committed onto the ferric tapes of your FASCINATING boy? oh, oh it’s so hard to be me! picking lint off the sofa? it’s so hard to kill humans! i can feel their feelings as i drain them! louis de pointe du lac, it’s so hard to be me! everyone i know wronged me! okay, okay, let’s wake the boy up and let’s try you. i’m the vampire armand and my daddy vampire groomed me into a little BITCH! my brother, he tossed himself off a roof- but the vampires have heard of my daddy- my sister, she buried me alive! so he made me pretend i didn’t have a dick for 240 years. my daughter was my sister was my throw pillow. well he wouldn’t look at me kindly, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat, lestat- I TALKED SHIT ABOUT HIM THE WHOLE TIME-THE NAME! THE NAME, UNUTTERED IN OUR HOME FOR 23 YEARS SAID OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL IT WAS POUNDING IN MY BRAIN LIKE A HAMMER! our problems aren’t about HIM! and you threw HER name around just for cover, but it always circled back to him. i loved her. BUT SHE DIDN’T LOVE YOU! not like he did, not like i have. i know. I KNOW!

[ominoose]

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 - 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐂'𝐬

Can't write Valentine hc's without including the romantical king himself.

V - Vase (What flowers he gets you)

The bouquet wouldn't be huge, but it wouldn't be a small, cheap one either. Steven makes sure your favourite flowers are present, with a sparkly butterfly on a stick amongst some babies breath and daises.

It's either from Tesco or a local vegan stall, depending on how late he is to the bus.

A - Affectionate (How openly affectionate is he?)

Steven is at his happiest when he can freely shower you with affection, anywhere and anytime preferably. No one respects you boundaries like Steven, you don't need to explain anything, but if you aren't averse then he'll find away to convey his love.

Hand holding is his favourite, it's simple but something that only couples do, gives him the ability to squeeze you, rub his thumb across your skin, drum his fingers if he needs a little stim.

Kissing your nose, laying a head on the other's shoulder, playing with each other's hair, any and all PDA is his hobby.

This doesn't really change much with Valentines, the only new thing he does is stare at you lovingly with hearts in his eyes for minutes at a time.

L - Love Language

Words of Affirmation

As a man with the gift of the gab, it's easy for Steven to show his love by spewing it to you via his usual word vomit. This comes in the form of simple "I love you" when he's popping into the toilet, startling you by suddenly breaking a silence and telling you how beautiful you are, comparing you to his interests ("You should've seen the jewels Cleopatra wore, I mean, oh my god, she had these big scarab beetle pendants that were absolutely gorgeous - Not as beautiful as you, obviously, but-".)

E - Eat (Where and how does he dine you?)

Steven is a quaint man, his soul already that of an elderly man resting at a bus stop on a Sunday Morning. The morning starts with breakfast in bed, a classic toast and vegan scrambled egg with your hot beverage of choice and a nice lunch at the park from a local farmer stand.

Dinner is where he really shines, and perhaps almost does too much. Steven will have spent weeks on Trivago and Google Maps searching for the best restaurant to take you to, scouring the menus and pictures for one that has an atmosphere you'll like.

One downside is how long he takes faffing about with which suit to wear and getting himself out of the knot in his tie that's somehow looped around his belt.

N - Nicknames (What nicknames do you share?)

The typical British pet names make up most of his vocabulary for you, think 'Love', 'Darling', 'Sweetheart'. Occasionally he'll try and throw in something new, likely stemming from something he's interested in at the time or a show you've both watched.

When you watched Game of Thrones together (he could only sit through two seasons) he'd called you his 'Khalesi' for a week.

Sometimes it's an entire cheesy phrase, like "the stars to my moon" or something in French that he's accidentally mispronounced without realising.

The one line he won't cross is comparing you to any god(ess), for fear that comparing you to someone like Aphrodite would get you smited.

T - Tacky (How cliche is he?)

Very. Steven romanticizes romance, spending too much of his single life watching romcoms and nearly crying when he saw couples walking in the park.

He's aware of this and while he tries to hold back a bit and be more realistic most days, Valentines is when he gets to go all out.

Enchanted is a Valentine's tradition for you both, always sitting down to watch it sometime between the 13-15th, curled on the couch and singing along without a care in the world.

Once he made you sit in his lap and rest your cheek on his mouth so he could spend an entire night kissing you while he read a book. When you brought up how that would quickly grow uncomfortable, he put on his best puppy eyes and said it could be your Valentine's present to him.

I - Innovate (How did he fix a Valentines gone wrong?)

Unless you count slightly less mainstream activities like making Lego flowers together or painting matching mugs, he doesn't do anything too groundbreaking during Valentines, so if plans go south he's left scrambling a bit when thinking outside the box.

This is made up by the fact that he's always a listener, sitting with rapt attention to your needs and whatever feelings you can communicate. You tell him what you need, he's getting it done in record time. You can't quite word your wants, he'll try his best to match up what you need with what you're saying.

N - Naughty

Ideally, Valentines end in some very intimate and slow sex, full of soulful eye contact, slow kissing and reverent touches. It's much less about getting off and more about doing something that you can only do with each other, a private little world under the covers where you bare your hearts.

He's more than fine if you aren't up for that, or want something different. As long as he gets to at-least cuddle with you in bed, his Valentines closes with a happy ending.

E - Ending (How does he wrap up Valentines day?)

In bed. Doing what? Doesn't matter. Playing Scrabble, watching Peter Rabbit, discussing the fall of capitalism, having some toast, it's all the same to Steven. The one thing he wants is to be snug as a bug under the covers with you, legs touching blanket up to his chin.

No matter how the day has went, if he can come home to you, he's got the world.

