SADIE
I wasn't too worried about the Empire State Building falling apart.
Honestly. If I needed to, there were a hundred spells I could use to keep us safe. I didn't know why Percy was so scared. [Carter tells me that won't save New York. New York won't care, Carter. It's a city.]
At any rate, as Carter and Percy were moving slightly faster than snails through the streets, I was desperately trying to contact Isis. I knew it was unlikely, since the gods had withdrawn when we'd banished Apophis, but I thought it was worth a try.
Of course, I got nothing. I only had my own magic reserves. At least I had my staff, and I could write down some words of power using my stylus and papyrus if I needed to. I wasn't sure what good Percy would be in his state, and I was personally fine with leaving him, but I knew my brother wouldn't let me. [Don't look so appalled, Carter.]
I glanced back at the Empire State Building. It wasn't looking good. The winds were buffeting us, like they were trying push us back toward it. On the flipside, that meant the building was not going to fall towards us, if it were to fall. I hoped not. That would be quite a disappointment.
It took us a while, but we eventually made it to the Brooklyn Bridge. Percy's expression seemed to lessen from sheer terror to just normal terror. He said, "We should be safe from here. Hurry."
The bridge was scattered with completely abandoned cars. As lightning struck behind us, we crossed, and at one point I looked back and saw a huge wall of water rising up from below, somehow blocking off the lightning and the storm. I'm sure, between the blasts of thunder and the roar of the water, I could hear voices shouting.
"Percy…" Carter said in awe. "Are you doing that?"
He shook his head and laughed. "Not a chance. It's my father."
I raised an eyebrow. "And… your father can control water?"
He grinned. "I guess you could say that."
"Let's keep moving," Carter said. "We'll be at Brooklyn House soon."
"Can't you call Freak?" I asked. "I'm getting tired of walking."
"I don't trust this storm not to knock him out of the sky." He eyed the clouds warily.
"Freak?" Percy asked.
"My, uh…" Carter decided it was best not to explain.
Eventually we reached the end of the bridge, but I could still see the storm raging behind us and the waves blocking it.
Many more eventuallies later, they reached the base of Brooklyn House - a huge, abandoned factory.
"So… you live here?" Percy asked.
"I suppose so," I said. "Look on top of the factory."
I'd become quite adept at seeing Brooklyn House. I still saw right through it occasionally, but it was mostly visible to me. I guess Percy wasn't quite used to living in an invisible mansion on top of a factory.
"Uhhh, there's nothing there…" he said.
"Oh. Right. Look closer."
"Still nothing…"
"Here." Carter drew his stylus and painted a hieroglyph on Percy's forehead - the Eye of Horus.
"Can I summon you again with this?"
"No. It helps with sight, too."
"Hey, my sight is fine!"
"Magical sight. Look again."
"There's nothing- Oh." He now seemed to see the huge mansion sitting atop the factory. I sighed in relief. Honestly, I thought we might be here for an hour while we argued back and forth about the existence of Brooklyn House.
"Do you two have magical hieroglyphs to let you see it?" Percy asked as they scaled the factory.
"No," I replied. "We can see it most of the time since we're magicians. It used to be difficult, but-"
"Magicians?" Percy asked, as if we might be joking. Surely even he noticed I had an aura of seriousness about me. [Don't laugh, Carter. I'm a serious girl.]
Carter coughed loudly. "So this is where we live."
"Isn't it a bit extravagant for two kids?" Percy asked.
"Well… there's a few more than two. Come on, we'll go around the back way."
I raised an eyebrow, but Carter shot me a look that meant: We don't want anyone seeing him, at least not yet. Carter could speak with a single look what Kufu could in a single "Agh!" To tell you the truth, that's not the only similarity he has to baboons. [No, Carter, I will not edit that out.]
Anyway, we walked the perimeter of the mansion and scaled a staircase we'd erected up to Carter's room. It was useful for sneaking people in or out, like Zia for example. [No, I really am not editing it out.]
We climbed and ended up on Carter's balcony, where his scrying bowl was desperately glowing. Carter practically squealed and ran over to it. [Oh yes you did, I was there. Percy will vouch for me.]
Poor Percy almost collapsed when Carter let go of him. I quickly grabbed his arm and helped him over to the bowl.
"Carter!" It was Zia's voice. "I've been calling for hours. Where were you?"
"I was… busy," he replied. "I guess something's happened?"
"I guess you could say that," she said. I could see her face in the oil now, and she looked pretty spooked - not an expression I related to a fire elementalist who could summon the power of Ra. "A… a girl turned up here. She says her name's… Annabeth."
Percy's eyes lit up. I had to stifle a laugh at Carter's expression when Percy pushed him away from the scrying bowl. Another voice said: "Percy?"
Zia was abruptly removed from the image and another girl appeared in the oil. She had long, blonde hair, a clay bead necklace like Percy's around her neck, and the same shirt - I hadn't realized Percy had been wearing an orange T-shirt. It was difficult to figure out what it said, considering it was torn, burned and covered in mud, but I could make out "CAMP".
"Annabeth!"
