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Once upon a time, there were the Ennead, an Heliopolitan race of Gods that were worshipped by the people of Ancient Egypt.
One such Ennead was Khonshu, God of the Moon, who prided himself on being the protector of those who travelled in the night.
He was as proud as he was arrogant, and that was his downfall.
Around the year 1,000,000 BC, during the formation of what would be known as the Stone Age Avengers, Khonshu was offended at not having been offered membership. So, he chose a mortal Avatar, the first Moon Knight, to enforce his will on Earth and antagonise the Avengers on his behalf.
In one timeline, this lead to a cult of Khonshu and a succession of Moon Knights which the other Gods ignored and/or tolerated.
In this timeline however, the Gods could no longer tolerate his arrogance. Sealing his consciousness inside a stone statue of himself, confined to a limited area, they gave him an ultimatum.
If he could see past his own cares and desires and learn to care for someone he once considered ‘beneath him’, then he would be freed. If not, he would remain sealed for the rest of eternity.
Khonshu… thought this was stupid.
He continued to think it was stupid well over a millennium later.
………………………………………………………..
At around eight in the morning, in the year 2025, Steven Grant stumbled out of the door of his apartment building, narrowly dodging the guy selling brooms out there as he raced towards the bus stop.
He couldn’t be late again.
Donna would actually kill him.
He just about managed to squeeze into the cramped space, one hand clutching at his thermos as he fought to remain calm at just how many people were in his personal space.
He could do this.
He was just like everyone else.
He didn’t have to cuff his ankle to his bed every night. He didn’t have a bunch of sand around his bed or tape on his door, so he knew whether or not his body had gone wandering without his permission
He was just… like… everyone else.
He had a note scribbled on his hand to remind him to stock up on food after work, which a lot of people did.
Just like everyone else.
He left the bus and rushed to the museum, waving to the security guard, who waved back… and called him by the wrong name.
It was nice that he said hello, Steven supposed.
Dylan came over to remind him about their date… which Steven had no memory making in the slightest. Certainly not to a steak house.
Donna made a sarcastic comment about Steven not being late for once and that was that.
A normal day.
A completely normal day.
With Donna finding no fault in him that day, he managed to avoid inventory duty, leaving work at the normal time and heading to the nearest bookstore to see if there were any more books on Ancient Egypt (none unfortunately) and then to the grocery store to stoke up on food (a personal victory for himself for remembering that.)
Today was a good, normal day.
He never noticed the figure watching from the other side of the streets.
………………………………………………………………………
Arthur Harrow often found himself intrigued by the young man who worked in the gift shop of the museum.
He’d first noticed the young man after his third visit to the building, spending hours in that room, smug in the knowledge of his upcoming victory.
He overheard the cashier lecturing on something that was wrong with a new poster, only to get shut down completely, a flinch travelling through his entire body before he nodded and got back to what he was doing.
Soft.
Submissive.
Perfect.
And then he saw the young woman approaching
……………………………………………………………….
“What are you doing here?”
Steven froze, eyes widening as the, quite frankly, gorgeous woman strode towards him. “I-I- sorry?”
“I thought you were dead Marc!”
“Marc?” Steven frowned, “I-I’m not Marc.”
She didn’t look like she believed him in the slightest.
“I’m Steven?” He continued, unable to stop the shy smile from appearing on his face, “I-I work at the museum? In the gift shop.”
“In the museum?” She scoffed and rolled her eyes, “This isn’t about Khonshu again is it?”
“…Huh?”
“Khonshu? The God of the- “
“- Moon. Yes, I know. Son of Ra.” Steven interrupted, quickly covering his mouth, “Sorry, I-I might not be a tour guide, but I know who you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been actually reading up on it then? Rather than just relying on me?”
“I don’t even know who you are!”
She looked taken aback at that, watching as Steven took a step back, “Sorry.” He whispered, “You’re really…really pretty, but I don’t know who you are.”
When all she did was stand and stare at him, he slowly backed away, deciding that maybe he would choose the bus stop further down the road. It was a bit of an extra walk, but he needed to get away from this entire situation.
He didn’t think anything of nearly bumping into the man with the cane, shouting an apology over his shoulder as he rushed to get home.
…………………………………………..
Yes.
