Memories
"I need to know, where is the scarab?"
Perhaps it wasn't a smart idea to let Layla, a woman Zahra had only met merely two days ago, tell her where they needed to go...but Zahra also trusted Nephthy's amour to keep her safe and Layla would need protection too.
It seemed that they had made the right choice to follow Steven when they heard the demanding voice of the man Zahra realised to be Arthur Harrow
"Where is the scarab?"
"I have it," Layla said loudly, raising the golden object into the air.
"You couldn't possibly understand the value of what you're holding." Harrow emphasised.
He held his hand out as Zahra and Layla walked towards him, surrounded by his followers.
"Let me have that, I'll keep it safe." Harrow added.
"There is no deal in this, Marc." Khonshu said. "Fix this. Fix this!"
"Summon the suit." said Layla to Steven.
"Sorry, what? Summon the suit."
"'Summon the soup'?" What are you saying?"
"The suit. Summon it."
"The suit?"
"And keep this safe." said Layla.
"So be it."
Zahra didn't want to summon her suit.
It was stupid in the moment, she knew that, but she had the skills without the suit. She only used the suit when she needed to as it often provided the perfect level of surprise and attack for bad situations. Not to mention, the suit wouldn't allow any type of trust or negotiation.
Nephthys hadn't appeared in a long time either, knowingly avoiding the Moon God.
"Steven, hurry up!" Zahra insisted, pulling by the arm up the stairs as Layla fought off a follower.
"Here." Zahra pushed them both into a room,"Bolt the door."
"Oh, my God. I'm going to die in an evil magician's man cave." Steven panicked.
"No. Hey. Listen to me. Listen to me."
Zahra zoned out of the conversation Layla was having with Steven, focusing all her strength onto keeping the door shut, arms braced outwards and pushing her back against the wood. She wasn't sure how much she could hold it.
"Layla, this isn't helping him!" Zahra scolded as Marc placed his hands over his ears,"Just stop!"
Zahra left the door, hoping it could hold for another moment. While her armour would allow her to hold off many of the followers, she couldn't protect all three of them on her own.
"Hey," Zahra crouched in front of him,"You can do this, I promise. Steven..."
"I can't. I can't. I'm sorry, I can't. I can't do it."
"It's all right. Okay. We'll just find another way." Zahra assured."Come on. Come on, let's go."
The door burst open and Zahra let out a string of swear words as she watched the Jackal enter the room, knowing Layla couldn't see it.
"Jackal. Jackal. Jackal!" Steven yelled.
"What jackal?"Layla questioned.
"Jackal. Jackal..."
"Go!" Zahra yelled to Layla.
The jackal had hit and thrown Steven through the window before Zahra could even get to the creature. Zahra had never fought a jackal in her life, from what she could remember at least, but she'd read enough books about them.
She held of the Jackal for a reasonable about of time without her armour on, before finally being thrown through the window herself. Summoning her own suit, she landed smoothly on the ground, standing up for Layla and Steven to see clearly.
Steven clearly didn't quite understand who this newcomer was as most of her face was covered, with the golden eyes making it look, unlike Zahra. Layla, however, knew exactly who it was.
"That's new," Layla panted.
Steven didn't look fit for a fight; he was dressed in a white suit, with his face fully covered and eyes a glowing white...she wondered whether he knew was he was doing at all.
Without warning, the Jackal broke through the building, grabbing and pinning Steven up against the car. Layla was hit out of the way by the creature when she attempted to see what she could do to help.
"Stay out of the way, you can't see it!" Zahra yelled in her now low tone,"Let me handle it!"
Zahra pulled out a sword, slicing at Jackal's leg. With little to no reaction, the Jackal turned and slammed the avatar against the wall, her head hitting the bricks harshly. She kicked her legs outwards, forcing the creature away from her.
"Get away from her, you. Yeah, I see you, you plug-ugly coyote." said Steven. "You're in the wrong ends, mate. You're in my yard now. Yeah. Come on. Come on. That's right."
Steven jumped around a little, moving backwards from the Jackal as Zahra stared in pure shock.
"Come on. Ooh, lookie here. Lookie here. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, my name is Steven with a V."
"What is this?" Zahra whispered.
"Here you come, come on! What?" Steven had thrown a punch and sent the Jackal backwards. I did it! You got planted! Layla, Zahra! Did you see that?"
Steven gasped as he was thrown back into the road. Zahra quickly removed her armour while she was in the shadows, in an attempt to stop people becoming too involved (not that Steven had done much to help.
Zahra watched as Steven looked into the bus as she kept her eyes trained carefully on the jackal.
"That was a hell of a punch back there," spoke Marc's reflection. "Look around. Someone's gonna get hurt if you don't let me help."
"All right. Do it. Take control. For now."
Zahra still didn't understand Steven and Marc's situation but she felt an odd but warm feeling spread through her as white hooded armour began to appear on Steven. It didn't feel like it was Steven under there and Zahra wondered whether they really were different people in the same body.
"Get it out of here." Layla spoke.
"Screw it," Zahra mumbled. "Let's see if this Marc's fighting is better than Steven's."
Zahra ran and jumped into the air after marc, cape blowing in her mind as gold wings appeared through the back of the armour. If Marc could lead the Jackal away, Zahra could follow to make sure it wouldn't turn back at any point...she also didn't completely want to trust this marc person under she saw his fighting.
Zahra watched as Marc grabbed the jackal, forcing it down to be impaled onto a spike. She watched as he swore when he realised he no longer had the scarab. She didn't know what the reflection in the mirror was saying but she found it odd to listen to one side of the conversation with Marc trying to make Steven feel better.
Zahra couldn't hold back the odd feeling she felt anymore.
Like air, she jumped from the rooftop to the ground, landing firmly but swiftly in the shadows. She wasn't sure if she should have...but she couldn't help feeling sadness as she listen to Marc talking about the blood on his hands and protecting 'her'.
Then Khonshu came along. Zahra backed away slightly, finally finding the opportunity to understand who this god was and what the 'deal' with Mark was.
"Where are we going?" Marc finally questioned when the conversation had ended.
"Somewhere with me, I hope," Zahra called out, stepping out of the shadows without her armour,"It would be rather rude if you didn't."
She stepped closer to Marc, completely disregarding the presence of Khonshu in the background.
"Zahra?"