Marc was right there the moment they were back, visually checking her for anything amiss. From his expression, there was a whole inner conversation happening right now, with Steven rambling ahead and probably expressing his relief.
Yes, she knew them so well by now.
"As if I would let anything happen to you," Taweret grumbled good-naturedly. "Your husband truly is his god's avatar in every aspect. He doesn't trust anyone to keep what he loves safe. And he loves you very much, Layla dear. Like Khonshu loves him."
"I'm fine," Layla said, touched by the words only she could hear. "Absolutely fine."
"What did you find?"
"No missing ushabtis. All the others are the real deal."
Marc breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, and Osiris knows we sneaked a peek."
"He… what?! You ran into… Osiris?"
Khonshu was suddenly right there, towering over his avatar and leaning down. His beak nearly touched Layla. Not too long ago it might have given her the creeps and definitely nightmares, but she had learned a lot about the old bird and while Layla would never able to read him as Marc could, she understood he was worried, not simply angry.
"Osiris?" he thundered. "Osiris?!"
"Yes, Osiris. Well, his avatar."
"What did he want?!" he demanded.
She looked into the bony sockets, took in the riled-up swirl of loose bandages and the tattered cape. Marc was now by her side, an expression of worry reflected on his features. His eyes shifted between Steven's softer brown and Marc's harder dark ones.
"Layla…"
She took his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Nothing happened, Khonshu," she told the looming god. "He knows about the theft and he wasn't happy about it. End of story."
"He now knows I am free then."
Her eyes fell on the jackal-headed deity. It was really getting crowded here, though the flat seemed just as comfortably large enough as before.
Anubis hadn't been around when Layla had agreed to become a temporary avatar. He had been absent for a while now.
Now he was here.
And he was looking at Layla with a curious expression.
"Layla El-Faouly, avatar of Taweret."
She nearly rolled her eyes. "Yes. Old news by now. As for Osiris, yes, he knows your ushabti was stolen. That's it. Everything else would be speculation on his part, unless he can somehow sense you're free. I didn't tell him and neither did Taweret."
Anubis looked doubtful. "Osiris isn't an idiot. Since you know about the replica in the chamber, you had to have found the real one."
"But he can't draw any conclusions from that. That we released you," she argued. She exchanged a look with Marc, who shrugged.
Anubis snorted, shaking his head, and shot a pointed look at the moon god, ears twitching.
"Osiris knows you are the wife of Khonshu's soul-bound, bound to the god of the moon through him. He doesn't have to speculate as to what any single one of you would most likely do. And you did it. You released me."
"He can't throw the book at us," Marc argued. "No more than he already did in the past. He also can't banish Khonshu again because he didn't break a Law, right? No one was revealed to anyone and there wasn't some kind of celestial event that stunned and frightened half the globe."
Khonshu huffed.
"Nope, there wasn't," Taweret said, appearing next to Layla, startling her a little. "Hello, Anubis." She waved. "Long time no see. You're looking good."
Anubis's ears twitched a little and his lips lifted into a brief smile. "Taweret."
She beamed at him.
Khonshu rumbled softly. "Osiris does not preside over this realm," he stated evenly. "As Taweret said, there is no Law that applies to this situation. The Laws govern our interaction with other species, other realms, not how we conduct our lives with one another."
"And that includes one of you releasing a prisoner?" Marc asked doubtfully.
"Yes. And I did not release him," came the smug addition.
"You're just the little shit who didn't stop me, right?"
"You are a crafty one. I can never predict your next move," was the airy reply. "Always out of my control. I cannot be held responsible for your… actions."
The grin was right there, even without lips or an actual face made of muscles and skin. Marc reflected it.
"Yeah, right."
"Anubis is free and unless a crime is committed, he will remain so," the moon god stated. "The Laws do not apply."
The timeless gaze fell on the jackal-headed deity, a clear warning in its depth. Khonshu wouldn't hesitate to exact his justice and vengeance upon the other god should Anubis fail to adhere to the laws of this realm.
"You have my word, Khonshu. My vow. I am a protector. I will serve this realm now." He crossed his forearms in shape of an X in front of his chest, bowing a little.
Taweret smiled brightly. "Your little team is growing, Khonshu."
Layla suppressed a smile, but only barely, because Khonshu gave the goddess a sour look.
"I do not have a 'team'," he muttered disdainfully.
"Oh, you do," she declared, ignoring the mood. "All of us." Taweret spread her arms. "And also a demon-god with his kick-ass avatar bond-mate."
Anubis' brows shot up.
Marc smirked and gave the moon god a challenging look. It got him a dark stare in return, then Khonshu was gone.
Taweret clapped her hands together. "That's my cue. Got a ship to run and customers to handle! Toodles, everyone!"
With that she disappeared, too.
Marc tilted his head, meeting the milky white gaze of the former guardian god of the underworld. Anubis shrugged and changed shape into his canine form. He trotted over to the rug he usually used and curled up as if it was the most thing in the world.
Marc threw his hands into the air.
