Hello readers!

Wow! You guys have been reading up a storm! From 500 to 1,638 views in under two weeks O.o Holy Carp! (And yes. Carp. Like the fish. That was intentional.)

The number of followers and favoriters has skyrocketed as well! I'm so ecstatic! Let's get to the shoutouts 'cuz there's a lot of 'em :)

Shoutouts to: Smoldering Carnelian, Personofmanythings, GaryGibbon, Riptide81, DarthDestroyer2, and Ruby2724 thanks SO much for favoriting! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Shoutouts to: greekdemigod3, Personofmanythings, GaryGibbon, Riptide81, DarthDestroyer2, and Ruby2724 for joining the following! (We have 21 now! As in the 21st Nome? Anyone... No... Just me? Okay...)

Special thanks to all guest readers who enjoy this enough to keep reading even without an account. Love you guys!

Now, without further stalling from me, I present the long awaited chapter 7 of the PJO/TKC crossover: When Worlds Collide.

-Ardoa88

p.s. thanks again for your patience!

Chapter 7: Ba Ba Black Sphinx

(Sadie POV)

Turns out, a lot of things could go wrong. All at once; and it started with my dream about Elvis and Wonder Woman scheming in a diner.

After divulging the contents of my stomach to everyone, I made the executive decision to take a much needed nap. I hoped that a good rest was all I would need to shake off the after effects of the Greek nectar. Unfortunately, 'good' and 'rest' are rarely terms that I get to use together in the same sentence. You see, magicians don't just have simple dreams about failing tests or embarrassing yourself on a date. When we sleep, if we're lucky, we don't dream. If we're unlucky, we have nightmares or visions.

Typically, annoyingly vague and confusing, not-helpful-in-the-slightest visions.

Without an anchor, my ba decided to go on a little trip the moment my head hit the pillow. In my kite form (and that's a bird kite, mind you, not the toy you fly on a windy day with a long piece of string) I found myself soaring over the Golden Gate Bridge, gliding over the waters and rocks below. My ba travelled down a confusing labyrinth of streets, the landscape blurring as if someone had clicked the fast forwards button. I caught a quick glimpse of a sign that read 'Caldecott Tunnel, 2 miles' before I was dragged abruptly to a halt inside of some restaurant.

I looked around the open space, seeing only a few people in the building. An older couple sat at one of the far tables, a hostess thanked a group of four teens in identical purple shirts as they left, and there was a man hunched over some scrolls at the counter. The gleaming metal sign behind the bar read 'Delilah's Diner: Southern Cooking, Western Hospitality'.

Then my head snapped back to the man at the counter. He was rather diminutive in size, with scrawny arms and legs. He wore a skin tight white shirt, and I could see his ribs through the fabric, almost like one of those starving dogs they show pictures of in those guilt commercials. The man had a hawkish nose, and heavy lidded eyes narrowed in concentration. Thin black hair had been slicked back with an obnoxious amount of oil, fashioned in a style similar to the late Elvis Presley.

Even in my ba form I managed to scowl at the recognizable figure. Setne: A.k.a. our evil Uncle Vinnie. He was muttering under his breath as he looked between the scrolls on the table. They looked ancient, the edges worn from being handled, the papyrus itself a deep yellow.

"No no no, that word needs to stay. How about… Hrm… Yes, that sounds rather poetic. But then this clause would need to be rephrased. How bothersome." Setne smiled, the expression vastly contradicting his annoyed tone. "These different magics are so similar, and yet so-"

"Complex. But that's how magic works, I'm afraid." Setne spun around to face the woman who now stood behind him. She hadn't been there a moment ago. I recognized the Wonder Woman imitator immediately, Hathors black hair was still dripping from our earlier encounter. She tipped her horned head towards the book, "I'll be taking that."

Setne grinned at her, making no move to surrender the tome. "Ah, Hathor! So good of you to stop by. You're looking rather not dead: Were you recently released from the obelisk?"

The goddesses eyes narrowed. "The Book, now."

"Sorry, but I stole it first. Thievers keepers and all that."