S - Song

British classic that he thinks is cheeky and fun, probably what he dances around the kitchen to while he makes your breakfast in bed, thinking himself suave.

[homeybadger]

Of Gods and Lattes (Part One)

Summary: When you- local coffee barista turned Avatar of an ancient Egyptian god- get kidnapped, you're thrust into a whole new world Warning(s): Non-detailed kidnapping of reader, mild non-graphic combat Note(s): I'm torn between a few possible deities in connection to this story: Thoth, Heka, Ra and Anubis. I'm open to any suggestions!

Coffee making had always been a kind of a personal ritual for you. Humming to the rhythm of the milk frother, each step was precise, measured. You'd often imagined that brewing a latte was akin to crafting a potion, each ingredient essential to the final result- smooth, energizing, and restorative. There was something special about it, providing tired mothers and businessmen alike with the necessary energy for their days. But, your shift was cut short when you were taken. You didn't remember the exact details- it all happened too fast. One moment, you were wiping down the counter after a busy lunch rush, and the next, someone grabbed you from behind, pulling you into an alley behind the café. A van. Darkness. Rope. Now, here you were, hands bound and sitting on the cold ground in some dilapidated warehouse. Cold metal presses against your wrists, the uncomfortable bite of handcuffs incessantly reminding you of your current predicament. You shift slightly, testing the restraints, and a wave of dull pain ripples through your body. Of course kidnappers weren't gentle. In front of you was a man. He’s tall, broad-shouldered, and wearing what looks like an approximation of tactical gear, face obscured by a mask. You narrow your eyes. This is the guy, the one who took you “Ah, you’re awake,” he says, his voice deep but trying a little too hard to sound intimidating. He paces slowly in front of you, his boots echoing in the room. You lean back- feigning more discomfort than you actually feel. It's difficult to feel very threatened when a literal god is nearby. "Yeah, guess I am. If this is about money, I’m not really-" “Money?” He cuts you off with a harsh laugh. “No, no. This isn’t about money.” He stops pacing, turning to face you fully. “I know what you are. I know who you serve.” At that, you raise an eyebrow. This should be good. "Anubis' power will be mine!" your captor croons, pacing once more like a professor rehearsing a lecture. You eye the crude symbols scrawled across the floor a bit behind him, white chalk instantly declaring their presence. They're meant to be ancient, powerful runes- instead, they look more like the artistic attempt of a child high on sugar. The symbols are sloppy, some even backward, and you swear a good portion of them are just random doodles. Whatever this guy thinks he's doing, it's nowhere near invoking anything close to Anubis. You feel him, your god, closer this time. Your captor continues his rant about power, the gods, and his supposed mastery of ancient Egyptian rites. Something about raising a man named Arthur from the grave. Arthur... Sparrow? Farrow? It was hard to hear behind his mask. You sigh internally, feeling the distinct thrum of your god's power settling behind you. "Anubis will rise," your captor says, voice reaching a crescendo, "and he will grant me dominion over life and death!" You can't help it. A chuckle slips past your lips. The man stops dead in his tracks, glare attempting to shoot daggers into your soul, "What's so funny?" You shake your head, biting your lip. "What?" "Your symbols." you gesture with your chin to the floor, "They're wrong. Even if Anubis was the one you were trying to summon, which- by the way, he isn't- this wouldn't work." His eyes narrow behind the mask, clearly thrown off. "What are you talking about? These are ancient runes of power, crafted by-" "By someone who hates you apparently." you interrupt, "You think you can bring death under your control with that?"

"You know nothing of these powers! Anubis will answer, and I will-" "You don't even want to summon Anubis." If it was physically possible for your captor to glare harder, you're sure he would have by this point. Your god stands in the corner, his eyes gleaming in the shadows. He doesn't speak, but his presence fills your soul with a sense of calm. Of inevitability. "What?" "Anubis is about funerary rites, guiding souls," you continue, "not... whatever it is you're aiming for here. Osiris is the one you're thinking of with this resurrection business." Your captor tenses, fist slowly curling into a ball. "You said you know what I am, you have to have assumed I researched things." He scowled, clearly thrown off by the correction, but before he could respond, the door slams open. She's quick, moving with a grace that immediately makes it clear she's not here to talk things out. You've seen her before- the woman who's been making appearances in the headlines recently, the Scarlet Scarab. Her appearance is striking, strong and purposeful, like she's not here to take nonsense from anyone. But it's what you see just behind her that really makes your breath snag in your throat. Hovering over her shoulder, watching with an intense curiosity, is the goddess Taweret. You almost wave- an instinctive gesture, like you’re greeting someone you recognize- but then you remember your hands are securely bound. Khonshu is there too, looming at the edge of the room, his towering skeletal form and crescent-shaped staff impossible to ignore. You’ve heard of Moon Knight too- another vigilante working alongside the Scarlet Scarab some days. Khonshu’s presence is cold, oppressive, but you know he’s not here for you. The Scarlet Scarab strides toward your captor, her expression hard. “It’s over,” she says flatly, no room for argument in her voice. Your captor stumbles backward, panic setting in. He gestures once more toward the chalk symbols on the floor, muttering something incoherent about power and magic. “Anubis is not coming to help you,” you say, unable to keep the exhaustion out of your voice. “And even if he was, this isn’t how you’d get his attention. You’ve got it all wrong.” Your captor spins to face you, his face contorted with anger. “You think you know more than me? I’ve spent years studying these texts!” You feel the sheer, absolute weight of your god’s presence now, a calm certainty settling over you like a familiar blanket. Your god is always with you- but in moments like these, his influence becomes palpable. It’s as if he’s standing just behind you, his ancient hands resting on your shoulders, steadying your resolve. Relax, you hear him whisper in the quiet corner of your mind, a voice like rolling thunder, yet somehow soothing. He is a fool.You shift slightly, testing your cuffs again. The metal bites into your skin, but you feel the tension begin to give, a soft pulsing energy coiling beneath your skin. There. he whispers again, Got it. The cuffs click, and with one last movement, they snap open. “I’m telling you,” you say, that same hum of power underscoring your words, “You might’ve spent years studying those texts, but you don’t understand a thing.” The captor’s rant finally falters. His eyes flick toward the Scarlet Scarab, and for the briefest moment, you see his bravado finally crack. She takes a step forward, ready to finish things, but something shifts in the air. An unnatural pulse of energy, twisted and wrong. A shadowy figure emerges from the darkness, an ethereal form that seems to manifest out of thin air. Some kind of twisted guardian or specter, summoned by the captor’s sloppy rituals. A flash of white and silver darts forward, crescent shaped weapons glinting faintly in the lighting. Your captor slams the door open, fleeing into the night- and you decidedly ignore the coward in favor of ducking.

