When you read this chapter, you may be inclined to say that this story really ought to be classed as a crossover fic, not a regular fan fic. I do not want to give too much away at the beginning but I will say that I think there are two very good reasons why it is not a crossover fic. I will explain in more detail later.
Chapter 1 – Alive in The House
I woke up gasping for breath. I was not sure why I had woken up but I had…felt something. Something hurt me. It took a few seconds to register that I couldn't see. Panic welled up in me. Had I gone blind? I blinked my eyes experimentally to make sure they were open but all I could see was an orange glow shot through with sparks and flashes that I suspected were in my head, not real. Even that hurt my eyes so I shut them again. I gasped as another spasm of pain shot through the small of my back. So that was what had woken me up. How long had I been asleep? I did not what the date was but I could somehow sense that I had been asleep far longer than a human should ever sleep.
I heard something move. I opened my eyes but still couldn't see anything other than the harsh, hurtful orange. "Who's there?" I tried to shout, but my voice wasn't working. All that came out was a hoarse rasp that grated at my throat. I instantly regretted trying to talk. I felt a hand placed on my forehead and I reached up to grab at it. I let go in surprise as soon as I grabbed it. It was furry!
"Agh," replied the owner of the hand. It sounded like an animal grunting. The owner of the hand put a damp cloth on my forehead. "Agh-Agh." He patted my shoulder and I could hear him walk away. Now I was very confused, and more than a little afraid. Where was I? WHEN was I? Was I a captive? Probably not since whomever the owner of the hand was seemed to be taking care of me. My brain felt all fuzzy. I heard footsteps returning to me, it sounded like more than one person. "Agh!" So the furry hand had come back. Then, another voice, a man's voice that was deep, warm, and friendly. The furry hand had brought someone with him.
"Ah, so you are awake. How do you feel?" I tried to answer but my throat hurt too much to speak. I coughed. "It's all right," said the new speaker, "your voice will return in time." I opened my eyes and winced at the pain of the orange but I thought, I almost thought I could see a shape. A shadow, darker than the rest of the orange, seemed to be leaning over me. "Khufu," he said in a gently admonishing tone, "Khufu, his eyes haven't been exposed to light in over two years. Why didn't you do anything about the light?" Did he say TWO YEARS!
"Agh," replied the owner of the furry arm. I could have sworn that that grunt sounded indignant.
"Serft ahth," said the new speaker and the orange was blasted through with bright, shining blue. I cried out in pain. The blue hurt even more than the orange had. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, I should have warned you. It's all right; you can open your eyes now." The orange had faded to near black and I could make out tiny points of light…torches, I realized. The flame on each torch was nearly out, just barely sputtering. With the light reduced I couldn't see much in the way of details but at least I could see. I could see enough to tell I was lying on a bed in a room lined by pillars and lit, as I mentioned, with torches.
I could not see the face of the man speaking to me but he had long hair pulled back in dozens of tiny braids and, even though he was kneeling, he seemed like quite an imposing figure. I looked for the thing that had furry arms and kept grunting. Behind the man was something hunched over and hairy. The man saw me looking and said, "That's Khufu. He has been tending you since you came here. And, yes, he is a baboon."
"Agh," Khufu added matter-of-factly.
"I'm getting to that," the man said. Could he understand the baboon? "My name is Amos Kane and you are in the Per Ankh, the House of Life. Actually, it's the Twenty-first Nome of the House of Life, to be precise. You are safe here." I tried once more to speak with no better luck than last time. "Shhh," he quieted me. "Khufu," he turned to the baboon, "fetch some water for the young demigod, please." Turning back to me, he removed the cloth from my forehead and felt the skin underneath with the back of his hand. "The worst of your fever seems to be past." Khufu returned holding a cup. Amos helped me sit up, putting some pillows behind my back, and held the cup to my mouth. Until the water passed my lips I had not realized how thirsty I was. I greedily drank the water until it was gone.
I tried my voice one more time. I managed to whisper a weak, "Thank you."
