Ever since Anubis had mentioned that they should theoretically be able to mask their presence, Steven had thought about trying this particular new skill. If it was a skill and if it really applied to the avatar of Khonshu. Isis' avatar could do it. He was sure Yatzil could, too. And Naf, well, she was a pro at being invisible, though she might have developed that ability out of the necessity to be unseen all the time. People were kind of aware of them. They walked around the other avatars, hadn't actually run into them, but no one had paid them any attention.
It was quite a useful ability.
"How does it work?" he asked.
Anubis shrugged.
"Could your avatar do it?"
"He had no need. Avatars of the god didn't need to blend in, be unseen. To be chosen was a great honor." Anubis raised his brows. "Unlike now."
"I am honored to be Khonshu's avatar!" Steven protested. "Well, at first I was scared out of my mind. Terrified, really. But it's not the same now!" He stopped, glaring at the god. "Today is a different time, yes, and avatars need to lay low. People tend to get thrown into mental homes for talking to thin air or declaring themselves the vessel of an Egyptian god."
"Apparently," was the wry reply.
"So it stands to reason this is a rather recent development, except maybe for Naf, who had a much tougher time."
Anubis cocked his head, but Steven didn't go into that any deeper. It wasn't his story to tell.
"If it's a skill some avatars can master, it might be something like in the movies. I could just think of not being noticed," Steven mused. "Maybe it's like a projection of thought."
"You are not telepathic," the jackal-headed god told him.
"I know I'm not." He shot a brief scowl at the entity. "But this works somehow, which involves some kind of activity on my part, otherwise it would have manifested before."
"How would you know it hasn't?"
"Because people keep shouldering into me and giving me annoyed looks?" he grumbled.
"I see."
"I might be good at trying to blend into the background, but I get noticed," Steven sighed.
"You are not a meek person, Steven Grant."
He shot the jackal-headed entity a disbelieving look.
"A god does not choose an unfit avatar. Khonshu chose you."
"Khonshu chose Marc," he corrected him.
"The very first time, yes. We are aware of our avatar's physical and mental condition. Khonshu knew he had chosen a fractured mind, one that might break."
Steven winced a little. "Didn't break," he mumbled.
"No, Marc did not break," Anubis agreed calmly. "Neither did you. You are not weak, Steven. You are not unskilled, meek or unable. You are part of this balance, the shield and the anchor. That takes strength."
He flushed a little. "Uhm, thank you…"
Anubis leaned down a little. "That means you are strong. You have a strong mind. You are stubborn enough to learn this skill if you want to."
"Thanks…" he whispered, touched.
He continued his trial and error training. Steven went through the neighborhood, trying various ways to be 'invisible', but mostly he got friendly nods and sometimes the question if he wanted the usual.
The vendors saw him, the coffee shop owner, the take out place, and even in the supermarket he loved to frequent some employees greeted him.
Total bust.
Anubis, who had been at his side in dog form, even though not a single person could see either the god in his real form or the dog, seemed to frown, but he didn't comment. He just observed, but he never lost a word about what he thought might be the problem.
Not really helpful.
Steven's frustration rose.
It got better when he started with just sitting somewhere he hadn't been to before and concentrated on not getting noticed. Waiters by-passed the table he was at. No one tried to sit down even close to him when he was outside in a park or enjoying some nicer weather on the steps of a monument or near a fountain.
He upped the ante by standing in the middle of a plaza. Everyone walked around him, never shooting him a single look, and he wasn't told to get moving or stop standing in the way.
"Cool," Steven murmured, amazement and wonder in his voice.
Pretty much, yeah. Marc sounded mystified and fascinated on one.
It wasn't really easy because the moment he became distracted he apparently lost his 'mask', but Steven was convinced it would get better in time.
Interestingly enough, Marc's few attempts to copy what Steven did failed spectacularly. Even sitting still and focusing on not getting noticed were met with zero success.
"Curious," Anubis remarked as he studied him.
He was in his canine form once more, sitting in the dog park as if he was about to engage in a game with the other dogs running around. No one paid him any notice. If anyone had, they would have seen a black dog the size of a German Shepherd, with short fur, a slender build, and gold markings swirling over his chest, his neck, and around his eyes. There was, again, a stylized collar, as if Marc was taking him for a walk.
"You and your alter are truly two different souls."
"You don't say," Marc muttered, quietly frustrated.
Being able to blend into the background or disappear completely from notice would have been quite a skill to have as Moon Knight.
"I wouldn't have expected it, to be honest." Anubis cocked his head. "You are balanced. I would have believed in one skill translating to the other because of it. But there is no transference."
Marc shrugged. "Well, that just means stealth stuff is from now on going to Steven."
His alter gave him a wide-eyed look. What?!