[little-bug-el-faouly]

Layla's pov: Asylum Escape #2

► Part one: Asylum Escape

‘Do you even recognize me?’

He did. Mostly. Took a moment of them staring like she might just disappear again before the words came pouring out. All slurred without much of a filter.

She let him ramble until she got something she understood. There were quiet moments between where he spaced out. Layla waited patiently. Understandably, that took some time. He wasn’t in a good state. Wasn't like she had anywhere else to be, he had all of her attention.

“Echar una mano-“

“Should say it in French mate she knows that one.”

“Dejar plantado-”

“Sorry Layla.”

“Mi polola~”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“Less cursing, more French guys. C'mon! Bonjour Layla! T’es belle!”

“Cut it out. We need to-”

“Sorry bruv I’m just tryna say ‘ello.”

"Será mejor que no le hables así.”

“And you need to shut the fuck up too.”

“Bit of a mess up here innit? Sorry.”

“No. Layla you need to go. It’s not uh-”

“Si amor, no es seguro aquí.”

“Not a vacation is what it is. It’s bloody awful.”

“Safe. It’s not safe. Trap.”

“Si, I said that.”

“No, you didn’t, you wibbled on in Spanish.”

“Spanish? Ah. My mistake. Hard to think right now.”

“They’re not going to let me leave. Needed you to get me to talk.”

“He’s right. You must leave, mi vida.”

“I will end you.”

The laugh that came out of him definitely wasn’t Marc. She was certain his hand would have waved a grander gesture or punched himself if it hadn’t been restrained. Layla watched him struggling and tried to not let her nose crinkle up. It hurt to see him like this. He shouldn’t be here. Couldn’t hold himself in the front for long. Maybe it was the sedatives they had him on? Or just this place? She didn’t know. She’d never seen them this bad before.

“Hey- hey, hey, hey. All of you. Shut up a sec. Look at me.”

They did. He did. Head strained to lift up a fraction more so he could try and hold her stare. Layla softened her eyes, wishing she could reach out and hold his hand. She was going to do one better.

“I’m not leaving here without you. You got that? I need you all to get on the same page. If you’re right, we got one shot at this. Can you hold yourself up? Why haven't you used your suit yet?”

"Fine, but I don’t like this."

“I mean I’ll try. Rooms a bit spinny."

"Old bird? In the mood he's in? Hah."

"That stupid pigeon-”

“It's complicated.”

“What you got planned for us chica?”

“I swear. Once I take off these restraints, if you punch yourself, we’re going to have a problem. Focus.” “You tell ‘em, love.”

“I am focused.”

“Ahh he’s behaving now wife is here.”

"Shut your mouth."

Layla worked on the restraints behind his back. Helping him up to his feet. Keeping an arm around him while he gathered his bearings. Layla guided him towards the door, letting him lean his weight onto her as they moved.

Pushing him up against the wall just out of view. Close enough to be sharing each other's air, he leaned in but she didn't rise to it. Instead, she raised her hand to gesture for him to wait for the signal. He leaned back with a more stern expression, and then his eyebrows shot up and a more nervous one broke through. She thumped her fist against the door until one of the escorts opened it. Show time.

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Bloody Beetle | Part Seven

Summary: Layla's version of events

Pairing: none for this part

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: none really for this one

A/N: as always spelling and grammar are not my strongest skills so please be kind :)

Part Six | Series Masterlist

- - - - -

Layla’s POV

She felt her heart break when she heard that gunshot ring through the tomb, followed by the sound of your muffled screams. Then the second gunshot and she knew. 

Marc was dead. 

It took every drop of willpower not to run out and kill Harrow on the spot. But she knew she had to stay hidden. She crept around the edge of the tomb, staying hidden behind the stone pillars, to get a glimpse of what was happening. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched you break free from the person holding her and throw herself down at Marc’s side. She felt proud as she watched you argue with Harrow. 

“You’re not in your right mind.” Harrow patronised.

“Oh my mind is perfectly right!” You quipped back, standing your ground. 

‘You go girl’ she thought to herself. 

She thought about stepping in to help when they restrained you, but she couldn’t give herself away. It's clear Harrow wanted you alive for something, but he wouldn’t think twice about shooting her. Her best bet was to stay hidden while she comes up with a plan to help you. 

‘Get your hands off my husband’ she thought as she watched them search through Marc’s pockets. Even though they weren't together anymore, she still felt something for him. Protective of him. She hopes Marc was smart enough to hide the ushabti, but they find it. 

Aware that someone is snooping around close to her, Layla holds her breath, and as soon as they're within reach she strikes. She knocks the guy out and slowly drops his body to the ground. Careful not to make any noise.

