Suits and Reasons
“Dank Farrik!” exclaimed the Mandalorian half stepping back “What is that?”
“What is what?”
“The suit, Steven. Let's say that the shiny can isn’t scared of anything, except that you appear in another suit, it seems"
“Ah, oh, yes” murmured the ex-seller of souvenirs from the museum, sitting down and raising a hand to greet the silver warrior “Hello, my name is Steven”
"I don't think this will go well"
Marc whispered, but Steven knew there was no way they were going to beat this guy with their fist. So, it only remained to try for… a kind of diplomatic approach.
“Sorry for... the abrupt behavior of my... partner, but, we're in a bind and we need to get into that place”
Moon Knight explained pointing to the entrance.
“As I told your friend” the warrior replied “You cannot enter”
“You don't seem surprised to talk to… with him and… with me”
Steven pointed out and the armored guy shrugged.
“I’m a Mandalorian. Weapons and battle are my religion. For me… what happens to you… is quite normal. You wouldn't be the first I've seen going through the same thing”
The londoner swallowed hard.
It was just as he had suspected. The guy was similar to Marc, although somewhat different. If his weapons and battle were his religion.
“Mandalorian is a word that symbolizes a warrior caste where you come from, right?”
He asked the man, who nodded.
“How many years have you been… doing what you do?”
“Almost as many as I have been alive”
"Shit" Marc mumbled upon hearing the answer "he's crazy cult believer like Harrow"
“I don't think so” Steven murmured “He said that he and his weapons weren't from around here”
"And what that has to do with anything?"
“Because “not around here”, it seems to me that it means “not of Earth”
"You’re joking"
“I'm right, doesn’t?” Steven questioned to the one on silver armor “You come from another planet”
The warrior nodded.
Steven bit his lip in thought.
While the man was incredibly strong and his armor and weapons were great and super advanced, several of Marc's blows had landed on that body and he was sure they had hurt, so he didn't consider the other guy immortal.
“Are you an avatar?”
He asked the warrior again.
“No, I’m not”
“But you came to Earth with a God”
“Yes”
“May I ask which one?”
“You can, but why should I answer you?”
“He has a point… mate”
“Shut up Marc, you're not helping” Steven reproached his alter getting up from the ground to look at the Mandalorian “My wife… our wife… is a prisoner of a goddess who has lost control”
"Hey!"
Marc exclaimed, putting on an angry expression at the license that his alter took by stating that there was some relationship between the Egyptian adventurer and him, but Steven preferred to ignore the mercenary's voice. Saving the woman was more important than Marc’s ego. And besides, Steven couldn't deny that he wasn’t immune to her presence either, Marc would have to get used to the fact that dumb Steven wasn't made of concrete and that he had feelings for her.
“Her name is Layla. She has curly hair and she’s full of life. And… we want her to continue living. Marc… Marc has been dirtying his hands for a long time to prevent her from suffering and… now we need help to defeat whoever is holding her prisoner and that help…”
“It’s inside that chamber?” asked the warrior crossing his arms.
“Exactly” admitted Steven “He’s one of the gods, the one who gave us our suits, his name is Khonshu. He isn’t the best of them, but he is the only one who predicted that this would happen and the other gods imprisoned him and...”
"Steven! We don't know if this guy is trustworthy or what god he serves!"
“If he had served some god who hates Khonshu, he would have recognized us and killed us already!” Steven yelled finally angry to his alter, turning to see the reflection he inhabited “He's from another planet, more technologically advanced! If he was on Ammit's side he would have already used his advantages to… to neutralize us and he has only prevented us from entering the chamber! He isn’t on the side of an evil god! But we have to convince him and we can only do it with the truth!”
“Anubis”
That single, simple word issued by the Mandalorian stopped the torrent of words that had come out of Steven's mouth, who turned to face the Mandalorian again.
“Anubis?” he asked in an astonished whisper “Anubis as in: Anubis the god of mummification and guide of the souls of pharaohs? That Anubis?”
“If you are referring to a guy who has the body of a man and the head of a dog, yes, that Anubis”
“Jackal”
“What?”
“It's not a dog’s head, it's a jackal”
"Steven, for the love of… stop correcting people!"
“Sorry, sorry, sorry, Marc is right” Steven stumbled, recovering enough calm to speak “You come to Earth with Anubis. It's…impressive, but why is he here? I didn't know he was part of the Ennead”
“Of what?”
“Of the group of gods that inhabit this place”
The former souvernir seller clarified to the Mandalorian, as he pointed around him.