There was something very interesting about Steven Grant of the gift shop.
…………………………………………………………
“Well done Steven.” Steven muttered to himself, “You could have at least got her name before you ran away like that.” He shut the door behind him, placing the groceries near the fridge.
Passing through the living room, he didn’t notice the panicked look on his reflections’ face.
…………………………………………………………………………………
Layla couldn’t believe that she was doing this.
Sneaking into a museum after dark, but she had to know why Marc was so involved in this place, unwilling to break his cover even a little to explain what was going on.
Flipping through a pamphlet, she examined the artifacts, tiptoeing through the rooms until she reached one right near the back.
“Khonshu… God of the Moon.” She whispered, reading from the pamphlet, “… this room contains various artifacts gathered that relate to this God, including an ushabti.”
Was that what Marc was focused on?
She entered the room, trying not to react when a cold shiver went down her spine as soon as she stepped over the threshold.
The ushabti was at the back of the room, as she made her way over there, examining it for a few moments, before dismissing it as nothing, continuing to look around the room.
YOU ARE NOT WHO I EXPECTED.
She flinched at the voice, spinning around, only to see nobody there.
BUT YOU WILL WORK FOR THE MOMENT.
The wind whipped around all around her, yanking her off her feet and pulling her away from the door as she screamed.
“MARC!”
…………………………………………………….
Steven frowned as he entered the museum, clutching his bag to his chest almost desperately at the sight of all the police. Eyes still on the chaos, he headed over to J.B, who barely looked from his phone.
“Hey Scotty.”
“S-Steven.” Steven gestured at the officers, “What’s going on?”
“Some budget Avengers problem.” J.B shrugged, “One of the rooms at the back seems to be stopping anyone from coming in. Some sort of silver dust shield… oh, and we think someone broke in?”
“Did they take anything?”
“Nope.” J.B popped the p, “Looks like they got trapped in the room. The footage is all blurry so we can’t tell who it is, but Donna is fuming, let me tell you that.”
Steven winced.
A fuming Donna did not equal a good day for him.
He was already exhausted for no apparent reason.
Slowly, he headed over to the gift shop, keeping his head down low, gaze on the floor and shoulders in as he avoided all contact. Surprisingly, Donna didn’t say anything, arguing with an officer over keeping a large part of the museum sealed off.
“- Just Khonshu’s room! I ain’t sealing off half the exhibit!”
“Ma’am, please! What if someone else gets trapped? We don’t exactly have our own superhero team to deal with things like this!”
Khonshu’s room.
The woman from yesterday had mentioned Khonshu.
‘Steven.’
Steven jumped at the voice in his head, looking around, only to see no-one there. Thankfully, everyone was too distracted with the police to really notice anything strange about him.
‘Steven, Layla’s in there. You have to save her from Khonshu.’
“Layla?” He muttered under his breath, “Who’s Layla?”
‘Don’t worry about that! Just go into the back room and help her. It’s us Khonshu wants!’
Covering his ears, Steven shook his head almost desperately, moving to sit behind the counter as he took deep breaths. “Not hearing this. I’m not hearing this.”
‘STEVEN!’
The shout made him jump, eyes flying open to see his reflection staring back at him…except, he wasn’t covering his ears, and there was an expression on his face that Steven had never seen on himself.
‘Steven… you’re the only one who can help her.’
His reflection was speaking to him.
‘Steven!’
Steven squeezed his eyes closed once again and shook his head. Despite his love for Egyptian Mythology and History, he had never stepped into the Khonshu room. Not when every instinct he had screamed at him not to.
“-vie! Stevie!”
Squeaking a little in alarm, Steven looked up to see Donna standing over him, an odd look on her face.
“You’re on inventory today.” She snapped, “Not like anyone’s going to be coming in with all this around.”
For once, doing inventory sounded perfect.
…………………………………………………………………………..
He continued to hear the voice all throughout the day, no matter how loud he hummed.
The end of the day came quicker than what he liked, finally emerging from the dim room to find that most of the policemen had disappeared. In fact, there were only one or two wandering around.
‘Steven! You have to save Layla! Don’t let Khonshu keep her like this!’
“Not listening.” Steven muttered, “La la la la la! Not hearing you little American man in the mirror.” He determinedly headed towards the exit, ignoring the shouting in his head and from the mirror.
