Eclipse → Moon Knight

Xii| Asylum

"But Marc, Marc." Steven was cut off.

"The hospital. That's the imagination. Sorry, he's... Oh, man. Dr Harrow's right."

"Dr Harrow?" Steven questioned.

"This is an organizing principle."

"Is he a doctor now?" Steven added.

"I'll prove it to you. So, like, right through these doors, for example, we go through here, there's gonna be patients, and there's Crawley probably about to yell bingo!" Marc yelled, shoving the doors open.

Beyond the doors lay a boat, gliding across what appeared to be the desert but like it went on for infinity. Two tables stood in front of them with a set of scales. The scales had a statue carved into them. 

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What is this?" Steven panicked.

"This is the underworld." Zahra breathed.

"I'm not crazy."Marc exclaimed, "I'm dead. Where did you say we're going?"

"We're sailing to A'aru. To the Field of Reeds, right, Taweret?" Steven pointed in front of them.

"Ah, so he's the smart one, hey?"Taweret replied, "Well, if your heart's balanced in life, then you will spend eternity in paradise. The Field of Reeds. But before we get there, I've just got to do a quick little..."

She raised her hands and plunged them into Marc and Steven's chests first, pulling out two hearts that were pearly white. She quickly moved to do the same to Zahra before the woman had time to freak out.

"Oh, goody! It worked! Look at that! There was little old me worrying I'd blow your chests wide open."

"Sorry, what?" Steven gasped.

"Wait, what's she doing?" Marc questioned.

"She's weighing our hearts on the Scales of Justice and the Feather of Truth. You see, the ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the sign of who you really were in life. If the Scales balance by the time you end the journey, then a soul is permitted to pass into the Field of Reeds."

"How do you know that Z? Marc questioned, doubting she had memories that would have taught her that.

"I just do and besides, Nephthys took care of the dead and only those whose scales weighed up," Zahra replied.

"What if they don't balance?"

"You get thrown overboard. Whoo!" Taweret answered. "The dead will drag you down into the Duat, where you will remain forever, frozen in the sand. No unbalanced souls on my boat. Them's the rules. Fingers crossed for you guys, hey?"

Marc walked to the edge of the boat, peering over. Zahra and Steve followed, looking at the sand that stretched for...well no one really knew.

"I don't care what this hippo says. There's no way we're ending up down there. And we're not going to the Field of Reeds, either. All right." Marc whispered.

"What are you proposing?"Steven asked.

"If it comes to it, kill the hippo, steal the boat."

"Kill? I don't think so," Zahra whispered back harshly. "Besides, what are three dead people going to do against a God, Marc?"

"Um, hello?" Taweret called them.

They turned back to God and noticed the two scales. Marc and Steven's scale was rocking back and forth heavily. Meanwhile, Zahra would look like it was about to balance before tipping away and then repeating the process.

"What? Why is it doing that? Why is it moving like that?" Steven questioned.

"I don't know. I do not have a card for this. Oh. It's the hearts. They aren't full. And trust me, I'm a goblet half-full kind of gal, but... It's like they each feel incomplete." Taweret explained.