For Fame and Glory

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"Kusanagi." Dahlia DeAngelo was grinning from ear to ear as she flopped into the seat opposite her partner in crime. This bar was their favourite haunt when trying to relax, and she had known where to find the other woman right away. She let the word hang for a moment and waved for the attention of the bartender and gestured that she wanted a beer. Dahlia leaned back and let her arms hang over the back of her seat, though it was clear she was damn near bursting with excitement.

Dahlia hugged Gabbi as hard as she dared without hurting the other woman, given that she had tossed Rama around like a chew toy. "When can we leave?" She breathed into the other woman's golden hair. "I want that bastard dead."

"Let's get all thus stuff to our hiding spot and then...my bag is stil packed. We can leave the moment you put the lock on." Gabbi told her friend. "As long as you promise I can keep the journals."

Dahlia nodded again. "They belong to you anyway... They date back centuries along your bloodline." she confirmed.

"You knew...." Gabbi paused, giving her best friend a broken look. "You knew these were here all this time and you never told me. Why?"

That look was enough to put Dahlia's steel walls back in place. "I've only known since the dreams started, not that you probably care." she snapped, still rather raw with betrayal from those she had let her guard down to. "It's better if you stay here... I can move faster alone." she added, grabbing the obsidian blade and nothing more before heading for the door.

"Oh sure. Leave me with all the hard work. Like usual. " Gabbi muttered, not sure where the hateful statement came from. "Not going to happen. Besides, you can't find it without me."

Dahlia stopped in her tracks, a rather spiteful statement about how many scars she had gotten doing all the dirty work right there on the tip of her tongue. "Sure, cause i can't do anything that requires actually thinking, right?" She asked, with only a glance over her shoulder.

"It has nothing to do with thought. It's the Seeker thing. I dont think we'd....jesus Dahlia. How did we get here? We used to be inseparable...unbreakable. Now we can't even speak. Tell me how to fix this. Please!"

"Not everything that is broken can be fixed!" Dahlia growled, turning to face her adoptive sister once more. "I tried fixing things... and all I got was broken myself!" She added. "Even I'm not dumb enough to make the same mistake twice."

"Dahlia...dont let that monster ruin your life. Don't stop fighting him. Please? I need you." Try as she might Gabbi couldn't stop herself from sobbing.

"You only need me because Erik isn't here." Dahlia whispered, quickly wiping away a fat tear that rolled down her cheek. "You were right from the start... I fell in love with Rama, and all I did was ruin far more lives than my own. I wont do that to you, not again."

Gabbi shook her head. "Don't do That! Don't push me out! We can't get our family back if we go alone! Wake up! That poison is eating you alive!"

"Maybe its not poison... it's just who I am now." Dahlia breathed, though she wasn't turning away.

"You're not your mother. You haven't changed. You can only be changed by that bastard if you let yourself. And if your dream is true...Rama and his wife had a screwed up relationship. Do you really want that?"

"Rameses never took another wife." Dahlia breathed. "I looked it up. He loved her so much... He devoted his entire reign to creating monuments in her honour. How screwed up is that, really?" She asked.

"I don't know...but I'll bet he took women to his bed." Gabbi muttered. "And if you're thinking Rama is the same guy and you are his wife...why is he trying to kill you?"

"Correction, I'm trying to kill him." Dahlia replied. "I don't believe in anything, Gabbi, not any more. I just... I want to see the tomb. I want to see that maybe once... people were good."

"I'm not sure anyone ever was. Especially Rama." Gabbi said softly. "Book us tickets to Egypt. This crap can wait." 

On the plane Gabbi poured over her father's journals. His words were stirring things long dead inside her. There were memories like her friend that didn't belong to her.

Like Gabbi, Dahlia had been somewhat preoccupied while they were on the long flight. She had tried sleeping, only to be greeted by more confusing dreams. During Nefertari's life in Egypt, she got feeling the future Queen didn't believe the woman she called 'mother' was the woman who had given birth to herself and her brother. It brought only more questions about how all this was connected. Why had the dreams onyl begun once she met Rama in Japan? Once Erik was back in Gabbi's life? It felt like too many coincidences not to be a part of some grand design.

"Dahlia..." Gabbi poked her friend hard in the side, holding out the journal to her. "This says the dragon lord and Seeker have a magical bond. Even if the power is transferred to another...not sure what that means...but if I am the seeker that means I should be able to sense Justice. You know, contact him." She was practically bouncing in her seat, a part of her old self returning.

Dahlia was pulled from her dream with a jolt, which she was almost thankful for. "What would you even say?" She asked, looking more tired than she had before they boarded the plane. "Everyone failed him... Betrayed him."

"Maybe I can serve as the link then? You could talk. He loves you. He'd talk to you." Gabbi said gently. "Tell him we're coming." She touched her friend's arm, the skin contact opening the window. 
Dahlia would see her father. The once proud Justice was chained to Rama's throne like a dog. The fallen god was mocking him with an image of Lilly and one of his magicians together.

"Dad..." Dahlia whispered her Father's name with burning tears in her eyes. It killed her to see him reduced to this, all because she wasn't as strong as he believed.

Justice turned eyes of emerald agony toward where he'd heard her voice but said nothing for what seemed like eternity. "Leave me." He muttered finally. "There is nothing left for you here, child." His voice was heavy with his grief. 
Rama turned his head, his smile fading. "The Seeker..." he purred. "They're trying to contact you." He chuckled as he jerked on the other man's leash. "Tell her to stop. Unless she wants to end up like her brother. Again."

"You son of a bitch... I'll find you!" Dahlia's voice swore, though to anyone watching on the plane she was simply staring at the back of the seat in front of her. "You wont hurt me any more than you were able last time we met, Rama." She hissed. "Your head will make a welcome addition to the collection you failed to steal."

Rama looked rather surprised that he too was able to hear her voice. "I got what I came for." His tone suddenly lacked joy. He motioned to the very magician who'd stolen her mother and the man held up the knife. "I used this to end your brother. I will next use it to end his beloved. This time they won't come back." He hissed.

Dahlia's emotion was so raw in that moment that she may well have been right there in the room with Rama. "You'll never get close enough to Gabbi for that." She swore. "As I recall, I kicked your ass... Rameses."

Rama looked even more shocked if that was possible. He stood staring into the empty space, her voice alone clawing at his insides. "Nef..." He whispered, closing good eyes against the tidal wave of grief.

Dahlia had thrown the name out there as a test, to see if her dreams were just that... or if they truly were memories. "You started this... You took what you wanted, then you sent me away. Was I supposed to just sit back and let you destroy everything I love?"

"You are not her!" Rama's rage got the better of him and he lashed out at Justice, leaving the other man a bloody mess. The former dragon lord didn't even try to fight back. "My Nef is gone! Do not mock me with your games, child!"