What happens next surprises everyone. 

The girl from the tent, she thinks she heard you call her Maya, runs in frantically apologising to Harrow. He’s unnecessarily cold to her, which Layla thinks is an overreaction. But then he shoots her and Layla is reminded just how unhinged Harrow is. When he finally leaves the tomb, she sneaks out over to where Marc’s body is lying in the water.

“Marc? Marc!” She whispers, shaking him gently and cradling his face. She looks down his body at the two bleeding bullet holes in his chest. Between them lies the scarab beetle that started all this. Harrow must have left it there. Her breathing starts to get shaky. A part of her had hoped that Marc was just pretending. Or that Khonsu would somehow be able to save him. But he’s dead. Her husband is dead. What is she supposed to do now?

She allows herself a few moments to grieve, crying as she hugs Marc’s lifeless body. 

An idea hits her. She gives Marc a goodbye kiss on the forehead and takes the scarab before heading over to the body off the disciple she had knocked out. She changes into his clothes, pulling the hood over her head and scarf right up to just under her eyes then she heads out of the tomb to catch up with the rest of Harrow’s followers. As she takes the opportunity to mix herself in and get lost within the crowd, she sees you up ahead, still being dragged by some of the followers with Harrow right by your side. She keeps her head down. She can’t risk you recognising her and giving her away. If Harrow didn’t hesitate to kill Maya, one of his own followers, she hates to think what he’s do to her. 

— — — — 

Outside the tomb, Harrow and his followers went straight to work getting things ready and before long everyone was in vehicles heading out across the desert. Layla had managed to go undetected and snuck her way into the last of the line of cars. No one seemed interested in her at all, but still she kept her hood up just to be safe. Thankfully a lot of the other followers also had hoods up and scarves on their faces to keep the sand out so Layla didn’t look out of place. 

She didn’t know how long they’d been traveling for before they were stopped by the Egyptian patrol officers, and chaos ensued. Taking the ushabti seemed to make Harrow more powerful and he was able to simultaneously judge all the officers at once, killing most of them. If he’s this powerful now, what will he be able to do if he releases Ammit? 

The followers got straight to work moving the bodies while Harrow stood and watched. ‘This is my chance’ she thought. She jumped out the back of the vehicle, eyes set on Harrow as she pulled the knife from her belt. Slowly she started walking towards him, like a predator stalking prey. She kept close to the cars, carefully stepping over bodies of officers as she walked. 

“Don’t do it” she heard a voice and looked down. To her surprise one of the dead male officers was talking to her, but with the voice of a British woman? “Layla, wait! I am the goddess Taweret.”

She shook it off, continuing to walk. 

“Layla!” she heard again, looking over to see a different officer laying on the ground. “It’s Marc who’s telling you to stop.”

“What the hell is this?” She says quietly as the officer struggles to sit up “He’s dead!” 

“And I am talking to you through dead people right now. So what? Listen, Harrow is too powerful for you to stop him alone. If Marc… if he can return to life…”

“What do you mean return to life?” 

“He is going to need Khonshu. Break his ushabti. It’s in the chamber of the gods... And you can be my avatar! Marc says wonderful things about you.”

“No, no, no. I’ll fight him on my own.” 

Layla turns back to look at Harrow, but is distracted when she sees something move in the back of the car that he’s leaning against. It’s you. She sees you wave, mouthing something. You're asking her to help. She nods, gesturing for you to be quiet. She can’t risk you alerting Harrow. She takes a few more steps before she hears a follower shout “it's time to go!” and realises she’s out of time. 

“I’ll find you.” She mouths before quickly making her way back to the vehicle at the back, putting the knife back in her belt and letting out a sigh. Maybe Taweret is right. She does need help. 

— — — — 

Some time later the cars pull up at the base of the great pyramid of Giza and the disciples jump out the cars to begin climbing up the side of pyramid. Layla jumps out too but stops when she notices Harrow and you haven’t got out the car you’re in yet. She sees the driver get out and go to join the others, but Harrow doesn’t move. 

Layla gets into the back of the car that is directly behind the one you’re in and gets down low so no one can see her. She watches you through the rear window. Watches the two of you talk. She can’t see your face very well, but she can tell from body language this is an tense and emotional discussion. She sees you reach out to hold his hand. Then she see him lift his hand up and place it on your head. 

‘what is going on in there?’ She thinks to herself. Then she sees you collapse into Harrow and her heart sinks. Has he just killed you too? 

She watches as he gets out the car and bends down to kiss you before covering you with a blanket. He says something, then closes the door. He takes a moment and a deep breath as he shakes off whatever effect that conversation has just had, then goes to join the others. Layla waits till he’s far enough away before getting out the car and sneaking over to yours. She carefully opens the door, and if she hasn’t just watched Harrow she wouldn’t have known you were there. He’s hidden you well with the blanket. She pulls it back to reveal your face. 

“Please be alive” she whispers as she checks for a pulse, and is relieved when she finds one. Its weak, but its there. She shakes you gently. “Y/N, please wake up. Come on, Y/n!” 

You begin to stir. 

“Layla?”

Part Eight

Taglist :  @sleepylunarwolf / @ahookedheroespureheart / @sleepyamaya / @spicydonut25 / @kult6 / @uncle-eggy / @malaanii/ @toracainz / @pinkiestwinkie / @galacticstxrdust / @mateihavenoidea / @xmariakx / @oscarissac2099 / @whycantwebefriendz / @parkeepingparker

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[angel-of-the-moons]

Little Scarab

Layla el Faouly x Reader

TW/CW: None!

A/N: I got this stupid idea for Layla so have it asksskks

Divider by @/silkholland

"She'll love it!" Steven chirped at you as you held the little plush in your hands.

