#sorry ma'at this is the only way to balance the scales

[sitabethel]

Okay, bit listen...

Afterlife Atem x TKB fic where they get married and TKB moves THE ENTIRE VILLAGE into the palace, and the utter chaos which ensues as Kul Elna throws the biggest party the afterlife has ever seen to celebrate

[houseoflibra]

Saint Seiya: Dark Wing Chapter 25: The Scale of Truth

Page 1

Page 2

Lucas: - Huff… huff…

Eulalia: - Hello?

Lucas: - *surprised* - Huh?! - (Too close!!) - Oh, sorry. - I was lost in thought.

Eulalia: - Well, it's only natural you were left speechless - after seeing my beautiful fight!

Page 3

Lucas: - Eulalia… - Well…

Eulalia: - Heh! - I was… - (Oh no, now I remember! Soujiro told me to keep a low profile!!) - L—let's keep this - between us, please!!

Page 4

Eulalia: - Until next time!

Lucas: - Eulalia… - Just as I thought, - she's straightforward, - noble, - beautiful… - Normally, there's no way - I would even be able to talk…

Page 5

Lucas: - …to a girl like her. - But… - maybe… - …I could make her mine…

Page 6

Karaoke

Students: - Hahahah!

Vassilios: - *singing "Blue Forever"*

Leo Gold Saint, Vassilios

Page 7

Vassilios: - *still singing "Blue Forever"*

Esther: - The anime song selection here is tasteful, but - watching a handsome man sing is even better, huh?

Celestial Beast Star Sphinx, Esther

Suzuri: - I'm not so sure about the song, - but I suppose he can sing… - (So loud…)

Earthly Hound Star Laelaps, Suzuri

Suzuri: - I was ordered to be here because…

Julius: - That sounds interesting! - Hahah!

Suzuri: - …or so he said… - Why did Pandora's Sphinx Specter and - the Leo Gold Saint - have to come to a karaoke?!

Vassilios: - *previously singing "Pegasus Fantasy"*

Page 8

Vassilios: - *singing "Blue Forever"*

Suzuri: - I... - I'm off to the bar…

Page 9

Suzuri: - I… - I can't… - Master Julius told me to do this, - so I should be able to sing at a karaoke!

Esther: - Suzuri Okino! - Hey, pretty lady. I was hoping to hear you sing, - Suzu.

Suzuri: - Ah!! - Su… - Suzu…? - (P—pretty…?)

Esther: - Oh, sorry.

Page 10

Esther: - I was trying to be friendly since we're both specters, but - was it too much?

Suzuri: - Celestial Beast Star, Sphinx Esther!… - I didn't notice you at all!! - What do you want, - Celestial Beast Star, Sphinx?…

Esther: - Oh, nothing. - Actually… - I was hoping to give you a cute nickname and then have some girl talk…

Suzuri: - Not if I get to you first!

Page 11

Suzuri: - Gordian Bond Amputation!

Page 12

Suzuri: - Did I get her…?!

Page 13

Suzuri: - Huh…?

Esther: - The incredible speed - of your swift iai sword draw - almost had me making a careless mistake.

Suzuri: - ?! - No way! - She wasn't cut?!…

Page 14

Esther: - Actually, you'd already gotten stiff back at the karaoke room due to being… - ...under the effect of my Balance of Curse!!

Suzuri: - Guh!

Page 15

Suzuri: - A magic harp…! - My body…!

Esther: - That's why your body feels heavy, - and you cannot reach the dangerous top-speed you're capable of.

Suzuri: - Y—you did this back then?

Page 16

Esther: - As long as you're in my trap, - you won't be able to move at full speed.

Suzuri: - (This overwhelming cosmo…) - (So this…) - (…is the true power of the guardian of the Underworld's second prison…) - (…the Sphinx specter!…)

Esther: - If you try to fight now, - your heart will pop out of your chest… - All right?

Page 17

Esther: - Three, two, - one! - And then it will jump out.

Suzuri: - Wha?!

Esther: - Three, two… - one!

Suzuri: - ?!

Page 18

Vassilios: - Oh! - Well done!

Esther: - You shouldn't interrupt girl talk, - hot guy.

Vassilios: - Well, - if two Specters are having a secret chat… - …as the Leo Gold Saint, - I should come in and say hello, don't you think?