Amos handed the cup back to Khufu who left, presumably to refill it. "I know you must be bursting with questions but now is not the time. If you strain your voice too much right now it will take even longer to recover. You have been…well, I guess you could say you have been in a sort of limbo for a very long time. Your body needs time to restore itself; you need to sleep." I must have looked as sceptical as I felt because Amos chuckled. "I know, I know, you just woke up; but that was more of a coma than real sleep. Right now, you need some sleep. I promise you, a night of sleep will do you a world of good. Besides, you don't know this but it is actually quite late and I wish to get to bed myself."
Amos held a hand over me and quietly said, "Hah-ri." A few blue symbols, still indistinct to my eyes, glowed briefly in the air and I felt my eyelids begin to droop. Amos pulled the covers up around me like my mom used to when she would tuck me in bed. "In the morning, Perseus, we will speak further."
- x - x - x - x - x -
If you know anything about demigods, you probably know that sleep is never just sleep for us. Especially in times of trouble we always dream in visions. Sometimes the visions help us; sometimes they are sent from our enemies; sometimes we never know what the visions mean until they come to pass, but we always dream. Tonight was no exception.
I saw a great field of battle from high above, like I was a bird looking down on the terrible scene. It took me a moment but I recognized it. This was not just a dream. I was reliving the fight against the armies of Kronos in Manhattan. As the battle unfolded before me I remembered more and more, but I could not remember how it had ended. Finally, I saw myself. It was just after I had taken on the curse of Achilles and I was still getting used to my newfound fighting skills. I ran from one trouble spot to another, clearing the field of Kronos' men.
Our forces seemed to have won the day. We held our line and some scattered monsters and troops were retreating to their comrades. Then Kronos revealed himself. He was leading a small group of troops that absorbed the retreaters into their ranks. Our fighters stopped, unsure of what to do. Kronos and his men charged at our fighters and I ordered all of our men back, confident that I could hold Kronos' force at bay long enough to cover their retreat. I could hardly see myself in the fray but I seemed to be doing well. My dream's-eye-view was much closer to the battle now. A small gap cleared in Kronos' ranks and my dream self could see that I was not fighting alone. Annabeth refused to retreat, fighting alongside me.
Annabeth…
My dream self began to feel uneasy. I tried to cry out, tried to tell Annabeth to leave but she could not hear me. I knew—somehow, someway—I knew that I had to get Annabeth out of there. She paused for a moment, just a second but I could tell something was wrong. She took a step toward me and stopped, shaking her head. Then she turned and began to move away from me. But Annabeth was not the one who was in danger.
Just as Annabeth left my side, my dream self saw one of Kronos' demigods plunge his dagger into my back—right into my Achilles spot. I crumpled to my knees and Annabeth ran back to me. I watched myself die, helpless and unable to do anything. It was agony to see the look on Annabeth's face as I dissolved into nothingness. As I watched my body disintegrate my vision went black and then I was awake. I lay in the bed, unsure what time it was, pondering my dream. I was sure that it was a memory but that couldn't have happened! I was alive right now…how could this be real? But I knew that this was what had happened to me during the fight against Kronos.
Blessedly, I fell back into a dream-free sleep for the rest of the night.
- x - x - x - x - x -
"Agh?"
My eyes snapped open and this time I could see the face of the baboon staring back at me. He handed me a glass of water and I drank it slowly, taking in the room. There was daylight coming in through a window and even though it still seemed awfully bright I could at least see again. What I had taken to be pillars last night was actually statuary of strange-looking creatures that I recognized as Egyptian in origin. I looked at Khufu who was, indeed, a baboon wearing a Lakers jersey of all things. When I finished the glass, Khufu took it from me. "Thank you, Khufu," I said. My throat was still sore but my voice sounded better, but a bit odd. It seemed to be deeper than I remembered it being.
I began to try out my newly recovered voice. "My name is Percy Jackson. I am from New York. I like blue food."
"Agh," Khufu said encouragingly.
