Eclipse → Moon Knight

i| Murder

"𝐒𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭."

Boots slammed upon puddles, splashing mud-filled water along the dirt roads; yelling from all directions echoed in dust-filled air as the desert sun beamed down to burn those unprotected by the blistering heat; streaks of glistening gold and midnight black, alongside forest green, followed by streaks of all coloured clothes.

The gold-clothed Egyptian pulled two swords from her back holster, temporarily blinding her teammate through the reflection.

"Surrender before your soul has been engulfed in darkness."

The voice spoke in fluent Arabic, having chased down the criminals throughout Eygpt. Anyone who knew the warrior also knew that the dark voice she spoke in while armour-bound was in no way the same as when she was living her daily life.

The leader of the group let out an obnoxious laugh while his henchmen began to take out their weapons. The warrior ushered her partner towards the two young girls they had saved from the criminals.

"You have committed crimes against the gods. If you do not change today, serve your time and live as good people, your soul cannot be saved!" The cold voice spoke out into the night.

"You are a fraud! You are a woman! You cannot take all of us and we shall not bow to any god!" The criminal sneered.

"So be it."

Was she really a good person? She had to be, they were criminals, and they had their chance to live.

The avatar of Nephthys jumped into the air, slashing her blade along the leader's chest. Cries echoed into the air as the avatar struck again and again, each person dying swiftly. It was not in her nature to torture.

Apart from the leader, whom she needed information from.

Kneeling down, she placed her hand under the man's chin and lifted his head so he was looking directly into her eyes.

"Was this a random kidnapping?" She hissed.

"Y-Yes–"

The sand began to whirl around Zahra Okasha as her golden eyes bore into the soul of the man in front of her. She knew when someone was lying to her and she had never been wrong.

"You're lying." She pursed her lips from behind her mask. "This is your final chance, tell me the truth and I shall spare you from death to the authorities."

"I'm telling you nothing, scum!"

Zahra plunged her sword into the man's abdomen, allowing the moment of his death to take place before standing up in her place. She shook her sword of the blood and placed it into the holder on her back.

Zahra allowed her face to soften so she would be able to approach the two young girls, no older than sixteen, who had been the victims. She knew they would be scared but Zahra had an uncanny way of dissociating with her dark avatar self.

"You did a good job," Nephthys assured from her place on top of the small mountain of sand. "They have been sent to the duat, unworthy of redemption."

The golden mask and dark hood disappeared as she walked towards them. Omari had been doing a good job of keeping them safe while Zahra unleashed the rain of terror upon the criminals.

"You are safe now," Zahra assured in Arabic. "I shall return you to your families."

As Zahra expected, the girls were the daughters of wealthy families in Cairo. It wasn't the first time that Zahra had saved victims of kidnapping, though she wished it would happen less than it did. The truth was, nowhere was safe for anyone and Zahra had a job to do.

"You know, I always get left out of the violence," Omari hummed as they walked through the busy streets. "Why do I always get babysitting duty or clean up?"

"Because I prefer your soul worthy of the field of reeds, Mari," Zahra replied honestly. "Do you remember what I said to you on the day we met?"

"I was an amazing human being?"

"No but you are," Zahra smiled. "The day we met, I had been stabbed without my suit on and you didn't know anything...so you took me into your house–"

"—You thought I was going to kill you—"

"And you stitched me up even though I knew I could heal it. When I told you about what had happened...well...that I got attacked...you called me stupid for being out alone—"

"Oh! You told me that the only thing another person would be useful for was emotional support because you could handle yourself." Omari finished.

He did a double-take.

"I get your point," He added. "I do know that I can die and you just...can't. We've known each other for two months now and I feel like I shouldn't know as much as I do."

"You didn't really have a choice. I wasn't going to let you get killed and you wouldn't leave me alone," Zahra replied honestly/

"You had no memories, I felt terrible about it," Omari pouted. "Talking about that, I was talking to Samari the other day, my aunt who owned the small shop with the hotel above, and she recognised you when you last went in with me."

"She did?" Zahra raised an eyebrow.

"She asked why we were together when you were normally with your husband."

In a split second, Zahra's eyes widened and a gasp escaped her mouth. Was it possible that she had an entire family waiting for her somewhere...that they must have thought she just up and left?

"She told me that you used to go in there every week and when you stopped going in, she went to check on you. I managed to get an address for a house you were staying at," Omari continued.

Zahra wasn't sure if she wanted to go. On the other hand, Nephathys had been suggesting that she head towards England for her next mission (Zahra didn't quite know why yet), and she had wanted to make sure she wasn't a criminal there. If she was, it would make her job a lot harder.

"Perfect," Zahra replied smoothly. "You trust your auntie?"

"She raised me so yes," Omari replied.

Omari didn't have any family members other than his auntie, as he would often tell Zahra. It was the main reason that he was able to spend all his time fighting alongside the Egyptian warrior. 

"Let's go then."

Edited.