And then, everything went black.
…..........................
When he next came to, he was in the Khonshu room, the ushabti at the end of the room sending chills down his spine, causing him to squeak and try to turn back, only to feel like he was running right into a brick wall.
With a grunt, he fell backwards to the ground, clutching at his aching nose.
‘Well done, Spector.’ Mutter another voice, ‘You do know if he has a heart attack, so do we?’
“Shut up.” Steven whimpered, “Shut up, shut up, shut up.”
“Marc?”
Jumping at the voice, Steven looked around, seeing the woman from yesterday lying on the ground, looking completely shaken as she stared at him.
“Umm, no sorry!” He forced a little smile on his face, “Steven... with a V.”
He was a little hurt by how disappointed she looked, shuffling closer and cautiously reaching out to take her hand, “Bloody hell, you’re freezing!” He rubbed the hand in between his own, “I don’t think I've got any gloves on me, but- “
“- My father was right.”
Steven paused, tilting his head to one side in confusion, “Eh?”
“The Gods are real.” She turned to look over at the ushabti, “All of them.”
“You what?”
SHE IS CORRECT... NOW, SURRENDER THE BODY WORM
There was a dull pressure in the back of Steven’s head, as he shook his head, “Surrender the… this is MY body! How about you just-just let us go!”
He wasn’t sure where this sudden courage was coming from.
“Or-or at least let her go, yeah?”
“Marc- Steven, no.” Layla whispered, “You don’t understand what’s going on.”
‘She’s right Steven.’ His reflection affirmed, ‘Let me take over, I can take care of this.’
Steven ignored him, still looking around to see where the louder, almost over-powering voice was coming from.
Nothing.
IF YOU STAY… I WILL RELEASE HER.
“Really? You promise?”
Layla stared at him, looking a little stunned.
“A-a-alright then.” Steven whispered, “But o-only if you let her go right now.”
WE HAVE A DEAL
And that was that.
Layla shrieked as something seemed to grab her by the ankle, dragging her towards the door as Steven instinctively tried to grab her.
“Hey, what are you- “
And then she was gone.
YOU ARE BRAVER THAN I FIRST SUSPECTED WORM.
Steven didn’t feel brave. He really didn’t feel brave in that moment, burying his face into his head, before moving his fingers into his hair and tugging on the curly strands.
What the bloody hell had he just done?
He didn’t know how long he sat there for… long enough for his limbs to start to ache in the cold room.
‘Steven.’ His reflection looked almost sympathetic, ‘You’ve got to give the body to me.’
‘Yeah.’
Steven looked over to his other side to see another reflection staring down at him, posture very different from the one on his right.
‘We can deal with the overdramatic pigeon.’
“W-what’s going on?!” Steven whined, banging at the side of his head with the heel of his hand, “Wake up, wake up, wake up!”
‘Steven! Steven!’
“W-Who are you?! Why are my reflections talking to me?!”
‘I’m Jake.’ The one on his left answered, ‘The other’s Marc, we’re- “
‘-Jake.’
‘He’s gotta know the truth, Bastardo!’
Steven watched the pair bicker for a moment more, before deciding that this was definitely all a dream, placing his forehead against the smooth floor, raising it up and-
Nothing.
His eyes widened as his body refused to comply, muscles straining with the effort to even move an inch.
‘Nice Spector.’ Jake sighed, ‘Because that’s not going to terrify him.’
‘Better than him smashing his head against the ground!’
The odd sensation stopped, his forehead hitting the solid ground harshly, causing him to yelp in pain and scramble back until his back was against a corner, and he could see the entire room out in front of him.
Including the two reflections staring at him.
‘We are not making the best first impression.’ Jake sighed, looking up at the ceiling, ‘Look… you’ve heard of DID, right? Dissociative Identity Disorder and all that?’
“O-Only in films?”
‘Right… ta da.’ Jake gestured at himself, Marc and Steven, ‘We are… a system. A DID system.’
Steven could feel himself starting to hyperventilate.
‘Look, I know this is all a little much and- there he goes.”
Steven raced for the exit, slamming against, prompting him to slam his fists against it in desperation
“Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!”
He knew that no-one would be able to hear him though.
