Both Dabria and Marc were sharing a single room. It was easier that way, masquerading as a married couple in Egypt.
While Marc finished his rounds during the night as Moon Knight, Dabria slept in the double bed. He sat on the floor, back against the bed as the sun came up, a bottle in hand as he drank some sort of rum.
They had spent the last couple of days in this place, sharing a room as their gods bickered in the background. A comfortable understanding occurred between them, something that lasted throughout their journey to Egypt. Marc worked more during the night and Dabria worked whenever she felt the need.
Both tried to find more of Harrow's people but they came up short.
Marc quietly stood up, prying open the curtains to let the morning sun into the room before he went to the bed. He nudged her gently, already knowing she would come swinging if he tried to wake her up abruptly like he did the first night.
"Sun's up," He said, sitting on the edge of the bed as she rolled over from where she lay on her stomach.
"Already?" She groaned, sitting up. "I don't want to be awake."
"Nor do I," He passed her the bottle, watching her gladly take a few gulps of the alcohol with ease. "Get ready. I put the word out about Harrow's men and something came back."
She nodded, pulling the covers away as she stood in her underwear and a thin tank top. "Alright. I'm gonna take a quick shower."
He nodded, his eyes falling to the thin Ankh necklace she wore. It sat in the curves of her cleavage, barely seen through the shirt. One thing he could plainly see was her pierced nipple poking the material. Dabria didn't care for what he saw and nor did he, keeping a low level of modesty.
He noticed Dabria didn't wear much jewellery besides the necklace and a ring on her right middle finger, silver with a large black gem in the middle, surrounded by dozens of smaller gems. He watched her grab some clothes as he began to dress.
Dabria showered, putting on her grey tank top under a thin open shirt and a pair of dark but thin jeans. Because of the harsh sun, she lined her grey eyes in black kohl to protect them. Her sunglasses would help too but sometimes it wasn't enough.
"How are you doing, Steven?" She asked, watching as Marc's body came into the frame of the bathroom mirror but Steven appeared.
"I'ma—" He started. "I'm alright, Dabria. It's kinda cold and tight in here but I suppose this is what Marc has to deal with."
She frowned, "It's one of those things you can't help, Steven. Like killing."
"Like killing?" He almost gasped. "How's that even remotely similar?"
"In Marc's, and now your, line of work, killing is necessary," She said. "Besides, Khonshu doesn't allow the unlawful killing of an innocent like Ammit would. He waits for the person to do bad. I, on the other hand, do it when I feel it is necessary."
"Why would it be necessary?"
"If they were to do more harm and I could prevent it, I will end them and judge them."
"You're still killing them," He said.
"And?"
"And don't you see that's bad?"
"Steven," She sighed, finishing her eye makeup. "If I did everything by what is apparently good and evil, no one would get judged fairly. Evil is needed just as much as good. What Khonshu does could be something you see as bad, he is in fact doing the right thing, letting another's bad actions judge them fairly in the afterlife."
"Dabria!" Marc snapped, "Hurry up!"
"Shut up!" She snapped back. "I'm done already."
)(-)(
They sat in a cafe, eating breakfast after their lead went cold.
She had an omelette as Marc had some sort of beef with other foods. Both had warm coffees near them as they ate.
"Your Arabic is good," He commented, drinking some of his dark coffee.
"Good, because I'm fluent," She said. "I'm fluent in most languages, dead or alive. Anubis always thought it would be better for me to understand everything rather than one or two languages."
"What was your mother tongue?"
"English and Lithuanian," Dabria smiled, looking up at him through her lashes. "You're American, Steven's British. I'm Lithuanian."
"Your name isn't Lithuanian," He said.
"No, it isn't," She sipped some of her hot coffee, frowning at the bitterness. "My name means angel of death. My grandma named me, not realising the meaning."
He smiled, shaking his head, "My last name means ghost so I can't talk."
"Exactly," She called over one of the workers of the cafe they were sitting in, asking for some milk and sugar. They just nodded and brought it over.
"You act like an Egyptian more than I do," He said. "And neither of us are."
She just tilted her head at him, shaking her head. "It's called blending in. Act like you're always here and no one will bother you unless they have a reason. Be like the night, blend in."
" I wish he learned that sometimes," Khonshu said from the side, sitting in one seat while Anubis sat in the other. " Watching him is painful."
"Teach him then?" Dabria rolled her eyes, drinking her now good coffee. "You can't expect someone to be perfect when you don't even bother to help them properly. And no," she gave him a look. "Giving him a super-suit doesn't count."
She looked into her coffee, seeing Steven's faint reflection.
" Well, it's a good suit, don't you think?" Steven said, brushing his shoulders off in the reflection.
Dabria laughed, "Yes, it is. Both of them are. A bit over the top but I guess that's just Khonshu's style."
"Very much so," Marc said, "This is really good coffee."
"See. And you were complaining about me wanting breakfast," She grinned. "Best coffee in all of Cairo here."
He nodded.
)(-)(
She hated running. Her damn scarf wouldn't stay on right as she ran, following Marc through the rooftops of the city. They were pursuing a couple of Harrow's men, having found them by their tattoos. Marc lost his hat as he ran, and since she was a little behind him, she grabbed it, putting it on over the loose scarf covering her hair.
