Chapter 9 A Quest to Stop a Ghost (Who is Also a Madman)

Annabeth, Percy, Carter, and I made our way to the Big House. We found Beth and Alex waiting there for us; I was probably the only one who noticed they were holding hands.

"Oh, hey guys!" said Beth waving as we passed, "Chiron wanted to see you, something about missing demigods? He's around the corner,"

"Thanks Beth." said Annabeth rounding the corner. I followed her around the wraparound porch. We walked into a game of cards, [I don't know what game they were playing, not at all.] between Chiron (in his wheelchair) and a guy in a Hawaiian shirt. Cans of cola were scattered on the porch, two more sat on the table.

"Ah, there are our guests. Sadie, Carter, I'd like you to meet our camp director Mr. D." said Chiron putting down his cards.

"Yeah, hello." said Mr. D focusing intently on his cards, or completely ignoring us.

"Hello Mr. D, I'm Carter Kane and this is-"

"Don't know, don't care." said Mr. D waving us off.

"These are the Egyptians I was talking about Mr. D," said Chiron, trying to get a little bit of attention from the director.

"Egyptians? I must be going," Mr. D vanished, leaving nothing but the scent of grape juice.

"Wow, judging by the disappearing act I assume that guy is a god," I said, sniffing the air.

"Yes, though he despises the job," said Chiron setting his cards back onto the table, "What can I do for you?"

"We need a quest," said Annabeth, she described the dream she'd had. Chiron's expression got darker and darker until he was scowling.

"Setne, I've heard of him. He was a magician who wanted nothing but power, he came to Greece hoping the Greek gods would help him; but they banished him from Greece and Rome, how is he still around?"

"That is our fault," I said staring at my feet in embarrassment, "we needed a spell he'd created so we got him out of punishment, again. But he betrayed us and escaped, again."

"This does not bode well," muttered the centaur.

"Wait, there's a ghost kidnapping demigods?" asked a curious voice behind me. All five of us turned around and saw Beth and Alex watching us from around the corner.

"Yes, do we have to re-explain everything or do you already know?" said Carter sarcastically. Wonderful! I thought, he's mastered sarcasm!

"No, we understand," said Alex coming out of hiding, "and we want in."

(line break)

I shoved my staff back into the Duat as we packed to head out.

"Carter?" I asked my brother.

"Yes Sadie?" he replied, nose stuffed in a Greek mythology book.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"First, to the Brooklyn house for supplies, then to Cairo to talk with Amos," he said "see is he has any answers."

"Do we really trust the demigods enough to be taking them home?"

"Sadie, they've showed us their world, time to show them ours,"

"I wonder…"

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Sadie,"

"OH! I was wondering if it was possible for a demigod to also be blood of the pharaohs."

"Probably, but if it does happen it must be really rare." I fingered my amulet, "the knot of Isis" it was called. I sat there for a while, watching the ceiling while Carter read about monsters we'd be facing. Soon, boredom over took me, and I pulled out my IPod. I put in the tiny white ear buds and cranked up the music, letting Adele lull me to sleep.

And another Ba trip. But this seemed different, I wasn't the usual chicken form, but I was me dressed in a silken dress. I checked my surroundings, it looked like the temple Annabeth had described. Icicles hanging from the ceiling, lots of old bricks in the walls, and (creepiest of all) many teenagers and little kids battling with each other.

"You caused this." said a smooth voice behind me. I turned around and saw none other than Uncle Vinnie floating there.

"How did I cause this?" I demanded, "And what's with the dress?"

"A. You banished the gods preventing them from stopping me, B. you saved me." He smirked, I wanted to punch that (insert curse word pairing here) in the face then shove that stupid (insert another curse word here) into the Duat forever.

"But why are you hurting them?" I asked watching the demigods fight.

"Because their as stupid as gods and wonderful fighters. Plus, they're immune to most Egyptian magic."

"What?!" I cried.

"Oh, my time is up, Good night Sadie, pleasant nightmares." The temple dissolved and I shot up in bed, Adele still singing in my ears. I checked the clock, 6:30 AM, too early. I lay back in bed and tried to recall the vision. And that reminded me about the quest, Oh shoot! I was late!

(line break)

"Wait!" I screamed rushing out of The Big House towards Half-Blood Hill. The others were getting their things into Freak's boat and Chiron was wishing them good luck.

"Wait!" I screamed again climbing the hill.

"Calm down Sadie," said Carter, "we weren't going to leave without you." I stopped at the top of the hill, gasping for air.

"Where's all your stuff Sadie?" asked Beth, sorting stuff in her bag.