I started to list names of people I knew. "Poseidon. Paul Blofis. Sally Jackson. Grover Underwood. Chiron. Annab-" I stopped short at Annabeth's name. I had no idea if she had survived after I died, or whatever I saw happen last night. I had to believe she was still alive. I couldn't think about the alternative. "Khufu, I need to speak to Amos now. Where can I find him?" Khufu said nothing but walked to the door and looked back at me. Clearly, I was supposed to follow. I got out of bed and found that I was wearing loose-fitting linen clothes that had a definite eastern feel to them.
I padded after Khufu in my bare feet. My legs felt weak and my knees were wobbly as he led me out, down a hallway, and into a room with food set out on a side table. The whole house had a definite Egyptian motif to it. Khufu indicated the food and left. Hopefully he was getting Amos but at the site of food my stomach growled so I decided that breakfast couldn't hurt in the mean time. I grabbed some bacon and eggs and sat down to eat.
When Amos walked in, I stared intently at my food to keep from staring at him. He was a character. He was wearing a black suit with bold gold pinstripes accompanied by a black fedora. He could have stepped right out of a 1920s gangster movie if not for the dreadlocks with gold and gemstones braided in them. I was right in my earlier assessment of his size. He was tall and built like a burly security guard. I would not have wanted to be on the other end of a fight with this guy.
"Good morning, Perseus," he boomed in a deep bass voice. "Glad to see you up and about."
"Yes," I answered, "about that…"
"You must be wondering how you came to be here."
"I'm wondering a lot of things but, sure, we can start with that."
Amos chuckled. "Well, your mind does not seem to have suffered for your long sleep; that is excellent." He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Where does one begin?" he mused. I decided to give him a little prompt.
I watched his face carefully for a reaction when I said, "How about starting with my death?"
He seemed surprised when I said that. He looked at me and his face got serious when he realized I was not joking. "You remember that, then. I wondered how much you remembered."
"Not much," I admitted. "I…well, I remembered more while I slept last night."
Amos nodded. "I thought you might. I should start by correcting you. You did not, in fact, die."
"But I was stabbed in my Achilles spot," I said. "I mean, it was a mortal wound."
"Yes," Amos agreed, "it would have been." It occurred to me that I should have been surprised that Amos knew what I meant by 'Achilles spot.' "Fortunately with some help from the House I was able to transport you here just before your death. I have been keeping you suspended, in stasis you could say, as I told you last night. Now, before you get angry with me let me be clear that that coma saved your life. You had seconds left to live. By freezing you when I did, I was able to slowly heal the wound and bring you back from the brink of death. It took several months just to remove the dagger from your back." He drew a knife from inside his suit and held it up for me to see. "I kept it, in case I needed it to focus some healing spells. You can have it as a memento, if you like." I was not at all sure I liked the idea of keeping that knife but I reached out and took it anyway. "Careful," Amos added, "it's a poisoned blade."
It was such a simple knife. There was nothing at all fancy or elegant about the blade, just plain steel, not even celestial bronze. I turned it over in my hands and saw the black scythe of Kronos etched on the handle. I didn't want to ask my next question but I had to know. "Last night, you said my eyes hadn't seen light in more than two years. Has it really been that long?"
Amos carefully said, "It has been twenty-six months, Perseus, almost to the day." He waited for me to process the new information.
I could hardly believe what he was telling me. On autopilot I said, "Percy."
"What?"
"Percy," I repeated. "You keep calling me Perseus. Everybody just calls me Percy." I sat numbly and stared at my breakfast some more. Two years! Where were all my friends? I didn't even know if they were still alive. What about my mom? Then I realized there was another really obvious question that hadn't even occurred to me. "Who ARE you?" I asked Amos. "Who are you and what is this House of Life? Why are they helping me? What do you mean you kept the dagger to 'focus healing spells'? And–"
Amos held a hand to stop the flow of questions. "Who I am is a long tale which is not relevant right now. But what I am is a magician of the House of Life. The House of Life is a collection of wizards descended from the priests and wizards of ancient Egypt, who learned their art from the Egyptian gods."
"The Egyptian gods?" I thought for a moment and I realized that if the Greek gods were real, I suppose other mythological figures probably were as well. "Ok," I decided, "the Egyptian gods."
