Here comes the next contestant [Ramsey and Leander, everywhere in the DGA]

"I'm real" Leander whispered holding his arms open for her. He kissed her back memorizing the curve of her lips, salvaging the taste of them, loving the way she fit perfectly in his arms, against his body. "The only thing that matters is that I'm here now. I'll never have to leave you like that again I promise you by everything I am I'll never leave you." he kissed her again quickly and then looked down at her. "I thought I'd never get to see you again." he said holding her face in his hands. The reason for him living was right in between his hands. He wondered how he would have ended up if he had not met her. Hades would most likely have killed him after he got the information he wanted from him. But there was no doubt in his mind that he would not have this any other way then how it was at the present. Being close to her was all he needed and he had gotten what he wanted for the rest of eternity. No longer was he the lost soul who traveled like a slave in a desert.

Ramsey was bursting with a hapiness that she couldn't place, it was all-consuming and made her feel like she was glowing. She broke the kiss finally, to breathe and bury her face into Lee's chest. She was suddenly struck by somthing. She grabbed his face between her hands and trying to put on her best angry face, she said, "Dont you ever do that to me again, Lee, next time you go off to certain death you will take me with you." and then she smiled softly and ran her fingers through his hair, "Although your never going to be in one of those situations will you?" She marveled at the silver tracks in his skin and traced them, smiling when his chest rippled.

He laughed and picked her up, throwing her into the air and catching her again as if she were nothing more than a rag doll. “Don’t worry about that. But no. It seems I won’t be having that problem.” He couldn’t stop smiling. Where now were his sad days? They were nothing more than painful memories and his shadows were no longer something to bear, no longer just another weight on his shoulders. He had everything, had it all in the palm of his hands in a way he could never have thought possible just a few weeks ago. “I get forever with you now Ramsey.” He couldn't help himself and laughed once more so happy at how his miserable life had turned around for the better.

Ramsey sighed and dropped her hands from him, looking away before she said, "I will not live forever, Lee." she turned back and set her hand in his hand and brought it up to her heart. "I am only fifty years old and already I look as if I'm twenty. I only have maybe two hundred years, and I will look like an old wrinkled woman," she smiled sadly. "How shall I overcome this problem when you've surpassed so many other difficult ones." she felt inadequate being with Lee, who seemed like he could take Atlas's load and still act like it was nothing.

Leander chuckled trying to laugh whole heartedly at this. “Ramsey I don’t care what you look like. He tapped his fingers where she had his hand against her chest. “It’s what’s here that matters. . I’ve done nothing that you wouldn’t have done yourself. And please stop looking at me like you’ll worship the ground I walk on. It makes me feel…strange.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “We’ll find a way to make this forever,” he said bending down to kiss her. “I promise. I‘m not gonna give up now that I have it all”

Ramsey suddenly had a surge of adventerous in her. "Strange huh?" and she smiled and lightly placed her fingers on his chest and walking forward. He was walking backward andhit the back of the bed, falling onto it. Ramsey crossed her arms overher chest and grinned, looking him over. She could see his designed skin where his shirt was falling open and following that up her eyes folowed up Lee's neck, and his beautiful face. She smiled as if a lioness smirking at her prey and leaned over, her hands on the bed on either side of his torso. She leaned over till she was almost parrallel with his chest, breathing, although he didn't need to. She pursed her lips and whispered, "Is this look a little less strange?" Her eyes blazed and she grinned.

Leander plopped onto the bed lightly and watched her study his new marks laughing at her remark, then she leaned in so close it almost seemed like she was the one breathing life into him and technically it was true. He was almost shocked when he felt his breathing hitch slightly. He was a god now, how was it that Ramsey still had such a powerful effect over him? He didn't have to ask though, he already knew what it was. True love, forever love, the image of salvation. He glanced at her arms locking him into place, keeping him locked in a cage he didn't want to leave, ever. "I can't really concentrate right now darling, not with you so close." He said and closed the small distance with a light hand on her neck to kiss her.