Esther: - Actually, I'm a Specter of Justice.

Page 19

Esther: - Perhaps you could assist us?

Vassilios: - Oh? - A Specter talking about Justice? - Now that - sounds interesting!

Esther: - Are you here to get the girls' attention? - Or are you here - to protect them?

Vassilios: - Heh! - That's obvious. - As a saint, - I'm here to investigate and settle - the incidents involving those girls who went missing, but…

Pages 20 + 21

Esther: - Balance of Curse!… - If you're telling the truth, - then Ma'at's feather, the symbol of Truth, - will be in balance in my scale!

Vassilios: - Are you trying to pull out my heart?!… - Heh…

Page 22

Esther: - Now, let's see your true colors. - Whether or not you are the villain behind these incidents… - …will be revealed now!

Vassilios: - Ugh!

Suzuri: - She's standing up against a Gold Saint - on her own?!

Vassilios: - Huff… huff… - All right! - OK!

Page 23

Vassilios: - If that will get you to trust me - then my heart is as light as a feather!

Suzuri: - What?! - You're saying you'll expose your heart?!

Vassilios: - Well, I'm happy to see - a Specter go to such lengths!

Page 24

Vassilios: - I want you to believe me! - So you're welcome to use your impressive cosmo on me! - Go on!

Esther: - I don't hate - arrogant hot guys.

Suzuri: - Huh?!

Vassilios: - Oh? - Are you going to trust me then?

Esther: - *nod* - At least this once…

Page 25

Esther: - I'm satisfied that you two are not my enemies.

Vassilios: - Yay!

Esther: - Now, - I hope the owner - of the fiercely dangerous and terrible cosmo - coming this way is not a friend of yours.

Suzuri: - Fiercely dangerous and terrible…?

Vassilios: - Yeah. - Somebody is coming, all right. - Somebody with a huge cosmo and eager to fight…

Page 26

Page 27

To be continued...

[sortofanobsession]

To Cry for the Moon Part 7 (Moon Knight x Female Eternal!Reader)

Author's Note: The next couple chapters will be mainly the Eternals with mentions to Moon Knight. So if you are here for the guys, please hang in there, they will be back. I am not a mythology expert, and things get changed for these stories obviously. I'm trying my best. Also I'll try to update every day or two. I can't guarantee they will be everyday. So if you want to be tagged let me know, replies are the easiest but any way works. Minor DNI

The story idea by @jupitersmoon167 (the original post I saw is here!) Also realized I should probably add content warnings, so I did and tagged them. If you think I missed a warning please send me an ask. I try to tw tag even the tiniest thing so no one has to suffer if I can help it.

Y/N = Your Name. Y/N/N = Your Nickname. Reader pronouns She/Her. Story is 3rd person POV. Italics are the reflected alter talking.

Tag Requests are Open just message me.

Tagged: @rosaren2498, @yuugenmomo, @faefanatic, @urlocallsimp, @assassinsasha23, @queenariesofnarnia, @rmoonstoner, @crypticruler

Primary Pairing: Steven Grant x Eternal!Reader, Marc Spector x Eternal!Reader, Khonshu x Ma'at!Reader (It’ll make sense eventually)

Content Warning: Death, fear, depression

Word Count: 1k+

WIP Series Masterlist

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

Part 7: The World Keeps Turning

Y/N didn't really listen or help Sersi explain to Dane that they have powers because they are Eternals from the planet Olympia and have been on Earth for over 7,000 years, fighting Deviants. Until 5 centuries ago. He learned more about Sersi and Ikaris but the main thing was that Dane accepted her explanation and reasoning far better than Marc had. Y/N didn't miss the sad look they both gave her. 

"He'll come around, probably just the shock of it all," Dane tells her.

"You handled it alright, and you don't have a centuries-old Egyptian god in your brain. Moon Knight does. They even know about some of my powers. I told them when they told me about their personalities, though they conveniently left out Khonshu. It was Truth for Truth. The full story wasn't my story to tell. Doing so might have raised questions about Sersi and Sprite. That wouldn't be fair to them or you, but I guess that doesn't matter." She sighs. "I'm glad you don't hate us. I hate to do this but can I ask you a favor? Can you watch Noob and maybe feed Bas until we get back? I would ask Steven, but even if he would talk to me, I don't think Marc would let him."

"Of course," he nods.