It made it stay in place. She only wore it out of respect for the area but otherwise, she wouldn't because she wasn't religious, even if she called Anubis her god.
She kept right behind Marc, jumping and turning when needed as she ran towards a specific rooftop. Marc jumped over the ledge, getting onto the higher roof with ease.
Almost automatically, he reached back over the roof, letting out a hand for her to grab as she ran towards the roof and used the hand to help her pull herself up. She landed, feeling the wave of death around her as the knife plunged into the other man's stomach.
They jumped the ledge down to the other part of the roof, seeing the three other people there.
"Damn, I needed to talk to him about a dig site," Marc snarked, letting his arms swing as he jumped down to the proper level. "I guess I'm gonna have to talk to you instead."
"You're both too late," One guy said. "You're never gonna find Harrow."
"Really?" Marc asked, both of them watching as he and his friends brought out knives and threw one in the air.
"Is he joking?" Dabria looked at Marc, gesturing to the idiots in front of them. She cracked her knuckles. "This is gonna be fun."
She took the red-haired one, he couldn't have been older than twenty so she didn't go too hard on him. Getting him on the ground was easy but there were two others to concentrate on too, and two against three was horrible odds regardless of both Avatars' abilities.
When one got up, another got thrown trying to grab one of the knives.
Marc pushed one against the wall, grappling to keep his one there.
The kid grabbed a knife, throwing it at Marc but missing his face by almost a foot.
Dabria just swiped his feet from under him, making the kid fall onto his ass again while the third man took his knife and began to slash at her.
Flexing her hand, one of her armoured gloves appeared on her right hand, letting her grab the knife by the sharp end without hurting her. She pushed the knife towards him, making him let go of it as he fell into the nearby wall.
She switched the knife to her left hand and dug her claws into his chest, watching him squirm in pain as she looked at the knife's reflective surface.
Steven's stricken face was there, sad but almost accepting of the way she did stuff. Perhaps he would finally understand that the world wasn't black and white.
She ripped the guy's heart out, staining her hand with blood but she shrugged.
The kid distracted Marc long enough to let him and his friend escape, leaving both Avatars on the rooftop alone with two corpses.
"Well," She began. "That was fucking useless, now wasn't it?"
"You didn't have to kill him," He said. "He could have told us something."
"Marc, none of them were going to talk," She rolled her eyes, putting away her claws and wiping the blood off her hands on the dead guy's shirt. "Do you think any of Harrow's men would give him up so easily? Really, I don't care. I've got a job to do right now and that's to take these two to the afterlife and judge them. So if I collapse, just put me somewhere until I wake up. I'll be fine."
Her eyes faintly glowed gold, giving him a split second to leap forward as her knees buckled and she fainted.
He just swore, making sure she didn't hit her head.
It took a minute or two but she woke up, slowly but surely, her eyes slowly blinking to life.
"What the fuck was that?!" He almost shouted, helping her stand. His hands were tight on her arms, making sure she didn't fall again.
"What? Me passing out?" She tilted her head. "Anubis went to take the two souls to the afterlife. I won't have access to him for a couple of hours now."
"So, you're, like, Anubis-less now?" He asked. "Can you summon the suit still or not?"
"No suit but I still have a few perks but healing isn't one of them," She smiled, watching his concerned look slowly disappear. "I learnt that one the hard way."
He sighed loudly, "Don't do that again without warning me."
"I can't help it when he leaves to do his duty. It's like how you can't do your Khonshu shit during the day." She looked up, frowning. "Why is there a solar eclipse happening?"
They both sighed.
"Khonshu."
)(-)(
The Great Pyramid of Giza was beautiful inside, with layered platforms acting as stairs as both she and Marc went in. All the Avatars had to attend the summoning.
"Ah, Khonshu's theatrics are unparalleled," Yatzil said, coming into the room in her long pink dress and beautiful necklace. "You must be his Avatar. And hello, Dabria. I see Anubis is busy."
"Yeah," She smiled politely. "Can't be helped. Had to kill a couple of people so he's on soul duty until later."
"I hope it doesn't take long," She nodded in understanding. "There is a matter that needs to be discussed, apparently."
"Yatzil." One man said the Avatar of Osiris. "Dabria, you know the rules."
"Yep," She waved a hand, "I know."
"What? Where are you going?" Marc asked as he stood in the middle.
"No Anubis means I don't partake in this," She said. "I can watch but only that. I'll be on the side, don't worry about me."
He frowned, muttering, "I'm not worried."
"In attendance, Horus, Isis, Tefnut, Osiris, and Hathor," Yatzil counted them off, letting each Avatar be possessed by their god. "To hear the account of Khonshu."
Dabria sat on the steps between her seat and Yatzil's, leaning back against them to get comfortable and listen to them.
While the way Marc's eyes lit up with white crescents was attractive, hearing Khonshu's voice was not very much.
"You've been banished once for nearly exposing us, Khonshu," Osiris began. "And you know we despise your garishness, your showy masks, and weapons. But manipulate the sky again and we will imprison you in stone.