Marc grinned, shooting him wink. Steven rolled his eyes, but there was humor reflected in them.
"You are not the same," Khonshu stated. He was standing a few feet away, just watching.
Anubis huffed a little, ears turning left and right like radar dishes. "The difference might explain your ability or inability to use this skill."
Marc frowned. "Come again?"
"You are the confident one, Marc Spector. You don't hide. You are more aggressive; the warrior and soldier of the moon. Your mindset is a different one. Steven Grant is the one who shies away from violence, who hid himself, who lived in the background. He is the one you always guarded and the one who was your shield. That is his mindset."
Anger, coupled with outrage and a hefty dose of resentment, flooded through Marc's veins. His eyes were colder as they narrowed, staring at the black canine.
"Steven is not shying away from anything!" he hissed. "And he's not… hiding!"
Anubis didn't look perturbed in any way.
It's true, Steven said carefully.
"Steven…"
No! That's just what it is. You are the frontline warrior, Marc. I'm your protection. Steven gave him a little smile that was still filled with a confidence that hadn't been there years ago. You're brave, courageous, have a military training and you don't lose it in dangerous situations. You think rationally and logically. I'm not you and you're not me. That's why we work.
Marc stared at his alter, looked into the soft brown eyes that were so full of conviction.
"You're not meek or shy, Steven."
Things have changed. I know that. But the basics of who we are will always remain the same.
"So I don't have the power to make myself go unnoticed, be more or less invisible, because I… don't think I need it?" he translated.
Kind of? Maybe it's just easier for me because being invisible, just exist as a foot note or in the background, was normal all my life?
Khonshu watched them with patience and in silence. Anubis hadn't moved a muscle and looked more like a statue than a living being.
"Well, that sucks," Marc commented. "Because sneaking into a place unnoticed does come in handy."
Steven grinned widely. That's what you have me for now!
"Yeah. I do." There was a fond smile on his lips. "Let's just say I'm gonna work on that. A lot. Might just get the hang of it someday."
Steven took to training his developing ability with gusto and he finally dared to walk past the gift shop at the British Museum while Donna was straightening some stock. She didn't even look at him, just greeted a customer who had walked past Steven and entered the shop.
He felt a wave of exhilaration flood through him.
It was a little while later, on another visit, that he browsed through the shop, right in full view of Donna, but her gaze never lingered on him. He was frozen in shock, then dared to move a little, then a little more, then to walk around the gift shop, and she never saw him.
"Good lord!" Steven breathed, voice nearly breaking with barely contained happiness. "She didn't… she didn't see me!"
They were by now outside. Khonshu crouched on the ledge of a fountain, watching him with a strange kind of patience. And some exasperation sprinkled in.
"I can be invisible!"
"You are not."
"But she didn't see me!"
"You are not invisible, Steven Grant. No avatar has that power, even the one of the demon-god Apophis." He leaned in closer. "The cameras can still see you as who you are."
Steven blinked. "Oh. I… okay, yes, that's actually quite logical."
"You can remove yourself from another human's perception for a while, but you are still there."
He nodded. "And it doesn't work on gods or their avatars?"
"Yes."
Steven shrugged, smiling a little. "But I can do it. That's amazing all by itself."
Something amazing that Marc was still very bad at it, for some reason. He couldn't disappear from someone's perception, though he was good at blending into the background. Military training or something, Steven suspected.
Khonshu settled in more comfortably. "It suits you, Steven Grant, not Marc Spector. It is an ability not every avatar can master."
"Well, I'm very far from mastering anything."
"You have become invisible."
Steven shot the tall entity a look and he felt the laughter over the bond. He was close to sticking out his tongue.
"You are skilled in this, Steven. You can master it."
"Oh." He ducked his head a little, smiling unconsciously. "I guess."
Khonshu studied him. "Why do you doubt yourself still?"
"Habit? Knee-jerk reaction? I… I know Marc and I… we're equals in our connection to you, but… he's the warrior. He always was. He is the soldier and the weapon."
"And you are his shield and my anchor," was the quiet reply. "You are important, Steven. Very important. Half of my anchor and a third of this partnership. You will always be needed. And you will have abilities Marc will not. Like Marc will have his own skill-sets. You are not the same person." Khonshu reached over and lifted Steven's chin with one finger. "That is what makes the two of you so much stronger. Neither of you is predictable."
"Which makes you just as unpredictable," Steven murmured.
"Yes." There was an almost vicious satisfaction swinging in that one word.
"Okay…"
"Okay," Khonshu echoed.
"I just hope you're not trying to take over the world," Steven joked.
"Hardly."
"Too much trouble?"
It got him a dark grin. "Way too much."