"Thanks, Dane, I owe you one."

"You guys saved my life and a lot of other people, the least I can do is pet sit."

"Least you can do is nothing, but I appreciate it. I know you'll be kind to them. Sorry, I can't make you a giraffe either, but I can say if you ever need anything." She takes the feather keychain off her keys and holds it in her hands, imbuing it with a tiny fraction of her powers before handing it to him. "If something really bad happens. Hold it to your heart and I will hear it. We may not have cell signal, but as long as I’m on this planet it’ll work. It works for Osiris and he’s in the underworld, it should work for you."

"Osiris? Like the Egyptian god of the Dead? He has a direct line to you? Does your family?" 

"Osiris does, my family doesn't. Sadly, I cannot feel the Eternals like I can humans. I think Arishem thinks that would be a distraction. But humans, like you, I can hear. And you, you have a good heart Dane, that's why we know we can trust you with all of this. I don't even need my scales to know your heart balances. Sersi wouldn't be with you if it didn't. Take care of yourself." 

She moves to join Sprite while Sersi says her own goodbye.

Y/N was physically sore and absolutely exhausted on the flight to the States. The only thing giving her comfort was being surrounded by so many human hearts. She reached out just a bit with her powers to feel them. She focuses on one of a child, a young girl, that seems to be enjoying a show on a tablet. An innocent and pure heart full of joy. It reminds her that humans were worth fighting for. That little girl had so much life ahead of her. As upset and sad as Y/N might be, knowing innocence and good still existed even after so many years without the Eternals' assistance was comforting. It was a constant that she could always rely on.

"You okay?" Sersi asks, drawing her attention back. 

Y/N nods. "I'm fine."

"You should try and sleep," Sersi tells her. "You fought harder than most of us and took most of the hits."

"I'm not that fragile," Y/N assures her.

"No, but we have no idea when we might get the chance to again. Might as well embrace it while we can."

"Point taken," Y/N admits and as she usually does, she takes Sersi's advice.

As they left the airport and headed to their rental car, she pulled out her phone and calls Steven. He doesn't answer. She leaves a voicemail.

“Hey, just landed in the States. We’re headed to Ajak’s place, I’ll call you when we get to her house.”

When Ajak fails to greet them, something instantly feels off. Y/N reaches out but feels nothing. No humans for miles and no apparent threats. What they do find shakes them all. Ajak is dead. Her body was cold, drained of power. Y/N couldn't breathe for a moment. It is too much. They've never lost anyone before. Ajak always healed them. She kept them alive even through the most brutal of battles. Ajak was gone. Their leader was gone. They were on their own. Y/N could feel her hands start to shake. The ache in her knee returned. They were on their own against Deviants stronger than ever and they lost their healer. Ajak had kept them alive and safe for millennia. Now, what were they supposed to do?

Ikaris admits to being the last one to see her. To say that Ajak sent him to London to check on them. But the Deviant must have gotten her before he actually made it to London because as Sprite points out the Deviant healed like Ajak. They now had an enemy that could take their powers. None of them were safe in a fight if that was true. They are all shocked when Sersi tells them the sphere Ajak used to speak with Arishem went to her. That she spoke to Arishem. Ajak chose Sersi to replace her. Not Ikaris, which was surprising. He had always been more of a leader than most of them. He was devoted to the mission Arishem gave them.

Y/N put a hand on Ajak's cold chest. 

"May we meet again in the next life," Y/N says, hoping that no matter what afterlife awaited Eternals they would hopefully be together someday. 

They agreed to gather the rest of the team starting with Kingo.

Ancient Egypt, the beginning of the age of gods.

Y/N places a set of scales before the Ennead in the Chamber of the Gods. 

"Phastos says these scales will allow you to better judge a person's heart, even when I am not here. We formed them using my powers." She takes the large feather that the people had given her long ago because of her wings that she often included in her outfit out of appreciation and holds it tight between her hands, calling on the majority of her power and channeling it into the feather. It made her lightheaded as her hands and the feather began to glow. She wills a fraction of her own heart and powers into it. When she pulls her powers back the feather continues to have a sort of ethereal glow. "This feather," she holds it out to the small cluster of gods before her. "The feather of truth," she deems it. "I've put everything I know, everything I use to aid in judgment, into this feather. Weigh a person's heart against this feather and you will know their true nature, their heart. If it balances, they have a good heart, they deserve to see paradise."