“I don’t know exactly, but I don’t think so”
“Of course” Steven reasoned taking one of his hands to his face “Anubis… he… inhabits your planet, right?”
“Galaxy”
“Oh, Galaxy. Yes, it makes sense”
“What did you say is the name of the god you are looking for?”
“Khonshu”
“And you need to enter the chamber because that god…”
“The other gods imprisoned him in stone. Yes”
“And you are the avatar of that god?”
“Sadly, yes” Steven commented rolling his eyes “Khonshu found Marc dying and offered him a deal to revive him, in exchange for being his avatar and he foolishly accepted”
"Bushman also thought to kill Layla after killing her dad and his team, sorry if I decided to take the opportunity to save her"
“Really?”
"Yes. Really. I… look Steven, like Marc, I've done a lot of things that… I'm not proud of and that I regret, but saying yes to Khonshu so I could stay alive and protect Layla, thus paying back what I owed to her father, that is one thing that… I will never regret”
“But you didn't say anything about that to her”
“I'm an idiot, what do you want me to tell you? I didn't tell her about you either and I should have. I'm sorry"
“Well. I wouldn't have told her about you either, if I'd been in your place. People... don't understand these things... what happen to us. Now we know that she has no problems with us, but… before…”
"We didn't know and we would have both been afraid"
“Exactly”
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Okay.
The warrior... or rather the warriors or avatars in front of him, had totally forgotten that he was there and had entered into a debate that seemed to be resolving differences between them.
The Mandalorian raised an eyebrow and stifled a laugh as he heard the guy speak and respond to the other fragment of his mind, although it wasn’t possible for Din to follow the dialogue those two were having.
It was clear that the guy wasn’t a bad person.
Probably, like Din, circumstances had led him to a life of crime, but as far as he could tell from what he said to his other self, a bad job had ended with them tied to a god, with which they had made a deal to protect a girl, Layla, with whom they had ended up marrying and, now, that same woman was in danger, so they were willing to put themselves in danger to protect their wife again.
The Mandalorian could identify with that situation.
Of course, his thing didn’t revolve around a spouse, but around a small child whom he had adopted as his own.
Grogu.
Din had sacrificed everything for the child and ended up away from his covert, lost and suffering, but he had judged then that it had been worth it if it meant that his little one would grow up properly protected and trained.
Twice he had left Grogu in the hands of a powerful Jedi.
However, that same man, had decided that Grogu belonged with the Mandalorian and had sent him back to Din, probably regretting to have to give the child back.
Peli had told him how Grogu had travel to Tatooine.
And in that he could feel even more of a connection with the warrior in the white suit.
The Jedi had sacrificed his ship and his astromech to send the boy safely, staying on the planet he inhabited with no protection other than his ant droids, his saber, and his fighting ability.
Being who he was, it had been a risky move. Which, he had to admit, had left the Mandalorian worried about the Master.
Not a few were chasing Luke Skywalker in the Galaxy. Din knew it. The Jedi had been one of his main focuses of interest since he had left with Grogu and the Mandalorian had learned of him through the terminals and the short talks they were able to hold via his R2 droid.
The Master had abandoned the Senate and his responsibilities as a rebel warrior and in the administration of the New Republic, due to the people fearing him for his incredible ability to wield the Force. His sister, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and his brother-in-law, General Han Solo, had helped protect his hideout, but that didn't mean his head still didn’t have a high price in the Bounty Hunters' Guild list and… pretty much everywhere else.
Din had been very grateful to the Jedi for the tact and care with which he had treated his child, giving him the gift, he had brought to his moon, allowing him to choose, sending the kid again to the Mandalorian.
Today his life was complete thanks to that man with light hair and sky-colored eyes who, having immense power, had proven that the greatest thing in his existence was his heart.
As a Mandalorian and as… well, as Din, that was a debt that tied him deeply to his child's Master.
Like that Layla to those two.
Loving and committing to a guy with the situation that the man in front of him was going through required a particular character.
And, although he couldn't compare situations, because the Jedi, as attractive as he was, had never shown signs of reciprocating Din’s interest in their conversations, as the girl had done with the avatars of Khonshu, he could identify with the warrior’s dilemma.
“Come with me”
The Mandalorian said to the man in the white suit.
“Excuse me?”
“Come with me” he repeated upon hearing his question “My son is freeing your god and, surely, that deity will want to see you as soon as he leaves that stone sculpture in which he is trapped”