Date night had been going great until the Longnecks.
I'll admit, the choice of Manhattan as the location was a little risky, but I told myself that the ancient Egyptians had been able to set foot on the West Side of the Nile without getting devoured. The food had been good, Zia had looked great. But when we came out of the little Albanian Restaurant Freak was missing. This wasn't too concerning, he was pretty easy to spook. When I whistled he didn't come. We heard some trash cans banging and we drew our weapons.
That had been an hour and a half ago. Zia had turned her staff into a flaming lion around 51st Street, and the Serpopards hadn't turned back. Her wand had been smashed a little bit later. That left her with her fists. She can shoot fire from those, so it wasn't a complete disaster, but that also meant her magical reserves were lowering quickly. I hadn't dated anyone before Zia, but I'm pretty sure it was bad ettiquitte to let your girlfriend burst into flames. I had my sword. Unfortunately that couldn't summon portals or cast spells, and by this point I was afraid going into my battle avatar would cause me to spontaneously combust, also poor date behavior. We were trapped in the Upper East Side, a few blocks from Harlem.
One of the Serpopards smashed a hot-dog stand, which I found pointlessly cruel. I'd hoped that mortal news would have picked up the presence of rampaging giraffes or something, and that Sadie or Walt would have picked up on it and rushed to our aid. But no such luck.
"We should double back towards Central Park." I said. "There's museums and the obilisk, those might have enough power naturally that we can get by without a wand."
Zia glared at me. My plan was a longshot. There was no guarantee we'd even make it back to Central Park, and even then the chances of opening a portal without a wand or staff was near zero. I still pressed on.
"Less mortal housing destroyed, and an attack on a museum might get Brooklyn House's attention." I reasoned. My plan wasn't perfect, but it was better then collapsing of exhaustion in the Bronx.
"Alright Carter," Zia said, still frowning. "Central Park it is."
She knocked one of the longnecks back with a ball of fire, and we sprinted down the nearest street. Some mortals were milling about, but they all started running into their houses and apartments. It wasn't fast enough, the Serpopards would be here soon, and they would attack the mortals to get to us.
"The mortals." I whispered. Zia nodded.
She stepped forward towards the corner, just as the Serpopards began to turn towards us. She swept her hands out and muttered in Ancient Egyptian. The heiroglyphs for "fire" and "wall" burned in front of us. As you might have guessed, a fire wall appeared in front of us. It was an impressive sight, and I considered kissing her. I decided that now would be a bad time, especially when I saw her face. Her expression was slack, and beads of sweat poured down her face. I smelled smoke, which could have been her, or the giant wall of fire.
She stumbled and caught my shoulder. She hadn't passed out yet, but it was going to come soon. She started muttering in Arabic, which I don't speak. I heard the longheads smashing stuff behind the fire. We hadn't gotten a good count, but there were at least five. Hopefully Zia's spell would hold them for a bit. I turned around, supporting Zia with one arm, and grasping my sword in the other.
All the mortals had gotten in their homes by now except one. She had a grocery bag in one arm and a baby in the other.
"Get out of the way!" I wanted to scream. "Your're in danger."
She stayed right where she was, watching us. We hobbled on, Zia continued muttering in Arabic. The women kept staring at us.
She had brown hair streaked with grey, and blueish eyes. Her eyes flicked between my sword, Zia, and the fire. She seemed aware of what was happening. They baby at her arm, oddly enough, did not seem distressed, it was gurgling like nothing was wrong.
"Uh...Excuse me, do you need any help?" The women asked.
I whipped my head around.
"What?" I asked.
"Do you two need a place to rest?" Half of me wanted to hug her and half of me wanted to shake her. Did she realize how much danger she was putting her kid in?
I glanced at Zia. I couldn't drag her forever, if I got her someplace high, like an apartment, I could buy us some time. Longnecks couldn't climb. They could, however, knock the building down. Then again, if I could find a safe place for Zia, I could turn into a Falcon and go get help.
"Yes." I croaked. She smiled.
"Alright, come on up."
We didn't talk at all on the elevator ride up. I wasn't sure this was the safest way up, but there was no way Zia was getting up the stairs. We limped into the apartment, and I let Zia collapse on a a couch.
"Do you have a phone?" She nodded.
"In the kitchen, ambrosia and necter are in the fridge." I tried to remember what those were, they sure weren't something I knew. "I'm Sally." she added, then jostled the baby at her arm. "And here's little Estelle."
"Carter, this is Zia." Zia introduced herself by babbling something.
"What's she saying?" Sally asked. I shrugged.
"I don't speak Arabic." Sally's eyes flicked to our clothing. Zia's pretty blue dress had been ripped around her legs, and my button up was stained with sweat.
"Your not wearing Orange or Purple. What are you doing uptown?"
I had no idea why she cared what I was wearing, so I focused on her question. It was a little embarrassing to answer, but I told the truth.
"We were on a date, an Albanian place in midtown. Evil Monsters, chasing us north."
