Chapter 9

"So we're the only ones that can see them?" Violet asked, sitting in her hotel suite with the other Avatars. Her guards were sent out of the room but she watched the gods.

Khonshu lounged on the back of the sofa where Dabria and Steven were sitting, and Hathor stood right next to Violet, watching her interact.

"Yeah," Steven said. "Unless they want others to see them, no one can. Only their Avatars."

"And what are Avatars?" She asked.

Dabria answered, "Human vessels which contain their powers. So us. My god is Anubis but he's busy at the moment. Steven, Marc and Jake have Khonshu."

"Steven? Marc? Jake?"

"That's us!" Steven lifted a hand. "DID. Three personalities in one body. Don't worry, we're not as dangerous as the media portrays us. Unless you count Jake."

"Ignore him," Dabria rolled her eyes teasingly. "More often than not, being an Avatar just means you have communication with a god and you can do stuff for them. Hathor herself will discuss the deal with you, but I understand that suddenly finding out that gods are real, more than just the Norse ones, is shocking."

"What did you do when you found out?"

"Um," She hesitated, laughing a little. "I didn't have time to be shocked. Anubis has been with me since I was sixteen but I didn't start doing stuff for him until I was twenty."

Violet nodded. "What do both of you do for your gods?"

"Well," Steven began. "I kick ass and protect people during the night."

"And I work with Anubis and many minor gods helping souls cross into the afterlife. Most do so themselves but a couple of them are always a little reluctant," She said. "What you do will be between you and Hathor. Your deal doesn't have to look like ours. Your duties will be different because your god has different requirements than ours."

"But do I have to do it?" She asked. "I've got all these gigs to do."

"They will be part of your duty to me," Hathor said. "I am a goddess of music, I love it in all forms. Though, I do tend to do more than I should to protect what's mine."

Violet nodded, still a little confused but it was expected.

)(-)(

Dabria and Steven got back to their own hotel room just before midnight.

"I'm still surprised she got the hang of it so quickly!" Steven said.

"So am I," Marc agreed.

"I'm just glad she didn't call us crazy." He frowned. "I hate being called crazy."

Jake gestured to the large map they hung up on the wall, "Where's our next target?"

"Do you want to go to America or Italy next?" Dabria asked, taking off her shoes. "There's two in America, one in Italy and Japan. Do you want both of them in America first or what?"

"How about Italy?" Marc said. "I've got contacts there and we can move onto Japan after then get the two in America."

"That's cool with me," Steven nodded, taking off his own shoes and suddenly becoming flustered as Dabria took off her shirt and skirt, leaving her in only a thong. "Oh my gods…Warn a man, Dabria!"

She laughed, "What's wrong, Steven? We've fucked already. What's wrong with me in my thong? Do you want me to put more clothes on?"

"Nothin'!" He tried to justify. "It's… It's a little unexpected to see you like this again."

"Poor man can't stand the sight of breasts," She snickered as his blush worsened until it disappeared as Marc took over.

"Stop teasing him," Marc tried not to laugh and look at her as she walked to grab a shirt to sleep in.

"I'm gonna get some research in," She said, sitting on the foot of the bed with her laptop.

"We're taking a shower," He referred to the alters, stripping down to his underwear before he went for the bathroom.

She had put earbuds in, the light of the room turning dark as she worked through a list of stuff she wanted to know about their targets. They had been given names for them, and what they did but there was still other stuff she wanted to know.

Marc came in after his shower, towel low on his hips. He dropped it, getting clean underwear from his duffle bag before he spoke, "Can we go to London before we leave for Italy?"

"Yeah, sure," She said. "I don't mind. Hope we don't come back to find another dead goldfish."

He laughed dryly, "that was only twice."

"Twice is still a lot,"

"Well, we've promised no more goldfish,"

"Good."

"How long do you reckon you'll be awake? We've got a four-hour train ride down to London," He said.

She shrugged. "I don't know. We'll see how much I get done within the hour."

They went to sleep soon after. It didn't take much to fall asleep tonight, knowing someone was awake in case anyone came into the room. The three of them didn't like the fact that they weren't the one on guard but it was nice to get some sleep without having to worry.

The infernal tapping of fingers against keys was getting to them after an hour of it, light music coming through Dabria's earbuds.

Jake sat up in bed, yawning as he observed her hunched over the laptop at the end of the bed. She was calm as she typed at the speed of light, scrolling through forums upon forums before rewriting down notes.

"I swear," He took a breath to calm himself. "Dabria. Get in bed. It's late and we've got a long day ahead of us."

"Oh, shush," She said, continuing her work on her laptop. "I'm doing research."

"You need sleep,"

"Which I can get later,"

He gently kicked her thigh, nudging her, "Get in the bed."

"Go to sleep then," She never took her eyes off the laptop.

