CHAPTER NINETEEN
" When somebody loved me
Everything is beautiful
Every hour we spent together
Lives within my heart "

           SHE REMEMBERED WHO SHE WAS looking at. That stupid smirk she used to fall for, his touch seemed to scar her skin. Disgust blinded her rage, she felt like throwing up on his shoe if she could. Antonia's wrist was gripped hard, his dull eyes staring right at her.

"Drew," She calls, "get the fuck away from me."

The boy didn't. "You know, this could've been stopped. Ammit would've taken care of them, of me. You wouldn't have to suffer so much."

The girl kicked his stomach and pushed him off to let her go. He didn't seem phased as he pulled a small pocket knife.

"Don't act all good. I know how you think." His eyes glowed purple. "I know you better than you know yourself." Drew points to the Baileys. "A hero doesn't do that."

"I'm not a hero——"
"You sure as hell think you are by blindly believing that stupid bird."

Antonia didn't look back at the blood she had spilled. She just stared to her body, which was dripping in the blood of her 'father'. Her mind was numb, and not in a good way.

"Don't act all righteous for believing that people should be punished in due time, when the crime is already committed. Don't act as if that's what you believe," Drew says, "I know you believe that people should be killed before they commit their crimes. You believe it would save people the trouble, the heartache."

That was true.
Since she was young, Antonia thought of the Baileys. How if they died before they adopted her, it would've saved her the pain. If they just didn't exist, the world — her world — would've been better off.

"It's okay to think that way!" Drew encourages, "That's what Ammit is doing. She's saving every person who will be a victim. She is getting rid of every person who are monsters."

"Like you?" Antonia snaps, "I think it's fucked up to talk to me about monsters when you are standing right here!"

The boy's demeanor seemed to pause. His body stood straight, almost robotically.  

Antonia made her stand. She didn't want to change it, and she won't. It didn't take reliving her own personal hell to get her on the god's side, Ammit knew this. So... if she couldn't join her then she was an obstacle.

The girl watched as the boy's body deteriorated. Like rotting meat, his flesh slumped and died within seconds. The smell of decay filled her nose.

Reaching out of a blob comes a shadow, that towered over her like a tsunami. She didn't try to run, she stood firm in her place. She held her breath as the shadow that glowed Ammit's purple eyes pounced at her into darkness.

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

     LAYLA watched helplessly as she watched Antonia's body go limp. She had to hold her breath, refraining from screaming bloody murder. Arthur had killed them. He had killed them both. 

She stood behind once they left Marc's body, noting that they hauled Antonia out of the tomb.

Layla was all alone now.
She had three people on this mission — Marc, Steven, and Antonia — now she was the last person standing.
It seemed impossible and completely unacceptable to believe that. To believe that she would be the only one left to take Ammit down.

Taking the mission into her own hands, Layla had to blend in. She covered her face to hide her identity. The woman joined Harrow's group before they could leave her behind.

Before leaving the tomb sight, Layla had to see Antonia's body get tied together, get placed in a box, before getting buried. It seemed unreal to bury her. Antonia was a kid, a teenager who wanted to help. She didn't deserve to die the way she did, she didn't deserve to live her last breathing moments in grief and pain.

Now, Layla had to see the girl's body get stuffed gently into a long box. If Antonia knew what had become of her death, she would've rein hellfire. Even in death, Antonia had been disrespected.

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

     THE Vera shot her head up in a sweat. She looked around to see that she was somewhere unknown to her. It looked like a bedroom for her. It had posters of her favorite bands, a photo wall of her school friends. Her bedding was her favorite color, she actually had furniture in her room.

The girl quickly left the room to see that she was living in a house. A living house, not a crappy apartment building. She smelt of food, food that made her stomach grumble in eagerness. The smell was familiar, so much so that her nose was filled with pasta, her eyes started to water.

Antonia turned the corner to see him. Steven was cooking spaghetti while an old song was playing on his record player. His glasses loosely sat on his nose as he tried his best to read the cookbook.