"But are you sure?" You sighed, a frown creasing your lips.

"Of course, Layla loves silly little things like that." Steven chuckled, elbowing you.

It was your girlfriend's birthday today, and you've been having an internal struggle over the past week trying to think about what to get her. It's what drew you to the museum, where your best friend, Steven Grant worked.

He'd texted you about the new, two-foot-tall scarab plushies the gift shop just got in, and well... he figured it would be a cute gift idea. What with her Avatar name and nickname and everything...

"But are you sure--"

Steven laughs and shook his head, muttering your name. "She'll love it, I promise you that. Now, shoo! You've already bought it, now go on and tell me how it went tomorrow!"

You make a complaining noise as he playfully pushes you out of the gift shop, "Go, go!" He laughs some more.

As your feet slowly trudge out into the misty London afternoon, you protectively tuck the plushie you'd procured for your girlfriend beneath your jacket and zip it up.

You had to waddle awkwardly up the stairs to your flat, cursing yourself once you realized the lift was out of commission again--forcing you to trudge up the dingy corridors until you made it to your floor.

You kept your loot hidden beneath your jacket. Layla shouldn't have been over, just yet. She said she had work she was doing for Taweret today, and you hoped it took her longer than she said so you could have some time to wrap the soft toy up in some gift wrap to surprise her when she returned.

But... that was not your luck.

You poked your head into your flat, carefully pulling your keys out and slowly closing it the door, locking it behind you.

"Baby?" You hear Layla call out, "Is that you?"

You jump and fumble, dropping your keys, "N-No!" You immediately deny.

The slip-up makes you cringe. Gods, that was such a stupid response. No, of course it wasn't you. You were some burglar who just happened to have keys to your flat, and locked the door behind you after sneaking in.

"Oh? So there is just some random person who just happened to wear my partner's face, who just happened to have the keys to this flat in particular?" Layla's snarky voice said as she leaned in the counter in the kitchen, popping a marshmallow into her mouth.

You don't turn around, feeling a nervous sweat creep down your brow; "Uh--well, I just... No, but, I mean..."

"You're so cute when you babble." She giggled, pushing off the counter to walk up to you.

A dark eyebrow curves upwards on her forehead, "...Uh, babe? You gonna turn around?"

"Yes!" You reply a little too suddenly, your voice all too squeaky. "Er--no. Not til you turn around."

Layla sighs, grabbing your shoulder and spinning you to face her; her cheeky smile dropping in confusion as she spots the lumpy mass beneath your jacket. "Uh--"

"It's nothing!" You say, cursing the panicked crack in your voice.

"Theeeennn..." She looks you up and down. "Why do you look like you're pregnant with a lumpy pumpkin?"

Your eyes anxiously dart across the room, trying to come up with excuses--but of course, your floundering brain can't think of anything. Resigned to your fate... You unzip your jacket and hand your head, holding out the plushie to her, unable to make eye contact.

The silence is palpable; your heart fluttering nervously in your chest.

When you finally look up, she was squishing the plush scarab to her chest and giving you the biggest, cutest eyes you'd ever seen on a person.

"You got this for me??"

"Well... it's your birthday," You mumble, fiddling with your jacket. "I couldn't figure out what to get you, and Steven figured... Y'know... Scarlet Scarab..."

Layla sighed affectionately as she played with one of the legs on the plush toy, "Of course Steven would help..."

"I... sorry if it's not... fancy or anything." You apologize, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Who said a present needed to be fancy?" Layla asked, sounding almost offended on her new squishy friend's behalf, clutching it to her chest in disbelief, "This just means I have something to cuddle when I'm not home! You can't cuddle like, a necklace or anything!"

You blink dumbly, "You... you like it?"

Layla smiled and leaned in to place a soft kiss to your lips, "I love it."

You smile at her, and anyone looking at you two could practically see the cartoon hearts fluttering off the two of you.

"Love you." You sigh a little dreamily, pushing a stray mass of poofy curls behind her ear.

Layla kissed you again, smiling against your cheek;

"Love you more."

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Bloody Beetle | Part Five

Summary: you journey into the tomb with Steven and Layla, but will you get to Ammit before Harrow gets to you...

Pairing: Steven/Marc x Reader, Layla x Reader, Harrow x Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Heka priests, deaths (I’m sorry 😭), Harrow being Harrow

A/N: as always spelling and grammar are not my strongest skills so please be kind :)

Part Four | Series Masterlist

- - - - -

“Y/N!” the British voice you didn’t realise you’d missed so much. “Y/N, oh thank God!”

You crawl out from under the bed and you just about have time to get to your feet before he’s pulling you in for the tightest hug you’ve ever received. You let yourself sink into his embrace for just a second before pulling away.

“Are you alright?” He starts to anxiously ramble “I thought you were dead-”

“You can drop the act. I know who you really are, Marc Spector. Harrow explained it all to me. He told me you were a mercenary and that everything the police said in the car that night, about how you killed people… It’s all true. And that’s why you pretended to be Steven. Pretended to be my friend-

"I AM your friend..."

"A friend wouldn't have just given Harrow the scarab and left me behind."

“No no no, Y/N, that’s not what happened at all. I lost the scarab while being chased out of there by a jackal that he summoned! I tried to get to you, so did Layla. I would never just leave you." He reaches out for you but you back away. “Please, you have to believe me!”

“I don't know what to believe anymore.” You say sadly.

“Y/N…” he stops talking, his eyes rolling back and when he looks at you again he’s completely different. “Y/N, I don't have time right now but I promise I will tell you the truth.”

“Marc..? What just happened?”

