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's sweet laughter seemed to fill every space in Rama's head when he screamed that. ""I'll do more than mock, I am coming for you, Rama. And I promise you I wont go easy like last time. They'll need to scrape your pathetic remains of the walls when I am done!" She shouted, and just like that the connection was severed. The entore room was silent, having never heard anyone threaten their king like that before.

"I'm going to murder her." Rama hissed, looking toward the magician. "I'm going to murder them all. And you too if you don't help me."

The magician nodded, clearly terrified of his king. "F-forgive me... Sire, but... How will she even find us?" He stammered.

Back inside the plane Dahlia had hugged her knees up to her chest and had buried her face into them. Never in all her life had she felt to utterly alone, so unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. She loved Rama... But she wanted him dead; what was wrong with her?

"That damn Seeker." Rama hissed, sliding the his of his boot through Justice's blood. "Block her. Seduce her. I don't care what you do. Don't let them find the tomb. Or the Djinn. How he escaped is beyond me..." He snarled.

Gabbi leaned over her seat, resting her head on Dahlia's shoulder. "I wish I knew what to say. I'm so sorry, D. This is all my fault. We should never have gone to Japan."

The magician seemed gobsmacked at the idea of seducing the seeker. He had seen how beautiful she was, and while he was hardly a troll, he knew it wouldn't work. "I-I shall do whatever it takes to keep her away." He promised.

"I'm the one who wanted to go." Dahlia sniffled. "It's my fault everything went to shit." She added, lifting her head to fix her red rimmed gaze on Gabbi. "I'm so sorry."

Rama lifted purple eyes to the man across from him and snorted. "You are worthless. No better than my former pet. I should kill you."

Forehead to forehead she grabbed her friend and hugged her tightly. "We never should have split up. I'm so sorry i left you alone. What he did to you was my fault."

"If that will keep the Queen away, then so be it." The magician conceded. All the people around Rama believed what Dahlia and Gabbi had yet to; that Rama was indeed the ancient Pharaoh, and he was being hunted by his Queen.

"He didn't do anything to me, not in the way you think." Dahlia breathed. "I wanted it, Gabbi. I... I saw how happy Erik made you, and... I thought I wanted someone like that too. I was an idiot."

Rama chuckled as he returned to his throne. "That girl may have read up on her history...but she is no Queen. She does not scare me."

Gabbi simply held her friend. "Erik is everything...but he's a good guy. Rama never was. He hurt your whole family. Why would you want something like that?" She asked. She refused to believe the fallen god had once again silenced the man she loved.

"She should." It wasn't magician who spoke this time, it was a female voice from not to far away. The woman was reading tarot cards on a table, a hood pulled up over her head, though flame red hair had slipped out and hung past her shoulders.

"That's why there's something wrong with me." Dahlia whispered, allowing her friend to hold her liek her own mother never had.

"Aren't you supposed to be finding a way to end the former dragon lord?" Rama hissed. "You're wasting your breath trying to frighten me, creature."

"You're just lonely." Gabbi whispered, hugging her friend tightly. "I know what that's like. But..we have each other. Everything is fine now."

There was a quiet chuckle and a card was turned over. "And so I shall, when you are done pouting like a petulant child. You think you break him with everything you have done... When in all truth the only real pain to him was knowing you stole something from his princess that can never be returned."

Dahlia didn't say anything for several moments, all too aware that Gabbi was right. "And I gave it up to the first guy who paid the slightest bit of attention to me..." She snorted.

Rama glanced over at Justice, watching the bloodied man for a long moment. "Your cards tell you that?" He snapped, turning back to the woman. 

"We'll break everything in that tomb." Gabbi swore, sitting back and nodding to her friend. "We'll make that bastard sorry he ever messed with you."

The mystic didn't even look up, only appeared to turn over another card. "Misdeed and betrayal can be forgiven, what you took... That is something that can not be un-taken." She commented, apparently not as fearful as her male counterpart.

Dahlia smiled and wiped at her eyes. "Aren't I the one usually saying stuff like that? What happened to preserving history?"

Rama snorted at this. "At least I've broken him." He tapped his long fingers on the arms of the throne and scowled at her. "The boy is gone. Now I need to make the father gone as well. You are certainly taking your time at it." 
As if on cue Justice took in a gasping breath and opened his eyes. He slowly pushed himself to his feet and stood as if the fallen god had never attacked him.

"Maybe we don't have to destroy it all." Gabbi said with a sheepish laugh.

The mystics lips quirked into a slight smile as Justice rose, looking down at the card in front of her as though it truly did explain everything. "You think yourself a god, no?" She asked. "So too is he, one more ancient than you, child."

Dahli didn't cry any more on the flight, though she was still somewhat withdrawn. The young woman helped her foster sister gather up their things before disembarking, even took care of their luggage in baggage claim. It seemed more like she was going through the motions than anything else.