Ramsey could never think straight when she was that close to him and against her own wishes she broke their kiss and smiled. "Well, that sounds like a personal problem." She smiled and then suddenly realized something. Gasping she got up and rushed over to the door, "I love you Lee but I need to go," he had stood up and she rushed back to kiss him quickly. Then she hugged him, "This may seem stupid to you but I've missed class the past three days, I need to go to my form and change..." she thought more things she needed to do.. "I love you so much Lee but this is important and I need to go see.." she trailed off and headed down toward the girl's dorms. She must've looked like Hades, her eyes and lips all red and puffy, her clothes in disarray.

'need to go see' she'd said. Leander vaguely wondered who she had been talking about but he could hardly wrap his head around anything with her having left so abruptly. He was still looking at the door she had gone through feeling his heart fall to the floor at her departure but then he shook his head and decided it was silly. "I know where she is, I can keep her safe from here." He sighed and looked around his room it reminded him of his past days. So quiet and alone. He thought for a second if he should follow her and his hand rested on the doorknob.

Ramsey was running now, all the way to her room, trying to hide her face from everyone, she could practically hear rumors starting, it was probably her imagination. When she got to her room she grabbed some different clothes and her backpack, checking her reflection in the bathroom. She looked hideous and she wondered what happened to her in the last few days. She ran a brush through her hair and brushed her teeth and cleaned up the best she could in five minutes. Rushing out the door she ran to her first class and she went inside the teacher looking surprised saying she never missedclass but three days in a row?Ramsey gave the quick explaination that she felt sick the past days. The teachers she told it too bought it and she went to the campus library to start the homework she missed the past few days.

Leander closed his eyes and let his shadows seep through the room. He didn't have any of the mundane human necessities, a fact he was quickly learning, but he enjoyed the rest, the relaxation. He feared that if he dwelled on Ramseys departure too much he would drive himself insane so he settled for an almost sleep like state. His mind a blank slate but still in tune to the things around him. He'd wait until she came back into his arms. Then he got to thinking too much about it... What if she lost interest? A lifetime was a long stretch. He tried to banish the thoughts from his dormant mind.

Ramsey was taking books from shelves and dancing back and forth between the aisles eventually returning to her table and sitting on it to fill her mind with knowledge. Here, she was in her element, she was known by the keepers of the books and they let her twirl around the book shelves and dance all around. Ramsey loved books and loved being in her element. Carrying a large stack she returned to her table, humming a sweet tune. While she was reading about the French culture and it's effects on the world, she heard it. She heard a whispered comment and Ramsey looked up to see a girl staring at her while talking to another girl. She walked over and stared Ramsey right in the eye, "You know he'll dump you out like the trash you are," she hissed and swiped some of her books on the floor. When she walked away, Ramsey knelt on the floor and picked up her books, her joyous dancing mood wiped from existance. She sat back down and did her questions quietly.

He knew tight away when something was wrong. He could feel it and it snapped him abruptly out of his blank state and sat him upright in his chair. He whispered to his shadows and they told him what had happened. Angered he stormed down the halls of the school towards the library. On the way he passed a group of girls and his shadows told him the offender was among them. Leander picked her out instantly and spun her around forcefully by the wrist eyes burning with anger. The girl misread his actions and grinned at him coquettishly. The anger in his voice assured her that he was not in any way interested. “You do anything like that again and you WILL regret it, for the rest of your life.” One of his shadows slipped under her skin and she blanched tugging back. He turned around and stopped at the library doors. He calmed himself down before he was compelled to hitting something then walked inside and started scanning the room for her.