“We need to stop Harrow first and then I will explain everything. I promise.” Marc is interrupted by Maya running back into the tent, her gun aimed at him.

“You need to leave!” She says, trying to sound threatening but you can see pure panic in her eyes.

"Maya, its okay." You try to calm her. "Just put the gun away."

"I can't. Harrow- he'll be so mad at me. This isn't supposed to be happening-" Maya rambles, but when Marc moves slightly she refocuses on him. "You have to leave!"

“No, I think you should leave.” Layla says as she sneaks in behind Maya and yanks the gun straight out her hand. Maya runs and Layla sees you. She looks just as surprised as Steven had. “Y/N! You look good for someone who's supposed to be dead.”

“What are you talking about? Why would you think I was dead?"

"Because that's what Harrow is telling people." Marc says.

"Bu why would lie about that?"

“Because that's just what he does. He lies and manipulates people. which is one of the reasons we have to get to Ammit’s ushabti before he does.”

— — — —

The three of you make your way outside just in time to see Maya disappear down into the tomb.

“Shit, she’ll warn Harrow that we’re here.” Layla says as you run to the dig site. “Ah.” She says once you get to there.

“What's the problem?” Marc asks.

“I wasn’t expecting Y/N to be with us, I only have two harnesses. I can go find another?”

“No, it’s alright. That will take too long. Harness me up and I’ll carry her down with me.”

“Are you sure?” You say, anxiety rippling through you.

“Yeah, it’s not that far down. We’ll be fine.”

Layla gets her harness on then helps Marc get into his. As she's tightening his straps you see his eyes roll like they did before and notice his whole posture change again.

“I have to say, I feel like I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.” Steven's voice says as Layla helps him tighten the straps on his harness, completely unfazed by his changed accent. “The adventure, I mean.”

“We want what we’ve never had.” She finishes preparing his harness and gets ready. “I’m gonna go down first. Before I belay.”

“Right, yeah… what’s belay?” Steven asks, and Layla laughs.

“I still can’t tell when you're joking or not.” She says before clipping rope to the front of her harness and disappearing down the shaft. Steven looks at you.

“Belay?” He says, and you shrug.

“I have no idea.” You half laugh. “Are you sure you can do this?”

“It’ll be fine.” He says, not at all convincingly. He copies Layla, attaching the rope to the front of his harness then gestures for you to come over. You awkwardly put your arms around his neck and he lifts you. Its surprises you how strong he is. He cradles you to him and takes a breath before taking a step. But as he reaches the edge, his foot slips and you both tumble down into the darkness. Steven’s body acts as an air bag as he hits the ground, still holding you tightly. You land with a thud in a cloud of dust and sand. It takes you a moment to realise your lying on top of Steven, your face less than an inch away from his.

“Are you okay?” Layla asks, rushing over and helping you up.

“Yeah, I think so.” You reply, turning to give Steven a hand. “Steven?”

“I’m aces.” He says, grunting as he gets to his feet. “I wish you hadn’t seen that… oh wow, look at you.”

You look at him and realise he’s looking past you. You turn to see the huge ancient sculptures behind you, similar to the ones you used to see every day in the museum. Only these ones weren’t made out of polystyrene just to decorate an exhibition. This is the real deal.

“Oh yeah, they’re gorgeous.” Layla agrees. “Just standing guard for centuries!”

“Right! Look I can’t even…” Steven looks like all his Christmas came at once, he’s so excited. You can’t help but feel happy for him, and wonder if what Harrow said could be true. Could he really fake being this excited. “If they just sprang to life right now and asked me a riddle for passage I’d be thrilled! I’d shit myself, but id be thrilled.”

You and Layla exchange a look, silently laughing at the adorable dork in the room.

Once Steven finished fangirling over the reality of where you were right now, the three of you started to make your way further into the tomb.

“Strange.” Steven says quietly as you follow the winding corridors.

“It’s a maze.” Layla says.

“It’s a-maze-ing.” Steven jokes and you roll your eyes, but secretly want to laugh at his little pun. He is fully loving life right now.

“No, like there are six paths.” Layla explains. She bends down, picking up bullets left on the ground. “What would they be shooting at?”

“Six points.” Steven mumbles to himself, ignoring Layla's question about the bullets as he starts to draw something in the sand. “This whole structure is a symbol.”

You and Layla join Steven and look at what he’s drawn. You recognise it from one of the books in the museum.

“That’s the eye of Horus, right?” You ask.

“The royal symbol of protection in the afterlife.” Steven agrees.

“I mean, the resources needed to build this thing!” Layla realises, “Her final avatar was a pharaoh.”

“Woah!” Steven breathes “A bloody pharaoh!”

“You think it’s a map?” You ask.

“Yeah well… the eye of Horus is also the eye of mind yeah? Representing the six senses, six points. So you got the eyebrow that denotes thoughts. Pupil, sight, obviously. This point here is hearing. Smell. Touch. And this long line ending in a spiral is the tongue.”

“The avatar would be Ammit’s voice.” Layla suggests, and Steven nods.

“That’s right.”

You follow them further into the tomb, to a dark room with a sort of stone table in the middle. Layla shines her torch around the walls, revealing ancient drawings on them.

“Heka priests! Judging by their masks and ceremonial stance. They would have been entombed in here to protect the pharaoh. Sorcerers of their time. They’ve been down here for centuries.” She moves her torch to shine on mummified figures in the wall. “These must be some of the unlucky souls who crossed their path.”

You shine your torch at the stone table.

“Oh my God.” Steven gags. “Oh God, is that fresh blood? Little chunks of meaty bits?”

Layla crouches down to examine blood covered jars and tools before saying “Let’s keep moving.”