Deep down, he knew that he was trapped.
…………………………………………….
Harrow watched as the young lady was questioned by the police, staring into the museum as a blonde worker there, ranted about the incompetence of the police and how they could just let ‘one of her employees get taken like that!’
He was a little surprised.
He never got the impression that she cared about Steven Grant.
As it stood though, Khonshu had him.
It was up to Steven what side of the fight he was going to choose.
…………………………………………………..
Khonshu watched the one who would become his Avatar crumple to the ground. If it weren’t for this-this WORM, Marc Spector and Jake Lockley would have accepted his offer when they were first brought to his attention.
It was because of him that he was still trapped and Ammit was close to being set free.
Useless.
ENOUGH WITH YOUR SNIVELLING. He snapped, SURRENDER THE BODY TO EITHER SPECTOR OR LOCKLEY
……………………………………………………….
Steven was going to pass out.
He was going to-to-to-
Everything went black.
……………………………………………………………….
Marc gasped as he fronted, pushing himself to his feet and spinning around to glare at the little statue.
“We are not getting involved in this.” Marc snapped, “Steven is not getting involved in this.”
YOU AND LOCKLEY WILL HAVE THE HONOUR OF BEING MY AVATARS, NOT THAT WORM.
“It’s his life that we’ll be interfering with estúpida paloma!” Jake snarled, co-fronting for a moment, before pulling back again.
“Jake’s right.” Marc sighed, “We said no for a reason, and that reason was because the deal didn’t actually sound all that good, and because Steven deserves some sort of normal life.”
“Yeah.” Jake’s accent came through now, “He already suffers with anxiety and all that, can you imagine what lost time will do to him... more lost time. He’s already started cuffing himself to the bed.”
… THE OFFER I AM GIVING YOU, IS ONCE IN A LIFETIME.
“Uh, no it isn’t... because you keep offering it to us.”
IT IS CRUCIAL TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM AMMITT!
That, neither Marc nor Jake had a proper answer for.
‘He could choose someone else.’ Jake muttered from the reflective surface, ‘I’m going to go and check on Steven.’
“He’ll be out of it.” Marc sighed wearily, as Jake shrugged.
‘Best to double check.’
…………………………………………………………
Knowing that Marc had the pigeon under control, and that he would never accept the offer without consulting his alters, Jake headed into their shared headspace, which looked remarkably like their apartment. He moved towards the last of three doors, that he and Marc had automatically assigned to Steven.
Testing the doorknob, he sighed in relief when he realised it was locked.
“Alright Steven.” He whispered, “We’ll figure this out.”
………………………………………………………..
Steven groaned, pushing himself up from the floor. For a moment, he was confused, looking around for a moment only for the memories to come rushing back to him.
The reflections.
The voice.
His breathing started to speed up just a little, looking over at the door again, to see that the barrier was still in place. The panic soon subsided when his stomach rumbled.
“Great.” He groaned, moving over to where he’d dropped his bag, hoping that he at least had a snack bar in there.
Nothing.
“Great.” He sighed again, “I’m going to starve to death in here.”
NOT IF YOU ACCEPT MY OFFER.
Steven shuddered.
JUST BREAK THE USHABTI, AND I CAN HELP YOU.
‘Bastardo!’ The reflection, Jake glared into the darkness, ‘Can’t convince us to say yes, so he’s doing this.’
‘Steven, just give one of us the body.’ The other reflection sighed, ‘Don’t listen to him.’
Steven’s stomach rumbled again as he shook his head.
This was just a dream.
He wouldn’t starve to death.
It was all just a dream.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Harrow made sure someone was keeping an eye on the museum at all times. The fact that the shield had yet to fade away, indicated that Steven Grant hadn’t accepted to being Khonshu’s avatar.
He was stronger than he first assumed of the man.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Khonshu would never admit it out loud, but he was impressed at the worm’s fortitude. Yes, he kept going over to the shield to try and get through, but the incessant whining seemed to have stopped.
“This is what I get.” Steven groaned, “I can’t stand up to Donna when she keeps putting me on inventory, and now I’m trapped and going insane.”
He was still pathetic.
But there was… something about him.
Something that Khonshu couldn’t put his finger on.
…………………………………………………………..
