To the Moon and Back {Marc Spector x daughter}

Little Blurry Stars {Chapter 6}

Warnings: idk man. No real warnings I guess

Word count: 1049

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ay, I really liked that jacket," my dad mumbles to himself. Layla is driving a bit slower than normal on the sands. The headlights are off for camouflage.

Staring out at the dunes that go on endlessly, my father is changing shirts, and the night sky seems to drift above us. While they sit in silence for a bit, I think. 

"And little Amaris knows not the truth of her lineage. And neither does the one who calls himself her father,"

What could Harrow have meant by that? And why did the bird not want him to say anything? It's all confusing and it hurts my head but I would like to know. 

Is Marc not my really father?

And how does the bird play into it?

I've got a headache just thinking about this.

Then Layla interrupts my thinking.

"What was Harrow talking about," Layla says, not looking at my dad.

"What do you mean?"

"He said I had a right to know,"

"I have no idea," my dad says. I'm willing to be he's lying like he always does.

"I never told anyone why I really moved. I mean, but he knew, he just saw right through me..." 

"He's just trying to mess with you. You know, he's trying to get in your mind. You know, he's got this idea that he can see the true nature of people or some baloney like that. If that were true, I don't think he'd have a bunch of homicidal maniacs as his disciples, would he?" my dad assured her, glancing back at me for a second.

"So, it's not true? What he said about you and... and what about what he said about Amaris? Whatever that means..." she continues driving. I sense the presence of the bird sitting next to me in the backseat.

I scoot closer to the window.

"No, it's not true. No, he's just trying to divide us. Don't let him get in your head," 

"Are you sure you don't know anything, because-" my dad interrupts me.

"I don't know anything,"

Layla sighs and stops the car, "Every time I learn something new about you, I think, "That's it. There can't possibly be any secrets left between us." And then something else pops up, and it's like I've not known you at all."

"Yeah. You haven't. You don't,"

The headlights shine onto a spot in the sand. My parents argue quietly over the map, sounds of tape ripping off the roll. The bird is watching us in the distance. I stare right back at him.

I don't know why he's here or who he is. Or frankly, why I can see him. I just know he's here and he doesn't leave.

"Marc, we need Steven," Layla says. My dad looks like he's struggling with something, a choice.

He sighs wearily.

"He understands all of this. I really think it's worth giving him a shot," she states.

He stays silent.

The bird says in his deep voice, "I summon the gods, you summon the worm. He won't return the body." Gods? Is this bird a god?

"Marc, we can't wait. It's okay, just let go. We don't have time,"

He sighs and grabs the map pieces, taking it with him as he walks about twenty feet ahead of us. 

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He talks to himself in a hushed whisper as he kneels down. After about a second, he starts working on the map. Layla walks up to him, kneeling down next to him and I linger behind them.

"Don't need that. I don't need that," I hear Steven say.

"Steven?" Layla asks.

"Egyptians invented modern navigation. There's not a lot of landmarks in the desert. So they came up with a way to get about using the sun and the stars. It's bloody genius, isn't it?" he grins, totally nerding out right now.

"Yeah..." Layla smiles back.

"Et voilà," he holds up the completed map, which is in the shape of a star.

"Whoa," she exclaims and I crouch down on the other side of Steven.

"It's French," Steven tells her.

Layla laughs, saying, "I know. So, what do we do with it?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but if..." he pauses, "Wait, hang on a minute. You see that? You see those little pinpricks there? That's a constellation."

"We should be able to triangulate the stars into coordinates, right? Let me just scan it,"

"Well, um, actually... Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Not working. Why isn't it working? Yeah, yeah, you see, Senfu... Senfu marked that tomb, like, 2,000 years ago. And stars drift over time. Not much as far as stars go, but it could mean the difference between us searching miles away from where we're supposed to be looking. So unless we know exactly what the sky looked like on that date, we're buggered,"

"I remember that night," the bird man reminisces, "I remember every night."

"Khonshu?" Steven looks up at him.

Khonshu... so that's the name of the bird man haunting me.

"I can turn back the sky,"

"How?" Steven asks. Layla gives Steven a weird look that says 'who are you talking to'.

"It will come at a cost, and I cannot do it alone. Steven, when the gods imprison me, tell Marc to free me," Khonshu breathes deeply, "Do what I do."

Khonshu puts his hands up and Steven follows, the fancy suit wraps around him. Slowly but surely, the sky moves backwards until it's like one of those photos where the stars are lines. 

"Woah, that's mental!" Steven exclaims, struggling to stand.

Layla and me are both mesmerized by the sky, which is turning back time. Then it stops, both still holding up their arms like if they put them down, the sky will fall.

"This is the night," Khonshu says.

I hear a rumbling.

"This is surprisingly painful," Steven groans.

Layla points her scanner up, "It's working."

"It's working. Yes. Good," he strains, the scanner beeping,  "I can feel my energy leaving me. Oh, God, I don't know how much longer I can do this."

The scanner says in a computerized voice, "Coordinates found, 29 degrees north, 25 east."

"I got it. 29 degrees north, 25 east!" Layla says, looking at the map for a second before looking back up. Steven collapses and she rushes straight over to him.

Khonshu turns into sand and disappears. Where did he go? Is the sky back to normal? Is he gone forever?

"Steven," Layla grunts, trying to move him, "Hey, Steven? Marc? Come on. Come on. Where are you? Marc? Come on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: meep