The Imagination Latibule: Moon Knight - The Rise of the Moon

Chapter 24

The man saw you from a hundred yards away and you ran, crying out in pain at the stab wound. You were slowing; footsteps slipping on the cobblestones. You were headed towards the Thames, you hoped anyways, and as you glanced upwards, you saw Khonshu watching you from the rooftops.

"Konshu!" you yelled; voice hoarse. "Do something."

"I'm so sorry little worm," he said, and you scowled at what he now used as a term of endearment. "I cannot do anything without you or Marc being my avatar."

Like that was gonna happen.

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"Don't play dumb!" you yelled, seeming crazy to the few passers-by. Khonshu didn't speak and you took that as a yes. "Asshole."

"Raoul Bushman," he said.

"Who?"

"The man that nearly killed Marc Spector."

Anger kept you on your feet but Raoul's speed increased and you slipped into another alleyway, hoping to lose him in the darkness. Who were you kidding; he hadn't mentioned his name, but Marc had told you about the fellow mercenary who worked with him and then betrayed and nearly killed him. There was no talking. Then the worst possible scenario occurred. You were on the river bank, at a complete dead end. No building to climb, no fence to vault. You could barely see straight as you dropped to the floor behind a set of bins.

It was a hallucination that gave you some sort of peace as you imagined seeing Steven in the reflection. "Get up love, please," he urged, his face in a shop window.

"Come on baby, you have to keep going," Marc said. "We can't lose you."

"I'm..." you trailed off as your hand left your stomach, blood soaking up your shirt. "I'm so tired," you mumbled. You watched as Raoul appeared, his run slowly to a smug walk as he saw you, cornered and unable to escape. You cried out as he grabbed your collar, dragging you along the cobbles and down towards the river. You yelled at him to stop; threats and curses exchanged as he paid no attention to them, nor the angered winds created by Khonshu who watched on, unable to help. By the time you were at the river bed, you were all but dead, but he wanted to make sure.

"Goodbye y/n," he said, and he held your head beneath the water. You thrashed about, scrabbling at his sturdy hands. You never thought you'd die at the body of the one's you loved. But then you remembered what Marc had taught you. Use your enemies end goal against them. So, you stopped moving, letting yourself drift lifelessly in the water, hoping that Raoul would believe your death. You were certainly close. Your lungs were burning as your body begged for breath, and just as you thought you'd have to give up the ruse, Raoul removed his hand from your throat and pushed you off into the Thames. Your head floated above the surface and you took as deep a breath as you dared, discreetly moving your hand to your stomach.

You weren't sure if it was just the darkness of night or your vision was just that hazy, but you struggled to see Raoul as he stalked off, confident that you were dead. Once he was out of sight, and then another minute following, you swum to shore, lying on the wet sand in a great deal of pain, panting heavily. You had no dry cloth to keep your wound from bleeding, and so, as a last resort, dug your fingers into the wound with a scream to stem the flow. You lay on the shore for God knows how long, waiting for the world to stop spinning around you. When it did, you tentatively got to your feet, each step absolute agony.

"Khonshu," you called weakly, dropping to a knee a few hundred metres from the shoreline. You hoped the God would hear your prayers, and sure enough, as the seconds ticked by, you felt a shadow over you.

"You're clever, little worm, but I fear for you," Khonshu said. "You're walking the line of life and death like a tightrope."

"Help me Khonshu," you begged, reaching an arm out to him.

"Without you or Marc as my avatar, my only offer of consolation is words," he said gruffly. You dropped your head and the rest of your body followed. The cobbles were cold.

"You healed me last time."

"Marc was still my avatar, just a dead one."

"Can you do me a favour then," you asked weakly. He slid off the car on which he was sat and crouched by your side.

"What is it you ask of me?"

"Steven and Marc... Make sure they know it's not their fault," you said. "They'll blame themselves. I forgive them... and I love them."

Khonshu bowed his head, moonlight streaming through the head of his cane.

"I will do that, little worm," he promised. "Give Taweret my regards." You closed your eyes, a brief smile spreading across your face. "May Osiris grant you safe passage across the Duat and into the field of reeds."

"Thanks... pigeon," you said, and you could have sworn the stern God chuckled. Then, your eyes closed, and you awaited your fate.

...

"Hi sweetheart," you heard a voice say. "It's not your time yet."