Chapter 3
Anubis returned to the overvoid in the early hours of the morning, with a promise to return soon. Khonshu was then left alone with his slumbering child, and his thoughts. He was grateful for the help that his friends were providing him, if a little surprised. Khonshu had never been the most popular amongst the Overvoid, his interpersonal skills being somewhat lacking. What could he say, he found it fun to rile the others up, and he had a slight tendency to act before thinking. He was learning, despite what some of the gods would say.
The night was quickly turning to morning now, and Khonshu could see that his little avatar would soon wake. He walked over to their side, so that he would be in their line of sight when they awoke. He knew that they would likely be confused and have many questions for him. After all, the last time they had been conscious they had been in the midst of dying.
He watched as his avatar stretched, and let out a little yawn. They raised their hands to their still closed eyes, and rubbed them all the while stretching like a cat in the morning sun. Their hands fell from their face, and sleepy eyes made contact with Khonshu.
“AHHHHHHHH'' Marc screamed. He jumped up so that he was standing on the bed, back pressed tightly against the headboard. His panic brought forth his ceremonial armor, covering the oversized t-shirt they had been changed into. The entirety of Marc’s suit was pure white, with the exception of the golden crescent moon on his chest. His body was wrapped in white linen bandages, he had a cowl and mask covering his face, and a cloak not too dissimilar to Khonshu’s. Hieroglyphics covered the suit, woven into the fabric with a faint silver thread.
Marc’s scream had awoken Yatzil, who came running into the room. “ What is the matter!” she directed at the lunar god. Poor Marc, however, was startled at the presence of another unknown person, and he quickly switched places with Jake.
“Qué está pasando?!” Jake yelled. Jake’s presence had brought forth a new presentation of the suit. Jake’s suit was almost identical to Marc’s, except that the linen bandages on his were pitch black, and his crescent moon was silver instead of gold. His suit also did not have hieroglyphics woven into it, instead they were finely embroidered on in a dark gold thread.
“Esta Bien, Jake” Yatzil reassured the little Spanish alter. However, her attempts at calming him did not go far as the chaos in the room caught the attention of Hathor, who had been listening to music in Yatzil’s music room. She ran into the bedroom, concerned that there was something wrong with the little one. The sudden appearance of the cow headed goddess startled Jake, pushing Steven forward and in control of the body.
Steven brought yet another suit; this time a pure white three piece suit with a form fitting mask. The mask had a crescent moon on the forehead, and stitching down the middle. Faint hieroglyphics could be seen on his cuffs and the collar of his suit. He even had a tiny little tie and pocket square. “What’s all the racket? Ohh, are you Hathor? And Khonshu?” Of course his obsession with Egyptology would mean that he wouldn’t question the fact that there were two gods in the room with him.
“Little one, you are quite safe. I promise you that. Do you not remember last night?” Khonshu reassured Steven and, hopefully, Marc and Jake.
Steven contemplated what the god was talking about. He had had an odd dream last night, where his mother had beaten him and his brothers, stabbing them with a knife. But instead of dying in his dream, Khonshu had come and offered them a second chance at life. Wait a minute, Khonshu had offered them a second chance at life in his dream, and Khonshu was here, in this strange room with him. Either he was still dreaming (a distinct possibility given that there were two gods in the room with him, he was wearing a white three piece suit with a mask and gloves) or his dream was not a dream. Only one way to figure out if it was real or not.
Jake, slap me. Steven told his alter brother.
Que? Why do you want me to slap you?
Because if we are dreaming, the slap won’t hurt cause we can’t feel pain in dreams. But if it does hurt, then this is real.
Ohh, makes sense. OK!
Wait, Jake, No! Marc really didn’t want to slap himself, couldn’t they think of an easier way to figure out if they were dreaming? But Jake ignored Marc’s protests, and slapped the body in the face.
OWWW! All three boys said. Guess we’re not dreaming. Steven concluded. Marc laughed, and drew Steven and Jake’s attention to Khonshu, Yatzil, and Hathor. The three were looking at the child in shock, as he had just slapped himself, quite hard, in the face, and was rapidly switching between the three avatar suits. They must look quite mad at the moment.
I am not explaining this. Steven, this is all you. Marc shoved the British alter to the front, so that he could deal with explaining their behavior and gather details on what was going on. Steven was the most patient of them, he could deal with these people. Plus he was the one who loved everything Egyptian. Let him deal with the literal gods in the room.