‘You’re not insane Steven.’ Jake sighed, ignoring the ‘eh’ movement Marc made from the other reflection, “It’s like I said… DID.’
“And I still don’t understand!” Steven cried out, “Because that sounds like insanity to me!”
‘It’s not’ Jake rolled his eyes, ‘And if you’d just listen, we can explain.’
…………………………………………………………………………
Layla examined the flat.
It hadn’t taken her long to get out of trouble with the police, especially as they were more concerned with what was going on in the museum, than an ‘overeager’ tourist. It was lucky they hadn’t looked into her background a little further, otherwise some rather unfortunate truths would have come out.
Like how she didn’t believe the British Museum deserved half of what it had in its halls.
Running her hands over the spines of the books, she couldn’t believe Marc lived in a place like this.
Not even as an undercover as ‘Steven’.
She glanced over at the one-finned fish, smiling as it swam around the tank, quickly feeding it, before continuing on her search.
She was going to find out the truth.
………………………………………………………………………………………
“Host...caretaker...protector.” Steven muttered, “So-so- “He shook his head, “I-I’m a host or something?”
It wasn’t hard to miss the wince that flashed across Marc’s face and the look Jake shot him.
“What? What’s going on?”
‘Nothing’ Marc whispered, “It’s... it’s nothing Steven. Why don’t we try and take your mind off of all this?’
“Umm?”
‘Maldito cobarde’ Jake muttered, before he disappeared from view.
‘You want to be a tour guide, right?’ Marc smiled, ‘What would you say about Khonshu?’
“B-Besides him being a bullying pigeon?” Steven stammered, feeling a little emboldened when Marc laughed, resisting the urge to look behind him and see if the God was standing behind him.
‘Yeah, besides that… go on.’ Marc gently encouraged.
Slowly, Steven began.
……………………………………………………………
He was knowledgeable, Khonshu had to admit this. Much more than Marc and Jake…. And much more than most of the tour guides that wandered into this room, blabbering on about things they could never hope to understand.
“… apparently, he blessed an artefact called the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, which was created by the pharaoh’s parents to grant him eternal life and keep the family together.”
That wasn’t widely known knowledge.
Khonshu was almost impressed.
“It’s in the American Museum of Natural History.” Steven sighed, “I’ve always wanted to see it.”
‘Maybe you will one day.’ Marc whispered gently.
……………………………………………………………………………..
This was… a bit alarming.
Steven had never been allowed to go on about his passions for so long. Donna just told him to shut up and that it wouldn’t be enough for her to give him a tour guide job… and it wasn’t like he ever went on any dates or had any friends to talk about this with.
It was… nice.
Very nice.
“So… you guys don’t have any interest in Egyptian Mythology?” He asked, still a little confused by the whole DID thing, “Like, at all?”
Jake shrugged, ‘I know a little from watching you, but Marc is useless. I’ve heard him call a pyramid, that Egyptian triangle thing.’
Steven looked over at Marc, who avoided all eye contact.
‘One time.’ He muttered, ‘It was one time, and I just forgot the word.’
“You forgot it was called a pyramid?” Steven couldn’t help but giggle at the thought.
‘One time!’ Marc groaned again, before clearing his throat, ‘We’re all different though. We all have different interests, different personalities. We’re three people sharing the same body.’
“This is all so confusing!”
There was a slightly awkward silence, before Jake spoke up again, ‘Marc’s been to Egypt you know… Which I guess means that you’ve technically been to Egypt.’
“Different personalities… different memories.” Steven whispered, “I don’t remember going to Egypt at all.”
‘It wasn’t exactly a tourist trip.’ Marc sighed, glaring at Jake, ‘It’s for the best that you don’t remember it.’
“… Did you kill people?”
Silence.
The panic started to rise up once again.
………………………………………..
Layla wasn’t sure what was going on anymore.
Whilst everything in the flat pointed to someone else living there, this mysterious ‘Steven’, hidden high up behind a loose brick, was Marc’s phone and ID.
It was almost like they had been hidden from Steven.
But if Steven was just another identity, why was the phone and ID hidden the way they were?
It was a mystery, and she hated mysteries. Shoving the phone and ID into her bag, she stormed out of the apartment and went to head back to the museum.
