The return to Argo II
Percy
It's as if falling out of a flying Greek warship flying through the sky wasn't enough, I was trapped behind enemy lines with my Pegasus Blackjack, and girlfriend Annabeth. Of course Blackjack couldn't fly us out without being spotted because it was mid-day and blackjack who was black (duh), so he it would be like a giant flashing sign saying "HEY 2 TASTY DEMIGODS AND A PEGASUS OVER HERE COME AND GET US." I kind of miss my invincibility (from the river Styx) but I'm getting the hang of it. We were just turning around when we came face to face with two surprised monsters that were dust in the next split second thanks to Annabeth's nice reflexes. Unfortunately that attracted the attention of all the monsters in the proximity so we stumbled through the crowd saying stuff like "excuse me" and "coming through" as we vaporized a plenty of shocked monsters. Eventually we got tired and the monsters came to their senses, we got surrounded and were exhausted, I had one last trick up my sleeve, "Carter." (You have to read the son of Sobek to understand Percy saying "Carter")
Carter
It was one of the first normal days in a while, we had demons terrorizing random hot dog stands (don't ask) and recent demon attacks at the first nome. Finally a break comes and I hear my name from a familiar voice "Carter," it took me a few seconds that it was an acquaintance I met when stopping an oversized alligator – the son of Sobek who was wearing a necklace. The acquaintance's name was Percy. I was about to ask Sadie to make a portal for me to go alone when I recalled that Percy was a strong guy or magician or… whatever he was , so if he needed help I figured what he was up against was pretty strong so I got Sadie and Walt to come with me.
Annabeth
We were surrounded and all Percy could think of was to say Carter? I know he's good at fighting and good looking and all but to say Carter in the middle of a problem was different, I figured he had a trick, unless he was going insane or just too tired to think of anything else. And then the weirdest things happened, Percy's arm glowed and a hieroglyph appeared and glowed on Percy's hand than faded, I felt something in my pocket start floating and it was the mark of Athena, and then a swirling vortex of sand appeared and 2 boys and a girl jumped through. I supposed probably one of the boy's names was Carter because Percy said Carter. One boy was African-American and the other, Gods of Olympus he was hot, no I can't Percy is my boyfriend not this stranger is just met and the girl, I know the girl (I'm assuming this happens after the staff of Serapis); she was Sadie I met her on an adventure before. Well Percy got us some nice reinforcements but it didn't look like enough, however the hot boy did have a familiar aura, the same one that Nico radiates so I figured he probably had something to do with death. The boys and Sadie took in the situation, better than I thought, again the monsters were in shock but they were already coming out from it and attacked. The good news was Carter was already whirling through the enemy ranks surrounded by some giant glowing chicken!? A wall flashed and hieroglyphs glowed on the ground, they looked like some protective runes probably. They engaged and Sadie thrusted out her staff and yelled Ha-di, an explosion broke the enemy ranks, unfortunately knocking me back, then the world went black.
Sadie
Well, then how should I tell this?
I was hanging out with dear Walt, watching Carter chase after random demons at hot dog stands. I watched as his eye of Horus amuket glowed, then a portal appeared, Carter jumping through and dissapearing.
"Carter!" Why would that idiot randomly jump through a random portal? Well, he was an idiot so I suppose it made some sense. The prtal was closing fast. "We have to get through!"
Walt laughed. He looked so good, with those brown eyes...wait, that was Anubis. Gods, having a boyfriend with dual personalities was so frustrating sometimes! "Come on, Sadie." He grabbed my hand and we jumped through the portal just as it closed on us.
We appeared right in the middle of a battle filled with demons that were completely new. Carter was in his Horus avatar, swinging his giant sowrd around, cutting the demons to dust. There was a boy-I assumed Percy, Annabeth's boyfriend- wielding a sword that glowed bronze, water swirling around him. And...Annabeth!
We had met once, when the staff of Seraphis brought us together, but it's a long story. I think my recording in the staff of Seraphis should cover it nicely.
I turned to Walt, but his expression had darkened and he glared at the boy. The demons were taken by surprise, but I thrust out my staff. "Ha-di!"
The blast knocked out all the monsters-but Annabeth, too. Gods, I should be more careful with my spells. Without Isis, I got tired way easier and my control over the spells weren't as good. I ran to Annabeth's side, and spoke a healing spell. She awoke groggily, groaning. She opened her eyes, then grinned at me. "Hey, Sadie." She looked at Carter, who was chatting with Percy, and to Walt, who was staring stone-faced at Percy. "Is that...your brother and boyfriend?"
"Yeah. Are you alright?" Before Annabeth could answer, Walt/Anubis spoke up.
"Sadie, they're Greeks." He said. Carter and Percy stopped talking, looking at Walt quizically.
"So what if we're Greeks?" Percy looked warily from Walt to me.
"The greeks are the one that took over the Egyptian empire. They ended the reign of the Pharoahs."
Walt
Memories whirled through my mind. A man rising from the sea, holding a trident, guiding ships onto the shore. Sobek himself was no match for this god.
A woman in stormy grey eyes, planning the war carefully. She fought with Horus, but he was no match for her cunning and wisdom. He summoned falcons, and the wind tried to help him, but a man with sky blue eyes struck them with thunder.