"And they shall see the field of reeds," Osiris assures her.

"And if they don't balance?" Horus asks.

"If the feather rises, and the heart stays weighted down, they have failed. Their heart has shown their true nature, that their heart is filled with malice and should be justly condemned. If the scales move back and forth that means there is conflict in the person's heart. They are not inherently good or bad. They should be given a chance to process this, to look deep within themselves and if they can balance then they have made peace with their conflict. If they can't, they shall face proper justice."

"Justice shall be swift," Osiris adds. 

"You can judge both living and the dead to ensure justice and truth remain standard as time goes on and the kingdom grows. As long as I live, the feather of truth will hold the standards I have deemed fair and just. It is part of me. You have my judgment as long as the smallest spark of my power remains. We are bound, we are one." 

Modern Egyptian Underworld

"They've never done this before." Anubis, Taweret, and Osiris watch the scales shift without anything being weighed against the feather. 

"Keep watch," Osiris commands them. "We will see what Ma'at has to say."

South Dakota, USA

Y/N tries again to call Steven and Marc. 

“Hey, um, so we got to Ajak’s. She…got attacked by a deviant and is…Anyway, we’re flying back out again, probably going to find Kingo. Let me know if you get this, we’re in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m not getting any service.”

As she puts her phone away. She is shocked to see the path to the temple open before her. 

"Sprite!" She calls the younger Eternal.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sprite says as she eyes the long open tunnel. "Tell Sersi I will meet you in Mumbai." Sprite nods.

Modern Egypt: Temple of the Gods

"Osiris," Y/N greets the glowing eyes of the avatar before her. 

"Ma'at," he greets her. "I am sure you are curious why I summoned you."

She sighs, "I have an idea about that and I will share what I know, you only ever have to ask."

"Your scales shifted while not in use. The others are concerned."

"I…I have concerning news for you, Osiris. The deviants have returned, they are stronger, faster and I'm afraid I can no longer guarantee that we, that I, will survive."

"What do you mean?" He asks. "How have you come to this conclusion?"

"One attacked us in London. Ikaris, Sersi, Sprite, and I were unable to kill it. Ikaris and I could only drive it back. The concerning thing is that it healed itself, Osiris. We went to consult Ajak and she was dead. The monster had stolen her powers and in doing so became stronger and harder to fight. In 7,000 years no Eternal has died. I'm afraid the shock may have momentarily shifted and shaken my beliefs. But the scales should be steady now. We are going to gather the rest of the Eternals and return to our mission, losing our healer will not deter us. We shall do our best to remove this threat to humanity. My only request is that should anything happen and my feather fade. Please tell Khonshu that I have failed. He will know why."

"That can be done. We will be observing," Osiris tells her. "Call upon us if you have a need. Isis would be devastated if we lost you, little feather. Your heart beats here. It shall remain protected." 

Mumbai, India

Y/N steps out into the busy streets of the city. She reaches out to feel the hearts around her. Now she had to wait for the rest of the team to get there. She takes out her phone and calls Steven.

"Osiris called me to the temple, my powers wavered after finding Ajak. I filled him in on what was happening. With Ajak gone we…Osiris will let Khonshu know if anything truly bad happens, he told me he would. I'm in India now. I got here before the others because of the temple path. I'll let you know more soon. I really do miss you both."

Before putting her phone away she sent a text to Sersi letting her know that she was in India.

[yuvon-writes-letters]

Hello again!

I already told you I would re-read some of the letters when I'm home from work and I did.

But first things first: I agree, that's a good thought. I will tell you and Jake as soon as I get new results. And I hope the MWAF stays low till then..I really don't want to leave my home xD

But now to the letters.

Yuvon, again, without wanting to be rude or anything, I'm getting a bit suspicious. Don't get me wrong and please continue reading this letter!

I believe you with the situation you're in, but I don't think you've always been honest with me and I just want to know why. I don't even think the things that weren't 100% true were big things, but it still confuses me.

I have three things:

No. 1: Maybe that's something I overread, maybe you said it, but in your very first letter you said that, wherever you looked, you only saw trees...Right? When did you find the rooms, or more..where are the rooms?

