A/N: This is just a quick little one-shot I wrote for fun. I mean, what else do you have to do in the summer when you're not going on vacation, you're not going to camp, and you're just sitting in front of a computer, burning your eyes out? So I hope you like this fanfic! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Kane Chronicles or the characters because I am definitely not Rick Riordan.

I Take a Distress Call

"Carter, not to be unkind...but the last few months you've been seeing messages about Zia everywhere. Two weeks ago, you thought she was sending you a distress call in your mashed potatoes."

"It was a Z! Carved right in the potatoes!"

~Sadie and Carter, The Throne of Fire, page 65

It was just another normal day.

Or as normal as it could get when you were a magician, you had to train other magicians, the Egyptian gods were real, and to top that off, the evil snake Apophis was out to destroy the world.

But besides all that, it was a normal day. I was sitting on the veranda of the Brooklyn House, having just grabbed a second helping of mashed potatoes from the buffet table. Around the dining table sat our magician trainees, my sister Sadie, Khufu the baboon, and Bast the cat goddess.

I was pretty grumpy because the Los Angeles Lakers had just lost to the Boston Celtics by fifty points. Fifty. The Lakers were pretty bad these days. I moodily chugged down some ginger ale as I replayed the basketball game in my head. Kobe Bryant had definitely missed a lot of crucial shots out there. In truth, he had really sucked.

Sadie noticed how grumpy I was. "Come on, Carter," she snickered. "You can't still be moping over the Lakers' huge loss."

I ignored her. Sadie didn't understand basketball, anyway. That was just one of the things about us that was different. In fact, a lot of people couldn't even tell that we were related, which gave me a breather from her craziness. We looked like total opposites. While Sadie had light skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, I had dark skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. But even though there were some times when Sadie could be a bit annoying, we were still a team, she was still my sister, and it annoyed me whenever people thought we were just joking when we said we were siblings.

One of our trainees, Julian, grinned. He was from Boston and naturally a Celtics fan. But he was also a nice guy, so he said, "Don't get too hung up over it, Carter. There are plenty of other games."

"Argh!" Khufu agreed as he picked up a fistful of mashed potato and stuffed it in his mouth.

I figured I couldn't mope over one game forever, so I picked up my spoon and raised it above my bowl. But then, I froze, my spoon still aimed at my mashed potatoes. My mouth dropped open and my eyes bugged out as I stared. My heart suddenly beat as loud and as fast as a stampede of magicians running for a powerful staff (and believe me, that's extremely loud and fast).

No way.

Z-Z-Zia.

There, in my creamy mashed potatoes, was an engraving. The engraving wasn't too deep, but I could still make it out. In the middle of my bowl of mashed potatoes was the letter 'Z'.

'Z'. Z for Zia.

My spoon clattered to the table as I stared at the mashed potatoes in shock. Zia. Zia—she—potatoes—help. Then, I snapped out of my surprise. This was it. She was sending me a distress call! She was communicating with me! She needed my help! I had to go rescue her! Thoughts swirled in my head, speeding past at the speed of light.

"Um," Sadie said, looking at me as if I had just let out a huge, high-pitched shriek. I guess I had, in my head. "Are you okay?"

I must have had a pretty odd or panicked look on my face if Sadie wasn't teasing me about staring at mashed potatoes.

"Uhuhagh," I stuttered as thoughts formed in my mind.

You see, Zia is a magician I fell for a few months ago while on the run to defeat Set. It's a little embarrassing how hard and how quickly I developed a crush on her. But what's even more embarrassing was that it turns out I had fallen in love with a shabti. The shabti had been a placeholder for the real Zia, who was hidden away somewhere. Ever since Zia's shabti disintegrated, I'd been trying to find the real Zia.

And here it was: the clue. Zia knew I was here. She was sending me a distress call in the mashed potatoes! The mashed potatoes were a clue of where she was!

I'd been so absorbed in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed Sadie stand up and walk next to me. Now, she was peering at my mashed potatoes. "What's wrong with them?" she asked.

I finally found my voice. "I-It's her!" I exclaimed. "Zia. She's sending me a distress call!"

Sadie just looked at me. "How did you gather that from the mashed potatoes?"

"Look!" I cried. I flung my hand out towards the 'Z' carved into the potatoes, careful not to touch it. "It's right there. A 'Z' in the mashed potatoes!"

Sadie leaned in closer and squinted her eyes.

"Don't get too close! Don't mess it up!" I shielded the mashed potatoes with my hand.

"Honestly," Sadie grumbled, slapping my hand away. She eyed the potatoes, then said, "Are you sure that's a 'Z'? It could be anything… Like the words, 'I am going mad'."

"That's definitely a 'Z'!" I shrieked. "It's a clue! She wants me to save her! Mashed potatoes… that shows where she is. It's a hint. She… she's somewhere. Mashed potatoes… She's in Idaho! Idaho is famous for its potatoes! …No, no. That's not right. She's… She's in Canada! She has to be! After all, a Canadian scientist invented instant mashed potatoes! Zia! Zia's in Canada! I-I have to start planning! I have to plan her rescue!"

"Carter," Sadie said. "You're hyperventilating. Breathe. Did someone spike your old person's drink or something?"

I was aware that all eyes were on me, and even Philip of Macedonia had peeked his head out of the pool and was looking at me as if I were going nuts, but I didn't care. I was breathing heavily as I spit out my thoughts, and my voice was steadily climbing an octave higher. Zia. Zia. I had to save her. She was counting on me! A sentence echoed in my mind. "She'd... like that... a date at the mall."

