Zaina coughed loudly as she walked through the streets of Berlin. She hadn't been in Germany long, and the weather was really getting to her. To top it off, she didn't know a single word of German, and even the English she knew couldn't help her communicate with the Germans. A boy with pink hair p*censored*ed her, winking at her, and Zaina arched an eyebrow at him. 

''Look at that hair,''said Anubis inside her head,'' It looks horrendous,''

''And your jackal head doesn't?'' Zaina replied, a smile crossing her face.

''Excuse me, young lady. That jackal head is your head too now,'' reminded Anubis with a scoff and his voice faded away.

''Wow, he becomes quiet so conveniently,'' mumbled Zaina to herself.

She coughed again, and cringed at her clothes. This was not fair! Why did she have to wear linen clothes in this weather? She yearned for a thick warm woolen sweater.

''Oh no, our Council does not like that,''she grumbled to herself,'' Plant fabric allows us to perform magic better. Animal fabric doesn't. I ask you, is my mediocre magic worth the agony I'm going through?''

''Yes,'' muttered Anubis.

''Oh, shut up, will you?'' 

''I'm hungry,'' muttered Anubis in Zaina's head. 

Zaina sighed loudly, at glared daggers at nothing in particular,'' No you can't be, you fool. You're me! I'm not hungry, am I?

Zaina's thoughts were contradicted by the deep rumble coming from her stomach, and she clenched onto it tightly. She got out a few crumpled bills from her pocket, and checked the amount.

''*censored*,''she cursed,'' I've got...just enough for a loaf of bread. Why couldn't you have been my godly parent instead of a spirit stuck inside of me, Anubis?''

''That's because us Egyptian gods aren't exactly immortal,''chuckled Anubis,'' How many times do I tell you, we move from body to body. I made a wrong choice in you though. My previous body lived in a lavish mansion,''

''Oh shut up, Anubis!''she yelled at him mentally.

Just then, Zaina saw a person near her. He was tall and dressed in black, and there was something about him that made Zaina reach out for her dagger.

''Hello...daughter of Anubis,''

Zaina stared at him in bewilderment.

'' Did he just call you my daughter?''yelled Anubis in her head,''I'm no one's father, boy!''

Zaina ignored Anubis, and said,'' Excuse me? Do I even know you?''

Yeah, she might not be Anubis's daughter, and is probably an essence of the God itself, but how did he even come to guess she was even vaguely related to Anubis?

''He's one of those Norse demigods,''scoffed Anubis,''Don't worry, love, we can get rid of him,''

''Norse gods? Anubis, what the hell is going on?''she asked him mentally.  

Zaina couldn't help but lick her lips slightly as the boy bought a sausage. She coughed again, so that the noise of the cough could overpower the grumbling of her stomach. 

''Ask him for some, will you?''groaned Anubis inside her head.

''Are you crazy? I don't want to bow down to anyone, thank you very much!''chided Zaina, and turned to the boy again.

''I'm sorry...what was your name again? I don't know much about...Norse mythology. Uh, and yeah. Could you refrain from calling me 'Anubis'? That idiot is a part of my spirit, not my spirit as a whole. I'm Zaina,'' she said politely, trying to talk a lot so that he wouldn't hear her stupid, unfaithful stomach.

''Steal it, girl, steal it!'' hissed Anubis inside her head.

''I'm not going to steal his stupid piece of meat!''hissed Zaina right back,'' I don't eat meat, remember?''

Anubis scoffed, and said,'' Yeah, you don't eat meat because you don't have the money for it,''

Zaina ignored the voice in her head, and said,'' Third realm? I can't say I understand much of what you're saying...I don't think-''

Suddenly, Zaina spotted a tall dark man lurking in the crowd behind the boy. He was looking at her alright, and when he noticed her noticing him, he spoke to a man near him, and both of them nodded. She saw the tall man remove a knife from his pocket. He lowered his hood for a split-second, and Zaina tensed when she saw the familiar smirk.

''Uh, listen. I-I've got to go...''she stuttered, letting out a weak laugh. Her stomach growled loudly, and she grabbed the sausage from the boy,'' Uh, I'll pay you back, I-I promise! I'm...in a hurry!''

