πGolden Trioπ
The new suit was dark silver armour covered in dark grey wrappings swirling around her whole body, gloves, boots, cloak and all, all except for her eyes, an opening in the wrappings left for sight purposes. And, to top it all off, a glowing blue crescent blade in hand.
"Wow," breathed Steven, taking the words right out of her mouth.
"You owe me, Khonshu," boomed Nephthys.
"Yes, thank you, Nephthys," Eva told the goddess sincerely.
Now Khonshu turned to his own Avatar. "There, happy now?"
"Yes, thanks very much! Good, glad we got all that sorted out. Now, how the heck are we going to get back to Cairo?"
"You forget, little worm, I am still the God of the Night Sky!" Khonshu's bellow seemed to shake the very night itself.
At least the ground shook. "All right, you know what, I think you can take this one, Marc," Steven cried.
"Hurry up idiots!" cried Khonshu.
They transitioned, Marc vaulting up into the sky, Eva quick to follow, both quickly engulfed in the shadow of the moon.
π π π
The fight took them from the top of the pyramid itself and into the streets of Cairo.
"Eva!" Layla was rushing towards her, dressed in golden armour herself.
"Layla! You've got your own suit - love it! You took Taweret up on her offer, I see."
"Yeah, and you?"
"Nephthys."
"Layla!"
"Marc! Oh my God-"
"Thank God you're okay-"
"How did you get back?"
Steven took over. "Oh wow, you look amazing! What are you wearing? Wait, are you supposed to be a scarab?" His nerding out was cut short as Harrow approached them, flanked by armed cult members. "Hey, I'm really jazzed about showing you these new skillsets we have."
"All right, show us what you got."
And with that the three charged forward - Layla swooping in, Eva jumping, and Steven crashing in with his Mr. Knight batons, Marc taking over halfway.
"I've got you!" he called.
"I got you too!" Eva returned.
In the background, Khonshu and Ammit engaged in a duel themselves, deity verses deity.
Harrow sent another blast from his staff, only for Layla to deflect it with her wings, and sending him flying back in a burst of purple light. When he regained his footing as the trio took down his minions, he then slammed his glowing staff into the ground, sending the three sprawling back - such a blast it threw the mask right off of Marc's face, and it didn't end there. Layla held up her wing to deflect it, shielding Eva as well as herself. Harrow raised his hands high overhead before plunging the end of his staff into Marc's armoured chest, engulfing him in purple.
What happened next happened so fast - Layla and Eva were still distracted by the cult members, but pretty soon, all of them, including Harrow, were dead or very nearly so, with no shortage of blood and damage around them.
"That wasn't you, was it Steven?" Marc asked after a shocked pause.
"Not a chance, mate."
Marc came back.
"What happened?" cried Eva.
"I don't know-"
"What the hell was that?" demanded Layla.
"I blacked out - what did it look like?"
"Like you just suddenly went on a rampage," Eva explained, and he had no further explanation. None of them did.
Ammit and Khonshu were still dueling.
"Get Harrow," Layla cried. "I know how to stop Ammit."
π π π
Marc carried Harrow's body while Layla led them back into the chamber within the pyramid. There they lay Harrow in the centre of the chamber, the very heart of it.
"The power of this room will help us bind Ammit to Harrow's body," Layla explained. "Quick, grab my hand so we can start the spell."
The three joined hands, forming a half-circle before Harrow, surrounding him. The power took over them at once as soon as they joined hands. The three began chanting ancient words in unison, purple power, much like Ammit's own, flowing around them, Ammit's power entering Harrow's body, his body containing it.
"You can never contain me, I'll never stop-" Harrow spoke using Ammit's voice, her final words - their final words.
Khonshu wasted no time in making an appearance. There was no 'Well done', or 'Are you all right?' just, "Finish it, and leave neither of them alive.
"That's intense, Bird Brain," said Eva, but not surprised.
Marc drew one of the crescent blades and stepped forward, towering over Harrow. But he hesitated, blade drawn back, ready to deliver the final blow.
"While he lives, so too does she," Khonshu urged.
"I have to finish this - if not I'll never be free." Marc sounded like he was trying to convince himself of this.
"Marc! "Layla stopped him. "You have a choice - you are free."
"The choice is vengeance! We cannot take the chance that Ammit finds a way out," Khonshu insisted. "She will kill again."
"Now you sound just like her-" Marc threw down the blade, it clanging to the stone flooring. "You want them dead, you'll have to do it yourself. Now release us."
π π π
"So now what?"
Outside the pyramid, Eva and Steven stood. Layla was off to the side having a discussion with Taweret about her being a temporary avatar.
"What will you do now that you're free?" Eva asked him.
"That's a good question. Well, first thing's first, we're gonna take you on that make-up date for the one we mucked up so terribly," Steven said, firmly decided. "That is, if you still even want to go. I know that was before, well, before all this-" He waved his arms generally in the air.
She chuckled, but again, his words from before filled her mind: We do come as like a package deal now, Marc and I... But still, she spoke the truth. "I would love to."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, absolutely!"
"Oh, good! I-I-" He hesitated for a brief moment before launching right in. "I have an ankle restraint on my bed!" he suddenly cried, probably louder than intended.
"Nice," said Marc. "Very subtle."
"Okay..." she answered, clearly perplexed at where this had suddenly come from.
"It's because I can't sleep, and I just wanted to let you know so, you know, you didn't see it and get the wrong idea about anything..."
"Wrap it up, buddy, wrap it up," Marc urged.
She chuckled, once again touched by his kindness. "Thank you for telling me, Steven. No need to worry."
He exhaled a breath. "Whew, glad to have gotten that out of the way!"
"Me too," Marc mumbled.
But Steven ignored him. "Lovely, let's go home then!"
π π π
"Steven, you there?" Marc sat up in Steven's bed back in his London flat.
"Mmm hmm." Steven sleepily took over, gazing contentedly around his home. "Can't believe it worked."
"I can't believe you live in this fricking mess."
Steven was shocked when, moments later, the lump of bedding beside him shifted and a head of red hair peeked up - Eva, sitting up in bed. In his bed.
"Mmm, morning." She smiled sleepily at him.
"Morning," he breathed in awe. "You're in my bed."
"Looks like it, doesn't it." She winked. "I'll give Gus and Alexander their breakfast." She kissed his cheek and got up to retrieve the fish food.
"Thanks, Love. You're a gem. I'll put the kettle on." Grinning giddily, he threw back the covers and went to get out of bed himself - only to forget about his ankle restraint, and too late.
Next thing he knew, he was flat on his stomach, face first on the floor.
"Oh! Are you all right?" Eva cried.
He just sighed, forehead against the floor.
Here I am realizing my chapter title can mean Layla, Eva and Marc/Steven, but now also Eva, Marc and Steven! And Steven, Marc and Jake, but of course ;)
Don't worry, that's not the end, not yet! I have more to come, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to this world and these characters yet!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)