DENIAL ISN'T ETERNAL, and Noor has to face back reality and take it head first. Zagreus is MIA, Harrow's not going to be stopped by the gods, and apparently, Khonshu likes to torture Marc by hinting at him choosing Noor as his Knight – his Avatar. Clearly, something's wrong with all these gods.
"Better?" Marc asks, rubbing her back.
She nods, and parts from him, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Yeah, sorry about that. Like, 20 minutes ago I was rolled up in my bed, I think my nerves are trying to give me a message. They're going on a strike."
His lips tremble, holding back a smile, before he lets her go. The bond feels cold for a second, but they choose to ignore it. "Come on," he says. "I found our guy."
She follows him through the crowd, realising quickly that she is not dressed for the occasion, her jumper almost stifling her with the heat. She really did not think one bit of this through.
She watches as he approaches a sugar cane juice vendor, a polite smile on his face. "I'll take one," he says.
Noor wonders if she has to remind him of their impending doom or if she should just let him enjoy his juice for a moment. Of course, that is if he was buying juice at all.
"Perfect, one sir," the vendor says, taking a plastic bag and placing it below the juice fountain he was carrying. "Best juice ever in the world!"
She's about to say something, really, because what is he doing?, but then Marc leans forward to whisper in the guy's ear, "We're looking for Senfu's sarcophagus."
The vendor slowly straightens up, considering Marc, then Noor, who offers a small smile just as Marc loses his. "Senfu?" He nods.
The guy walks away without another word. Noor blinks. "Well, that was embarrassing."
Marc huffs. "Weren't you in your socks 5 minutes ago?"
"We've moved past it."
"I haven't."
Noor can't help the small chuckle that escapes her lips, still compulsively wiping her eyes even if the tears have stopped. Banter. She can do banter.
"I hope you like attention."
Layla showing up out of nowhere to speak right in her ear? That she can't do. Noor jumps, startled, and Marc turns to his friend, eyes slightly widened in horror. When he's sure that it's actually her, he looks away, face scrunching up to hold back swear words.
Noor smiles. "He loves attention," she says. "What are you doing here?"
She's sipping some sugar cane juice with an innocent smile. "Doing his job, but better." She turns to Marc. "Right guy, right place. But you're not Egyptian."
He isn't having any of this. "Layla, what the hell are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."
She hums. "But she can, right?" she asks, gesturing to Noor. "No offence, but you're criminally unprepared."
"None taken," Noor grumbles because, well, she's right. "Showed up in my socks."
"O...kay. And so what my name pisses off a few people in Cairo? Who cares?"
Marc holds back his first remark as best as he can. "It's not the locals that I'm worried about," he tells her, eyes lifting to the rooftops.
Noor follows his gaze, barely making out the shape of Khonshu up there. "Stalker."
Layla shakes her head, sighing. "Come with me. I'll help you find what you need."
NOOR BARELY HAD the time to change – thanks to Layla – and to recover from her emotions. Or, at least, to process them. And she felt another crisis brewing.
Sitting on the edge of a boat towards gods know where – she didn't ask, didn't care, she just wants this over, to be fully honest. And to stay alive, if possible –, she tried her best to ignore the pair of long legs slowly walking to her, until Zagreus was sitting in front of her, and she couldn't ignore him anymore.
A good thing she was sitting away from Marc and Layla, because they really didn't need to hear this.
"Hi," Zagreus tries.
She ignores it. "You have 5 minutes to explain yourself before I start screaming."
Alarmed by the sound of her voice and the bond whispering that she needs him, Marc turns to her, frowning. "Did you say something?"
She gestures towards herself. He doesn't see Zagreus, of course, but he can picture it. "Guess who showed up?"
He inhales sharply. "Ha. Good luck."
"Thank you."
"I really wasn't talking to you." Zagreus is going to need all the help he can get, going by how hurt Marc saw Noor this afternoon. And he wasn't going to get any pity from him, that's for sure.
Zagreus closes his eyes, and lowers his head. "I know you deserve an explanation..."
"Fuck yeah I do," she huffs, eyebrows raised. "You know what, I don't even care what you've done, but you can't just leave me like that to overthink it out." She looks at him, pained by how obvious her point is. "You live with me, every day you see me. You know how I get."
"I was ashamed," Zagreus tells her. "I couldn't face you, I can barely do it now."
Noor opens and closes her mouth, trying not to get too angry at him. "Ashamed of what?"
"Of what I did. Of who I was."
"Cut the crap and the bullshit cryptic answers," she sighs. "What Osiris said – about killing people. About agreeing with Ammit. Was it true?"
She can see him brace himself before answering. He's never told her any of that – he was ashamed, and scared. It's not easier than it was during all those years, lying to her. "Yes."
She's floored, for a second. She half-expected him to say that it was all lies, and she would've believed him. But it's not – it's true. That means he's always known about her. When he saw Harrow's cane for the first time, he must've known. He could've helped, but he never said anything.
The betrayal stings, like a thousand wasps aiming at her heart. He watched her obsess over helping Steven and Marc, and never said a damn thing. "So, how long have you been lying to me?"
"Noor."
"No, I just want to know. Was it from the first moment you met me, or later?" No answer. "You better start to explain yourself because I may look calm, but I promise you I'll find a way to smack you into the next life."