Rama laughed at the mystic. "Hardly. He is a broken man, torn apart by that thing they so foolishly call love. It was so easy to corrupt his life. A god would not be so weak."

Gabbi was quiet as well. She didn't say anything until they were at the hotel and then seated at the bar downstairs.

"And yet you wasted so much effort into becoming one all to save your Queen." The mystic replied, casting only to slightest glance in Rama's direction. "Fear drives you, child, nothing else."

Dahlia seemed a little better now she had several shots of tequila inside her. "Would it be weird if I said I kind of prefer it here to Japan?" She asked with the ghost of a smile.

"Don't look at me. You know I hate that." Rama ground out, making a show of looking away. "Do what I've asked you to. I don't need you telling me what kind of man I am. Tell the dragon. Tell him how broken and worthless he is." He snapped.

"It would make sense with your dreams. I'd really be worried if you started speaking the language though." Gabbi said with a soft laugh.

"Does he look broken and worthless to you?" The mystic asked with another smile. "You fear him because you know the truth; his bloodline is all that can stop you." She added, turning another card. "And yet... The one you fear most was not supposed to be the one to end you. You created her. You became the puppet master of your own reaper. No matter how hard you pull on the strings... You wont stop her."

"Like you did in Japan?" Dahlia asked with an arched brow as she looked at Gabbi.

"Say what you will but these people don't scare me. She isn't the one and neither is he." Rama said proudly. "Now give me an answer, woman."

Gabbi laughed and shook her head. "Erik and I learned Japanese years ago. He said it was the only way we were going to be able to watch those animes he loved so much."

The mystic was on her feet now, pacing around Justice, slender fingers tracing against his flesh as she went. The paused suddenly, her eyes closed as she breathed him in, not that Rama could see her eyes. "He is nowhere near broken." She purred. "Such strength."

"Yeah, like that's the reason." Dahlia snorted. "It's so you could talk dirty to each other and I wouldn't know!" She added, poking her tongue out much like the old Dahlia would have.

Justice watched her with emerald eyes that flashed with warning. Rama missed the look completely as he turned to shove his fingers through his dark hair. "I don't care if you play with him. Just...give me something so I can rest. I haven't had a decent sleep in weeks."

Gabbi couldn't help but laugh. "He said the most romantic things. You never even realized it!"

"Even when you had her?" The mystic asked with an amused smile, though she was still watching Justice.

"Yeah right, like the king of the nerds knew what romance was." Dahlia replied with a smirk.

"Watch your tongue, creature!" Rama roared. His hands shook as he gripped them on the edges of his throne. All at once he was on his feet and charging toward her, only to be stopped by Justice baring the way. 
The fallen god fumed, his fingers curling into fists at his side's. "Get out of the way, fool. I thought you only protected the good and innocent? Trust me when I say she is far from that." 

Gabbi couldn't help but laugh, trying to ignore the emptiness in the pit of her stomach. "He hated it when you called him that." She said with a sad smile.

The mystic was watching Rama with a smile from just behind Justice. "Justice is blind to your labels, child." She purred.

"He was just jealous I was from the cool side of the uterus." Dahlia replied before downing some more of her drink.

"The son of a bitch understands nothing but pain. He is like a dog. It is necessary to put him down like one." Rama snarled. "You are making me lose my patience. I asked you to help me sleep!"

Gabbi made a face at the other woman and raised her hand to signal the waiter. It was time she forgot some of her troubles too.

"How would you like me to help... really?" The mystic was now directly before Rama, though no one had seen her move. Her fingers were sliding through his dark hair, and though there was a smile on her lips, Rama would still be unable to see her eyes. "Say the word and you can believe anything you wish..."

"You both thought I was stupid." Dahlia commented after some time of them sitting in silence. "That I never knew what was going on between you. Did you really trust me so little?" She wasn't looking at Gabbi as she spoke this time. "Even in school... I took so many beatings for him when the other kids tried to pick on him... but it wasn't enough."

"Dont." It was not Rama who spoke but Justice. He hadn't moved from his spot but his eyes were locked on the mystic. "He doesn't deserve a reward like that."

"It wasn't you we were hiding it from. It was your dad. He never liked me. He never would have let Erik near me if he knew I loved him."

The mystic was smiling again and took a step backwards in Justice's direction. "You would have me deny my king?" She asked, though her voice dripped with false sincerity.

"You don't give him enough credit." Dahlia whispered. "Lily loved you." she added as somewhat of an after thought. "The daughter she always wanted. Dad loved her, and I didn't want to disappoint him by telling him how bad things between Lily and I really were."

Justice didnt answer this. But his eyes burned as he stared down the cloaked woman. 
"Do I need to make a wish, woman?" Rama snarled. "I have more than one Djinn as a pet you know."

"Lilly was...shed been cheating on Justice before all this started." Gabbi confessed. "Erik knew. I think that's why Rama picked him up. She betrayed her son because he knew what she was doing."