She was about to cross the street, when her way was blocked by two stern-looking individuals.
“Apologies Miss El Fouly.”
She turned to face the owner of the polite voice, feeling a shudder run up her spine when she looked him right in the eyes.
There was something dark there.
“This is beyond your realm of understanding...” The man continued, “... and Steven Grant has a choice to make. With you as a little added insurance, I am sure he will make the right one.”
“I don’t even know him!” She tried to protest, feeling the other two take her arms. Looking around, she was dismayed to see that no-one was paying the blind bit of attention.
In fact, they all seemed to be trying to avoid all eye contact.
That was just London she guessed.
“You know Marc Spector though.” The man stated, “And that’s what matters.” He made a gesture to his minions, as they pulled Layla towards a nearby truck.
“Khonshu cannot be allowed to take on an Avatar.” Was the last thing she heard, before she was thrown into the back, head banging heavily against the metal side, as everything went black.
………………………………………………………………………..
“I can’t believe you.” Jake hissed in the headspace, as Steven slept, “You need to tell him the truth!”
Marc didn’t look at him.
“Marc, he thinks he’s the original.”
“I know.”
“Eres un idiota!” Jake spat, “You’re not going to say anything, are you?”
“It’s for the best.” Marc defended, “I promised myself, we promised that Steven would get to live a peaceful life, a happy life with a job that he loves, memories of a mother who loved him, and no Khonshu to be found!”
“Except for the fact that he has major anxiety, wants to be a tour guide but keeps getting put down by the bitch, calls a fake number every day to leave a voice message and, oh yeah, is literally trapped in A ROOM WITH BIRD BRAIN!”
Marc was silent.
“Tell him.” Jake ordered, “Or I will.”
………………………………………
Marc watched as Jake headed further into the headspace, burying his face into his hands and groaning.
‘Just tell him’
Like it was going to be that easy.
Steven loved their mother, he didn’t have anything but good memories about her, so how could Marc ruin that for him? Surely, that would be crueller than just leaving him alone and letting him live his life?
The truth was cruel, and he hated the idea of being cruel to Steven.
He felt on old scar on his back ache at the memory of his mother. It only ever seemed to do that with him and Jake… Steven probably attributed it to some sort of bug bite knowing him.
‘Just tell him.’
Marc felt Steven started to wake up and sighed wearily.
They had to get out of here, and soon.
……………………………………………………………………………………
Layla didn’t know where she was, or who these people were, but if they didn’t stop staring at her like this, then she was going to lose it.
This had all the makings of a cult, and she couldn’t stand it.
Her kidnapper had been nattering on for quite some time now, but she hadn’t listened to a word of it. She didn’t even respond to the disappointed looks he gave her when she refused to eat her lentil soup.
“Khonshu punishes those who have already walked an evil path. His retribution comes too late. By the time his fist of vengeance arrives, people have already suffered! Ammit knows this too well. She tears evil up from the root, casting her judgement before any evil’s done. That’s why we must resurrect her!”
“… If she casts her judgement before evil is done, then she’ll be targeting people before they’re guilty.” Layla whispered, “Before they’ve done anything, before they even think about doing anything! And that includes children, right?”
“Some children do terrible things. Some children do kill.” He carefully reminded her, “You know this… wouldn’t it be better to stop these crimes before they occur?”
“You’re not just talking about murder though; you’re talking about ANY sin! Children sin all the time, they’re children!”
“We will make the world a better place.” The man got to his feet, and Layla couldn’t help but notice the blood oozing out from the gaps in his sandals, “No matter what it takes.”
…………………………………………………………..
“… I mean, most of the evidence we have of parties comes from things like tomb paintings in the burials of the richer people, because after all, they were the ones who had the money to spend on elaborate murals for their tombs. But I don’t think middle or lower-class Egyptians would have passed on having a good party, but they probably had to skip most of the other entertainments like professional acrobats, dancers or storytellers.”
They were keeping Steven distracted easily enough.
Either Jake or Marc would ask him a question, usually about Ancient Egypt, and Steven would set off into a lecture about it.
They ignored the elephant, or rather, the Egyptian God in the room.
Marc ignored the warning looks Jake was giving him.
‘How did they dance then? At the parties?’ Jake asked, ‘Can you show us?’
