Devil May Care

.18. Devil May Care .18.

I was discharged later that morning. Returning to the hotel, I found Dante fast asleep. I swore I could hear him mumbling, was he... talking in his sleep? I had to suppress a giggle, Dante never spoke in his sleep – the thought of such a 'tough guy' doing so was rather amusing. I couldn't resist listening. Most of his muttering was incomprehensible, but he certainly wasn't having a pleasant dream. After a moment, I began to feel sorry for him, and decided to wake him up, to spare him from the distress.

"Dante." He didn't stir. "Hey, Dante." He seemed to flinch, as though he were struggling against something. I thought nothing of it at first; "Hey, Lover-boy!" I whistled. No luck. He was so deep in his sleep, he couldn't hear me.

I tried shaking him by the shoulder – that didn't work either. Okay, I thought, how do I go about this? With further analysis, his deep sleep appeared to be enchanted. There was a familiar feeling in the room, I turned around to find one of my family members; my great uncle Tutu, Ra's youngest brother. I stood there, bewildered – in silence. Tutu had a serious expression on his face. Uh-oh.

"You're in a lot of trouble." He finally broke the silence, though he spoke in a grim tone.

"Tutu. I guess this is your influence?" I asked, gesturing to Dante, "I must admit, this visit is unexpected..."

"He is the spawn of a demon. It was simple..." There was a pause. I know very well the views commonly held by my kind – demons were the lowest of the low. Nothing but mere slaves with no right to a will of their own. Property. With Dante being half-human, half-demon my kin adopted a kind of 'filthy half-breed' leaning.

"You fought against Isfet demons?" His query was accusatory, and he knew the answer regardless. Of course, Tutu knew of his brother's commands of me.

"It was self-defence," I replied bluntly, frowning deeply.

"You sought out the serpent. Did you think Ra would not notice?" I fell silent at that. I had gone against my grandfather's orders – Ra's word is law, and I broke it.

"Please, just release Dante from the spell." I felt in no mood to deal with this situation, I had more pressing matters in mind. "He's innocent in this."

Tutu sighed, briefly glancing at Dante, before re-affixing his gaze at me. "Do not think that this is all. Ra will wish to speak with you." With a snap of his fingers, my great uncle vanished, and Dante started to stir. *Sigh* My life is a mess.

It took Dante a couple of minutes to wake up after Tutu had left. I felt rather irritated, my kin would accuse me of acting 'too human', but their total disregard of someone I deeply cared for truly offended me. Not that I would ever voice such feelings. Dante appeared surprised to find me in the room.

"How long you been there?"

"I only just got here," I lied. He sat up, and I took a seat next to him on the bed. Anger and displeasure mulled within me, I was clenching fists in my lap. I could sense Dante watching me.

"What's the matter?"

"It's...nothing," I sighed a reluctant answer. Apep was now actively seeking me out to kill me, I was in trouble with my family... could it get any worse? The whole situation was just stressing me out. The Isfet serpent just had to show his face, didn't he? I swear this happens every time... even to a goddess, fate can be cruel.

It was mid-day by the time I calmed down. Dante and I were sat in the park – mostly at my insistence. I needed to be out in the sunlight. Dante was unnervingly quiet and seemingly distant. From resting my head in my hands, I sat up;

"What's wrong?" I asked, shaking him from thought.

"Huh?" He appeared to be taken aback by the question.

"You obviously have something on your mind." He fixed his gaze to the ground.

"It's nothing." *Sigh* I admit. We're as bad as each other. A sudden movement drew my attention – and I was startled by what I saw; Ra was marching angrily in our direction!

"G-Grandfather!" I jumped to my feet as he approached, looming over me, clearly enraged. Dante remained seated, though was watching. Then Set stood at Ra's side, along with Ma'at and Thoth... Oh boy. I was in deep trouble.

Ra's angry glare was humblingly intimidating. I couldn't even get a word past my lips.

"You completely disregarded my orders!" He spoke in Osirian, ignoring Dante's presence entirely. "What have you to say for yourself?"

"Apep attacked me!" I argued, hoping to make the other gods before me would see reason. It was evident that my efforts would be fruitless.

"Even so, I told you not to engage Isfet without my orders!" This was a frightening scenario; the Eye of Ra, the embodiment of Ra's rage being entirely at the mercy of it.

"I-... forgive me, Grandfather..." I stuttered out an apology, bowing my head, my body shaking, feeling rather embarrassed. A few mortals were watching the exchange, though none would be able to understand what was being said. I dared a glance up, Ma'at's expression appeared somewhat sympathetic, Thoth simply looked unimpressed. Set's expression was unreadable, although I wouldn't doubt that he was keeping his eye on Dante.

"Enough," Ra grabbed hold of my wrist, leaning into me, "I will not stand for this."

"Hey, wait a minute," Dante now stood up and pulled on my other wrist. Recognizing by my demeanour that Ra was the grandfather I had been arguing with; "Charlotte's done nothing wrong-" Oh, Dante! Set then immediately struck him a blow to the abdomen, his inhuman strength and speed surprising Dante; he gasped for air as he fell to his knees – cut-off and winded before he could finish.

"Set!" I turned to Set, though Ra still had me by the wrist. "Grandfather, please," I begged, "see reason." Silence. Terrifying silence. I tried to meet Grandfather's eye, but his angered glare was too overpowering. After a moment, thankfully, Ra released me, and I knelt at Dante's side; "Are you okay?"

"Didn't expect that," he muttered. He was fine. His ego was likely more injured than he actually was. I looked back up to find Ra and Set had disappeared. Ma'at and Thoth remained. Dante rose to his feet. "Damn. Your family doesn't hold back."

"It's to be expected," Ma'at explained. "My father is very protective. And Set takes his role very seriously."

"So, you're..."

"Harmony, Charlotte's mother." Mother introduced herself with her mortal alias: not all Osirians had one, though a few had multiple – myself included. I was glad that, at the very least, there was a degree of civility towards Dante. "I believe you've been acquainted with my husband." Dante simply nodded in reply, recalling the encounter.

Thankfully, it didn't take Dante long to recover from his exchange with Set and we continued to walk around the town. My parents went their own way, though I had no doubt that they would be keeping a close eye on me - we would certainly see them again; sooner rather than later.

"Is your whole family like that?"

"Pretty much," Most other divine entities I crossed paths with over my lifetime didn't play well with mortals either. "Still nursing your hurt pride, Dante?"

"Shut your face." For whatever reason, I couldn't help but smile. "You sure you're alright?"

"That was just... a little distressing." He stopped walking and pulled me closer to him.

"It'll be okay. Any reasonable people will just deal with it eventually." I hugged him tightly, with him returning the embrace – I could feel his breath down the side of my face and neck. This was far from the first time my kin had meddled in my relationships, and I highly doubt it will be the last...