"Morning Toni, or should I say, afternoon?" Steven spoke. The girl couldn't believe it, his voice gave her so much comfort, like the best hug ever received. "We seriously need to get you on a good sleep schedule. I don't think waking up in the middle of the day is good for you. Or anyone really."

Listening to him rant, Antonia didn't mind that her tears were falling down. Looking around the house, living this kind of life, she forgot about a lot of things. The last thing she remembered was waking up. Just waking up from a nightmare.

The girl touches her face, feeling her tears touch her fingertips.
Why am I crying, she thought, why am I sad?

"Toni, are you okay?" Steven asked, walking toward her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She answers, "I don't know why I'm crying. The day literally just started."

Steven's comforting hand wiped her stray tears. "You're okay, Toni. Relax."

As he walked away back to get the sauce, Antonia found herself plopped on the couch, in front of the TV. Her body had relaxed under the cushion, but her mind didn't seem to stop buzzing.

Why doesn't everything feel wrong?
Everything is okay. I live here. Steven and I live here.
Why am I like something is missing?
What am I missing?

As Antonia was channel surfing, she watched as a golden glitch flicked on the news. It showed the Egyptian city, Cairo, with purple magic sweeping up the city. Bodies drop to the cement dead. "What the fuck?"

The TV shuts off, Antonia turns to see Steven holding the remote. "Spaghetti is done."

"Did you see that?" Antonia asked.

"See what?"

"The news. Look." The girl switched the TV back on to see that the news was showing the latest sports news. "But I swear——"

"Maybe, you've been watching too many films."
"Watching too many films doesn't make people hallucinate."
"Then explain what just happened."

Antonia couldn't give Steven an answer, but she knew what she saw. She knew that she wasn't delusional.

"How about we take a break from TV and you can go outside?"

"And do what?"

"Marc has been wanting to teach you know to shoot. You can do that."

"You are promoting guns to me?" Antonia cocked her head. "Who are you?"

"It's not my choice of an activity!" admits the man, "But I know Marc wants to spend time with you on something. And you can stop frying to that nasty television."

Hearing that Marc wanted to spend time with her, Antonia didn't fight it. She happily joined Steven to grab spaghetti and eat it, forgetting about what glitch had shown her.

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

THE El-Faouly saw how powerful Harrow got after retrieving Ammit. The seven guards that stopped Harrow's trucks were dead by Ammit's power sucking their souls out.

Layla held her dagger in her hand. She wanted to kill this man badly, for killing Antonia, for killing Marc and Steven.

As she walked toward him, she heard a voice, "Don't do it." Her head snapped to the direction to see a soldier's head pop up. "Layla, wait, I am the Goddess Taweret."

The woman walked pasted, wanting to assume this was all in her imagination. She stood behind a truck, almost a few feet away from Arthur. Close enough to walk up and stab him but far enough to not hear her talk.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her. Quickly, Layla swiped her knife, but it was refrain. She looked into the person's face, panicked, to see that gold glowing eyes met her.

"I am Isis. Do not panic."

The woman was shocked. Shocked to be talking to a goddess, to hear one call out to her. But seeing the gold, and recognizing Antonia's powers, it brought a sort of sense that she had lost.

"You will not go further," Isis states, "I will not let you."

"I am going to kill him. For the world, for everyone he will kill, if I don't."

"And you will die trying." Isis grip hardens. "Do you see yourself defying the orders of your higher power?"

"Layla." The dead body that lay beside her started moving. "It's Marc who's telling you to stop."

"What the hell is this?" She asked, completely confused and annoyed about how there were now two gods on her back.

"You are standing next to a man who is being controlled by the Isis. And I'm talking to you through dead people right now. So what?" The voice of Taweret spoke, "While we are here. Isi, I've missed you! How have you been? How is your Avatar, eh? I know Marc and Steven know her. They talk about her, it's quite a sweet thing."

"Not the time, Ta."
"Right. Back to business, like the good old days!"