"Duat," I muttered, resting my hands on my knees.

"Du-what now?" she asked.

"Kind of, hard to explain." I said climbing into the boat. I sat in the front row next to Carter.

"Good luck, too all of you!" said Chiron as Freak took to the sky. I held on tightly as we ascended, my hair was like a silver blonde hurricane in the wind.

"Where are we going?" asked Percy when we had reached cruising altitude.

"To the Brooklyn House." said Carter looking over the edge of the boat, "It's right down there!" he pointed down to the river, The Brooklyn House stood tall and proud on the bank.

"Where?" asked Annabeth.

"On top of the warehouse!" The Greeks had to shake their heads and blink a few times but soon they could see it.

"Cool!"

"You get to live there? Awesome!"

"My cave was better."

"No it wasn't."

"Shut up seaweed."

"Hey!" Freak cawed and began to fly towards the 21st Nome. The descent caused everyone to fall back into their seats. Freak's wings buzzed faster as he slowed down to land. THUMP! I fell out of my seat as Freak landed on the roof.

"I hate air travel," muttered Percy climbing out of the boat.

"At least Zeus didn't try to electrocute you for once," said Annabeth, shoving her boyfriend playfully.

"I'm ready to be air sick," moaned Alex, his face a pale green color. I climbed out of the boat. I put my hand over my mouth, so that way when I spoke I would sound like a pilot.

"Ladies and gentlemen I'd like to welcome you to Brooklyn the 21st Nome of the House of Life." I pointed out to the river on my right, "On the right there is a pleasant view of the Hudson River," I pointed to the left, "and on the left is the city of Brooklyn."

"If you'll just follow me we'll begin our tour of the twenty-first Nome."

(line break)

I led them into the Brooklyn House and quickly through the top three floors which were mostly bed rooms. On the second floor we had to really hurry because Alex was about to puke. We rushed him into the infirmary and left him there with Jaz. Then we got to the great room.

"Demigods, I welcome you to the great room," I said, still doing the airplane voice.

"Who's that statue of?" asked Percy, pointing to the massive statue of Thoth.

"Oh, that's Thoth God of Wisdom," explained Carter, "We've actually met him a few times, once he made us raid Elvis's house!"

"You mean he made ME raid Elvis's house," I said, "You were a lizard." Carter blushed the color of strawberries as the others laughed.

"Whoa, that is a big TV," Beth just stared at our entertainment system like she'd never seen one before.

"Beth? Beth?" Annabeth waved her hand in front of Beth to snap her out of her trance, it didn't work.

"I got this," I walked over to Beth, and shouted in her ear: "wake up! Freak is after you!" She snapped out of it real fast and ran to hide behind the couch. I'm pretty sure we spent the next five minutes laughing are heads off as Beth glared. (Which truthfully, her glare is really strong. Don't mess with her!)

"Okay," said Carter wiping away a tear, "Let's go check out the library." We made our way the giant gold doors, chains crisscrossed them. Carter simply touched the lock and it popped open, causing all the chains to clatter to the ground. He pushed open one of the massive doors, giving way to our amazing library. Annabeth walked in and squealed with delight.

"I think she's going to like it here," said Percy as Annabeth ran around checking out everything.

"You think?" I asked, "Wait till she sees what the shabti can do." I pointed to one of the shabti, "Bring us six tacos!" I commanded. The little clay man leapt off its pedestal and disappeared. Annabeth gawked, and then squealed again. The shabti reappeared a moment later holding a plastic Taco Bell bag. I took the bag from it and the shabti became clay once again.

"Tacos anyone?" I asked dumping the bag onto the main table.

"What is a Taco?" asked Beth, "wait, I know, just being weird." She grabbed a paper wrapped taco and sat down in one of the many plush chairs. Percy grabbed two and threw one to Annabeth, it missed and hit her in the head.

"Percy!" she yelled.

"Run." I said To Percy as Annabeth pulled out her dagger. Percy ran out of the library followed closely by a very angry Annabeth.

"What was that all about?" asked Alex coming into the room.

"Taco toss, you want one?" I asked holding out a taco.

"No thanks, I'm still trying to get the taste of healing potion out of my mouth," he said putting the Taco back into the bag, "That stuff was NASTY!" I laughed and almost chocked on taco shell, Jaz's potions did the job but the they tasted like barf. I heard a crash from in the great room; Percy came running back into the room, cheerios stuck in his hair.

"Annabeth had a baboon helping her!" he cried hiding. Annabeth followed him, Khufu followed her.

"AGH!" barked Khufu as he chased Percy. I giggled, this was going to be fun.