You start walking towards the exit but when Steven puts his arm out to stop you, you notice the blood trail leading to a pile of bones.

“Just a minute.” Steven says, any excitement he previously had now replaced by fear. “Im just stating what I see, and I see lots of bones and blood going that way. So I’m just thinking like, what if there’s another…” he shines his torch around the room, stopping and pointing up. “There’s an opening up there. You see that? Should we check it out?”

“Alright, you go.” Layla says and Steven starts climbing up to the platform. “Go with him? So he doesn’t fall again.” She asks you with a smirk and you nod. The floorboards creak as you pull yourself up, following Steven.

“So according to ancient text, Ammit should be bound to an ushabti, those statue thingies.” He says as you look around. Steven starts rambling again about all the amazing ancient things he’s seeing, but Layla reminds him he’s supposed to be looking for an exit. “Oh yeah, yeah we can go this way.”

The sound of guns firing makes you all jump.

“Harrow.” You whisper.

“What are they shooting at?” Steven asks.

“I don't know.” Layla starts, but stops when she hears a clicking sound.

“Hide, hide!” Steven frantically whispers as he helps you find somewhere to shelter. You peer over the side and see Layla duck down behind the stone table as a figure enters the room, dragging a body behind it. The thing lifts the body up onto the table and you realise it’s one of Harrow’s people, the male police officer. He’s half awake and groaning as the thing that dragged him in reaches over and picks up one of the sharp tools from the side. It lifts it in the air and plunges it down into the mans body with a squelch. You cover your mouth and look away, over at Steven who looks just as horrified. You look down at Layla, who is still crouched hiding by the table. Right by the jars that the creature has started putting the man’s organs into. She slowly starts to move around to the other side, away from them but she knocks into a jar, alerting the creature to her presence. Steven leans forward, closer to the edge to get a better look but the floorboard creaks under him. He freezes as the thing jumps up onto the table and then up to cling to the underside of the platform you are on. Steven starts to full panic as you look around for a way out, just as Layla launches a jar at the wall. It smashes, grabbing the creatures attention.

“Run! I’ll find you!” Steven yells down to Layla, who makes an escape out the room. “Help me.” He calls over to you and you help him push a table off the platform. It lands on the creature. “We squished it. We squished it!” He gasps, turning and hugging you in relief.

“Yeah we squished it, what exactly was it?” You say breathlessly.

“Heka priest. We should go before any more of them turn up.”

“There’s more of them?!”

Steven grabs your hand and pulls you through the exit. He leads you through more corridors, occasionally stopping to admire a sculpture or ancient drawing. Eventually you find yourselves in a large, magnificent room.

“Oh my days!” Steven gasps. “First ones here. Tomb fit for a pharoah. Its gotta be one of the bigguns.”

You just smile at him as he continues rambling in amazement at everything in the room. You have to admit, it is pretty impressive. But Steven is the real expert on all this stuff. You cross the stepping stones through the water to the middle of the room where the sarcophagus lies.

“Oh wow, look at that! Look at all these relics. Macedonian? No, what?” He crouches down to look at the inscriptions on the side of the sarcophagus. “No way. That can’t be right.”

“What is it?”

“That's Macedonian. But the only pharaoh…but he insisted on calling him self Egyptian.”

“Steven you're not making any sense. What are you saying?”

“I think were looking at the long lost tomb of Alexander the Great.”

“You're kidding?” You ask and he looks at you in amazement. You don't know why but you both start laughing. “Let's get it open.”

You both place your hands on the top, getting ready to push. Steven takes a few breaths then stops.

“Everything inside me is screaming not to open this thing.” He says.

“I know, but Harrow-”

“Alright, alright, alright.” He places his hands back on the top and takes a deep breath. You count to three then push with all your strength. The lid slides open to reveal a mummified corpse lying inside. Even though thats exactly what you expected to see, it still startled you that that is an actual dead person. The actual Alexander the Great.

“Right so, what are we looking for?” you ask.

“If you're gonna hide it for all eternity, you’d probably put it in a place where the average looter wouldn’t think to look.” He thinks. “Alexander was the voice of Ammit...”

You both look at the head, completely wrapped in cloth.

“You don't think…” you start, really hoping Steven isn’t about to suggest what you think he’s going to suggest. You really don't want to see what the body looks like underneath that cloth.

“I'm gonna try something.” He starts to remove the cloth from the head. “Sorry. Oh God, so sorry. Sorry Mr Great.”

The fabric rips revealing the Alexander’s skull, which Steven apologises to again before prying open its mouth and reaching inside. He searches deep inside the skull, gagging a few times before slowly pulling out the a small statue that looks like Ammit.

“Is that it? You got it?” You ask, hope rising that Harrow might not succeed.

“Yeah, yeah we got it.” Steven says with a smile. You smile back before you pull each other in for a hug. You pull apart when you hear footsteps and look to see Layla enter. “Layla look. We won!” He holds the ushabti in the air, a hug grin on his face. But Layla doesn’t smile. She looks likes she’s been crying.

“Are you okay?” You ask.

“Can he hear me?” She asks Steven, ignoring you completely. Now that she’s closer you can see she looks angry.

“Alexander? I don't think so.” Steven chuckles. “God, I hope not.”

“What happened to my father?” She says, getting closer to him. He looks baffled. “I’m talking to you... I’m talking to Marc!” She shoves him and he pauses, his eyes rolling back.

“Come on.” He says, his deep American voice is serious and he tries to pull Layla with him. “We need to go right now.”

“No!” Layla shakes him off. “What happened to my father?”

“Listen to me. We have to leave right now. I will explain everything, I swear. But we have to go!”

“Did you kill Abdullah El Faouly?” Layla asks and Marc pauses. A tense silence fills the air.