Hathor shrugged with nonchalance, "Can't say I didn't ask nicely." With a muttered word the red ankh appeared behind her. The other occupants in the restaurant barely even glanced up.

Setne was still smiling. "Unfortunately one of the side effects of being a ghost is that there's not much essence to consume. You look tired." Indeed, the effort of conjuring and maintaining the crimson hieroglyph seemed to drain the goddess as her chest heaved with breaths. "Would you like to sit down? You are certainly not in a position to be making demands, my friend. Let me guess? Had a run in with the Kanes, did you?"

Hathor grimaced.

"Thought so. They can be tragically bothersome, can't they. Sit, sit." Setne motioned to the stool next to him. "Might as well enjoy your resurrection. Would you like something to eat? They have excellent soul food here, scored a four point four on Yelp."

Hathor dropped the ankh spell, the red symbol fading as she looked around the restaurant with newfound approval. "I could devour a few souls."

"Hrm, wrong kind of soul, I'm afraid." Setne looked amused at the goddesses misunderstanding. "More fried batter than lifeblood. So tell me, why do you need the Book?"

Hathor slipped into the seat on his right, casting a wary gaze at the contents on the counter. Apparently, she trusted the magician as much as me. "I don't plan on being a minor God for much longer." She eventually explained.

Understanding crested Setne's face. "Ah! So you want to consume the essence of the Egyptian gods? Ascend to your father's throne? Though, technically it's not his anymore- All well and good, but why settle for so little?"

"What do you mean?" The goddess frowned, kohl lined eyes narrowed.

Setne's hand trailed lovingly over the old pages before him. "Let's just say I have been... expanding my horizons, as of late." He glanced at the goddess with a wicked smirk. "So, let's make a deal, you and I, yes? I will help you become ultimate supreme ruler of the cosmos, while you go and destroy the other three renditions of Cleopatra's Needle. I'll even take care of those Kane kids for you, free of charge."

"And what would you get out of this bargain?"

Setne spread his hands. "Free reign to experiment with this new magic and infinite test subjects."

I didn't think it was possible for my stomach to churn any more than it had earlier, but the thought of a powerful evil goddess teaming up with a powerful evil magician did not sit well with me. Hathor had hesitated, probably contemplating her options. If she was smart, she would also be considering how to counter when Setne eventually, inevitably, double crossed her.

"Come now, this is the deal of the millennia! Win-win. Going once… Going twice...gon-"

"Deal."

Setne grinned, rubbing his hands together and turning back to his scrolls. "Excellent! Now, I think I'll try… oh, this word sounds rather cataclysmic, don't you think? Pernicious. Just rolls right off the tongue."

Remember what I said about these dreams being incredibly unhelpful? Right, because it was at that exact moment that my ba decided it was bored of the scene before me, my view tunneling into black as I was transported to a new location.

I was standing in some sort of temple, no longer in the form of a kite. Towering stone figures flanked the long hallway before me, a cherry red carpet running the length of the central walkway. As my ba moved forwards, I could see two people at the end of the room. One was seated atop a golden throne, the other knelt at the base of the raised area. As she stood, I saw that the latter was a tall, lithe woman with black hair dressed in a skin tight, leopard print leotard.

"Bast!" I found myself smiling. I hadn't seen the cat goddess since the final battle against Apophis. The woman seemed to ignore my presence as she began talking to the man on the throne. Duh! Wake up, Sadie. I mentally smacked myself, you're not actually there, they can't hear you. Like I said. Annoying.

"- not ready for his final ride of the solar cycle next week." Bast was saying. My mental scolding had distracted me from hearing the first part of her sentence. "It must be postponed."

"You know I cannot allow that."

I refocused my attention on the person seated on the throne. He looked like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, only a lot younger. The teen sported magnificently ripped muscles for a kid his size. The only hair on his shaved head was a small black braid originating from the back of his skull. He was adorned in plain leather armor, a khopesh resting in a sheath at his waist. His eyes were the most telling; the left was a bright silver while the right was hued a deep gold.