Ramsey heard an angry voice outside, as you could usually hear loud voices in the quiet library and returned to her questions about French history and when the door opened she didn't see who it was, as her view was obstructed by several book shelves. She did though sense that the angry presence was here by the hyper charged air, but she did feel lighter. Knowing that she needed to do her work she focused in on it but not before she saw some girls rushing towards the doors. Ramsey smiled, she had Leander and wasn't going to go looking for whoever they were running for. She did notice a few girls glance at her and laugh before running over there. Ramsey cocked her eyebrow and shook her head but went back to her work, scribbling furiously and brushing hair out of her eyes as she sat on the table part of the large wooden desk, sticking her pen behind her ear and turning pages quickly in another book to try and find the citation word for word. Setting another book on top of that she grabbed her notebook and wrote down a few sentences she needed for something else. She smiled at the fact she was doing several subject's homework at once. Books piled on her lap she put her ballpoint ben in her mouth to close a couple books and put her hair in a bun. Feeling as if she was being watched, she looked up and saw Leander standing there causing the pen to drop to the floor and her heart to ache. "How long have you been standing there, Lee?" she asked thinking about how stupid she must look.

As soon as he was standing at the open door some girls noticed him and then all of them came flocking towards him he did his best to shoo them away avoiding their hungry hands at all costs then deemed himself invisible with his shadows and slipped into the library to their great confusion and dissatisfaction. He would not have found Ramsey if it were not for the keen sense he had of her but there she was looking as beautiful as ever burning through books like there was no tomorrow. Her deep concentration was broken when she saw him and he was almost sad to see her lose her essence because of him. Thin tendrils slipped from his fingers wrapping around the pen and setting it back down on the table next to her. "I'm sorry, I really didn't want to bother you, you seemed so content in your element but, I couldn't help it. I felt like something was wrong with you and-and" he sighed. "You shouldn't believe anything those girls say.

Ramsey sighed and smiled up at him. She placed a hand against his cheek, which he seemed to lean into. "Lee, as much as I love you and need you, I AM a big girl. I did get along quite nicely before you, and know that I have you my life is only better." She took her hand off his cheek and placed it against his heart. "I don't believe what they say, I never have believed dumb little girls who have nothing better to do than antagonize others. I'll be fine, the comment just knocked the wind out of me after a happy few hours. Standing up on the chair, since she was already sitting on the table, she stretched out and jumped down. Stepping into Leander's embrace she hugged him closely and kissed his cheek. She sat backon the table, putting her feet on the chair again, and picked up a book setting it in her lap, "Goodbye Lee, I need to get these things done, I love you, and if you don't leave," she tapped her pen to her temple, "I shall know." she smiled a cute little grin and started writing again.

Leander took a few steps back then turned and walked briskly out of the library. The girls were still outside promising him they wouldn't kick him out of any room that way. He glared at them and stormed through the group sending one stumbling. She would have crashed on the ground had he not taken pity and grabbed her shoulder at the last second and stood her back up. He then walked out to the clearing, past the bustling training fields and towards the stables. Once there Phalanx greeted him with a whinny and Leander grabbed a brush and a curry comb from the tack room to rub down the horse. The repeated motion of brushing helped him clear his head. He knew she had better things to do, studies that needed catching up on, but her rejection hurt him more than he would ever admit.

Ramsey felt regret when he left, it probably stung a little. She needed to catch up on all these questions and assignments she missed. Ramsey started working double time, writing furiously and rubbing her temple she finished up her last bit of work about four hours later. Most of the library was empty, with the exception of the librarion's desk and the windows were almost as dark as night. Ramsey smiled, dancing around the library, putting books back where she found them and packing her things in her grey messanger bag. She would return all her assignments tomorrow, when she went to class and when she put her last writing untencil back in the bag she went up to the del to find it empty. A note was sitting on the counter

"The doors are locked from the outside so all you have to do is turn off the lights and make sure the door shuts behind you. Thanks Ramsey
-Marion"

Ramsey smiled, she liked being trustworthy. She did what she was asked and left the library, taking a shortcut through an unlit corridor to get to the boys dormitories faster. When she was almost there, Ramsey was shoved into a wall, her mouth covered, "So what's Kiron got that I don't?" a voice hissed in her ear as the man pressed closer to her. Finding strength she didn't know she hadshe managed to punch him in the stomach and run. She was right next to the entrance to the building when the guy caught up to her and slapped her across the face. Ramsey looked up slightly dazed and wished her legs weren't being sat on by the large guy. Ramsey's eyes were set in determination as she tried to fight him off, but he was bigger than her. As the guy touched her hair she tensed and tried to throw him off again.