Marc took over for the next two weeks, going about Moon Knight business, working off a list that only existed within Khonshu's head. It took him halfway around the globe, to the obscurest of places, but it didn't really matter where he took out criminal scum.
Steven kept back, giving him the time and space to handle his jobs, but he wasn't away. Marc knew his alter was there, would rouse and come closer should he want or need him to, and it gave him a strange sense of completion and even security.
By the time he jumped back home, Marc was tired but felt a sense of satisfaction that wasn't just his own emotion. Khonshu's half was with a more vicious streak, the knowledge that his justice had been served. It was almost an adrenaline high, ebbing and flowing, keeping him awake while he was also running on fumes.
Coffee helped, as did some mindless background noise from the TV, and he finally wordlessly asked for Steven to take over, which he did. The body was fit and rested, but the mind was in need of some recovery.
"Right," he murmured. "Grocery run. Check on the museum schedule." He glanced at Khonshu. "How much time do I have?"
Khonshu hummed. "You know there is no time limit, Steven," he told him.
"You had your fix?"
It got him a flare across the bond, but there was also this mellowness that told Steven that Khonshu had indeed.
"Vengeance is never over," the moon god stated gruffly.
Humor danced in Steven's eyes. "I just get a little normalcy?"
"As long as you want."
"Because Marc needs rest?"
"You both do." With that he was gone again, at least from sight. The deity was never fully gone, never left them alone, and Steven felt the hug like a gentle caress.
The moment he left the building he was joined by Anubis, trotting next to him.
"Haven't seen you around lately," Steven remarked. "It's not like this is really exciting, you know. I'm just going to the store."
Anubis shot him a look, but didn't comment.
Oh well.
It was the first time Khonshu didn't blown a gasket when Steven decided to hop over to the Duat to visit Taweret. Ever since Layla had become her, yes temporary, avatar, the moon god had relaxed. Well, what might be Khonshu's interpretation of what relaxed meant.
Steven let his legs dangle over the side of the barge's deckhouse. He was in his Mr. Knight get-up, sans mask, and the warm wind was ruffling his already slightly messy hair. The sun was perpetually setting just at the horizon and the sky was a purplish blue with yellow and orange spreading everywhere.
"Is he still okay?" he asked softly.
Taweret nodded, quite aware what was on his mind. "Yes. He is. Somewhere."
"But you don't know where?"
"I do know, but I cannot tell you, Steven."
He sighed.
"And you won't go looking," Marc stated firmly, eyes hard. "Ever, Steven. Ever!"
He was likewise in full get-up, the cloak moving gently behind him. Taweret had been delighted to see them together, in their ceremonial armors. They were getting more comfortable splitting into the two alters. It gave them an advantage in any fight, but they couldn't live like it indefinitely.
And neither really wanted to.
"I prefer the core," Steven had told Marc once, with a shy little smile. "It's… more real than this."
"It is. And we keep this as our advantage in a battle, nothing else."
They had only ever existed as two souls in one body; had been given the core where they and Khonshu connected as a space to interact on a more physical level. The split was a superpower, yes, but it didn't add to what both men had.
"I won't," his alter now promised. "It's just good to know Jake isn't lost."
"No one is ever lost," the goddess told him.
"You said some never arrive anywhere…"
"Yes. They are eternal travelers, not lost, but always moving."
Steven chewed his lower lip. "But he's okay?"
"Yes."
Steven studied the gloved hands resting in his lap. Marc jumped up onto the roof and sat down beside him. He grabbed one hand and squeezed it.
"Steven… promise me…"
"I do! I won't go looking for Jake. Knowing he's okay is enough."
"Good."
It got him a brief smile. Marc had never met Jake, but he understood Steven's need to know that their third was okay. Relatively okay, considering he had sacrificed his existence to save them and the whole of humankind.
Steven gave his hand another squeeze. "We're okay."
"We are." Marc's expression was filled with warmth and understanding. "We really are."
Taweret smiled brightly. "You are just perfect. Everything that happened, it happened for a reason."
"Like you gaining a new avatar?" Steven teased.
Taweret giggled.
Marc just rolled his eyes.
"She's wonderful!" The goddess clapped her hands. "She's a lovely girl and I am proud she will continue to be my avatar." Her eyes fell on Marc and she knelt down gracefully, meeting his eyes. "You have my promise, Marc Spector. I will always protect Layla El-Faouly. No harm will come to her. My oath!"
"Thank you, Taweret," he replied.
"You also have my word that should she wish to be released from her vow, I will do as I promised."
He inclined his head. "I trust you."
She smiled brightly.
Marc closed his eyes, easily merging back with Steven, who looked a little surprised, then fond. Mr. Knight got to his feet.
"I think it's time to go home."
Taweret rose as well. "Be safe, Steven Grant."