"I-I have to get some paper," I gasped. "I need a pencil. I need to start planning."

"Carter." Sadie was looking a little creeped out now. "Please calm down."

"I can't calm down!" I yelped. "This is a matter of life or death! I have to go save her! Now!"

Sadie looked to Bast for help. Bast slowly walked over as if I was going to start lashing out at any minute.

"See, Bast?" I exclaimed in a high voice. I pointed at my mashed potatoes, desperate to have someone understand my urgency. "'Z'. For Zia! I have to go save her!"

Bast nodded. "Yes, Carter, of course. But first-"

"But first?" I repeated. "I don't have time for anything else! I have to go save her!"

I started to get up, but Sadie pushed me down. Bast shot Sadie a look and muttered something, and Sadie nodded and placed her hand on my forehead. She murmured, "Ha-tep." Be at peace.

A calming sensation washed over me, and I let out a sigh. My heartbeat slowed down to normal and I stopped taking so many breaths. I looked around at the concerned looks on the trainees' faces, and in some cases, creeped out looks, and smiled slightly to myself. But then, I heard the line in my head again. "She'd... like that... a date at the mall."

"Zia," I stated calmly. "I have to rescue her. She sent me a distress call."

"Carter," Sadie said. "You can't even be sure that's a 'Z'. You don't want to go on a trip all the way to Canada only to find out you were wrong."

"But," I protested. "The 'Z'. It's carved in the mashed potatoes."

Felix got out of his chair and walked over to me, then peered at the mashed potatoes. "I don't see a 'Z'," he remarked.

"See?" Sadie said.

"I see… a penguin!" Felix grinned.

I couldn't get worked up at Felix that this was definitely not a penguin with the spell on me. "That's not a penguin." It was supposed to come out sharp, but instead, I sounded like a hippie.

Sadie looked at Jaz, and Jaz nodded before running out of the room. "Right," Sadie said. "Well, look, Carter. Stare at the mashed potatoes. Um. Stare your heart out. See that it's not a 'Z'."

Annoyed, I looked at my bowl. Carved into the mashed potatoes, more clearly than ever, was a 'Z'. "That's a 'Z'. Now, if you excuse me," I stood up, "I have to go order a plane ticket to Canada."

Sadie muttered something under her breath. "... mad... what... knew something... wrong with old person's drink... intoxicated... potatoes... mental... basketball... makes him crazy... weirdo..." Then, she said in her regular voice, "Sit down, Carter."

"I will," I agreed. "On the plane."

"Oh, god!" Sadie cried. "The bloody potatoes don't have a 'Z' in them and you are not going to Canada! You're going absolutely bonkers! I don't think you know how to deal with your favorite basketball team losing!"

"Argh!" Khufu grunted, throwing some mashed potatoes at me. They splattered onto my shirt, but I ignored them.

"I've got to go." I backed away from Sadie, but crashed into Bast. Bast caught me, and then pushed me back into the chair. "Stop."

Then I thought of Zia, and her face appeared in my mind. A face I wouldn't be able to see if I didn't go rescue her. I suddenly became very depressed. To my horror, tears started leaking out of my eyes.

"Why?" I sobbed. "Why? Why? Why won't you let me find her? I love her! Let me find her! I can't fail her! Why are you trying to ruin my life?"

Sadie looked shocked and bewildered and she looked at Bast for help.

"Er." Bast looked at me fearfully, then said to Sadie, "You might have made the spell a little too powerful."

"Oh, god," Sadie mumbled. She probably would have cracked up if she weren't so horrified.

"I need to save her!" More tears rolled down my face. "Why? Why? That's the question! And why do the Lakers have to be so horrible? Why are the Celtics so good? And why can't I save Zia?"

"He's obviously lost his mind," Sadie said. "I'd laugh, but that would probably make him cry harder."

Felix backed away from me, then scurried to his seat. Sadie advanced on me, stretching out her hand. I would've run away, but Bast kept me pinned to the chair. Sadie placed her hand on my forehead, then said, "Hah-ri." Quiet.

"N-nooo," I muttered as my eyelids grew heavy. I fought to keep them open, but they kept closing. I saw a blurry Jaz run back to the veranda and throw a pillow at Sadie. Sadie caught the pillow and stuffed it under my head in an uncomfortable position, but she held the hard pillow firmly in place. Eventually, my eyelids closed all the way, and before I collapsed into sleep, I saw a flash of amber. Then I blacked out.

-—-—-—-

When I woke up, the veranda had cleared out. I was still slumped in my chair. Groaning and rubbing my aching back, I stood up and stretched, then searched the dining table. Where—where were the mashed potatoes? I sighed, knowing I had gotten a little crazy, and Sadie was probably right that it was partly because of basketball. I turned to go back inside the house, but then, a bowl sitting on the buffet table caught my eye.

I walked over to the buffet table and saw a bowl of mashed potatoes with a 'Z' engraved in the potatoes. I stared at the bowl, then with a heavy heart, got out some plastic wrap and covered the bowl with it. I picked up the bowl, gazed at the 'Z', then walked towards the refrigerator and opened it. Carefully, I placed the bowl into the fridge before I gently shut the door. It would stay there, safe. Just in case.

A/N: Okay, so that's the end! I hope you liked it! Thanks much to mythomagic for helping! Please review! I'm open to any constructive criticism! So have a good day!