With that, she turned around, ready to run into an alley.

''Those rebels show up everywhere, huh?'' scowled Anubis,'' Don't worry, love, I'll help you,'' 

Zaina cursed loudly when the boy decided on following her, and when he asked her why the men were chasing her, Anubis yelled loudly in her head,'' Are you crazy? Don't tell him anything, Zaina! You'll be stupid to! He's the stupid mischief-making god's son!''

Zaina mentally shushed Anubis, and looked at Dryac, still running, her hair coming loose from her thick plait,'' Yes, they want to kill me. How in the world did they find me here? Why couldn't they have trailed Horus or Osiris or something?''

She took a big bite from the sausage, and immediately felt some energy come back to her.

''Get into your ba form, Zaina!''advised Anubis,'' You'll be-''

''I'm not getting into my ba form and letting you take control!'' yelled Zaina aloud, not realizing she did so. She turned to look at Dryac, but he had disappeared.

Suddenly, she screamed when she saw him reappear by her side, and hissed,'' This sausage is mine, grandson of...Odin, was it? Finders keepers, losers weepers!''

With a big grin, she finished the sausage in one big bite, and yelled in shock when a cloaked figure jumped onto Dryac, and she wanted to stop, when she saw the rebels gaining speed. She hesitated, and heared the cloaked figure whisper something to Dryac. Dryac managed to escape from underneath the tall figure, and Zaina couldn't help but get worried.

''Anubis, help me!'' she shouted, and within seconds, morphed into a jackal, and leaped onto the rebels. The rebels were scared now, seeing her in the ba form of Anubis. With a throaty bark from Zaina, spirits emerged from the ground.

''Salaam, oh mighty one!''said the leader, clad in a warrior's gear,'' How can we help you?''

''Erkhtet, do you have to call me 'Mighty One' every time you see me?'' groaned the jackal in English, her voice sounding husky in the ba form,''You know who I'm against. Just create a barrier between these rebels and me so I can escape. You can't kill them, but sure can slow them down!''

''Yes, oh mighty one!'' said the leader with a nod, and yelled a few commands to his soldiers in Arabic.

The jackal glared the the rebels, and ran away, letting the spirits do their job. She wasn't even a few metres away when she morphed back into a human being, looking very tired and flushed. She had to be careful...if she exerted too much of force in her ba form, she would be forced to stay as a jackal forever.

She looked over at Dryac, and yelled,'' Hey, you...are you coming with me?''

She grinned weakly, and joked,''You look like you've just seen your father. Come on, we don't want those rebels to come after us again,'' 

''Get back to his house?'' mused Anubis in Zaina's head,''Whaaaat?''

Zaina ignored him, feeling immensely weak, and she coughed, wanting to rest for a while. Before she could slow down and take a breather, the comrade said something. Zaina didn't have the time to register what he had said and she felt something grab her, and she screamed loudly in a bloodcurdling pitch when she felt her vision become blurry. She squealed in fright when she fell on Dryac, and huffed when he pushed her off.

She looked around her, and cringed a bit at the surroundings. She didn't like mansions. There was always something ominous about them that made Zaina uneasy. She rubbed her arm, and heard Anubis say,'' What the hell are we doing here, Zee?''

''Yeah,'' she said, nodding her head in agreement,''What are we doing here, boy? I don't even know your name,''

'' And quit calling me Zee,''she added mentally to Anubis, and she could feel him smirk in her head. Oh that guy made her mad at times.

Zaina stumbled when she saw a man appear before her, and she said,'' Okay, seriously. What in the world is going on here?''

She heard the boy- and...Thor, was it?- speak about some rubbish that made no sense to her, and said defiantly,'' Hey, I'm no vessel to no one, alright?''

''Technically, you are my vessel,'' corrected Anubis with a condescending voice, and Zaina frowned.

'' I'm going to get myself something to eat in this cursed place,'' muttered Zaina angrily, and she limped towards a room that looked like a kitchen. She turned on the lights, and stumbled towards a jar of water that lay on the counter. Not bothering to fetch herself a gl*censored*, Zaina finished the contents of the jar in a long draught, and banged the jar on the counter after she was done. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and widened her eyes as she looked around the kitchen.