"Your...friend doesn't seem to be injured physically. Did she over exert herself with the fire?" That made me a bit suspicious, she seemed to know a bit about magic. I nodded all the same. Sally bit her lip. "It was impressive," she admitted "I've heard about what Leo Valdez can do but..." As she trailed off I wondered who on earth Leo Valdez was.
Sally gave a forced smile and exused herself to put Estelle to bed. By the time she returned Zia was completely down for the count.
"Do you want me to call a Camp? I have both Chiron and New Rome on speed dial." She asked.
I had read enough after the Governor's Island incident to recognize the name Chiron, even if I had no idea where New Rome was. This was bad news.
"Uh...pardon me for asking Ma'am, but are you Greek?" I asked. Sally's face tightened up.
"No," she said, confused and with a bit of false cheer. "My family is from England, with a splash of French. But my...ex he was Greek..." She again trailed off.
"God?" I asked quietly. Her eyes widened, which I took as a yes. "So Estelle is a demigod?"
She shook her head frantically.
"No No no no no no...she's perfectly mortal, but Percy, well..." I sucked in my breath and interrupted.
"Percy? Percy Jackson? Tall, dark hair, good with water?" Her eyes got even wider.
"We've met him. Well, I've met him. Where is he?"
"At a baseball game with some of his mortal friends. He needs a break, one of his friends from the..." A window smashed in one of the rooms out of my sight. Footsteps came barreling down the hall, I swung my sword towards the hall. It wasn't a Longneck, but it could be anything.
It was in fact Percy Jackson.
...
Once they established exactly what was happening, and that neither Ms. Jackson nor Estelle was in danger of dying Percy turned to me.
"What in Hades are those things?"
"Serpopards, also called Longnecks, servents of Set."
"A Set of what?" I rolled my eyes.
"Set. The God of Evil, Storms and the Desert."
"So he's out to kill you and your girlfriend?" I shook my head.
"I doubt they're working for him. We've been on...well we're still on pretty terrible terms, but he's not actively trying to kill me. Besides, I doubt he'd go after Zia." Percy looked confused. "Zia has hosted two gods Nephthys and Ra. Those are the two Set would never attack." Percy looked at Zia through the corner of his eye.
"Is she currently...uhh...occupied?" I could tell he was thinking back to Governor's Island, when circumstances had forced him to host a vulture goddess. I doubt he wanted me to spill that information in front of his mother, so I tried to move the conversation along.
"No, the gods have stopped taking mortal forms, except for Anubis. Anyway, I think they're more likely just loose demons from the war against Apophis."
"Anu-who and Apophis?" Percy asked.
"Neither of them are important right now. What matters is that those Longnecks aren't answering to anybody, they just want to kill magicians."
"Like you." I nodded. "How do we kill them?"
"I've only faced them once, and a Godess killed them." Percy let out a low whistle.
"Then why aren't they attacking now, if only a God can kill them?"
"When I saw them before I'd only been aware magic existed for a couple of days. If we weren't exhausted and we prepared, Brooklyn House could probobly take them." Percy's face hardened.
"Then we go after these Longnecks."
"I'm still exhausted, my girlfriend is passed out and we gave no spell casting weapons. They're confused by the smell of Greek stuff, you saw how well that combination stuff worked. That should hold them for a while." I could see Percy didn't want to wait, he wanted to get the monsters away and keep his family safe. I could respect that, but a flat out attack wouldn't work.
I called the Brooklyn House private line, a number known only to the House of Life, the Land of the Dead, and the Boston Celtics (a fact that made me want to hurl). No answer, the fire had probobly damaged the phone lines around here. Percy proposed we send an Iris message, some sort of Demigod communication.
"They've been on the fritz lately, some evil Roman Emperors have been blocking them. The only one that's gotten through, well, I wish it hadn't. But it's worth a shot." I didn't even bother asking and just chucked a gold coin into a misty rainbow.
"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Sadie." I declared. The mist started sparking and then exploded. Not enough to damage anything, but enough to make me decide to never do that again. Even Percy looked surprised.
"Is that what you mean by on the fritz?" I asked.
"Normally it just uh doesn't work." I scratched my head.
"Does Iris physically have to get to wherever your sending it to?" Percy shrugged.
"I guess so, I mean it's her power, although she's not like consciously there." I nodded.
"Brooklyn House has defenses against Gods entering, that probobly blocks Iris messages."
"So what do we do now?" I considered my options. Fleeing would protect Percy and his family, but I didn't think that was a viable option, what with Zia passed out of the couch. Fighting wouldn't end well, even if I rested up, because I did not want to cause collateral damage. Maybe fleeing wasn't a terrible option...Freak was out there somewhere
"How'd you get here?" I asked.
"Peguses. I told Nate and Theo that you," He nodded towards his mother, who hadn't said a word in the past few minutes but was plainly terrified. "Needed an emergency babysitter the moment I heard about the fires around here. I got Blackjack and here I am." My mind started racing.
"Your pegasus, could he carry Zia?"
"It'd be better if she was conscious." I nodded.
"When she wakes up, can she ride the Pegasus?"