My brothers former host, Horus, looked sadly at Bast. "We have already delayed the end of the cycle for a month. To postpone it any longer could have immense consequences for mortals and gods alike."

Bast bared her teeth in annoyance. She opened her mouth to speak but all that emerged was a bleated clanging noise.

I jolted awake as the Argo III listed sideways. "What in the name of Ra?" I grumbled as the mechanical goat-like noise rang once more. The sound was bouncing off the walls of the metal ship and echoed in my head like a school fire drill.

Wait- wait, was this gods awful racket supposed to be an alarm? I unplugged my ears and jumped out of bed, grabbing my staff and bursting out into the hallway. Carter was just emerging from his room as well, khopesh in hand. Before either of us could so much as look at one another, the Argo III lurched again, the shriek of metal from above grinding in our ears. Carter and I ran to the end of the hallway, ascending the stairs to the upper deck.

"What the-" Carter's sentiment matched my own wordless thought.

Two large, winged lions were making a mess on the deck of the ship, their fur a dark onyx black and their feathers a coal gray with hints of gold among the plumage. One was pawing at the central mast like it was a large scratching post; the other stomped around near the bow area as it swiped at something. A very small something that turned out to be the blond daughter of Athena. The girl was expertly dodging the monster's attacks, but her own strikes didn't seem to be doing much damage. The lion she was engaged with turned around to reposition itself, trampling a megaphone shaped device as it moved. The wailing goat noise ceased.

Apparently these lions disliked the goat-racket as much as my ba did.

"That was brand new!" Leo yelled from the control panel, audible now that he didn't have to yell over the alarm as well as the battle. "Annabeth, please get your lion under control! And that is not a toy- Down kitty! Get off. My. MAST!"

Leo directed the last comment to the other monster, using the X-box controller to swing the right crossbow around and fire an arrow at the winged beast. The bolt exploded upon impact, effectively knocking the creature away from the metal post. The ship's main mast was slightly scorched from the blow, appearing to be more surface damage than structural. As the lion turned to snarl at Leo, Carter and I saw that the creature had a human head. That of a woman to be precise, with kohl lined red eyes and an Egyptian pharaoh's headdress framed by the huge pair of condor wings that sprouted from her back.

"Sphinx's." I growled. "It had to be sphinxes."

"But," Carter had frowned. "Sphinxes don't have wings-"

"Does that matter?" I gave him a shove towards the quarterdeck. "Help Leo, I'll go save blondie." Without waiting for his response, I turned and ran towards the bow. The black sphinx roared as Annabeth's strike connected, the girl rolling to the side as the monster countered. The beast was quick, though, and the swipe turned into a backhanded blow, sending the daughter of Athena crashing to the side.

I raised my palm as the sphinx pressed the advantage. "Drowah." Boundary. A wall of light separated Annabeth from the creature. The sphinx hissed in displeasure at the sudden barrier between her and her would-be meal. Turning to face me, the monster's human face scowled.

"Yes, well, I'm none too happy either." I said, channeling magical energy through my staff. "You woke me from my beauty sleep." I thrust the weapon forwards. "Sa-Mir." The hieroglyph for pain flickered across the lion's body, the sphinx roaring in, well, pain as it stumbled away from Annabeth. It pawed at it's own skin, trying- unsuccessfully- to get rid of the symbols.

I wasn't done. Next I grasped one of the amulets Walt had given me, it was a simple charm; a flat silver hand in the shape of the hieroglyph for 'fist'. Or, as the spell was called: "Ha-Wai." I cried, watching the glowing golden fist of Horus assimilated into existence and slam into the sphinx, the monster crashing over the ship's low railing and tumbling over the edge.

One down, I allowed myself a quick satisfied smile before rushing over to the blond. Annabeth had managed to stand, one hand pressed into her side, the other gripping the railing like a lifeline. In her hand she clutched a short bronze dagger.

"You okay?" I asked.

The girl winced but nodded. "I've had worse. Thanks, I-" Her sentence died as she looked at something behind me. She frowned, "Is that… a giant glowing chicken man?"

