It's just great being a descendant of an Egyptian pharaoh. We get to channel gods, get stuck in the middle of gods hissy fits, use magic that could kill us if used it too much and, oh yeah, get hunted down by every known Egyptian monster on the planet. Yay! Oh yeah. Hi! I'm Raven by the way. Raven Ashton, descendant of Hatshepsut the fifth pharaoh of the eighth dynasty. Nice to meet you! I should explain how I found all of this out, huh? It all started when I saw a new book by my favorite author, Rick Riordan, in my school's library. I loved his books because of the way his characters sounded so much like real people. Like you would run into them on the street. I had read all of his books about a kid named Percy and was waiting on his new series with Percy in it. Anyways, back to the new book. The name of the book was The Red Pyramid. I thought, "It's Uncle Rick's so it must be good," and checked it out. What pulled me into reading it was the two warnings in the front, one by Rick and the other by a character named Carter. "We only have a few hours, so listen carefully. If you're hearing this story, you're already in danger." Those were the two lines that had me hooked. I read more and more of the book at any chance I could. I even got picked on at school because I was reading it so much. Within two days I had read all five hundred and fourteen pages of the book and to be honest, I loved every word of it. Well maybe except for Carter liking Zia but that's for a different reason. I had finished the book during school and once I had walked back to my house, I just had to announce how much I loved the book.
I literally walked in my house, threw down my bag, and yelled, "Uncle Rick wrote another master piece!" My mom was the only one home at the time and gave me a questioning look.
"Rick Riordan wrote another book?" She asked. Mom was a fellow Rick ran and had read the Percy Jackson books with me, that is after I had read them. I bounced up and down in excitement and nodded my head furiously.
"Yeah but this time about the Egyptian gods! It follows these two siblings who find out that they're descendants of two pharaoh and how they now host the gods Horus and Isis. It's so cool!" I squealed. Looking back on it, my mind skipped over the fact that my mother turned pale as I said that. My mother quickly smiled and looked very interested.
"That sounds wonderful Raven. Can I see the book now? I'd like to read it for myself." Mom requested making me shrug and hand her the book. I grabbed my backpack and textbooks, waved to my mom and left up the stairs to my room. That night I dreamed of myself meeting the Kanes in Brooklyn. What I didn't realize was that my dream was actually the gods show me a bit of the future. Most likely Isis but I've never asked. The next day when I came home, both of my parents were home and waiting for me with the Red Pyramid set in front of them on the dining table.
"Welcome home Raven." My mom greeted me as I cautiously set down my bag. I didn't remember doing anything wrong recently.
"What did I do? Am I in trouble?" I questioned making my parents chuckle slightly.
"You didn't do anything and you're not in trouble but we do need to tell you something." My mom laughed but it was a dry and tired laugh. I hesitantly sat down at the table. Mom reached across the table and held my hands in hers with small tears collecting in her eye.
"Raven, honey, you read about the Kanes right? And how the House of Life trains magicians, remember?" She asked making me shift uncomfortably.
"Yeah, but those were just characters and fiction, right?" I said with a lump in my throat. I didn't want to know where she was going with this.
"I this is going to be easier than the way Carter and Sadie had it explained to them." My mom joked making me jolt to a standing.
"You're not going to tell me that Blake and I are descendants of some ancient dude are? Please don't!" I pleaded. My mom smiled weakly at me.
"Surprise." She chortled. One of my hands flew to my mouth as the other rested over my chest where my heart was. My heart started to beat violently in my chest. I'm really in danger now if those stories are true. Apophis was rising and was using Set to make his escape.
"Which pharaoh? And is the Serpent really rising?" I whispered.
"Hatshepsut." My father answered.
"What the Kanes described has happened and they do need you and your brother's help." Mom added making me start to pace.
"Son of- female dog from Hell on a stick." I muttered under my breath.
"Raven, we've decided to send you to Brooklyn in a few days. We can't afford a plane ticket but we can get you there by train in two days," Dad began and pulled out a map with directions folded into it, "Do not loose this map." He shuffled around behind him and handed Mom a pendant with the symbol of the House of Life on it. Mom moved around the table and clipped the pendant around my neck. The cold metal seemed to sap me of my body heat. Mom ran her hand under the chain before letting it drop.
"Show this to Amos when you meet him. He should remember it." My mom murmured gazing at me with starry eyes. There was a look of pride and fear in her eyes. My dad, who had disappear from my mother's side, returned with a messenger bag and handed it to me. It was black with green accents.
"I'm guessing this has the fun stuff in it." I stated staring at the bag in my hands. Mom nodded giving me a shy smile.
"Tomorrow will be your last day at school. We'll explain the situation to Blake and have him meet with you on the way. You both will need training." Mom replied pulling me into a hug. She released me and kissed my forehead.
"Go get some sleep. You'll be needing it." She said with a smile and scooted me off toward the stairs. I slowly made my way up the stairs, still in shock of it all, and sat down on my bed. I set down the bag and hugged one of my pillows and started biting one of the corners. Why me?! Why me and my poor big brother?! Was a relatively normal life to hard to ask for? I'll admit that before I had found out I was a descendant of Hatshepsut my life wasn't the best. I was picked on as a kid because I had weird eyes. My left eye's topaz blue while my right is chocolate brown. People either thought it was cool or they thought I was a freak because of it and I used to hate my eyes. Looking in the mirror frustrated me because all I could focus on was my eyes. My brother Blake got spared and has these pale blue eyes that remind me of a husky's eyes. He always seemed to be the lucky one. Speaking of Blake, the next thing I did was call my brother because I need some version of reality that didn't terrify me. I pulled out my phone and dialed his number. It ringed three times before he picked up.
"Raven? What's wrong?" He answered in groggy fashion. He must have been sleeping.
"Hey how are you Blake? I just wanted to check up on you." I said with a weal smile. He wasn't the best and most caring brother but he did know when I was upset and he tried to help most of the time.
"I'm fine. Buried in a pile of genetics homework but okay. What's up?" He questioned returning to the subject I tried to avoid.
"Mom and Dad told me some news that they'll tell you tomorrow. I can't tell you what it is but I'll say I'll be seeing you in the next few days. You might want to check out a book by Rick Riordan. It's called The Red Pyramid." I sighed running a hand through my red tresses.
There was a long pause before he sighed, "Alright. I'll check it out. I'll talk with you later, okay?"
"Okay bye Blake. I love you." I told him, trying to hold on to my old reality.
"Yeah bye whatever." He said and hung up. I smiled to myself. Blake would do that when he wanted to cheer me up. I knew he was teasing me to make me smile or laugh. It was a bitter-sweet gesture but it still didn't help calm my nerves as I laid down to sleep.