No 2: Again in your first letter; you said you fell down a tree and didn't injure yourself badly but still had somewhat of a sore wrist. So, differently than what you said later, you're still able to be injured, but not badly, right?

No 3: And the last thing, the pencil. From what you said not so long ago it never seemed to become dull. But how in the first place did you sharpen it? I mean, I remember you telling us that it was completely useless because it was as if just newly bought. So not sharpened at all.

I do not mean to insult you or anything, maybe I just didn't exactly realise something you wrote to those things. Sooo..I'm just curious :)

I hope you'll still answer,

Liska🐾🔥

Lis,

I hope the MWAF leaves you alone, too... this all sounds like it could get dicey fast if that jackass ever finds you. I hope your coworkers would notice if you suddenly started missing work or something and would call the cops.

As for your points...

1. Yeah, it LOOKS like there are only trees around here. But in the first letter, I hadn't actually physically felt along the edges of the invisible barrier yet. When I later did did, I walked through not-actually-solid trees and then could see the rooms. Sorry if I didn't specify that properly!

2. I don't really consider bruises "injuries". Sure, they hurt, but they're not debilitating, agonizing, or dangerous the way a cut or a broken bone can be. Still, you're right that I misphrased that, sorry. I don't always choose the right words when I write and especially when I talk.

3. (blacked out) It's not (blacked out) Fuck it.

There are more rooms than I talked about before. Five, actually. One north, one northwest, one southwest, one southeast, one northeast.

Northwest was this... dead, empty space. Dead trees, the grass turned to ash as I stepped on it, dark, and it just sort of pressed on my mind until I thought my head would just end up fucking squishing or something. There was a stand at the far end with a silver chalice on it, and literally just looking at it gave me this horrible feeling of dread to the point where I thought I might have gotten a heart attack if I touched it. I didn't touch anything, just walked out. I don't care if the dread was magically induced or not, I wasn't going in there unless I had no other choice.

Southeast had an altar with some bloodstains on it. There was a decal of balancing scales on it, and on the scales was a white feather and a heart. The heart was heavier than the feather. On top of the heart was a black feather, crow or raven, though I'd bet money it was a raven feather. (That decal, by the way, is from Egyptian mythology. The dead were judged by weighing their heart against a feather of Ma'at to see if they were sinners or innocent. If the heart was heavier than the feather, a monster ate the heart.)

Southwest was very pretty. It was a field of white lilies. There were three upside-down torches, one on each wall. Of course, since I know a LITTLE symbolism and I'm not a complete moron, I didn't take a single step inside. White lilies symbolize death, specifically "innocence attained through death", and upside-down torches are an originally Greek symbol of death and the soul. I'm not setting foot into a room entirely filled with symbols of death, thank you very much.

Northeast just had a knife in the middle of a glade. I took it, and I used it to sharpen the pencil at one point when I was bored. It's the only thing I know of here that can do me actual harm; when I tried it out, I cut myself a little bit by accident. I think I might've actually bled a bit on the letter where I talked about the other rooms.

I don't (the handwriting after this is shaky) want to go into detail about what's in the north room, but basically it indicated that if I waited, I would be here a long but limited amount of time. I think I also know why there's a stasis. I would go into details but I think I nearly went insane just looking at that fucking thing and I cant inflict that on anyone else trust me youre better off not knowing

(The shakiness stops here.) I took a breather. Sorry.

From what I can tell, there are two ways out, one associated with each of the rooms arranged with a cross. I can wait, or

Well. There's a cycle, here. I can tell, and the elder trees confirm it. I'm stuck in between the end and the beginning, but I think I could break everything and solve the case early if I'm willing to give an even price.

I'm going to keep believing there's a third way out, and Jake agreed to, too. But if I need to I'll wait it out. Maybe I'm selfish, but even to protect my friends from that asshole, I can't pay that price. Not unless there's no other choice. Besides, it's against basically all my morals anyhow.

There's not much point in talking more about those other rooms, I think. I'm not touching that path with a ten foot pole.

Jake's been of the opinion that I should search the rooms more thoroughly. So, there's that. But if you could see how freaky those rooms are... ugh.

Anyhow. That's what I've been hiding. I think that's everything I've lied about, at least up to now. I'll probably check at some point.

I think I'm going to talk to Jake and the others for awhile to get my mind off all this shit.

—Yu

(The letter tucks itself into the paper clip with the others.)