I looked over my shoulder to see that Carter had summoned his combat avatar, swinging his khopesh at the other sphinx. Giant glowing chicken man was a pretty apt description. Carter's body was encased in a glowing blue, twenty foot tall form of Horus, in the armored form of a man from the shoulders down, but with the head of bird.

Leo was helping as much as he could from the control deck, occasionally firing the crossbow or shooting fire from his hands at the creature. Okay, that's new, I thought. Since when could the repair boy control flames? That Percy kid seemed to be able to control water, from what I'd witnessed back in Central Park. I wondered if all Greeks could control an element and felt a moment of envy. It looked so much quicker than my hieroglyphs, but then again, Leo's flames didn't seem to be making nearly as much of an impact on the creatures.

"He insists it's a falcon." I said in response to Annabeth's question. I frowned as I looked around the deck once more. "Where's Percy?" I had a second to panic over the thought of the taller boy having fallen over the edge of the ship before the blond smiled.

"Probably sleeping." She said seriously, but couldn't hide an amused fondness about this part of her boyfriend. "He's still not feeling too good."

"Sleeping?" I looked at her incredulously. "Through this?" Even Carter couldn't sleep that deeply.

Annabeth just shrugged. "He's slept in, hell, before. This probably sounds like background noise to him."

Something was wrong with the way she was speaking. It was like watching a poorly dubbed video. The Greek demigod's mouth had moved much longer than the one word, and yet her voice had only spoken the single syllable: hell. There had been a weird pause in the middle of her otherwise normal sentence.

Before I could mention this, a dark blur flashed over the side of the ship. The second sphinx landed once more near the bow, looking none too pleased that it had been sent for a brief skydive. Oh, yeah, I remembered much, much too late. They have wings.

If it wasn't for Annabeth's quick reaction I would've been shredded by the sharp claws that lashed out. The demigod tackled me out of the way, linebacker style. We fell to the deck, the gleaming claws whooshing overhead as the sphinx landed behind us. Annabeth sprang back to her feet, hissed "Focus, Sadie." and promptly took off, running towards the monster. She slid underneath the belly of the black sphinx, slicing her dagger along it's midriff before rolling out from underneath the beast.

"Right." I said to myself as I stood, rubbing where my head had hit the deck. Out of my peripherals, I could see Carter in a sort of tug-of-war with the other sphinx. The monster having caught his khopesh with it's mouth, the two adversaries straining against the opposing ends. Pfft. He was fine.

I ran through the list of spells in my mental library, deciding on- arguably- my favorite and most effective hieroglyph. Extending a hand towards the monster who was now trying to pounce on Annabeth like she was the world's biggest cat toy (if it weren't for the fact that the situation was so dangerous I might've found the scene to be funny), I summoned a large portion of my magical reserves and yelled, "Ha-Di!"

The resulting explosion would have made fourth-of-July firework enthusiasts jealous. The blast sent the Sphinx crashing to the deck. Annabeth stumbled from the shock wave but somehow managed to keep her footing. The demigod quickly took the advantage my attack provided, jumping onto the fallen monster and plunging her short dagger into the nape of its neck. With one final howl, the sphinx disintegrated into a pile of sand.

The blond stood, brushing a stray hair from her face. Annabeth smiled at me, flipping the dagger in one hand as she offered me the other. I gripped it and felt the girl's casual muscle as she pulled me to my feet, suddenly understanding how she'd resisted my spell. This demigod was strong, and that strength… It had just slayed a beast that had been bent on killing us. And saved me from having to cast another spell.

Might and magic. Seemed like a good combination to me.

"Sadie!"

My heart skipped a beat at the all too-familiar call for help. I turned to see the second sphinx's wings flare as it jumped over the side and began flying away from the ship: with Carter in tow. They had never finished their game of tug of war, the sphinx still holding one end of my brother's khopesh in it's mouth. The explosion must've scared the creature into retreating, unwittingly dragging my brother along for a joyride. I ran to the edge of the ship as the glowing blue combat avatar was dragged farther away.