A soldier, wearing a helm. He looked directly at me-at Anubis-and the mask changed into what I feared most. We fought, staff to was, Jackals coming to my aid and undead skeletons coming out for him. I shot a blast of grey energy at him, but he countered with a blast of darkness, creating a dark fog. I fled before the air cleared.
A queen, dropping a snake onto herself. A palace, smoking and crumbling to pieces. A man, shouting, his sword pointed towards a sphinx, where a group of soldiers surrounded a man holding a staff. And with the memories came hate. Loathing. Sadness.
But these weren't my memories. They were Anubis'. And when you let a god into your body, though they have good intentions, sometimes their instincts get the better of them and they try to take over.
Carter and Sadie were looking at me and the other teenagers, confused. The boy with black hair, a son of Poseidon, loked warily at me, wondering if I was a threat. The girl with grey eyes, a daughter of Athena, studied me carefully, her eyes narrow. "Egyptians...? Hmph... I suspected...but then..." she mumbled.
I saw no reason to help these people. They were strangers, and they seemed to be able to take good care of themselves. I was about to suggest that we leave when the girl interrupted my thoughts by gasping really loudly.
Then she straightened up and glared at me. "You Egyptians have a god of the earth, correct?"
"Yes." I replied. The son of Poseidon frowned and mumbled something in greek under his breath.
"What was he doing the past year?" she asked.
"I do not see how this is any of your business." I replied cooly. Why would she want to know the business of a god?
"Well, perhaps you should mind, because our earth goddess was currently trying to destroy the world very recently-we only stopped her a week ago. And we would like to know why your 'earth god' was not of any help." Their earth goddess?
And they were having an apocalyptic scenario not too long ago...we had also only just defeated Apophis that time...
"Maybe he was stuck, since we were attempting to stop a giant snake from swallowing the sun. That giant snake kept most of our gods in their own trap." I replied. The girl frowned.
"How exactly does a snake swallow the sun? Does he, like, steal the car from Apollo or something?" The son of Poseidon asked. The girl rolled her eyes, and so did Carter. Sadie, however, smirked in approval.
"Percy, I think their world is different than ours. They have a different sun god. Ra, I think." The girl looked around. "We should get going. I don't know where all those monsters are coming from, but I don't want to find out."
As she lead the way out of this desert (the pegasus had dissapeared long ago to who knows where) Percy and Carter talked on sword combat and the two girls (the other one I think called Annabeth) were engaged in a conversation how annoying their brother/boyfriend was.
We soon walked by a river, and right as Percy set foot into the water, he was spit back and landed hard on his back. Carter's khopesh, Sadie's staff, Annabeth and Percy's swords were out in an instant. The water swirled and formed a portal, and a woman in full golden armor stepped through. I-no, Anubis-flashed back to a time where a female warrior fought with Sekhmet-and won. Isis, Bast and Horus struggled with her for days before trapping her in the Duat, and Anubis kept the violent goddess at bay. But she broke free. "Astarte." I whispered. A goddess of war, violence, bloodshed.
She saw me and laughed, speaking in a triplet of voices. One was sweet as honey, one low and ancient, another monotone and bored. "Anubis, you are forced to take up a mortal host?" A laugh. "How pathetic. A god of death, restricted to a mortal body." She looked around to the other four. "Carter Kane. You may have hosted Horus, but you are no match for me." She turned to Sadie. "Too weak to use another spell against me, aren't you, Sadie Kane?"
"Weak?" Sadie scoffed. "I'll show you who's weak." She pointed her staff but was stopped by Annabeth.
"No. Don't waste your energy on thisanói̱tos." [That means fool.] Annabeth glared at Astarte. "What do you want?"
"I don't want anything from you, Annabeth Chase." Astarte turned to me, but not quite speaking to me. "Or you, Percy Jackson. I want the blood of the Kanes. I want to see them dead. And Walt Stone, as well. See how their gods protect them now." Faster than I could ract she drew a sword and lunged towards me, her blade in a deadly line straight towards my chest.I felt the blade touch my shirt and before I could think, it's over, something yanked Astarte away. As she flew across the river, I caught sight of Sadie falling to the ground. She had cast a protective spell on me. Without Isis, and after casting the excration spell on apophis, most of her magic had been drained away.
On the other side of the river, Percy and Astarte were engaged in a fierce swordfight. She tried to push him out of the water, but he stayed in the river, and managed to keep her at bay. Carter, in full Horus avatar, ran to help Percy, annabeth riding on his shoulder and then jumping onto the enraged goddess.
I ran to Sadie. She was breathing, just unconcious. I took one of my amulets and spoke a spell; she awoke groggily. "Walt...?"
"Sadie? Are you alright?" I looked across the river just as Annabeth and Carter were knocked to the ground. Percy had a long cut across his chest. it was healing, but his strokes were getting slower. astarte threw him out of the water and raised her sword aove her head, then stabbed downward.
Again, she was knocked back-but this time, by a wave of darkness. A boy stepped out of the shadows (literally) and drew his sword.
"Get away." he snarled. I could tell immediately he was a son of Hades-they looked almost identical. A memory filled with loathing flashed by my head. "Leave them alone."
"Nico di Angelo." Astarte spat. "When i return, you won't be as forturnate." Then she jumped into the river and dissapeared.