Leander paced inside his room like a caged tiger ready to roar at the first thing that displeased him. He knew something was wrong. Something wasn't right with the air it was to charged swirling around him and causing his shadows great displeasure. He restrained himself from searching for her though. She needed her space even if it didn't include him and he wouldn't violate her wishes ever even if it meant being away from her. It still made him frustrated not knowing where she was but he kept his shadows to himself not allowing them to search for the answers he so wanted to know.

Ramsey tried to scream. She tried so hard but the man's palm conered her entire lower half of her face. She struggled but couldn't move her legs. One of her arms slipped through his grip and she clawed down his face and he reeled back in pain. Ramsey swung around and kicked his face and he fell down. She didn't check to see if he was concious, although one part of herself told her to. She picked up her bag and ran up the stairs into the boy's dorm. Running up to his room she stopped in front of re door and banged on it. "Lee! It's me, let me in!" she half screamed, half-sobbed. She was crying hard and she herd footsteps coming up the stairs. She realized Lee couldn't possibly be there or he would have opened the door. With the footsteps getting closer she left her bag by the door and went deeper into the hallway, so she could see who was coming up the stairs. The guy was clutching his face, so she couldn't tell who it was, but she knew it was her attacker. He was muttering, "Hades. Ugh! He better fix this. How much could this little girl do? Why would he want her dead?" Ramsey gasped, revieling her position. The guy glanced up and squinted his one eye, grinning. Ramsey quickly ran down the stairwell, followed by her attacker -apparent assasin. He tackled her at the bottem of the stairs, ripping her shirt in the process, and pulled out a concealed knife. Bringing it to her throat, he hissed, "All this, for nothing," and he began to cut her throat when she effectively pushed him off with strength she didn't know she had. He hit the wall and she sprinted out of the building, her clothing beginning to slip from her because of the tears in the fabric. She sprinted toward the stables, she would take Lee's horse and her away for the night. Her neck was bleeding and she was getting a little light-headed. She finally stumbled to the ground at the entrance to the stables. Getting back up, she hung on to a rail, and went inside, finding her way to Lee's horse, before she could get over to him, she fell again, this time, right in front of Lee. Her shirt was barely on and her skirt was torn of the side, her neck was bleeding from the cut, and she was barely concious.

Unable to control himself any longer Leander decided he would groom his horse, the big Friesian always seemed to take an edge off of his nerves. He had made It to the stables without killing anything on the way and headed into the tack room to get a brush and a comb. Before he had even made it back out he heard the sound of footsteps and rushed out to see what was going on only to stumble upon Ramsey. “Oh no.” he whispered horrified. He knelt down quickly and gently pushed her hair away from her face, she looked so battered and there was a long cut on her neck. “Ramsey.” he whispered choking back the tears that wouldn’t come. “What have I done” he cried. As if he were to blame for it all. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his room

Ramsey was still awake, barely, but she was still awake. She felt herself being scooped up by Lee. When her shirt finally gave out, the last bit if the slit ripping, it fell off her shoulder, revealing the skin underneath. Lee, tucked her tighter to him and Ramsey shivered. The walk back seemed so long, the assasin must have fled. She whispered, "My bag..." when they got to Lee's door and he nudged it with his foot. He finally sat down on his couch, still with her craddled to his chest. Then she finally fell unconcious.