Zagreus leans against the side of the boat, and takes in her friend, trembling with poorly contained rage. He deserves that. "The powers I have, Noor, they're bad news."
She juts her chin out, listening. "How so?"
"Gift from my father," he goes on in a breath. "Allowed me to have the Sight. To punish the bad souls. But the more I used them, the more I lost myself." She stays silent, waiting for him to go on. "Punishing the dead wasn't enough anymore. I started killing people who didn't deserve it. Started to get... bloodlust." He looks at his hand, and can almost feel thick blood dripping from them. All the people he's killed. "I killed, and I killed, and I..." His voice breaks. "I couldn't control them. My powers controlled me." He nods for himself, eyes shut tight. "So I asked my sister Macaria to take care of it for me."
Noor frowns. "Take care of it?"
"She killed me." He laughs, soundlessly. "Couldn't even do it myself. Probably messed her forever." He snaps out of his daze, trying to forget the look in his sister's eyes when she plunged the sword through his heart. "Anyway. At some point, Ammit just aimed me at whatever person she wanted dead. I was... How do you say it? A glorified dog on a leash."
She closes her eyes, before looking down. "And now?"
"I don't use them," he says hurriedly. "Or I try not to. But the Curse doesn't follow you through death. I'm just scared."
"The Curse?" she echoes.
"Bloodlust, that was me. Melinoë used to travel through different planes, to get the souls to the right plane of existence. She's the first of us who died. She went insane because she never felt real anymore," he says, voice heavy with grief. "Now it's only Macaria, judging souls. I think her Curse is being the one who survived."
"I don't understand," Noor says, and he thinks for a moment that the anger in her voice is directed towards him. "Those powers, they came from your dad – Hades, or whatever."
"Yes?"
"He knowingly gave you the Curse?"
Zagreus frowns. "Well, yes. We're Death deities, our powers are meant to come with a price for meddling with Fate."
"That is messed up," she eructs. "Fuck is up with gods these days?" She exhales slowly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, you were saying the Curse didn't follow you. So why aren't you using them now?"
"I'm scared," he answers simply. "I can't really use my powers as it is, not the punishing ones anyway." He looks up at her eyes, swimming with unshed tears of compassion. "You could. If I gave you a suit. But..."
"You don't know if the Curse would pass down to me," she says for him. The worse is, she gets it. All of it. His fear, and what he did – he didn't have a choice, and when he had one, he chose to end it. But... "Why didn't you say anything?"
He takes yet another deep breath. This is the most he's shared with Noor in forever, and he never was one to share in the first place. "I haven't made many friends. With the Bloodlust... I have enemies," he summarises. "And I get it, I deserve that, but you don't. And you come first." He feels the tip of his ears burning. "I... I mean, you're the first thing they're going to see. You have a life, I don't. And I don't want people coming after you because of me."
She smiles, sadly, looking up at him still. "But you could've told me."
He nods. "I should've."
Now that it's all laid out for her and Noor doesn't have to overthink any of it, she finally breathes. Her best friend is... more messed up than she could have ever thought, but it's not like their whole relationship is a lie or he's not the one she thought he was, like in the movies. Noor wasn't one to love in half-measures anyway. She loves or she doesn't. And she loves Zag.
"Okay," she says.
He frowns. "Okay?"
She nods. "Well, are you hiding anything else?"
"I... No."
"Then it's good enough for me." She smiles, and slowly, Zagreus' lips stretch into a smirk. "Just don't go leaving me again, that was a lot. My dad called and all."
"Your dad what?" he cries out, almost making her flinch because of the volume.
"Long story. Kind of don't have the time."
A woman starts ululating on the boat, the sound catching their attention before Zagreus can ask anything else. Noor smiles wider. It seems like at least some people on this boat are having a good time.
From the other side of the boat, she catches Marc's eye, arms crossed and leaning on his knees, staring at her. She grows red and looks away, making him smirk, Zagreus – or Layla – not missing a bit of this.
Layla has a cheeky grin. "Noor's great," she says.
Marc turns to her in slight surprise. "Yeah. Yeah, she is. Tougher than she lets on."
"Stubborn," she muses.
"God, yeah." He turns back to Noor, smiling now at the spot opposite her, which he figures is Zagreus. He's glad they made up.
"Don't you dare mess this up with her, because I'll come for you."
He sharply turns his head back to Layla, about to answer whatever comes to his mind, when Noor joins them. "Long story short, daddy issues kill," she says, as if it clarified the situation with Zagreus at all. "Anyway, what's the plan?"
Layla rejoices at how awkward Marc is, smirking. "Mogart has the sarcophagus."
"Sounds like maggot," she can't help but say. Zagreus sighs, Layla looks away, and Marc holds back a smile. "Alright, sorry."
"Okay," Marc hums. "So let's get our stories straight."
"I already gave him a story when I got us an appointment with him," Layla says, and she looks mischievous, which doesn't bode well. "Your name is Rufino Estrada," she tells Marc, before turning to Noor. "You're Sacha Estrada." Noor immediately goes red. "And I'm getting you a wedding present."
There's silence, Noor and Marc doing their very best to avoid the other's eyes.
Zagreus laughs. "I love her."
Author's Note: If you are picturing Zagreus as Matt Smith when he plays the 11th Doctor you are wrong . That man is Milo from Morbius and I stand by that