"I can't with the damned tapping," He said, getting out of the bed as she didn't even take into account him moving.

She was too engrossed in her work as he removed her earbuds from her ears, putting them in their little charging case before shutting the laptop. He threw it to the couch in the corner of the room, watching her suddenly give him all of her attention.

"Hey! I'm workin—"

When she went to grab him, he took her wrist, quickly getting on the bed so he straddled her hips. He leaned onto her, arms on either side of her as he glared.

"Sleep. Now." He said, his breath hot on her face. "And if you say make me, I will spank your ass until it's gleaming red, darling."

Dabria huffed, pushing at his chest as he got off her. He went under the covers, relishing in the soft mattress. She did the same, waiting until he settled and his breathing became steady.

As soon as she got out of the bed, after waiting half an hour to make sure he was asleep, she crept towards her laptop. She didn't even get to touch her laptop before she was hoisted into the air.

Her scream died in her throat, feeling Jake's warm hand on her thigh as he put her over his shoulder and brought her back over to the bed. Steven just shook his head from the window's reflection, tutting at her in the same state of dress as Marc was laughing.

"Why can't you just go to sleep?" Steven asked.

"I'm not tired,"

"But I am," Jake grumbled, dropping her onto the bed as he put his hands on either side of her. "You dragged us into bed in Egypt, I get to drag you into bed now. Fair?"

She sneered, trying to dislodge his arm but he was much faster.

Jake pressed Dabria into the bed, his hand wrapped around her throat loosely but enough to stop her moving as his other hand gripped a thigh to keep her from kneeing him in the crotch.

Dabria lashed out with her claws, trying to get his face to get him off her but he just grabbed both her hands and put them above her head, his hand tightening on her throat.

She hissed in pain, more so than normal and not at all pleasurable. Jake quickly retracted, noticing this.

"You're hurt.?" He stated as he helped her sit up. She clutched her left hand.

"I'm fine," She mumbled, shaking it off before she got off the bed and walked around to her side.

"No, you're not," He stopped her from getting in, switching to Steven as his expression softened. "What's wrong, Dabria? Tell me and we'll get it sorted."

"Nothing's wrong," She insisted.

"Then you won't mind us looking at your hand," He grabbed her bad hand, making it suddenly ache and burn. He stilled when he saw the dark black staining her skin, the handprint from the Shade still evident on her skin. "Why's it like that?"

Marc was cold yet sad in the window, his arms crossed tightly across his chest as he spoke in a monotone voice, "You were dying before you became an Avatar."

"No," Dabria snatched her hand out of his. "I was dead."

"What?"

Only two of them were surprised.

Both men held pity for her, she could see it in their eyes and she hated it.

"I don't need your pity," She snapped. "I made my peace with it."

"Have you really?" Steven asked. "Because it sure as hell doesn't look like you have. What even happened?"

"Okay, I lied. I died in the fire but I also survived it. I tried to kill myself by jumping off a building but Anubis stopped me," She stared him in the eyes, seeing both of them and yet another who she couldn't place. "Anubis gave me a choice, live and serve him or die."

"That's not much of a choice,"

"It was a better choice than what I had."

Marc shook his head, "You always have a choice."

"Not when your heart, the thing that would either grant you paradise or your demise is shredded apart by a bar that fell on you," She sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her hands "My dad, my lifeline in the fucking world, was dead long before I got out of surgury. I didn't get to say goodbye. I was alone when we cremated him. I was sixteen and parentless."

"How long do you have to serve Anubis?" Marc asked.

She opened her mouth before she closed it again, shaking her head before shrugging, "Until I'm of no more use."

"What?"

"Anubis gave me leeway. I had until I was twenty to be normal and then I became his Avatar permanently. If he leaves me, permanently, I die." She looked away. "I have no Field of Reeds or the Duat to look forward to. When I die, that's it. That's why I'm taking on this little quest to find the Avatars for the other gods, so I can have them in my debt."

Jake spoke up, "You're gonna ask them for your soul back, ain't you?"

Dabria clenched her hands by her sides, "Don't even start."

"Well," He started, stepping forward, "You're talking crap. You think the gods are gonna give you your soul back after all of this?"

"It's a better chance than I have!" She snapped. "One might not be able to, but having them in my debt might. The more I do, the more I can take. I'm already dead, what's the problem with trying to find a life."

"Why dontcha just live the one you have?"

"Because I want to be fucking normal for a time. Constantly, I can feel every single person die. I know exactly where they go, which afterlife, which are the good and the bad." She stepped forward this time, watching his jaw clench in anger. "I know exactly how many people have died in this very place, without even thinking about it. You, Marc and Steven are now the fist of Khonshu. I'm Anubis' jackal."

He shook his head at her, not saying much.