"Normally we are forbidden to interfere in the affairs of the Greeks, much the same way your Olympians are forbidden to cross into each other's territories. Ancient laws and the order of the universe and all that, you know."
"But isn't that exactly what you did rescuing me?"
"You are not a normal circumstance. The House of Life serves Ma'at, that is, order and harmony. We strive against the forces of chaos. An agent of chaos broke the rules and changed the outcome of the battle where you died. The House allowed me to save you in an attempt to repair the breach."
"How could someone change the outcome of a battle like that?"
Amos shook his head as he answered, "I do not know, Percy. We know only that the world was changed that day. Nature itself is in rebellion. Most people do not notice but anyone who looks can see that the world is at war with itself. The strife in nature is making chaos exponentially stronger. The House is fighting the whole world over to try to restore Ma'at but I and a handful of other magicians believe that until order is restored in the Greek pantheon, we will never succeed. Powerful magicks were used the day of your fight against Kronos and they all cantered on one person."
"Me," I said, guessing where he was headed.
"No," Amos replied simply.
"It wasn't me?" I asked a little incredulous. Amos shook his head. "Then why did you choose to save me?"
"Because you were as close as we could come to the focus of the spell. Truthfully, I do not know if you would have lived or died if events had progressed unaltered. If it were in our power we would have brought the spell's focus here instead of you. We barely realized what was happening in time to do anything about it, though. The source was too well protected for us to tamper with it. However even though you were not the focus of the spell, I believe that your death was its intended goal."
"Wait," I interrupted Amos, "who WAS the spell focused on?"
Amos met my eyes when he answered, "Annabeth. When we were unable to break the spell, we decided to try to alter its result and minimize its damage. That led us to you but by the time we had opened a portal to bring you to us, you had already been wounded."
I was trying to process a lot of information while Amos spoke. It was difficult to believe what he was telling me. "Amos," I said, "what happened after I died?" It was odd to talk in terms of me being dead but for all intents and purposes that was what had happened.
"You mean did Kronos succeed in overthrowing the Olympians?" I nodded. "Yes. The Olympians and the House never had much contact with each other but we know that they were deposed shortly after your death. We assume Kronos is in control, now. So far he has been content to leave the House and its agents alone. But it is anybody's guess whether that will last. The Titan predates even the Per Ankh and our own gods are no longer able to help us fight. If he attacks, we will have no defence. And our own safety aside, the general public is suffering." Amos looked uncomfortable, like he had to do something he was not happy about. "Percy, I can not let you stay here very much longer. Now that you are saved from the wound my authority to act on behalf of the Greeks is gone."
I understood. "Ancient laws and the order of the universe and all that," I said with a wan smile, "you know?"
"Yes," Amos said dolefully, "all that. Percy, I do not know if the spell that was cast on Annabeth can be broken or changed." Amos was grave as he continued, "I do not know if there is anything you can do to restore the Olympians or fight the Titan but I must charge you to try. The fates of us all are riding on the restoration of order." Then his expression brightened. "At least," he said, "I am not sending you out alone." He turned in his seat, looking around him. "Where did Khufu get off to, anyway?"
I frowned, a little afraid that he was going to send Khufu with me. "No, really-" I started to protest when Khufu returned to the room with someone else following behind.
"Agh," grunted Khufu.
"Ah, there you are," said Amos.
"PERCY!" cried Grover.
OK, so that was my crossover chapter. It is a bit of an odd place to break the chapter but I wanted to reserve Chapter 1 just for the House of Life material. So, as I mentioned, there are two reasons I don't think that it qualifies the whole story as a crossover fic. First, this is pretty much the only chapter where the Kane Chronicles will intrude on an otherwise Percy Jackson story. Second, and more importantly, Mr. Riordan established the Kane Chronicles as taking place in the same fictional reality as the Percy Jackson stories. Several characters in The Red Pyramid remarked on the Greek gods. I may be stretching the bounds a little bit, but that is what artistic license is for, after all.