Now that it was safely away from the ship, the sphinx seemed to realize it had a passenger. It's four clawed appendages began scratching at the blue avatar, Carter struggling to fend off the attacks with one hand, his other current preoccupied with holding on to the sword still held in the sphinx's mouth. I knew he would never let go of it. He wouldn't risk losing the khopesh, this one had been a gift from Zia after he'd lost his in the Nile river a year ago.

Leo pulled some levers on the control panel to change his ship's pre-programmed course. The Argo III shuddered as it slowly responded. Too slowly.

I got mad. My date with Walt the other day had been ruined by the escape of a goddess. Typical. My dinner had been rejected thanks to some stupid Greek potion. Boo-hoo. My sleep had been interrupted by flying monsters. Fine. But my brother? Carter was off limits. No one was allowed to harm my brother.

I extended the ivory staff, channeling my rage into the instrument as I commanded, "Hu-Ai!" Fall.

The sphinx dropped as if it had struck a wall, wings flared in a desperate effort to slow the rapid descent. Still holding onto the combat avatar's weapon, I could only watch as Carter was dragged down with the monster. I prayed that he understood what I was trying to do. The blue hawk warrior flickered out of existence moments before the sphinx slammed into the churning ocean waters below, turning to dust on impact.

A bit light headed from the rapid expension of energy, I leaned against the railing, forcing myself to take slow breaths as the ringing in my ears subsided. When I could hear again, I realized that Annabeth was directing Leo to lower the ship.

"-might still be alive." The blond was saying.

"Annabeth," Leo said cautiously. "From this height-"

"Bring us down." Annabeth demanded, her calm, no-nonsense delivery ten times more frightening than if she had shouted.

"Don't bother." I smiled as I turned around, having spotted a bird flying low along the water.

I was shocked as the blond fighter whirled on me, her eyes sparking like lightning storms. "I don't know how you Egyptians do things," she spat the title like an insult, "but we Greeks don't leave allies behind."

Normally I would have been equally irate at the suggestion that I didn't care about my own brother's life, but the drain of magic had left my brain sluggish to the point that it took a moment to even understand what she was getting at. The faster part of my mind realized that they didn't know the extent of Carter's magical abilities; it seemingly looked like I'd just drowned him. I should probably tell them that wasn't the case.

Before I could do so, the door to the stairway burst open. Percy charged onto the deck, sword in hand as he looked around wildly. It was obvious from his bedhead that he'd just woken up, his orange t-shirt rumpled and a pair of seahorse print boxers hanging from his waist. His eyes skipped from the crushed megaphone, to the shredded mast, and finally, to us.

"Everything okay?" He asked, blinking away sleep.

Annabeth turned, "No. Everything is not okay. Carter-"

Before she could misinform her boyfriend of my brother's meeting a watery grave, the bird I'd noticed earlier squawked, landing between me and the demigods. Percy raised his sword hesitantly towards the animal. The falcon snapped its beak twice before beginning to transform; the beak shortened, molding itself into a human nose. The body elongated, wings reforming into arms, feathers into fingers. It's taloned claws became sneakers and before long, Carter was standing in front of me and the demigods.

My brother shot me a smile before sitting down hard on the deck. His head tilted skywards as he gulped in air. "That." He said in mild annoyance. "Was not fun. Not fun at all."

"You're welcome. Again." I crossed my arms. "That's the second time in two days that I've had to save you. Don't you go making this a habit." Carter just huffed. The demigods hadn't spoken a word. They had all just stood gaping at my brother like he was some circus sideshow act.

Leo was the first to recover. "Dude, you're not dead?"

My brother frowned, looking down at his chest as if suddenly unsure. "I don't think I am." Carter pinched his arm and winced. "Nope. Still not dead."

Annabeth- for once- seemed at a loss for words. "But you- how- we saw-"

"Magic." I answered the unspoken question. "It can do more than just make things go 'boom' you know. Transformation magic, for example, allowed Carter here turn into a chicken."

"Falcon." Carter corrected with a scowl. "I become a falcon."

"My bad, a flying chicken. My point is," I looked back at Annabeth, "We Egyptians don't sacrifice our family or friends. Or allies." I added the last one as a side thought.