"I've never been without Anubis. The only thing that's keeping me alive is my ring and my necklace," She gestured to both. "Without these, I am dead. You don't have to come. You have a choice. I don't."

"You always have a choice!"

"No, no she doesn't," Marc's voice was small, coming from the reflection surface of the windows. Steven was right next to him, both looking a little sad but Marc moreso. "When it's all you know, you get used to it. You don't know anything else. I don't regret leaving the FIeld of Reeds but I understand why someone would want to stay."

She pointed at Marc as she glared at Jake, "That's why. I want an afterlife that isn't me disappearing. I want something to look forward to after all of this god shit. I want to know that when I die, not if, I get to have my paradise after living the hell that is my life. Just because you didn't get to go on the boat because you didn't want to, it doesn't mean I don't."

He gritted his teeth at that, "Why'd you have to open your big mouth?"

"Oh, get off your high horse and tell your alters what was happening on the Duat," She turned to them, "Jake was there. He was in a sarcophagus like Steven was. I found him before I found you but he didn't wa—"

He stormed over, covering her mouth with his hand as he wrapped his arms around her. "Shut up."

"No. nuno," Steven began, getting as close as he could in the glass to glare at him. "No. You don't get to do this, Jake. Marc tried it and it didn't work out well. You don't get to keep stuff from us just as we don't get to keep stuff from you. It doesn't work that way."

"You don't need to know," Jake said, sending a dark look to him before he groaned and retracted his hand from Dabria's mouth. He looked at his hand, seeing the deep bite marks on his fingers and palm. "You bit me. You fucking bit me."

"Cover my mouth again," She said, struggling in his arms as he tightened them around her again. "I'll do fucking worse."

"What," He laughed, low and dark in his chest as it vibrated against his chest. "What could you do?"

She stopped struggling, "Nothing. I can't hurt you in any way that would matter, can I?" She scoffed, leaning back into him as he still held her tight to keep her from moving. "You saw a memory of my lowest point."

He twisted her around, tugging her in by the back of the neck and the hips. He tugged her hair, making her look up at him as he searched her eyes. "You think I'm gonna use that against you? I'm not a fucking monster."

Her next words were ice cold just as her lips curled up into a dark smirk, "But I am. I've enjoyed my job as his Avatar. I want my soul and I want to be his Avatar. Why can't I have both?"

"Because forcing the gods into a debt isn't the way to do it,"

"Then what is?" His hand held her neck as she tried to step back and failed. "Let me go."

"You'll do something stupid,"

"Like what?"

"What makes you think they'll give you a soul?"

"It's better than doing nothing and never having a chance," She pushed at his chest, and it took him a moment but he let her go.

Jake stayed standing where he was, rubbing at his stubble which none of them had time to shave off. They'd probably do it in the morning but for now Jake was arguing with Dabria.

"Anubis is gone," She started. "And I've got no fucking clue where he is or when he is coming back. I'm lucky I still have access to my armour but my healing is fucked unless I'm in it. I can't do my duty until I either find him or get a soul, or I risk dying and never coming back. I don't want to have to jump off a building to see Anubis again."

"What?" Marc started.

"I lied. I didn't meet Anubis at the fire, I met him when I jumped," She refused to look at any of them, hands curling into fists. "I was suicidal at sixteen. Dad was dead, what was the point in living? Anubis gave me purpose."

"You jumped off a building?"

"I just said that." She rolled her eyes, "I'm done with this conversation. Only reason I'm bothering with the gods is to get my soul back so I can have a chance of life without fearing that each time I die is the last time."

Dabria climbed into the bed, getting under the covers quickly, pulling them over her shoulders as Jake just stood there. She turned away from him, closing her eyes to fay sleep while Marc and Steven struggled to discuss what just happened between themselves. Jake's hands were clenched by his sides, digging his nails into his palms without meaning to.

He dressed quickly, putting on a shirt and trousers and shoes before he left, locking the door. He got to the street level quickly, letting his sudden anger come out as his suit as his dark Moon Knight suit appeared and began to stalk the streets.

There had to be someone he could beat up.

"I've never seen you this angry, Jake," Marc said.

He shrugged, "My anger doesn't burn this way."

"Caring for someone brings out more emotions," Steven stated.

"I don't like it,".

"Nor do we but we can't help it, can we?"

He exhaled slowly, "No, we can't."

By the end of the night, their hands were covered in the blood of some thug, stained and bleeding from their bruised knuckles.

They didn't expect to find an empty hotel room with nothing but their stuff and a note.

Don't bother following me.

I can handle the rest of them myself.

Thanks for your help so far.

-D.

He crumpled the note in his hand, grabbing his bags as Jake had to take a calming breath to stay level headed.

"Go find her," Marc snapped.

"She can't've gone that far."

In the back of their mind, Khonshu was mumbling under his breath, "Idiots."