“No!” Steven squawked, cheeks turning a little red at even the thought of performing like that. “Besides, all we really have to go off are the wall paintings and some ancient texts. Nobody really knows how they danced and- “
‘We must have an idea though, right?’ Marc chuckled, ‘Just a little bit?’
“Yes- no! Stop asking!”
Thankfully, Steven seemed to see that they were teasing, a soft, shy smile on his face as he glanced between the pair of them.
……………………………………….
Steven really didn’t know much about DID… but was it possible to fall in love with your alters?
Because he was sure that was what was happening right now.
And the thought wasn’t terrifying.
Not anymore.
……………………………………………………………………………
Khonshu wasn’t sure what this feeling was, that he was feeling…. But it felt a little like guilt.
He hated it.
………………………………………………………
YOU WILL NOT SAY YES, WILL YOU?
Steven flinched, looking all around him as Marc and Jake tensed in the reflections. Eventually, he shook his head, almost feeling bad when he heard what sounded like a weary sigh a few seconds later.
FINE. I RELEASE YOU FROM YOUR IMPRISONMENT.
The shimmering wall near the entrance of the room, vanished just like that, as Steven scrambled to his feet and headed in that direction. It was the middle of the night, and barely anyone was around.
Not even an officer.
Stopping just before the doorway, Steven looked back at the empty room, eyes focusing on the ushabti. “Thank you.” He whispered, before he was gone, racing out of the room.
…………………………………………………………..
“Let me go!”
Layla kicked out at the men holding her, hoping that her struggles might provide her with some sort of gap to escape, or that her screams would catch someone’s attention.
It looked like neither was going to happen, as they got closer and closer to the museum. As they appeared near the door, Layla’s eyes widened at the sight of Marc… Steven…. Whoever it was, running towards them. The man skidded to a stop when he saw them, “Layla!” That British accent called out, shaking fists tightening into fists, “L-let her go!”
“I can’t do that Steven.” The man with the cane’s voice was soft, almost reassuring, “Not until I know for sure that there is no chance of Khonshu breaking free.”
“I-I’ve already said no to the whole avatar thing!” Steven blurted out, “If that’s what you were worried about and all that?”
“I need to be certain though.” The man tilted his head to the side, a condescending look on his face, “You may have said no, Steven Grant…. But what’s to stop Marc Spector or anyone else from saying yes?”
“T-they won’t. I-I promise!”
“You can’t promise that Steven.” He turned to some other guards, “Restrain him. If he fights back… deal with him.”
Layla watched as Steven tried to struggle, wincing at his attempts.
No.
This was definitely not Marc.
…………………………………………………………..
‘Shit!’ Marc hissed, ‘Steven, I know you’re scared, but you need to give either me or Jake the body, okay?!’
Steven didn’t reply, still struggling.
‘I know Khonshu’s a dick, and that he probably deserved to be locked up like that, but Harrow wants to destroy him! We can’t let that happen, right?’ Jake piped up this time, ‘Let me take control Steven… I can take care of people like this.’
‘Steven…’ Marc whispered, ‘… please, please let us help. We don’t want you to get hurt.’
Steven’s eyes darted around, glancing at them in the various reflective surfaces, but not saying anything.
‘Steven...if Harrow releases Ammit, thousands will die, you have to know this!’
Steven opened his mouth to say something, only to snap it shut when one of the men holding him shot him a vicious glare.
….........................
Khonshu watched Harrow entering the room.
Once upon a time, he would have chosen this man to be his avatar. But even he had limits
Perhaps, this entire situation would have been so much worse had he asked that fateful question.
He guessed he would never know now.
………………………………………………
Steven tried not to sigh as he was dragged back into the Khonshu room.
He’d literally only escaped this room less than ten minutes again.
On either side of him, Jake and Marc were squabbling over who should take over the body, and honestly that wasn’t helping the situation, making him feel very over-whelmed.
“He just let you go, did he?” Harrow spoke up, clearly addressing Steven despite looking at the ushabti the whole time, “He picked a strange time to have a heart.”
‘Steven, please!’ Marc yelled, ‘Please!’
Steven was about to nod, to let Marc or Jake know that they could take over, only for a loud noise to reverberate through his mind.
BANG!