Khonshu shouted, " Spare me your self-righteous threats! I was banished for not abandoning humanity, unlike the rest of you!"
"We have not abandoned humanity," Horus said. "They abandoned us. We simply trust our Avatars to carry out our purposes without calling undue attention to ourselves. Not like some of us."
" Avatars are not enough! We need the might of gods."
Dabria cringed. Why did he have to yell so much? Everyone knew his powers but why did Khonshu think he needed to reinsert his status by shouting.
" Return from the opulence of the Overvoid before you lose this realm," He finished.
Osiris tried to not sigh, "For the last time, Khonshu, the Avatars that remain here are simply meant to observe. We decided long ago we did not wish to meddle in the affairs of man."
"We will decide our best course of action," Tefnut stated. "Speak your purpose."
Khonshu shouted again, " I call for judgement against Arthur Harrow."
"The charges?"
" Conspiracy to release Ammit!"
"That is a heavy accusation, Khonshu." Osiris did sigh this time. "Let us summon the accused."
With a whooshing sound, a door opened to the side and Arthur Harrow came through in his red outfit.
"So, I see by the presence of Khonshu's current makeshift Avatar," Harrow frowned. "The purposes of our meeting must be nefarious."
" You know exactly why we are here!" Khonshu shouted.
Harrow clasped his hands together in front of him. "I must admit I do not miss the sound of that voice. But speak, old master, to the point."
Marc's body turned to him. " Do you not seek to release Ammit from her tomb?"
"I was in the desert," He mused. "But if visiting the sands were a crime, the line of sinners would be longer than the Nile."
"Do not speak of sinners as if you are not one," Dabria snapped, sitting up until she could put her elbows on her knees on the stairs.
"I admit I am a sinner and I will serve my due when it is time," Harrow looked at her. "Who are you? I have not seen you before."
"I am the Avatar of Anubis, god of mummification and guiding the dead," She said, standing up to address the room. "Earlier tonight, Anubis had to bring two souls back to the afterlife, one of which was a member of Harrow's people, a cult of Ammit. In the past few months, Both I and Anubis have had our workload increased because of Harrow's work judging people before their time."
"Avatar of Anubis, sit down, you are not welcome to speak when your god is not here," Osiris stated.
"My god is busy sorting out the souls he judged!" She snapped. "I am permitted to speak when I have something to say of consequence regardless of the status of my god."
Harrow frowned, "May I finish? Khonshu has searched for Ammit's tomb since he ensnared me to his service. His vision is obscured by jealousy, paranoia, and his servant unwell."
"How do you mean?" Yatzil asked.
"This is a man who literally does not know his own name." Harrow spoke softly, "He has a marriage certificate under the name Marc Spector."
" Liar!"
Dabria couldn't help herself, she had enough of the shouting. "Stop fucking shouting, Khonshu, we can all fucking hear you!"
Osiris nodded, "Please do stop shouting. There is no need, either of you." Arthur Harrow, continue with what you mean."
"He has employment records under the name Steven Grant." He said.
"It's called DID, you moron," Dabria snapped. "It doesn't mean he's unwell or shit, he just has more than one personality, probably due to childhood trauma."
"And how many personalities does this man have?" Tefnut asked.
"Two," She said calmly. "Steven Grant and Marc Spector. I see souls, including souls of alters and other such things from personality disorders. It does not make him insane. He functions well as an Avatar and does as requested."
Harrow looked at her, shaking his head, "Khonshu is taking advantage of him the same way that he abused me, the way he aspires to abuse this court. Take action now before it's too late."
"Let us speak to Marc Spector," Osiris asked, watching as he slouched. "Are you unwell?"
Marc shook his head, "Depends on your definition of unwell."
"Does Khonshu abuse you as Arthur Harrow accuses?" He asked.
"No, not anymore," Marc stated. "I set my boundaries and he now respects them."
Marc looked over at Dabria, nodding once in thanks for that.
"This man is the dangerous one," Marc pointed to Harrow. "He has the scarab that leads to Ammit's tomb."
"But you had it first," Harrow rejected. "I now keep it safe and hidden."
"In the same desert that holds Ammit's tomb?" Marc laughed in disbelief. "We all know it is here. You come with your people here right after you get the scarab."
Dabria sat down slowly back in her seat, clutching her head a little. None of the other gods was concerned with her. Her necklace burned on her chest, her eyes suddenly pulsing with pain.
She looked up, staring at everyone to see small scales above each of them. Tilted this way or that, it told her about their souls and if their hearts would weigh heavy or light against the feather.
"I have no intention to summon Ammit," Harrow said.
Dabria scoffed, "With each lie, your heart grows heavier. I'm done here. I've had fucking enough, if you don't believe us, fine. I'm done here, I'll be waiting for you, Marc."
)(-)(
She was physically sick when she left the pyramid, her stomach emptying itself by a wall. Her head ached and she couldn't think straight.
Something was wrong.
Even the little voice in her head, the one that kept her company all these years was silent.
Anubis wasn't there but something else took his place.
She didn't like this.
