Acosmist - Moonknight
VII. Quiet
Masterlist Part 6 Rest of my work. Warnings: mention of abandonment. Lucilla returns to the museum to watch Steven at Marc's request alone.
Sleepless nights for Lucilla were quite common. However, Ptah would openly discuss random topics about Egyptian deities and their stories with her for hours on end.
Last night he didn't say a word. For once Lucilla's mind was silent, no sign of Ptah to be heard. There was no sigh, no feeling of being watch. Just peace. Some would say peace was relaxing but it wasn't for Lucilla.
She could never tell Ptah's emotions because of the fact that he had hidden them from her so well. Telling if the god was angry or upset in a situation was only done through the tone of his voice as he spoke. Either way Lucilla was usually left out of the blue.
"Well done." Was the last Ptah spoke the night before. It was obvious that Lucilla angered Ptah by what she said to Marc but she'd never expect him to be this upset with the girl.
"What did I do wrong?" Lucilla questioned. She prayed that Ptah was still beside her, just watching like he always was. She hoped he was close enough the hear the question and even give a possibility of giving Lucilla an answer. It didn't matter either way. She knew what made him upset.
The god was no where to be found as Lucilla scanned behind her in the mirror. "Ptah." She moved to pull her hair into a ponytail as she spoke. No response came. The room remained quiet and Lucilla still couldn't figure out what was going through Ptah's mind.
If Ptah was going to give her the silent treatment then Lucilla saw no need in remaining as an avatar. Ptah obviously sees her as an unfit avatar so why carry on?
Lucilla stared at herself in the mirror for a mirror before muttering a small "Release me." It was certain that Ptah could hear her and now she's made her request, it's their choice on what action to take next.
There wasn't a moment that went past that night where Lucilla didn't debate asking Ptah to do that very thing, and now she has it didn't feel as though anything's changed. She looked just as tired as she had when she first awoke and she felt the exact same. Well, Lucilla wasn't exactly sure how everything worked. She's never been in a situation like this before.
Without Ptah was a way of life Lucilla hadn't came to grips with. What would she do now? The last thing she wanted to do was pack everything up again and maybe move north. Everything was circling back to Lucilla so why not run? It's what Marc did.
But she didn't know what she wanted. So many things have came crashing down on Lucilla in the past 24 hours to the point that it is hard to choose what to deal with first. With Ptah at least she had someone to coach her through everything.
Besides, she'd be leaving everything behind. It seemed like a good idea on paper but now... maybe not. The idea of being alone again scared Lucilla. She needed someone to stop her from falling down into that pit again. Prah was that someone.
"Ptah." Lucilla called out on a whim but gained no response. Perhaps they was still listening, hoping and waiting for Lucilla to ask them to come back.
Her eyes drifted down to her watch as wind blew through her window. 09:32 it read. Steven's shift at the museum must be starting soon.
Seeing Steven wasn't on top of Lucilla's priority list but she did make a promise to Mark. If she didn't go after last night's events then she'd be at Marc's level, someone who's never in one place to avoid the truth. Steven had no right to be treated like that, he was innocent. That's the least Lucilla could do to the sweeter version of Marc.
Even the walk to the museum was silent. Painfully silent to the point Lucilla had to put her headphones in and listen to music just to fill the silence. She couldn't remember the last time she had to do that. It must've been long enough for her to forget how much she hated the sound of her own mind. The silence couldn't remain for long, and if it did her mind would always jump to worse-case scenarios. Why? Lucilla had no clue but maybe that's why she liked Ptah's presence.
"Steven!" Lucilla called out, spotting a familiar man stumble off of his bus. He turned towards the voice as Lucilla ran carefully across a road towards him. "Hey." She greeted whilst removing her headphone.
"What happened last night?" Steven asked, not even turning to look at the girl as they walked to the museum. He looked awful like he hadn't slept, meaning Marc didn't sleep. Steven also looked upset which wasn't something Lucilla couldn't blame him for as he did find out there was a completely different person living in the same body as him.
"What do you mean?" Lucilla questioned, attempting to figure out how much Marc knew to begin with. If he didn't know much then she wouldn't tell him too much. Marc preferred if that way. If Steven found out quite a bit in a short time frame who knows what could happen.