"All the way to Brooklyn? I thought we agreed contact was dangerous." I nodded. Even this much contact between an Egyptian Magician and a Demigod was likely sending ripples through the Daut, which would cause Chaos, which was not good at all.
"It is, but she wouldn't have to get all the way to Brooklyn. I have a...pet that can get us there. If we can get far enough away from the monsters he'll show. As an added bonus they should leave the neighborhood."
"And if they don't?"
"Then I come back with a strike force and vaporize them."
That made Percy smile.
...
We'd decided to risk giving Zia some Ambrosoa after Ms. Jackson had excused herself to go check on Estelle. The stuff was meant for Demigods, and apparently could burn mortals to dust, but Sadie had eaten some of Annebeth's and managed to not die. She immediately woke up, she was still a little woozy and muttering about lamb, but she was in a good enough condition to ride. I briefly explained the situation, and she stared at Percy's sword (and thankfully not Percy). I tried skirting around the whole "Greek gods are real" thing, but then she started glaring at me.
"Greek or Roman?" She asked Percy.
"How did you..." I started to ask but was promptly interrupted.
"I was raised by a man who met and attempted to curse Julius Caesar. I know that the Olympians are real Carter, and believe me we will be having a long conversation about this and why you didn't tell me. But for now: Greek or Roman?"
"Greek." Percy replied. Zia sighed in relief, I wondered in Roman Demigods were different from Greek ones.
I explained the plan, and Zia nodded along, but Percy, who I will remind you made the plan with me, suddenly looked confused.
"Wait how are you getting out?" I sighed.
"I've got enough energy to turn into a Falcon."
"And she doesn't?"
"Transformations are based on your patron God. I can turn into a Falcon, Sadie has a Kite..."
"With a string and everything?" I placed my head in my hands.
"It's a bird of prey." I muttered. "You saw it on Governor's Island "
"Oh." Percy turned towards Zia. "How about you? Carter said you hosted a couple of Gods. Got any good animals up your sleeve?" Zia blushed and looked away. As far as I knew I was the only one who why, she'd admitted it to me about a month ago and only my (very healthy) fear of her had kept me from teasing her. I quickly decided to cover for her.
"Nothing useful right now," I said quickly. "Besides, I don't want you to burn up."
"Alright, alright." Percy replied. "Are you ready to go?"
...
Zia held on tight to Percy's pegasus. Apparently Percy could talk to horses, a perk of being Posideon's son, so Blackjack knew exactly what to do. Which was good because the Serpopards were now deciding to try ramming the building as a method of getting us out. Ms. Jackson came to see us off.
"Thank you." I said. "I'll be back if they don't leave." She nodded.
I started transforming into a Falcon. My arms became feathery wings, my legs shrank into claws, and I became the shortest on the roof.
"You ready?" Percy asked. I screeched in response.
"I'll take that as a yes." He turned towards Blackjack. "Alright, follow him, yes I know it's weird, but you've seen Frank turn into a dragon, you can handle Hawk Boy." Frank the dragon transformer. Percy had a weird life.
I took off, and Blackjack followed. I looked down. There were actually 8 Serpopards. On the bright side they were following us, and away from the Jackson-Blofis residence. Even better, we were out pacing then easily, despite the fact that they were running as fast at they could. I decided to head for the Chrysler Building. It was tall, recognizable and (hopefully) not home to any non-egyptian pantheon of gods.
It took us a while to get there, but we still far outpacing the Serpopards. We landed on the fattest surface we could find. I turned back into myself and helped Zia off Blackjack. The peguses was dancing around nervously, like he didn't like this particular spot. I whistled and pretty soon I spotted Freak, with our sky boat behind him. He arrived shortly thereafter. We thanked Blackjack, who quickly flew off, then got in our boat.
For the first time I could remember one of my plans had worked out.
...
Brooklyn House ended up vaporizing Serpopards a couple of days later, as they were trying to use a subway tunnel to enter Brooklyn.
I used Sadie's phone to call Annabeth when we got back from our fun little excursion. We chatted a bit.
"Percy told you about the Serpopards?" I asked.
"He called them Longnecks."
"No difference really, anyway they're gone now. Was there any real damage to his apartment?"
"I don't think so, the city checked it out and said the building was safe, and I agree."
"That's good. If anything comes up, give us a call. Money doesn't grow on trees, but the House of Life has a fund for this kind of thing."
"You guys have a fund for repairs? We just hope the Gods are feeling generous and do it."
"Yeah, that's how we repaired the Sphinx a while back." Annabeth gasped.
"You broke the Sphinx?"
"Well not us, it was..."
"Alright alright, we'll call if there's an issue."
"Cool." I heard her mutter something to herself on the other hand.
"Have you sensed anything? Any magic ripples?" I shook my head, realized she couldn't see me, then replied.
"No. Everyone involved except Percy's mom already knew about both sides, and the main collision already happened with the Son of Sobek. It's not like some random unaware magicians stumbled upon the Norse Gods or something." Annabeth gave a sharp breath.
"Carter, about that..."