“I’m just gonna- I’ll give you a minute.” You say awkwardly as you back away towards the entrance Layla came in through.

“Stay close!” Marc calls to you and you nod before stepping just outside into the corridor. You can still hear their raised voices but at least you don't feel like a spectator to their private conversation now.

As you stand in the dark corridor, trying not to listen to the argument happening just a few feet away, you're suddenly aware that you're not alone. You spin around to see Harrow stood looking at you. He doesn’t look shocked to see you, but he does look disappointed. Like a parent that has just caught their child doing something wrong. You freeze, like a deer caught in headlights as his disciples start charging past you into the tomb, leaving you and Harrow alone. He doesn’t take his eyes off you.

“As disappointed as I am that you disobeyed my order, I am glad you are here to see me take my victory.”

He starts to move towards you and you bolt, trying to run past him to warn Layla and Marc. But he catches you, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you into the room himself. You’re surprised to find Marc left stood on his own, holding an axe, ready to fight. He falters slightly when he realises Harrow has hold of you. Harrow looks at Marc and smiles, before handing you over to Bobbi.

“Just you. The rest is silence.” He says as he takes a few slow steps towards Marc. “I remember the first morning I woke up knowing that Khonshu was gone. The quiet was liberating. You're a free man.” He walks closer to Marc. “And of course with that freedom comes choice. And right now you have a very important decision to make.”

“Okay.” Marc responds.

“No Marc, don’t!” You shout, causing Bobbi to tighten her grip on you and put her hand over your mouth.

Harrow glances at the disciples to the side of him, who start advancing on Marc, guns aimed at him. Marc just stands completely still until they get close enough then he starts his attack, easily taking out three of them. Harrow steps forward, raising a gun that you didn’t even see him holding and points it at Marc.

Before you have a chance to even try to fight, Harrow pulls the trigger. A bullet hits Marc straight in the chest. He stumbles backwards, pain on his face as his white shirt starts to stain red. You scream in Bobbi’s grasp and Harrow locks eyes with you for a moment before turning back and firing a second, fatal bullet at Marc. It hits, sending him falling backwards into the water.

“I can’t save anyone who won’t save themselves.” Harrow says as he watches Marc’s life’s body float in the water.

You manage to swing your arm around to hit Bobbi in the stomach, causing her to release her grip on you and you rush forward, past Harrow and straight into the water, pulling Marc's body up to cradle him.

“Steven?” You cry, not caring that the mix of water and bloody is soaking into your clothes. “Steven please. Wake up, please.”

Harrow comes up behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder but you instantly push him away.

“Get off me!” You shout, Harrow looks completely unfazed. “Stay away from me! You're a murderer!”

“We must move on.” he holds his hand out to you.

“No! I’m not leaving him.” You argue. “I would rather die than go anywhere with you!”

For the briefest moment you think Harrow almost looks hurt by your statement. But then his face changes again.

“I can see you’re upset, you're not in your right mind.”

“Oh my mind is perfectly right.” You say as you stand up, face to face with Harrow. “I never want to see you again.” You say through gritted teeth before turning your back on him and returning to Marc’s side.

“This is your last chance Y/N.” He warns, and you ignore him. “Very well.” 

Suddenly two pairs of hands grasp yours arm, yanking you up to your feet as two disciples drag you away kicking and screaming out of the water and hold you as Harrow and two disciples go to Steven’s body.

“Don't you dare touch him!” Your shout falling on deaf ears as the disciples drag Steven out of the water. Harrow crouches down beside him as the disciple hands him Ammit’s ushabti. He smiles before looking at Steven. 

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Marc Spector, Steven Grant…” he pauses as he places the scarab beetle on Steven’s chest “whoever else might be in there.” He uses his cane to help him stand back up and turns to face the crowd of disciples, but his focus is on you. “Sometimes we need the cold light of death before we can see reality.”

You struggle against the hands that have you restrained but they just hold you tighter, forcing you down to your knees to bow as Arthur holds the ushabti high for everyone to see. 

You hear the sound of footsteps as someone runs into the room. For a moment you feel hope as you think it could be Layla with a plan to stop him, but when you see Maya run up to Harrow the hope quickly dies. 

“Harrow, sir, I am so so sorry.” She rambles breathlessly. “I was trying to find you, to warn you, but I got lost in these tunnels.” She pauses, looking at him with sad eyes. “I’ve failed you.” 

“Yes, you have.” He says, completely emotionless as he turns his attention away from her. From the look on her face you can tell her heart has just broken. She backs away from him and stands alone near the wall.

“Who wants to heal the world?”

The disciples around you get up and start making their way back out of the tomb. Harrow starts walking over towards you but suddenly stops when he hears Maya following.

“Not you.” He says, not even turning to face her. 

“S-sir..?” She says, confusion on her face. 

“This is the end for you.” He reaches into his pocket and before Maya has a chance to register whats happening he turns and shoots her in the chest with the same gun he killed Steven with. You gasp and try to get to her slump as she slumps painfully to the ground, but the disciples holding you keep you firmly in place, still kneeling on the floor.

“Why- why did you do that?!” A sob escaping your throat as Harrow comes to stand by you. “She was just a young girl!!”

“She let him get to you. She put you in danger… I can’t have that.”

“The only reason I’m in danger is because of you!” You say shakily and Harrow looks down at you. He doesn’t say anything, he just reaches his hand down to wipe the tears from under your eyes. Then he walks past you, gesturing for the disciples to follow. As they harshly pull you up to your feet, you can’t take your eyes off of Maya’s lifeless body. Her glossy eyes staring at you as they drag you away, leaving her forever resting in the tomb of Alexander the Great.

Part Six

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