Isis turns back to Layla. "Listen, Harrow is too powerful for you to stop him alone. He has more power than ever with Ammit's ushabti. You are a human and are not an Avatar."

"I'm not going to stand and watch," Layla defends, "I have to do something."

Taweret had an idea. "If Marc... If he can return to life..."

"What do you mean 'return to life?'"

"He is going to need Khonshu. Break his ushabti. It's in the Chamber of the Gods."

Layla looks to the man with glowing eyes. "I... I'm sorry about Antonia."

"What is wrong with my child?"

"She's... She's gone."

The man's brows furrow in confusion. "She's not dead, Layla. Harrow has put her in Ammit's trance," Isis explains, "I've been trying to communicate to her, but with Ammit's trance... Antonia has to wake herself up."

"Oh my god," The woman gasps, "I-I left her. She's been buried alive and I left her. Oh my god."

The goddess assures, "Once she awakens Ammit's trap, she can get herself out. I will be there as soon as she awakes."

"If we take about business," Taweret speaks, "Layla, you can be my Avatar! Marc says wonderful things about you."

The El-Faouly remembered the few occurrences that Marc had spoken about being an Avatar. She knew that he was miserable. He was forced to be at Khonshu's call, follow orders that had to be done that very minute.

However, she had seen Antonia. As Isis' Avatar, she was free and didn't seem to be suffering like her husband. She seemed to enjoy being an Avatar and fighting with what her goddess gave her.

But she had seen how Khonshu used Marc like a puppet, which seemed to happen too many times for her to count, and she refused to meet that same fate.

"No," denies Layla, "I'll fight him on my own."

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

MARC and Antonia went outside. A woods surrounded the house, with a few paths that stretched out. The girl kissed her teeth, as the sun kissed her hair and skin. She knew the forest around her, her brain knew it, but her gut said otherwise. Something made the small hairs on her arms stand, a ball in her stomach slowly bouncing in anticipation.

"Yo Anni, " Marc calls out, "you coming or not?"

The girl blinked those feelings away and followed the man. They stood in the small shed that was beside the house. Marc was searching for stuff, as Antonia stood outside.

"So are we gonna shoot? Like for real," asked the girl.

He pulls out the small tin box of BBs. "Don't get excited. You're not getting anything but a BB gun."

"I've never shot a gun. Of course, I'll be excited."

"Never?"
"Nope."

"Glad to know." He got a bag. "Find cans and bottles. Those will be our targets."

Antonia happily took it and tried to stuff as much stuff as possible. "So, how good are you at shooting?"

"Why you ask?"

"Well, you can fight. You can fight with those moon-thingys——"

"Crescent darts."

"Yeah, whatever. I just wanna know if you're like really good or mid. I ain't trynna get taught by an amateur."

Marc gave her a bored, serious look. "Just pick the fuckin' cans."

Antonia snickers and closed the bag. A trinket dropped beside her, which made her bend down to put it back on a shelf.

The Vera gave a confused look. She was holding a statue of a woman, with big angelic wings. It was a pretty thing, and a big surprise that Steven hadn't analyzed it yet. But this statue seemed to be almost glued to her hand. It felt that it belonged in her hood, sending something to her.

She could feel the energy in her palms. Her attraction and curiosity were stuck in her hand. It looked familiar, a sense of deja vu that really struck her, like lightning.

"What are you staring at?"

Antonia looked to Marc and showed him. "I think it's Steven's. It's pretty, I think it's someone from his mythology."

Marc took the statue to observe it. "Doesn't look like jack to me."

"Okay, well you're not one with the book smarts on this type of shit." She takes it out of his hand and stuffs it in the bag.

"Calling me dumb?"
"You said it, not me."

Marc gave a playful scoff, before saying, "Come on, before Steven changes his mind on this."

As they started walking, Antonia questioned, "Where are we going anyways?"

"Well, if you stop talking, you'll see."

"I'm just trying not to die. What if there's a bear?"

"Bears aren't in these parts."
"How would you know?"
"Because I know."

The girl scoffs, "Smart ass."