As much as he knew he needed to get help he didn’t want to let go of her. When he felt her slumped and unconscious in his arms he felt powerless. No longer was Leander a god but the more numerous stages of him in his helpless hours of life. A child bloodied and torn by disciplinary chains, an unmarked halfblood to young to understand what women were asking of him, a hardened man with an impenetrable exterior of sacred skin guarding that which he had not been allowed to follow until now, his heart. Being that he had only been a god for a few days he didn’t know the extent of his power and didn’t want to risk experiments on Ramsey. He did what he could with his always familiar shadows to heal Ramsey but she was still unconscious. He held her as close as he dared feeling the raised lines on her back, the five scars left from the tie they had when the Erinyes had punished him, the scars meant to mar his own skin.

A sudden determination came over him and he knew absolutely what he had to do. Carefully he set Ramsey down on the bed and looked down on her with love and tears in his eyes. “I will return. I Promise” she probably couldn’t hear Leander but he felt it needed to be said. Before Leander could make himself change his own mind he walked out the door. On his way off the grounds he told Andromeda that she was to care for Ramsey until he returned, she realized he was a god now and she would have to obey. Andy didn’t protest and only said, “May the blood of that whom you seek be shed plentifully” he nodded and stalked off in his growing fury. He would kill those sent to kill until Ramsey could live in peace, even if it meant a life without him.

Ramsey layed there for quite a long time, her mind drifting in and out of a strange half-conciousness. Finally, she awoke from her sleep, feeling as if an entire decade had passed. Ugh...my head... she thought, slowly. She then realized where she was, and remembered the terrible evening events. She sat up quickly, ignoring the sudden lashing of pain that rocked through her body. Her head whipped around, looking for Lee. She knew he was gone, the knowledge sliced through her, causing her heart to throb. She got up, her clothes falling away as she did. Great. her mind said, but her heart didn't care. She pulled out something random from Lee's drawers and pulled it over her head. She found a pair of sweatpants and tied up the loose fabric with a hairtie. She looked like Hell itself, but she didn't have time to care.

Andy heard her before Ramsey even put her hand on the doorknob. As the door opened, Andy slipped inside before Ramsey would have a chance to walk out and closed the door behind her. “Leander told me to keep you here. He should be back soon.” Andromeda tried hard not to grimace, the girls hair was disheveled and pieces of her skin had splotches of dry blood. It wasn’t that which made her uncomfortable though, Andy had been through too many battles to be bothered by that, it was the look in her eyes. Such a strange look for a lost love, she had never known what it was like to have lost something like that.“You should stay inside Ramsey” she slipped back out and slammed the door shut leaning on it heavily as Ramsey pounded on the other side of the door crying for her Leander until it seemed impossible to Andromeda that the girl still had tears to cry.

Eventually it all subsided to whimpers and then the silence of a soul broken without its other half. She knew Ramsey was still on the other side of the door, she could feel the weight straining against hers and Andy would’ve heard if she’d tried to climb out a window. She sighed with relief when she saw some dark shadow pass around the corner. That shadow materialized into Leander when he was five steps away from her.


Leander quickened his pace once he was in the halls inhaling the air that closed the space between him and what he wanted most. He almost forgot he was still in shadow when he saw Andy slumped against the door to his room, she was picking under her nails with that sharp dagger of hers, one of similar make to his sword. He dropped his shadows when he was a few feet before her. “How is she doing?” some part of him hoped she would say Ramsey had forgotten him already “She has been crying for you since she woke up.” Leander grimaced and gestured for her to move out of the way. She stood cautiously keeping one hand on the door. He remembered the young man he’d seen in the forest minutes before and for securities sake he informed Andy “Thank you for your help. I saw an armed man in the forest, he seemed peaceful enough but since you are part of the patrol group I thought you might want to check it out. Perhaps he needs assistance finding the Academy.” Andy nodded and stalked off down the hall towards the trees dagger in hand. Leander shook his head and smiled then put his hand on the door where he could feel Ramseys presence on the other side making himself suffer a little longer for having broken a promise so quickly. He knocked quietly. “Ramsey? Honey?” He waited patiently for a response. If she was angry for him leaving he was willing to wait at the door until she forgave him even if that took centuries.