AN: Hello! I was pretty bored today, raining again! Geez, what happened to the fact that I practically live in a desert? But anyways, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own TKC or HOO/PJO

Abby's POV:

Sadie had gotten better at summoning portals without Isis' help, because we landed right on the steps to the House of Rest. I'm not going to go into her previous failures. It involved wasting a lot of time, and a few surprised Chinese people.

"This is just the underworld." The boy who had introduced himself as Frank looked at us expectantly.

I remembered what Carter and Sadie had told me about the afterlife. People see it differently depending on what they believe.

"Can you even see the House of Rest?" Zia asked.

"What?" Leo asked.

"I guess the five of us go in alone, then." Sadie opened the door.

"We'll be back soon." Carter told the others.

The place was so-so- I don't even know how to describe it. A few creatures-were those gods?- were rolling around in their wheelchairs. The weirdest part? A pregnant hippo was charging towards us. I quickly sidestepped, but Carter and Sadie just stood there. Well, as I heard from their recordings, they went through this a lot.

"Carter, Sadie!" She hugged us all tightly. "We haven't seen you in a while. So glad you came to visit! And you brought friends!"

"Actually, Tawaret, we're here on important business, and wanted to know if you gods know anything." Walt stood off to the side of the room.

"Oh." Her expression darkened. "I'll go get Bes."

We sat on the sofas in one of the many rooms. Bes, who I am not going to describe for the sake of your minds, was just as happy as Tawaret to see us. According to them, a couple months ago, they'd officially married. I didn't know gods could do that, (I guess I should've though. Isis and Osiris, Set and Nephtys.) but of course, I was happy for them.

Once we were up to speed on what had been going on, we explained about everything. The prophecy, the greeks and romans, and our various dreams.

"I don't mind the Romans, they did adopt me as one of their gods." Bes and Tawaret were taking the news about other gods rather calmly. I assume they already knew.

"Well, kid, Apophis is still deep in the Duat, but his minions are back. Most of them couldn't have come back so quickly. I say someone's been helping them get back to the mortal world quicker." Bes mused.

"I'll bet anything it was that slime bag, Setne." Zia growled. I had learned a long time ago that you did not want to mention Setne in front of her, she had serious problems with him.

"That's a reasonable theory." Sadie agreed. "He did summon Serapis."

"And put that necklace on the son of Sobek." Carter added. "But it seemed Setne wanted us to know that the greeks and romans existed. Then, the most logical thing would be to split up."

"That is true, and the more people you have, the more monsters you attract. Carter's got a good idea." Tawaret nodded in approval. "And you have a better chance at finding Setne. Once he's sent back to the Duat, the serpents should go back too. He won't be able to keep up the spell that's keeping them in the mortal world."

"So, we split up and find Setne. We send him back to the Duat, and then our problems are solved?"

"He could be anywhere in the world!" Sadie threw up her hands in exasperation.

"What was the prophecy?" Tawaret asked.

I wracked my brain. "Heroes and magicians must unite, death and sun shall shine the light. Nine from the east and from the west come three, but watch your backs as betrayal there will be."

"What bloody good does that do us? All it's saying is that someone's going to die, and we'll be betrayed by some jerk." Sadie demanded.

"Ah, that tells you a lot. Just by hearing that, I have a good idea as to how you can find Setne. However, even us egyptians who hardly ever use prophecies anymore, know we can't interfere with quests. This much, you should know though. Be careful who you trust. Don't put your fate in the hands of someone else, especially if you barely know them. Good luck, you guys." Bes and Tawaret hugged us and we walked out.