''Wow,'' mumbled Anubis in her head,'' This guy sure knows how to live a lavish life. Go on, there's a bowl of fruits there. Go and get a pear or something. Oh, look! A mango! Darn it, you haven't eaten one-''

''Since Cairo,'' muttered Zaina, nodding her head,''Yeah, but I don't want to stray away from etiquette. Let me ask that boy before I eat anything from his kitchen,''

She peeped her head from the kitchen door, and said,'' Hey, Loki's son...could I take a slice from your mango?''

''Slice? Knowing you, you're going to end up having the entire fruit,'' said Anubis with a huff.

'' The boy doesn't need to know that now, does he?'' said Zaina mentally,'' Etiquette, my little God, etiquette.'' 

Dryac nodded to Thor as he walked away, grateful of everything the mighty god had done for him. He walked through his front door and reeled backwards slightly as Zaina popped her head out in front of him, "Hey, Loki's son... could I take a slice from your mango?"

"Eat the whole thing, it's been there for months, nothing goes rotten in this place... And don't forget, you owe me a sausage." He disengaged his helmet, before sitting on a large, plush sofa, twisting his neck in an attempt to unstiffen it. "Does Anubis talk to you in your head? Loki does it to me and it's really irritating... I want to kill him so bad."

"You should not wish ill on your father, you ungrateful little pest." Seeing that obvously Loki could hear what Dryac said as long as he thought about what he was going to say first, he smiled.

"Ungrateful? you left me for dead with a bunch of stupid humans who thought they were going to be able to keep me restrained long enough to disect me, you tried to kill me!" He was speaking to his father out loud now, not caring what the vessel thought. "Listen, stop speaking to me in my mind, come and face me so I can take you down once and for all."

"You know I'm stronger there, my pet... Though you probably also know that is the only place a god can truly die." Dryac stood, looking pleadingly at Zaina. He wasn't even sure why he had brought the girl with him, any other demi-god or god in their right mind would have left her for dead. "I told you not to follow this path... Now you're going to regret it."

''Owe you a sausage?'' scoffed Zaina weakly,'' Pfft. You have enough cash to get yourself a gazillion of those. What's the need of picking on a poor kid like me?''

'' Poor kid?'' scowled Anubis,'' You're like Set's spawn,''

''Technically, with you in my body and all, I am Set's spawn,'' grinned Zaina as she found a loop-hole.

That moment, the boy said something to her, and Zaina nodded,'' Yeah, he does. I mean, considering he's a part of my spirit and all. I don't think it's the same way your...-father is it?- speaks to you. He must be a pain, huh? What is your name, again? You keep straying away from the topic. If you don't tell me your name, I swear to Osiris I will call you Abigail,''

''Abigail?'' said Anubis in her head,'' That's a pathetic name. Call him...Reginald.''

''Ew, Reginald is horrible,'' cringed Zaina, and then she spoke aloud,'' If not Abigail, I'll call you Tina. Yes, that's the name. Why are you smiling, Tina? Won't you talk to me, Tina?''

''He'll hit you,'' warned Anubis.

Zaina stared at the boy weirdly as he looked pleadingly at her, and said,'' What did I do, Tina? I'll stop calling you Tina if it's going to make you cry. I mean, I thought you were a stronger bloke than that. Seriously, Tina, you should have told me your name. You wouldn't be crying then,''

''Will you stop speaking for once?'' groaned Anubis in her head.

'' No,'' said Zaina loudly with a big smirk, and yawned loudly. She looked over at the distraught boy and said,'' Hey, Tina. I mean, you. Not Tina. Where could I find some headache tablets? My head is really splitting here,''

'' Pfft. Deal with it, girl. It's not good for you to take foreign drugs,'' scolded Anubis.

'' I don't care, Anubis!'' said Zaina loudly, not bothering about Loki's son. She looked over at Dryac and said,'' Yeah, uhm. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now, but I'll be leaving in an hour or so, if that's alright with you? I'm indebted to you, of course. However, my stay here any longer would be dangerous. I think I'll go down to Argentina or something. Yeah, that would be nice. However, too many footballs flying around. I can deal with that, yeah. ''