Things were changing, Layla decided. And from Marc's expression, he was thinking the same.
"It confuses him," Marc said softly as they sat outside, in a park, take-out in their hands.
"Having allies?"
"Having anyone aside from his avatar."
Layla used her chopsticks to pick out some vegetables from her box. "He's been alone for thousands of years."
Marc grunted.
"You changed that, Marc."
He shrugged.
"You and Steven."
"Please don't call us family," he groaned.
She chuckled and elbowed him gently. "A very weird one, but maybe?"
"Whatever you call it, you're married to it," he joked.
"Yet all I get is take-out, after my Mission Impossible style daring heist."
Marc grinned. "Your favorite place. And it wasn't a heist. You just went to check some stuff."
"It was worthy of a spy movie."
He raised his soda can. "Cheers to that."
Layla stuck out her tongue, then went back to eating.
They went for a long walk afterwards, hand in hand.
Above them, on the roofs, Khonshu watched his avatar, guarding and protective.
He stood inside the ushabti chamber, lips thinned, dark eyes on the multitude of lit-up spaces, a candle in each single one. Some contained an ushabti; one held nothing but a cheap copy.
Osiris, still in possession and control of his avatar, reached for the ushabti depicting Anubis. It had the right weight, the right size, but he didn't sense the spirit of its occupant.
"How did this happen?" Selim asked, voice quiet.
"I do not know," the head of the Ennead answered with barely contained rage.
"It happened over a thousand years ago."
"Yes."
Osiris-Selim turned it over and over in his hands. It was impeccable craftmanship, so true to the real piece, but upon closer inspection it showed some imperfections.
Hidden among the others in plain sight, he mused.
"What will you do?"
The god seemed to shift within him. It was still a slightly strange sensation, even though he had been Osiris' loyal avatar for close to a century now. Selim had been chosen by the god, offered to be his avatar until he wanted to end his service by his own choice, and so far, Selim hadn't found a reason why he should.
"Anubis has regained freedom. I will not judge him again. He has served his sentence."
Selim raised his brows. Osiris chuckled, a soft, rueful noise in his head.
"Nothing can be done now. He will not return to the Overvoid or the Duat. Let him roam the realm of humankind. He is Khonshu's problem now."
"Like Apophis?"
Another wry chuckle. "Like Apophis."
There was the tiniest of shifts as Osiris released control and Selim placed the ushabti back in its shrine-like hole. He walked back toward the Council Chamber at a sedate pace, his own thoughts turning over events. He hadn't been Osiris' avatar back then, but he knew that to enter this place and steal a relic like an ushabti was more than a mere offense. It was a crime of immense proportions.
And no active avatar would do such a thing; no god would dare to be part of such a crime. No god would have consciously let their avatar take the ushabti.
"We might never solve this," he said as they arrived in the vast hall, voice echoing slightly.
The chamber was empty, except for them. Osiris hadn't summoned the others and right now it didn't feel like he had any inclination to share the revelations with the rest of the Ennead either.
"The perpetrator is most likely dead," the god agreed. "It was a singular crime. No other ushabti were taken."
"You won't tell the others?"
"They will have to know about Anubis," Osiris said after a long moment of silence.
"Yes."
It got him an almost weary sigh and Selim felt with the powerful entity. For all his outward coldness, the way he handled matters with detachment, Osiris wasn't emotionless. Well, his emotions showed when confronted with Khonshu, but that was another matter. The moon god struck a special nerve within the head of the Ennead and he probably always would. Selim hadn't been around for their past encounters, but he knew it had been… intense.
He had been there for the fateful decision to banish Khonshu into an ushabti. It hadn't been an easy decision, one made lightly. Osiris had warned the other deity and he had had to act on the repeated transgressions. Otherwise he would have lost all respect and political power.
"I shall call upon you when needed," Osiris drew him out of his thoughts.
He inclined his head. Selim felt the other leave, the brief jolt almost reminiscent of the possession when he took over. The avatar gave the silent, dark chamber one last look, then walked down the corridor that led to the portal back to his home realm.
"This isn't so bad." Layla glanced at the tall figure next to her, a small, almost hesitant smile on her lips.
Tawaret's own smile was full of love and happiness. "It isn't, is it?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Anything, girl! Just fire away!"
"Before… before now, have you had many avatars?"
The goddess settled next to her, eyes roaming around the scenery everywhere. Layla had chosen a secluded spot at Pen Ponds in Richmond Parks, with a very nice view of the lake. At this time of day and year there were hardly any visitors around. Layla had wrapped herself in winter clothes, despite the fact that it was only autumn, but they kept her cozy and warm as she simply sat and watched.
"I had a few avatars before you, Layla," Taweret said softly, a little wistfully. "Lovely girls, all of them. And one wonderful young man."
Layla smiled. "You didn't have another for a long time. After your last chosen. Why?"