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

     LAYLA had broken Khonshu's ushabti. As he appeared in front of her, he didn't seem to look how she had imagined and from what little Marc had described of him. She had to calm herself down in seeing the god, his tall nature, and the intimating look of a bird skull.

She knew that Marc might be mad as hell for letting him out. He might be mad for even thinking of letting Khonshu possibly talk to her. But Layla didn't care. She knew that Marc was needed in this fight, that Khonshu's Avatar was needed to fight.

She had seen first hand. She saw how Arthur broke Ammit's ushabti. How he had stopped the Council, every last one of them with Ammit's power; there were no more Avatars left to help.

Layla did what she must do.

"I do not sense Marc Spector in this world," Khonshu spoke, looking down at the woman, "He died fighting, no doubt."

Layla hissed, "Fighting your war."

"And it's far from over. If Marc is truly gone, I am in need of an Avatar. Would you, Layla El-Faouly, protect the travelers of——"

"Are you joking? You turned Marc's life into a waking nightmare. Why would I ever sign up for that?"

"Because you won't win against Harrow and Ammit alone."

"I'll take my chances."

"Marc was in crisis over you and that thing you call a child. His lack of focus got him killed," He states, "You need a plan, little bug. What I offer——"

"I don't care what you can offer," Layla shouts, "Marc didn't trust you. I don't trust you. We'll work together without me enslaving myself."

Khonshu paused before saying, "We must rebind Ammit."

"How?"
"Only an Avatar can do it."

"I said 'no!'"

With a grunt, Khonshu disappeared before her, leaving Layla on her own.

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

     "THIS shit sucks!" groans Antonia, who didn't hit the target. Marc made her practice shooting the BB gun from afar, as she did well in shooting close range. She could hear a snicker coming out of Marc, from her 8th failed. As she turned to him, he just held it back.

"The target's too small."
"I made it bigger than it should."
"Nuh-uh, I can't see shit from here."

Rolling his eyes, he takes the gun and aims it to the four bottles that were clumped up together, to try and at least get one of the targets.

Marc shot the gun and it hit right at the center bottle, knocking a few off on the impact.

Antonia's face stood unimpressed. "Asshole."

Marc smiles, "Pick up the bottles. You can try again."

The girl went down to recover the unused bottles and throw away the broken one. As she was setting the broken glass aside, something caught her attention.

Her mind stood curious in seeing the sunlight go brighter behind a few shrubs. Like a puppet, Antonia mindlessly walked to see what was shining brightly.

Looking past, she saw a beautiful sight. It was a field, that had the sun glow pretty to halo the reeds that grew. The field stretched from beyond the horizon, barely any dark clouds covered the matching orange sky above. It was peaceful, she could feel the silence there.

It made her feel at peace, the same and whole. She never thought a place could be this beautiful and extraordinary. Antonia could feel a tear fall from her eyes but she didn't care. She didn't know why she was crying, or why she felt some type of way.

"Go."

The girl turns to Marc. "What?"

"Go. It's beautiful out, just walk in."

"Then come on." She gestures out. "Aren't you gonna come with me?"

But Marc was silent, making Antonia second guess. "Hey, are you oka——"

"Go in." His voice was much more serious, almost intimidating. His eyes narrowed on her, but Antonia swore she could've seen a glint of purple in his dark brown eyes.

She slowly stepped away from the field and tried to get out of Marc's way. "Nah, I'm-I'm good."

"But it's peaceful!"
Antonia's head snapped to the voice change. She saw Steven talking, but he looked almost desperate, like he was pleading for her to go.
"Come on, Toni. Aren't you tired? It seems like a lovely place to rest."

Looking back to the field, she felt like her leg seemed to be giving up on her, as if it was aching. Her heart seemed to weigh heavy on the ground, while her mind sunk in despair.

But the field... it made her feel so much better. It made her calm and happy, soothing and nice.

Who wouldn't want to feel that way?

Before she could take a step out to the reeds, a tall woman stood in front of her. "No." She put her hand out to the girl's head, making her see shining bright gold.