The Moon and The Sun (MoonKnightxReader)

Obedience

[🌙 This chapter contain a quick depiction of graphic violence.🌙]

[Third Person's POV]

"It's tragic, really. An otherwise unblemished flower has been...corrupted. What does it feel like, to have that uncontrollable power pulsing through your veins? Can you hear them? Do they call out to you like a siren, unable to avoid their beckoning? Have you gazed upon their form?"

His grip tightened around her already bruised neck, choking the remaining life from her. He was stealing her breath and all she could do was watch. She clawed at his bony knuckles, but failed to loosen his grip.

He slowly raised her body by her neck, her dangling legs beginning to kick in defiance.

"You're unlike anything I've ever seen. How have you controlled the urge for so long, how have you fought without submitting? Your mind...is still in one piece, not fracturing under the stress of the burden that lives within you."

She croaked and wheezed as he continued to raise her above the ground. Her eyes were becoming bloodshot as the vessels in her eyes burst due to the lack of oxygen and the intense numbness of the strain on her neck.

"Tell me who resides in there." He gravely requested, using his free hand to raise his cane, tapping on her sweating and blotchy forehead with the double-headed crocodile ornament.

Her previously thrashing legs had become significantly tamed, hardly moving, and slowing to stop. With a wheeze, she expelled an excruciating final breath.
***
[Return to First Person POV]

{2 Hours Earlier}

I cautiously returned into the apartment through the window. With one foot on the hardwood floor, I hesitated, listening for any movement other than my own.

Once I was satisfied, I climbed in fully, now putting both legs onto the ground. My heart hammered in my chest as I remembered Steven's request just minutes before.

Run.

He obviously knew something I didn't, and by obeying him, I silently waited outside on the slanted roof of the building, hiding behind the corner of the jutting window.

My hand was still clamped closed over the object that nearly killed me. I shoved it into my pocket and away from my mind for the moment.

Now as I surveyed his apartment, I realized he wasn't anywhere to be seen. I had missed the conversation he was sharing before climbing out the window, so I was at a loss as to who he left with.

Oh God. How was I supposed to find him?

My Steven.

My chest burned as I considered the high possibility that something tragic had happened to him while I was mere meters away.

I scanned the room, hoping to find a clue that would lead me to finding him. Panic arose from deep within, fearing that I had failed him.

The fear of failing Steven was too strong to have just been in contact with him for less than a week. It was a lifetime of fear, several lifetimes accumulating into a moment, overwhelming and devastating me.

The fear of abandoning Marc tore my heart into pieces.

No, that can't be right. I was afraid for Steven. Marc wasn't real.

Right?

Bewildering thoughts and the flashes of visions swirled around my head, causing the recognizable ache within to spark once more. I held my head in my hands, crying under the duress of confinement I felt within my own head.

"I vow my heart, body, and soul to you for all eternity."

"No!" I yelled into the empty apartment, tears relentlessly streaming down my face. "You're not real!" In a frenzy, I turned in circles, trying to find the voice that haunted my dreams.

"Please promise you'll never leave me..."

"Stop it!" My knees hit the floor with a painful thud, unable to stand under the pressure within my mind. "Stop torturing me!" I pleaded to no avail.

It felt like two worlds had clashed within me and now they were being torn apart, the pieces blending together, unable to return to their proper and separate places.

There was a past and a present fusion. Two lives. One soul.

You're almost there. Remember.

I was petrified. The voice I brushed off hearing earlier was speaking to me again.

With every fiber of my being, I warred with the resounding voice that wasn't my own. "You aren't real, this isn't real..." I knelt over until my forehead rested into the hardwood, my failing tears creating small puddles beneath my cheeks. "Please, leave me alone."

You've fought me for millennia.

My heaving weeps subsided. My trembling breath echoed off of the ground. My energy was consumed, depleted. There was nothing within me left to resist any longer, and now that Steven was gone without a trace, I had no anchor in this sea of debilitating weakness. My wandering eyes landed on the sand that surrounded Steven's bed.

Go.

A final obedience forced me to move. I couldn't stop myself from crawling towards the semi-circle and falling to my side in utter defeat. The worst part is, it was relieving to comply with the orders. It was like my body was finally resting after contesting in an eternal battle for so long.

Peaceful serenity found me, caressing me in soft caresses and an tranquil atmosphere, as a laid beside the ring of sand.

As if I was rejuvenated with life, an insatiable desire swept over me, and my body suddenly wanted to run, sprint, and climb the walls if needed, to release this sudden pent up energy.

Touch it.

Immediately, my hand thrusted into the sand without hesitation. My fingers raked through it, reveling in the coarse grain and the gritty texture. It was comforting and reminded me of home.

Home?

Surrender the body to me.

"...No..." I muttered weakly, shaking my head in defiance. My hand rested in the sand comfortably, as if it were made to withstand the granular particles.

Surrender and I will take you to him.

I considered the proposition, not understanding what I was surrendering to. Surrendering to sleep, to rest?

But Marc was waiting for me. No, Steven was waiting.

"I love you, (Y/N)..."

My mind began to sear again, and I, unable to bear it much longer finally submitted. I rolled onto my back, looking up at the ceiling, finally conquered.

"Okay..." I nodded once, "I...I surrender..."

I admire your persistent fortitude. But you would have surrendered eventually.

A black shadow fell over my eyes, entombing me in darkness.