"Gods don't go from one avatar to the next," Tawaret explained, almost scoffing. "You can't just replace one with the next. Doesn't work like that. There is an emotional attachment. At least for most." She smiled a little. "Well, all, really. You are part of us, are our voice, our eyes and ears, our vessel. And for some, the warrior. Which isn't just Khonshu, you know."
Layla nodded. "I know. I also know Khonshu didn't just hop over to Marc after Harrow. Still can't wrap my head around that anyway. Harrow!"
"Mistakes are part of life. Even eternal, timeless life. Sometimes we choose the wrong person."
"Did you? Before?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm glad that it never happened to me, but Khonshu isn't the only one who suffered from such a fatal choice, though his had consequences unlike any other's. But back to your question: we choose carefully. It just clicks." She winked at Layla. "Like with you. You are an amazing avatar. For a temp." Another wink. "But my duties, as they are now… well…" She shrugged. "Let's say I didn't need an avatar and I wouldn't have wanted anyone to associate themselves with the afterlife." The small ears flicked almost nervously. "At least not with me and the afterlife. I'm not the true guardian, just the stand in."
She nodded. "I understand, I think."
Taweret twisted her hands, then stopped. "Humankind has an image of the gods of the afterlife. I'm not… really like that."
"Women and childbirth. Life. Not death."
"Yes. Life is not more or less than death. Death is no more frightening than life. But humankind created vivid imagery of both. It would be a disappointment for any avatar not to be chosen by Anubis or Osiris. Even Nehebkau, though the guy weaseled out of so many duties." Her ears flattened briefly, brows lowering in quite visible judgement. "He was more of a show pony. Loved to overdo it. Oh, and he was really flighty most of the time. Osiris barely got him to attend to any of his duties." She grimaced. "Anubis told him to scram more than once because he was confusing the souls about to be judged. He was all glamor and no brains."
Layla grinned, shaking her head. She was getting quite an insight into the real gods behind the stories. Then she became serious again.
"I'm not disappointed," she stated.
Taweret lit up. "Thank you! I do my very best. I'm still not the tall, dark and brooding type."
"Clearly. But neither is Anubis."
"No, he's a sweetheart, really. Very good at being a guardian and also quite a warrior. I'm still getting the hang of a few things, but all in all it works quite well over there."
"Why did you become Anubis' successor?"
It got her a shrug. "I had some time on my hands? There wasn't anyone who fell all over themselves to take the job? And someone needs to do it." Another shrug. "It's not bad, Layla. I get to meet so many interesting people. And your husband, as well as his alter. They were the most interesting of souls to ever arrive in the Duat!"
She smiled. "Yes. Steven's your biggest fan."
Taweret beamed. "He's a lovely young man!" She quickly waved a hand. "Not that your husband isn't. In his own way? A little more intense, maybe? If you ask me, I wouldn't put it past him to take on a god himself to get out of a tight spot, am I right? He'd probably try to throw me overboard and steer the ship through the Western Gates, if it means it's the only way to get back home." She was grinning. "But don't listen to little old me prattling."
"Oh, Marc is intense and there was a time we had to get to know each other again." Layla fell silent, watching the ducks paddle around near the shore. "They are different, but Steven is a part of Marc and Marc is a part of Steven. I love them in different ways. Very, very much." She slanted a look at Taweret. "This isn't some weird threesome."
"Oh, they got that with Khonshu," she quipped, not even looking embarrassed.
Layla laughed out loud. "Yes, they do. And I'm married to that. All of this is a very important part of Marc's life, including the big Tweety Bird with an attitude problem, but it's also my life. I don't want to change it, actually." She looked almost contemplative.
"Thank you for trusting me," the goddess suddenly said, voice very serious, just like her expression.
Layla gave her a quizzical look. "What?"
"Your trust. In me. Trusting yourself with me. You didn't want to do this because your view of the gods was jaded by your husband's experience with Khonshu. Yes, you accepted and became my temporary avatar. You trusted me and that means a lot to little old me."
She looked into the dark eyes, read so much happiness and love, and so many emotions in there, it had Layla slightly stunned. It had been a gut feeling, coupled with how Steven had made his own case for Taweret, how he loved her, trusted her, and Layla knew Steven's instincts were very spot-on in that regard.
"Would you… object to… well, if I wanted to stay a temporary avatar little longer?" she asked carefully.
"My… temporary avatar?"
She nodded.
Taweret's expression shifted from stunned to amazed to absolute happiness, and a squee escaped the timeless being.
"You would?! You want to?! Of course I want you to, Layla El-Faouly! Oh, I'd love to so very much!"
The warmth spreading through her was all Taweret and it was an amazing sensation.
The goddess was brimming with happiness and Layla had to suppress a laugh. The other-dimensional entity was quite excitable, though she would never confuse that with being shallow or an airhead, even if Taweret sometimes came across as a little over the top.
She liked her.
She loved the abilities of her suit and the edge it gave her.
And she understood a little more about Khonshu's connection to his Knight, to the man who was her husband. Layla knew her oath to Taweret was quite different, but for the first time in her life, she understood something no one else could, aside from another avatar.
Because she was an avatar now.