I do not own any of the characters from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy!

A/N: An old "friend" of Mandy's enters into the picture.

Tears for the Reaper

Chapter 7: Two of a Kind

Pandora, or Dora, as most people in school called her, was one of the few girls that had ever managed to get on Mandy's good side. She was several thousand years old by her own admission, because she was cursed by the gods to walk the Earth in a young child's body until she could get someone to open her lunchbox. Mandy had been tricked by her to open it, with disastrous results. A few moments of chaos ensued, quickly quelled with Grim's help, and no amount of apologizing could stay the blonde's anger. Dora was sealed in her box, and the Reaper took it to be hidden away in some safe location. Apparently it wasn't safe enough. Mindy had followed him, and watched from inside a bush, as he opened a hole in the ground, and tossed the lunchbox in. Here was a magical artifact that she could find useful in the future. After he had closed the hole, she snuck over with a shovel, and dug the box up. The orange-haired girl needed a minion to order around, and one with magical knowledge would be ideal for her purposes. Mindy came from a long line of witches, not surprisingly, and was familiar with things of a magical nature. Dora was astonishingly wealthy, not so amazing considering how old she was, and the fact that she was, at one time, immortal. Wars and plagues didn't concern her much after the first hundred years of her curse, and she had grown immune to their effects. She no longer had qualms about scavenging valuables off of dead bodies, or rummaging through abandoned towns and villages destroyed by volcanoes and earthquakes. The sight and smell of rotting human flesh brought little more than a sigh of indifference from her. Dora and Grim had met numerous times under such circumstances, but he paid her scant attention since she was neither dead or dying, and his job always came first. He walked through the battlefields, collecting the soul orbs that floated just a little ways above their former owners. They'd see each other wherever a battle had occurred, or some pestilence lingered over the fallen. He'd be there picking up their souls, while she picked through their pockets and purses. Like him, it was just a job to her. Immortal or not, she still needed to eat. She was also lonely, and the money came in handy whenever she felt a need for a warm body to lie next to, although there was no shortage of lechers willing to take in what they perceived to be a ten-year-old girl. She relieved them of their coins also. Through prudent investments and careful money management, Dora turned her ancient horde of gold and rare jewels into a vast fortune. She now had a mansion to return to each night, and a staff of servants to take care of it. Mindy rang her up.

"Hello, Dora, sweetie, I have a job I need you to do!"

"What is it this time, Mindy."

"Oh don't worry, hon, you'll love this one! I need you to follow Mandy, and find out who she's hanging around with!"

"You have got to be kidding! You know she hates me, right?"

"But I also know you still have feeeelings for her . . ."

"D-don't be ridiculous! I couldn't get within twenty yards of her without getting glared at! I could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of my head when we were down at the lake the other day! Besides, I only wanted to be friends with her, not her lover! You're asking the wrong person!"

". . . and I know she still has feelings for you, too!"

"Get off it already. I'm not going to do it! B-besides, w-who told you she has feelings for me . . .?" Mindy cackled.

"I seem to have gotten your interest! You forget I'm the 'Wicked Witch of the West', and you're my 'flying monkey'! I've been doing a little scrying in my cauldron . . . trust me, she still thinks about you!"

"That's cuz she wants to beat me up! She'll never forgive me for what I did to her! Plus I'm no longer immortal, and getting the crap beat out of me just doesn't appeal to me!"

"Oh, you don't know that for a fact! I'm betting the two of you will get together swimmingly in the near future! You want this to happen, I know you do! I've seen you with your puppy dog eyes, sighing wistfully as she passes by!"

"Whadda you want me to do? I don't wanna hurt her again!"

"She got into a limo the other day after school, and I overheard the driver mention a name, sounded like 'Miss Asanti' or something. I want you to find out who this person is! Remember, . . . you owe your freedom to me!" Mindy laughed just before she hung up.

Another One Bites The Dust

The department store had closed for the night, the employees gone, the security systems turned on. Being an Olympian god, Apollo had no problem entering the building like a beam of sunlight. If Diana was also here, she would have no trouble evading detection. Their immortal bodies could not be detected by the mortals pitiful alarms, which depended on motion, body heat, or vibrations. He could also remain invisible to humans, a fairly simple feat for a god. Sister Diana must have uncovered something big if she was holed up in this store.

It was not unlike a villa on Olympus; a multi-tiered fountain sat in the center, the delightful sound of waterdrops echoed throughout the empty store, a collection of gods from the ancient world were placed alongside the many faux columns and reliefs that lined the walls.

"Arty . . . ," he called out, "where are you?" Arty was his pet name for her, and she would surely know it was him calling.

"Over here." a voice responded from the shadows. In the dim light cast from the mall, Diana's silhouette could be seen on the other side of the fountain. Apollo quickly rushed to her, holding her tightly in his arms.

"I've been so worried about you, sis! You should have called me earlier!" She patted him on the cheek, and smiled.

"Such a sweet baby brother you are! I could not get away to call. There is something suspicious about this store, and I needed to investigate further. Astarte is here!" The Sun god gasped.

"Are you sure? Uncle Hermes said we shouldn't confront her directly!"

"She seems to have mellowed over the ages. I don't think she's as dangerous as she was back in his days!" Diana took him by the hand, and led him to the statue of her. "Look at this! She made it for me! If Astarte was as bad as all that, why would she do such a thing?" Apollo looked it over in amazement, and caressed the smooth stone with his hands. He was particularly drawn to the statue's naked breasts, cupping them. Diana giggled. "Naughty brother! You've touched the real ones many times before, are those any different?" He began to blush, and pulled his fingers away.

"Th-they're so 'detailed'! Plus they feel warm! How is that possible?"

"Perhaps you'd like to feel the real things, and make a comparison?" She began to undo her blouse.

"Now who's being naughty!" he chuckled, and stopped her from exposing herself. "I'm just glad you're safe, . . . there'll be plenty of time for that later!" Diana laughed, and turned away from him, buttoning herself up.

"Do you have your m-phone with you?"

"Of course!" Apollo pulled it out of his pocket.

"Let me take a picture of you with the statue, and send it to Uncle Hermes so he doesn't worry!" She took it from him, and moved back a few steps. "Put your arms around her waist, and give me a big smile!" Artemis snapped several shots, selecting the best. "Now, to send it to him along with a message!" She raised her eyes, smiling, to the statues of the two twins. Send.

Oh Snap . . .

Hermes was getting ready to leave his office when his phone went off. "It's from Apollo. Hope he's found Diana!" There was a picture of the marble statues of Apollo and his sister, and a text message: "You have disturbed a millenniums long truce, Hermes. You're next." It was signed, Astarte.

He sat back down in his chair, and planted his face in his hands. "Dammit Nyx, what have you gotten me into . . ."

End Chapter 7

A/N: As I pointed out earlier, Diana is the Roman name for Artemis, which is the Greek version. Apollo called her Arty as a pet name. They are twins, with Diana being the older of the two.

From the beginning I didn't envision this as a Grim and Mandy story, but a platform for some of the secondary characters, mainly Eris. I like the character Dora because she's also a mortal who was mistreated by the gods, and so fits in with the storyline. To be honest though, I really hadn't thought to include her, but since I mentioned her in an earlier chapter, here she is!

M-phone is "mirror phone" if you haven't figured it out yet!