He soon stopped before the duo reached the museum's stairs, turning to Lucilla before walking up them. "Don't pull my leg with this mate," he groaned. "I know what I saw last night and I need you to fill in the gaps. You showed up and from there everything weird things started to happen. So...." Steven paused, realising he never learned Lucilla's name, "miss please keep me in the loop."
"Lucilla." She introduced herself before stating that, "None of this is for me to explain." Her hands slid into her trousers pockets as she watch Steven. He was annoyed, that was obvious. However he watched Lucilla for a moment as if the name was familiar. "If it makes you feel better, not even i have all the answers. Marc strictly said-"
Steven was quick to catch onto Lucilla's slip up. She tried so hard to not mention Marc. "Wait, Marc?" He asked.
Lucilla didn't speak, instead she walked up the steps and into the museum. Marc was quick to follow the girl. She only paused in her step to allow Steven to walk ahead, ordering a small "don't mention last night." As he passed.
The museum itself didn't appear in a better state than it was left in last night. Sections of the entrence were blocked off with police tape causing actually getting into the museum practically impossible. Construction workers also made their way into the building past Lucilla and back out again to retrieve certain tools. Steven watched one left the building.
"You guys did t-this?" Steven stumbled as he questioned Lucilla.
"No," she whispered back. "I didn't do any of this, but that was me." She was quick to direct Steven's attention towards a wall that contained a large human-shaped dent. That side of the building was yet to be touched, all the focus was on what Marc did. "I had no business with them but they still came for me." Lucilla explained.
She didn't know why the Jackals attacked her, probably because she encountered Mr Harrow but it still didn't make sense. They wanted the scarab but then Lucilla didn't even know he had it.
"What do you mean them?" Steven asked, stopping to look over at the secluded section.
"You saw them." Lucilla explained blankly, hinting to the Jackals that we're chasing Steven last night. "They want something you have. Something you cannot give them." She let her eyes drift over to the dent on the wall from last night. Everything seemed just as they left it. Debris was covering the floor, the wall still held the small cracks stemming from the indentation of Lucilla's body. The only thing missing was the dagger that flew out of Lucilla's hand when she hit the wall.
She moved to scan the hands and pockets of everyone around them until she spotted it in a construction worker's pocket. He was heading towards another room. "Shit," Lucilla groaned. If that was handed into the police then surely they'd find a connection to her.
"Luce?" Steven called out, clicking his fingers in front of Lucilla's face, "You got a plan?" He asked nervously.
"Security." Was all Lucilla mumbled as she returned to her original plan, "You need to see the security footage from last night to see how much they know. But either way you erase it." She explained, watching the construction workers as the did. Her hands quickly moved to her pocket to pull out a small drive before holding it towards Steven.
"Wh-why do I have to do this?" Steven exclaimed, "what are you going to do? I don't even know what's going on."
"I have a plan, don't worry," Lucille reassured the man, patting him on the shoulder as she spoke. She reassured Steven in the worse way possible by telling him that the museum was "your turf," and he should "own it," before starting "give me five minutes to do my thing and then I'll be right with you."
Steven nervously nodded. He didn't know whether to agree with Lucilla or ask her to stay with him. But the girl had a completely different plan: find and destroy the dagger from last night. After that, she can fix any mess Steven makes whilst she's gone.
She watched Steven slowly walk over to the security guard, talking as if they knew each other. A smile fell on Lucilla's face as she continued to watch the different side of Marc. He was everything Marc wasn't. Steven was nice, scared and caring. Marc was.. not that. It slowly made Lucilla wonder what would happen if it was the other way around and Marc was like Steven, would anything have happened in their lives?
Satisfied with how Steven held a conversation, Lucilla moves away to locate the group of construction workers from earlier. She turned as a construction worker enters the building before quickly following them. "I hope you're still there." Lucilla quietly prayed to Ptah despite being unaware if he's listening. He has to be listening.
Outside the section of the museum the construction workers walked in and out of laid a jumble of the worker's uniforms. Lucilla quickly moved over to the pile and picked up a yellow hard hat and a orange high-vis jacket, which she quickly slid on before walking into the room.