It took a while before the pain hit, sucking the breath right out of Steven as his knees fell out from under him. The men holding him just let him fall to the ground, nearly breaking his nose on the marble flooring.
‘STEVEN!’ ‘STEVEN!’
……………………………………………………………
Layla watched as the men dropped Marc… Steven to the ground, his face paling as blood leaked out over the floors.
“Why? Why would you- “
“- What are you going to do Khonshu?” Harrow spoke to the ushabti, “The Council forbid you from interfering and Mister Grant… or Mister Spector have already refused you. You’re going to have to watch him die.”
WHAT DO I CARE FOR SOME HUMAN?
“Oh…” Harrow smirked, “…I think you care a lot.” He moved closer to Steven, poking at him with his cane, until Steven was on his back, panting harshly, hands fumbling at the wound, eyes filled with panic.
“Stop it!” Layla begged, as Steven groaned in pain, “Just stop it!”
Harrow turned back to the ushabti, opening his mouth to say something else.
BANG!
The bullet hole appeared neatly in the back of his head, and with a thud, his body hit the ground.
“¡Hijo de puta, mira cómo te gusta!”
Layla looked over at Steven, stunned by the vicious look on his face, even as he continued to clutch at the wound in his stomach.
There was a smoking gun in his hands.
“You- How- “
“S-Steven’s not an idiot.” The accent was nothing like Marc’s, more like a New York accent, shaking a little as the guards floundered, clearly not sure over what to do, “’M surprised… I-I didn’t think h-he had it in him.”
Layla stared at him for a moment, before taking advantage of the guard’s distraction, wrenching her arms free and spinning around, kicking them both in the head and sending them falling to the ground, completely unconscious.
“Steven? Marc?”
“O-one moment.” Whoever it was grimaced, face shifting a little with the pain, before he gasped sharply,”L-Layla!”
“Marc?” Layla’s voice was shaking as she placed her own hands over the wound, “Marc, w-what- “
“-I-it’s complicated.” Marc tried to smile, only for the expression to fall a little flat, “S-s-sorry f-f-for everything.”
“Marc, please don’t – “
DO YOU ACCEPT MY OFFER, MARC SPECTOR? Khonshu’s voice echoed throughout the room, as Marc weakly looked over in that direction.
“I-I- “ Marc looked over at his reflection, clearly seeing something that she wasn’t, beofre weakly nodding.
DO YOU SWEAR TO-
“HE ALREADY SAID YES!” Layla screamed, “JUST SAVE HIM!”
Marc took in one last quivering breath, a shudder running through his body, before falling limp. All Layla could do, was sit there in shock, staring down at the lifeless figure of her husband…ex-husband?
They were too late.
………………………………………………..
“Damn it!”
Jake and Steven watched as Marc kicked at the walls.
“Shit! Why didn’t he just- Agh!!”
Slowly, Steven moved closer to Marc, reaching out and placed a hand on his shoulder, stilling his movements as he turned Marc around, looking the other man in the eyes. It didn’t take long before Marc was suddenly pitching forwards, burying his face into Steven’s chest, who immediately wrapped his arms around him, making shushing and soothing noises.
Slowly, Jake walked over as well, placing a hand on Marc’s shoulder from behind.
None of them really noticed the sucking sensations in their stomachs until a white light nearly blinded them.
“What the- “
……………………………………………………
Layla jumped back as Marc’s back suddenly arched up, sucking in a desperate, almost painful sounding breath, before coughing harshly.
RISE…MARC SPECTER.
Layla sat there in shock for a moment, watching as bandages wrapped themselves around Marc’s body, as he pushed himself to his feet.
RISE… MY MOON KNIGHT.
“Moon Knight?” The outfit shifted into something more like a suit, as the accent turned British, “That sounds a little… weird to be honest mate.”
YOU CHOSE THIS. NOW, BREAK THE USHABTI
“… Do I have to?”
YES!
The suit shifted into a darker form of the original one, a New York accent now breaking through. “We gotta have some… negotiations, ¿tú entiendes?”
I CAN TAKE AWAY MY GIFT AT ANY TIME!
“But you won’t, will you, because you need us paloma estúpida!”
Layla leant back a little.
Whoever they were, they seemed to have this well in hand.
Her questions could wait for another time.