I remember an old friend on fanfiction.net named VegaSailor who did a story in which her favorite wrestler, Jeff Hardy, was marked by a cult to be the host of the demon Charon. (I seriously am not making that up)
In one chapter, both Jeff and his brother Matt meet up with the wrestlers Kane and Undertaker (who, in kayfabe, are half-brothers, one is the Devil's favorite Demon and one is a supernatural entity who draws powers from the underworld) who are actually real-life Reapers. Undertaker then goes on to explain how there is no such thing as one God and one afterlife. All aspects of God like YHVH and Allah are the same being.
And here comes Moon Knight Episode 5 and Taweret explains that the Duat is just a afterlife, and that there are multiple version of the smae thing (and a nice shout-out to the Ancestral Plane, may you rest in peace Chadwick Boseman). So this, and a question about Wendy Spector got me thinking about what happened to her.
Now I was originally going to have Wendy be judged in the Duat...until I remember that she's Jewish and wouldn't be a believer in Ancient Egyptian mythos. So, after a bit of digging, I figured out where she would be heading off and here you go.
So, let's get this started.
-----
One thing that Steven loves about having Marc around is that he can cuddle him when he gets afraid, or the two can binge-watch old shows at night without anyone complaining.
The two of them decided to watch this old kids show about a group of story-tellers who gather around a campfire and tonight's episode involved a boy so obsessed with death that somehow entered the afterlife by mistake.
"Looks like the DMV," Marc comments.
"Looks cozy," Steven remarks.
The episode is full of twists and turns as the young protagonist, Chris, sees two souls be dragged off by a pair of Grim Reapers into the Gates of Hell, screaming all the way. Worse, DJ Roy seemed to love seeing the fear in Chris's eyes as he gets dragged inside or how the souls who lived a nasty life were going to receive a "nastier afterlife".
"Isn't that a bit harsh for a kid to be dragged in there agains this will, though?" Steven mutters.
Thankfully, those "up there" seemed to agree and Chris gets kicked out of heaven because it's not his time. Thankfully, the true soul was identified and able to go "home".
"Aren't you afraid of dying?" Chris asks in fear.
The doors then open, showing pure light, a stairway and a heavenly choir welcoming the newly departed.
"It's only if bad if you lived a bad life. If you live a good life, it's the best thing going." DJ Roy calmly states as the soul takes his first steps into the light.
The thought stays with Steven as he looks at the fish tank where Gus and Caesar swim about, happy together. He smiles a little before he looks up and sees all of the postcards "Mum" sent him.
With a heavy heart, Steven takes the postcards down, knowing that they are filled with memories of his ignorant self when he couldn't see that he wasn't calling Mum at all. No, it's just a block that prevented him from knowing the truth, keeping him blissful at the fact that she loved him, cared for him and was still alive.
(Gods that phrase still hurts)
Steven tears the postcards in confetti, trying not to think of how foolish he was that mum still loved him or even bothered to care for him. But now that he's seen what she truly is, a bitter, abusive, alcoholic mother who was never given a proper way to vent out her grief and anger against herself, these images and false words of her stating that she cared for him were false.
This is the scene Marc enters as Steven breaks down in front of the fish tank, sobbing his eyes out. He wastes no time to comfort his other self.
"Hey, hey, honey," Marc shushes Steven, "It's okay. I'm here."
Steven sniffles. "Marc...a-about Mum..."
Marc sighs. "I told you everything I needed to. And no, we couldn't afford therapy at the time. Not like she was going to take it anyway."
"Yeah, I know...but, I was thinking about where she...ended up."
"...ended up?"
Steven wipes the tears out of his eyes as he numbly stares at the only "love" his Mum ever gave him. "Taweret said that there were different types of afterlifes, like the Ancestral Plane. I was wondering...did mum end up in Hell for the abuse she put on you?"
Marc bites his bottom lip. "I....for as much as I hate her, and as much as I blamed myself for Randall...I wouldn't wish that on her. I wouldn't wish for her to be taken to the Duat and have her relive her worst memories or to be turned into a sand sculpture."
"Then, where would you want her?"
"Not in Heaven...or at least, not just yet." Marc sighs. "In Jewish tradition, before you can go to heaven, you're taken in to an otherworld called Gehenna. Think of it like what we saw tonight. It's a waiting room for the newly departed. But unlike the show, when your "number's" up you aren't immediately thrown into Heaven or Hell. Instead, you get a chance to be purified, contemplate on your sins and then you're ready for the rest of it."
Steven pauses. "So, she'll eventually have her RoRo back?"
"....yeah. I don't know if Randall will forgive her for what she's done to me though. Or if she'll ever admit to herself that she's unforgivable."
"But she's not going to suffer through eternal damnation, right?"
"At most, she'll spend about twelve months going through a thorough washing of her soul." Marc chuckles a little. "Dad always told me that Gehenna is like a large washing machine and we're nothing but loose socks toiling around in hot water and soap, stuck in an endless cycle of cleaning and wringing until it's time for us to get out and be hung to dry."
"So mum has been taken into the Washing Machine of the Damned."
Marc laughs. "At least it's better than being greeted by a large talking hippo, am I right?"
"That's not what Layla thinks. She said her father made it peacefully and that he and Taweret have talks every now and then. She even said her dad was glad that you tried to save him."
"Tried."
"You did all that you could, Marc," Steven said, kissing Marc's forehead, wiping away the tears in his eyes. "It was not your fault; it just happened."
"I wish it didn't..." Marc wails. "I wanted RoRo and mom back...I wanted both of them back...It just feels like there's nothing more than a hole in my chest that can't be filled."
"Which is kinda funny cause Ancient Egyptians kept the heart intact during the mummifcation process and..." Upon seeing Marc's hands curled into fists, Steven backpedals. "That hole is never going to be filled as you want, but you can live with it."
"H-how?"
Steven smiles as he places a kiss on Marc's lips. "Cause you have me, treacle. And Dad and Layla and Jake."
(In one of the mirrors, Jake snorts)
"And perhaps one day, maybe we'll get a postcard from mum, just as she takes off for the heavens. 'Greetings from Gehenna' and all that."
Marc stares at Steven in disbelief before sighing. "You sound like something out of a B-movie."
"I was named after a character from a B-movie, remember?" Steven points out.
Marc chuckles as he hugs Steven once more. "You wanna make that the focus for our next movie night?"
"I'd love to."
"Good, cause apparently there are four or five more movies in the series."