Leo pursed his lips. "So can you just turn into any animal whenever you want? Like Frank?"

I had no idea who Frank was. "Carter and I can only turn into birds. Transformation magic requires a bit more effort on the part of the caster, it can be dangerous," I warned. "Spend too long in animal form and you may not be able to change back."

Carter snickered. "Sadie once got stuck as a kite when we were going through airport security."

"Shut it." I growled.

"So-" At some point during the conversation, Percy's sword had vanished. "Everyone's okay?" He asked again.

"No." Leo huffed, "Everyone is not okay. Just look at my baby's mast! It's been turned into a freaking scratching post! Why do they always go for the mast?" He moaned, walking over to the metal structure and inspecting the damage with a scowl. He glared back at the rest of us. "From now on, protect the ship first, and then worry about your own skins."

I decided not to point out how ridiculous his statement was, opting for a simple shrug.

"Sure." Percy's voice was strained, looking over I saw the telltale signs that came with being sick. "Excuse me real quick." He barely made it to the edge of the rail before he hurled the rest of his stomach over the side.

Fin! Thanks for reading!

That was really hard (but fun!) to write, hope you were all able to follow and enjoy it :)

Additionally... 10 new reviews?! WOW! THANK YOU! I cherished each one, they really made my day so thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Better get to it then...

Final things:

First, to Guest (chapter 6): Addiction is not good for you, unless it's fanfiction ;P Yes, Leo did get the short stick last chapter. As for adding the POV at the beggining; if it makes it easier for the reader I don't mind doing it. However, I think I made it fairly easy to tell who's perspective the chapter is from (granted you may need to read a paragraph or two in, but that's just how writing works). Either way, thank you for the suggestion. I'll do my best to accommodate :) Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Secondly, to stormrunner74: Bad phone. Bad! Let my nice reader leave reviews. Haha- jk ;P Thanks for the review- I checked out the Punch Leo Line. Hah! I may have to read Trials of Apollo now. I'm glad you liked chapter 6. I hope you continue to read and enjoy this fanfic.

Next, to Mythical Paradox: I'm glad it exceeded expectations :) Here's hoping I don't disappoint! Thanks for the review, and thanks for reading.

To Personofmanythings: You are very welcome, I'm so happy you like it! Please continue to enjoy the story, and thank you so much for reviewing!

To Riptide81: Two reviews, awesome! I'm pleased that my writing mirrors that of the original books, that's my intent for this fanfic and I'm glad to hear it showed. I honestly haven't read the books in a while, but don't worry, I realize that chapter 2 did use some aspects from the movies but that will not be my focus for the PJO characters. I may not stay strictly to the books (while annoyingly off the movies did have their moments. Few as they were.) but I will do my best not to misrepresent the characters. Thanks for keeping me honest! Good luck with your new story!

Finally, to DarthDestroyer2: I've never been to the Utah Museum of Natural History or the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. If I ever visit those places on vacation you can be sure they have been added to the list of places to see. As I mentioned to Riptide81, I will try to stick to the books for the better part of this fanfic. I just haven't read the original series in a while and I probably wont have the time to in the near future. I will do my utmost not to misrepresent the characters, Authors Promise. Thinking IS underrated. Just not by Sadie's standard, haha. And yup. I'm in the National Guard. Once a month I go and work on Chinooks (those two rotor helicopters that they shot down (multiple times) in the movie Suicide Squad) with other Guardsmen. Here's the update, hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the multiple reviews- each one of them made me smile :D

That's all for today! I have the next chapter planned out but it may end up being a bit too short, so as of now, I do not have a post date in mind. Soon. Maybe a week or two. Who knows.

As always please review and critique to your hearts content! I value all input, whether you have an account or not- I don't care. Whether your primary language is English or not I don't care. I will find a way to translate if that's the case. So don't be afraid to tell me what you thought: good bad or otherwise!

See you next time!

-Ardoa88

p.s. Ancient Egyptian translations: Drowah = Boundary, Sa Mir = Pain, Ha-Wai = Strike, Ha-Di = Destroy, Hu-Ai = Fall.