Eclipse → Moon Knight

Xii| Asylum

"Harrow shot me!"

"Come on, we need to get out of here," Marc mumbled, grabbing Zahra's hand.

As they ran down the corridor, Zahra had a mixture of feelings but she felt better knowing she had both Marc and Steven. As they came to the end of the hall, double doors stood with a shadow looming on the other side. 

"Hi!"

A shriek came from both Marc and Steve as the doors opened and a Hippo-like God stood towering over them. Zahra wasn't quite the same, remaining calm with a curious look on her face.

"Hippo! Hippo!" Steven gasped.

"Oh, man!" Marc said, placing his hands on his knees, "Wow, these meds are really amazing."

"Is he always so...intense?" The hippo questioned the other two.

"Who him?" Steven questioned.

"Yeah, I'd say do. You get used to it, don't worry," Zahra replied, patting Marc's shoulder.

Marc sighed, covering his eyes with his palms, trying to process everything going on.

"So, are you like twins?" The Hippo questioned.

"No," Marc answered.

"Well, yes, sort of," Steven replied.

"Okay great. That really cleared up this whole situation for me," The hippo replied sarcastically.

Zahra let out a laugh as she grinned at the Hippo, kind of glad there was a bit of humour in the place. Part of her was still confused while the rest of her just wanted to escape whatever kind of place this was.

"That makes two of us. Just a second ago, I thought we'd been shot to death," Marc commented.

"Oh gosh! This will really bake your noodle but I think you were just taking a little time out. I'm afraid you're actually quite dead."

"What?" Zahra gasped.

"I'm dead? We're all dead?" Marc inquired.

"Yes," Steven whispered, "Yes, I think she's right. I think we died."

"I actually... I have... Hold on a sec. It's been a minute since we've had a soul pass through here. Bit distracted... Excuse me. A-ha! Okay, here we go." She unrolled a scroll from her pocket, "Welcome, gentle traveller... Travellers, to the realm of the Duat."

"Duat? The Egyptian underworld. This is Taweret, goddess of women and children...and she's guiding us through our journey to the afterlife. Wow." Steven blurted out.

"Okay. Right. So, this is the afterlife? The afterlife?" Marc questioned.

"An afterlife. Not the afterlife."Taweret explained, "You'd be surprised how many intersectional planes of untethered consciousness exist. Like the Ancestral Plane. Oh! Just gorgeous. Anyway. I do actually have cards for all this if you just wait, and... I'm sorry."

Marc had covered his face in disbelief to which Zahra had responded by taking his hand and holding it in between them. She gave him a soft smile that seemed to calm him down slightly.

"Okay, so... Because the Duat's true nature is impossible for the human mind to comprehend..."

"Right." Zahra nodded.

"You may perceive this realm as something more easily recognizable to you. Uh-huh. A psych ward's a first for me, but, hey, we can roll with it, right?"

"Why would we imagine this realm to be a psychiatric hospital?" Steven questioned.

"Because we're insane."Marc exhaled. "We're insane. Zahra doesn't have any memories. This talking hippo, talking dead bird, you're outside of my body now. And now the afterlife, right? That's the reality and this..."