“Honey, are you OK? You just slapped yourself, and have been changing outfits.” Yatzil gently asked her new son. The boy inched away from the headboard, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Ohhh, we’re just tickety-boo. We were just testing if we were dreaming or not, you know, you can’t feel stuff in dreams, so I had Jake slap me. He might have been a little too enthusiastic about it, but he thought we were dreaming. That, ah, the whole thing was a dream. The whole dying not dying saved by an Egyptian god thing. Seemed like a dream. But it’s not. So, ahhh, where does that leave us? And why am I in this posh suit?”
It was dawning on Khonshu that at least one of his son’s was a little bit of a talker. He was pretty sure that the child had not taken a breath once during that entire speech. Good thing he was also a scholar, Khonshu did not want to have to listen to inane ramblings if he did not have to.
“I removed you from your home, Steven” His little moon looked up at him, seeming surprised that the god knew that there were three of them. “Yes, I know there are three of you, and I can tell you apart. I also know who is in control. I am a god, my little moon.” Khonshu could see a pout on the child’s face, even through his mask.
“You can not return to your home. Your mother will face vengeance in the form of the judicial system. Your father, for all he tried, is not well. His soul was scared by the loss of his younger son, and he has not healed. He is not the optimal care giver for you. As I saved you and made you my avatar, I decided it was best for me to take you with me, and find you housing with someone who was better equipped to handle your situation.” Khonshu hoped that his little moon understood why it was necessary for them to leave their father behind. The man needed time to heal, and a child would not allow him to heal. A child may be in his future path, but that child was not his moon.
Yatzil walked up to the little boy, and sat next to him on the bed. “Hello little one. My name is Yatzil, I am the avatar of Hathor, she is right over there” Yatzil gestured to the goddess who had settled into the chair across the room.”Last night Khonshu requested an audience with the other gods and their Avatars. You slept through this, however during this meeting Khonshu introduced you, Jake, and Marc as his new avatar. He informed us of why he had chosen you, and he requested assistance in housing you. I said that I would be overjoyed to take you in, and to raise you. I plan on adopting you, and telling everyone that you are my orphaned cousin. I would like to, at the very least, give Marc my last name. While we are working on paperwork for all three of you, we will be using Marc’s name on the adoption papers.”
Marc, this one is all you. Your turn. Steven faded into the back and let Marc take control of the body. It was only fair that he got to talk to Yatzil about the adoption, and about changing his name. He was the oldest after all. The suit morphed into Marc’s mummy linen suit. Marc shook his head, in an effort to ‘wake up’.
“You want to adopt us?” Marc asked Yatzil. She seemed nice enough, but, then again, their mother had been nice to them once upon a time. How did he know that she really was a nice person and that she wouldn’t hurt them? That she would accept all of them, and treat them as the individuals that they were? “ How, how do I know that you won’t be mean to us?”
Yatzil’s heart crushed a little at this question. These poor boys had been so hurt by those that they were supposed to trust, those who should have protected them. Of course they were going to doubt that she wouldn’t be the same. They didn't know her, they had known her name for all of five minutes, if that. It was a lot to ask of a traumatized child, to ask them to trust a complete stranger with their future.
“I will never hurt you. I promise you, Steven and Jake that. I promised Khonshu that, upon my bond as Hathor’s avatar. A promise like that is very serious, and not one that is broken.”
“Is it like a pinky promise?” the little avatar asked her.
“It’s even stronger than that. It’s like a pinky promise times a thousand.”
A pinky promise times a thousand, that’s pretty serious guys! Steven quipped.
Si! She must really mean it. I like her.
Me too. I think she is OK. And Khonshu wouldn’t leave us somewhere dangerous, he did save us from HER after all. Marc and his brothers all felt that Yatzil was a trustworthy person; she had after all taken a pinky swear times a thousand for them. And Khonshu trusted her. So it would be OK for her to adopt them.
“What’s your last name? I’m OK with the adoption, but I Don't want a funny last name like Rumplestiltskin or Longbottom. And will Jake and Steven get to keep their names? And where are we even? You keep mentioning avatars, what are they? Little blue aliens? And how do I get this suit thing off?”
