Let the Moonlight In

A Visit From An Old Friend

When Layla's arm reached across the bed for Marc, all it found was empty space. Her eyes fluttered open as she sat up straight and assessed the apartment. No Marc. No Steven. Just her. "No, no, no, no, no," She grunted, now pacing around the loft, raking her hands through her hair, a habit that started ever since she was little. "How could you have let this happen? What is wrong with you?!", she asked aloud while looking for anything like a note or a hint to where her husband could have gone.

Suddenly, a gentle whoosh traveled through the room. "There's nothing wrong with you, dearie, that much I can assure you of." Layla turned and was met with an interesting presence: an anthropomorphic hippopotamus wearing gold Egyptian armor.

"Taweret, I don't know what you're doing here, but if you need me for a mission, I'm a little preoccupied at the moment.", Layla tried to say in the politest way possible while resuming her task of digging through the papers on Steven's desk, hoping that a piece of paper with a location or an explanation would magically appear. Meanwhile, Taweret didn't seem to take the hint. "Oh, I know! How exciting motherhood is!"

Layla paused her rummaging and turned slowly on her heal to look the goddess dead in the face. "How did you know about the baby?", she asked in an almost threatening tone, with her footsteps piercing each word. Taweret's smile vanished quickly, her body almost stiffening as Layla walked towards her. "Oh dear, well okay. I should probably start at the beginning, I suppose. When I saw you back in Cairo, fighting as my avatar-" "TEMPORARY avatar", Layla was quick to correct. Taweret ignored her and continued. "I must say I was very impressed with your combat skills. So impressed, in fact, that I figured it was only fair to express my gratitude by rewarding you."

"And THIS was the best way you could think of for expressing your gratitude?!?", Layla yelled, gesturing at her belly. As she thought about it, her being pregnant at the moment made no sense from a logical standpoint. The last time she and Marc had had sex was god, at least over two months ago, way before he left her with divorce papers and had allowed Steven to take control of the body and start anew in London.

"I mean, I AM the goddess of women and children, after all," Taweret said matter-of-factly, trying to remain calm. But at the moment, Layla was anything but calm. "Taweret, as much as I would love to stand here and chitchat with you about how fucked-up of a situation this is, I have a husband who is missing. So unless you know anything about where he is right now, I suggest you leave before I-"

"London."

"What?", asked Layla, her eyes widened. "Your husband is currently somewhere in London. I wasn't supposed to tell you, as Khonshu and I aren't exactly on the best of terms, but I have a deep feeling that he's in great danger," confessed Taweret, who already regretted her words. Layla didn't waste any time hesitating. "Then I'm going after him."

"Are you sure about this, Layla?" "I let him get away from me once. I would be a coward if I let it happen again." The look in her eyes told anyone near her that if they tried to stop her, they would be beaten to a pulp. Taweret signed. "If you insist, then I won't stop you from going. And as my avatar, you and your child will receive my blessing of protection. But I must warn you that there are certain things that even us gods cannot control." With a wave of her hand, Layla's grey sweatpants and National Art Gallery sweatshirt transformed into the ceremonial armor of Taweret. "I'll take my chances," Layla decided as she watched the window fly open. She backed up to the other side of the loft and ran full force through the window, her bronze wings extended as she soared into the night.