⊱ ────── {⋆❉⋆} ────── ⊰

"Taweret, what's happening?" Steven questioned once the trio reached the outside of the boat again.

Taweret towered in front of them, her back against the three as she held one hand above the row that shifted the boat. An enormous, stone carved door was standing amongst the sea of sand and the sight of it was nearly breathtaking.

"I've never seen the gates to the world above so close," she revealed.

"How do we open them?" Marc asked.

"I'm so sorry. Your Scales never balanced," Taweret confessed solemnly, and (Y/N) felt her stomach drop. "Our journey's come to an end. I cannot stop the inevitable. I was really rooting for you guys, but the unbalanced souls of the Duat now must claim yours."

The boat kept going further through the sand and  a loud growling sound made its way to (Y/N)'s ears, that she was able to turn her back and see how one of the unbalanced souls crawled its way up the boat with sand pouring through the sides of their clothes and walked sideways like they weren't fully conscious.

More growling noises alerted her and the boys and saw how two more souls jumped up into the boat with knives in their hands.

"Guys, they don't look very friendly," Steven told the two.

"Hide. Hide," Marc ordered to him and (Y/N), since the last time she'd put herself before him, it had gotten her killed.

Steven seemed hesitant but backed away behind the Scales and had to pull (Y/N) to follow after him, seeing how Marc walked towards the three souls that were eyeing him like a predator watching its prey.

"Gabon. New York, Dubai," Marc mumbled but the first soul swung at him with a bat in her hand, which he barely had time to dodge.

Marc punched the approaching soul in the face and (Y/N) saw how the punch barely got through him and only spitted out sand in response. Marc had turned his back to the one he had just punched and he didn't react in time when a rope was suddenly wrapping around his neck.

"Watch out," Steven cried out. "Watch out."

"Oh, no!"

(Y/N) watched how the souls overpowered Marc as he so desperately tried to free himself by punching the man repeatedly in the arm but no injury seemed to come out from it. The two souls were dragging Marc over the edge and prepared to throw him off the boat while Marc screamed his lungs out and (Y/N) eyed the row in the center of the boat and an idea clicked in her head.

"Steven, help me out," she mumbled and Steven followed her orders with no questions, both using their strength to turn the boat around and remove the heavy weight off Marc's body.

The shift from the boat made the souls and Marc roll down to the other side of the boat, but their idea worked, because he was away from the edge and the rope around his neck loosened.

Marc tried to stand up from his knees but he didn't get the chance to since the woman with the bat swung it again and this time it hit him straight in the face, causing him to collapse.

"Oh, God," (Y/N) heard Steven gasp.

"Marc, you've got this," he muttered. "But if I'm you. . .It means I've got this, too."

(Y/N) watched how Steven ran away from his spot and grabbed the bat that had laid forgotten on the floor and used it to perfectly swing it over the two sand-made bodies that were grabbing Marc again, making them disappear in particles of sand all over Marc, who watched in surprise.

"Six!" Steven cried out enthusiastically, and he met Marc's questioning eyes. "I prefer cricket."

Steven had his back to the growling and remaining of the souls from the Duat and (Y/N) knew that she couldn't stay put in her spot so she ran the fastest she could over to the man made of sand and delivered the hardest punch she could muster with her fist and aimed it at his face.

The blow made sand blow out of him but he kept advancing towards Steven, so (Y/N) grabbed it by the shoulders and balled her fist again to punch him through the stomach, making it fall to its knees and gave Steven enough time to turn around and deliver the final blow with the bat in his hands while Marc watched astonished.

"Ow!" Steven winced before of the strength he had used to hold the bat. (Y/N) gave him a smile and a shake of her head at this as he gave her and Marc a thumbs up.

But their celebrations were cut short when another of the unbalanced souls from the Duat crawled to the edge of the boat and grabbed a fist full of (Y/N)'s hair, pulling her closer to the edge while Marc and Steven watched in horror.

(Y/N) tried to elbow the soul away, punch it or do anything to free herself but it had a very firm grip. Steven didn't think twice and ran over to help her out, lunging himself with his entire strength to knock the person out of (Y/N)'s grip but accidentally ended up throwing both of them overboard.

Marc felt like he was watching his deepest nightmare come true. "Steven! (Y/N)!"

"Steven! (Y/N)!"

"Steven! (Y/N)!"

(Y/N) saw that she wasn't in the high boat anymore and felt the cold sand in her back, but the worst thing of all was to see Steven laying right beside her in the sand.

"No, wait. Wait! Wait!" Steven stood up as fast as he could, helping (Y/N) out on the way. "Come on, love. Wait!"

(Y/N) stood up from the sand and barely took one step before she felt the coldness expand to her toes and up her feet. Fear washed all over her since she knew it was all over but she kept watching how Steven tried to run to reach the boat.

"Run!" Marc encouraged.

"Wait!" Steven kept crying out.

Marc looked back in hope of a miracle. "Wait, they're coming! Keep, . .stop the boat! Stop the boat!"

(Y/N) tried to move further but her feet were now stuck in the sand, and now that chilly, coldness and numb feeling began to flow through the rest of her body. Steven's steps started loosing rhythm and he finally noticed how (Y/N) wasn't running with him anymore and that made him fall to his knees trying to help her.

(Y/N) shook her head while she still could, thinking he would've had the chance to made it even further instead of staying back with her. Steven sensed this and before he could reassure her, the cold breeze covered her entire body completely, her vibrant eyes loosing their brightness and her skin loosing its color, her last breath leaving her lips in a cloud of chilly air.

"No, no, no! (Y/N)! Steven!" Marc saw this from the boat and he couldn't do anything about it.

Steven turned his head back to look at the boat, the sight of (Y/N) being too much for him, but he knew he didn't have the chance of moving anymore. He extended his hand forward and tried to pronounce one last sentence but the cold won before he could.

"No, no, no!" Marc cried out. He was about to lose it entirely. "Stop the boat! Stop the boat!"

A metal clinking sound rang through his ears, the Scales finally balancing after all this time. Marc wasn't focused on that anymore, the sight of Steven and (Y/N) in the sand being to excruciating.

Taweret gasped. "The Scales are balanced."

In a blink of an eye, Marc wasn't in the boat staring at the Scales anymore. A warm, comforting yellow light enveloped him when he opened his eyes again, standing in the Field of Reeds all by himself. No more screaming, no more pain. Just peace.

But at what price?

deeply sorry for this :) here's some memes to cheer you guys up <3