Khonshu chuckled at the fact that his avatar had only just thought to ask how to banish the suit. He would have to work with them on summoning and banishing the suit. “You just will it away. It can take time to learn to control the summoning and banishment of your avatar suit, I will work with you on this. For now, I will send the suit away.”
Khonshu flicked his hand, and the suit disappeared. In its place the oversized t-shirt was back. The shirt hung almost to the boys toes, and draped off of their left shoulder. There was a cartoon cow on the front of it.
“Sorry about the shirt boys, it was all I had and your other clothes were…Unsuitable. Two of the other avatars, Hana and Maya, are going to bring some more appropriate clothes for you later today. Selim is also going to be coming, he is helping with the legal paperwork. Declan will be stopping by to give you a good look over and to drop off some food. He is a pediatrician, and he loves to bake. Osiris and Horus will also be by.
“As to where we are, we are in London, England. I live here and I teach music at one of the local schools. I also perform in the town orchestra. Jake and Steven can keep their last names, as unfortunately only you, Marc, have a legal record currently. We are working on changing that, but as it stands, only Marc Spector exists, and it is Marc Spector who is missing, and suspected dead.
“An avatar is an individual who is bound to a god, and is duty sworn to carry out the principles of their god. Khonshu made you his avatar to save you, it was the only way. Avatars serve their god for life. You will not be carrying out much of the more exhaustive duties that Khonshu has, not until you are much older. I will not allow that, and Osiris will not allow that. Instead you will see to the smaller ones. You will learn. Khonshu will teach you, I will teach you, the others and their gods will teach you. You will have no shortage of teachers.”
Khonshu butted in. “The other gods will certainly be assisting the boys. Anubis visited while you slept. He conned me into making him and Anput godparents, that sly dog….But from what he said the entirety of the overvoid is a buzz with news of you three, and they are all clamoring to meet you.”
Yatzil raised an eyebrow at the god. How nice of him to let her know that the god of the dead had been in her house during the night. “As far as my name, I promise that my last name isn’t funny, although it might be a little ironic for you, given your patron god. My last name is Vasco. It means…”
Jake started laughing, and pushed forward to take control. “It means little raven! Perfecto!”
Khonshu groaned. He had forgotten the last name of Hathor’s avatar was a nod to his avian side. Of course his avatar, whom he had essentially adopted himself, would end up with a last name meaning little raven. The other gods were never going to let him live this down.
The boys blinked, and Marc took control back. “I like it. Jake really likes it, and Steven thinks that it’s uh, very seren..serendipit…serendipitous! Yea, that’s it. Steven thinks that it’s serendipitous.” The little boy nodded, expressing his and his brother’s excitement.
“Excellent then. When Selim comes, I will have him file the paperwork with the last name of Vasco. Marc Vasco.”
“Can, can I have a middle name?” Marc shyly asked his new guardian.
“Of course. What do you have in mind?”
“Umm, well Steven likes Egyptian stuff, you know? And even before this, he liked Khonshu. He even got a little statue of him and everything. Anyway, he told me that Khonshu also went by Khons. I want my middle name to be Khons. Marc Khons Vasco. Umm, if that’s OK. If it’s not I understand. I’m not that special.” Marc said the last bit in a whisper, barely audible.
Khonshu felt so honored, so happy, and so overjoyed that his little moon wanted his name. He was also so sad that his little moon didn’t think himself worthy enough, that he had said that he wasn’t that special. He was special, all three of them were special. Khonshu swept the boy into a deep hug and tucked the boy’s head under this beak.
“You are very special Marc. You, Steven, and Jake are all very special. And I would be honored for you to take my name as yours, for you are my son in all but blood. You are my avatar, and my child. You are my everything. I can not wait to introduce you to my family. My mother will be overjoyed to meet you” The boy gave Khonshu a tight hug. Khonshu rubbed their back soothingly.
Yatzil slid a hand in and gently rubbed the boy's head. “So it’s settled. When Selim comes, I will tell him to file the paperwork under the name Marc Khons Vasco.” She was so excited to have her sons join her life. She didn’t have any family besides Hathor. But now her family was about to expand. She had not only gained three sons, but she had gained Khonshu as a co-parent, and countless aunts and uncles for the boys. There was even at least one grandparent in the picture, if Yatzil understood Khonshu correctly. Yatzil knew things were going to be so exciting from now on.