A/N: Sorry for the delay again. This week has been really busy. My family declared bankruptcy and decided not to move out of PA for my dad to get a new job. So things have been hectic because we now have the money to build a deck and put in a new water tank. Then I saw a documentary on Egypt and it gave me all new ideas for this part of my fic. So I've been going over these ideas to see how I can fit them into here. Well, here's the chapter finally. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Everything in this fic is my own ideas from myths and legends of the Ancient Greek times. The only thing that I don't own is the characters from Danny Phantom.

Chapter 11 Home Sweet Home

"I can explain, Ra!" Theo said in a rush as he took a step backwards. Danny did the same, frowning deeply when hearing the man's name. He knew that name…but from where? He really wished he had paid more attention in history class.

Ra stood up straight and threw his head back, letting out a haunting laugh. The man was very tall, at least six feet high. He was extremely tanned with a perfectly muscled body like Danny had seen with the Greek gods. He wore only a light blue silk towel around his waist, sandals, and a hat on his head that reminded Danny of what the pharaoh's of Egypt wore. His black eyes seemed to bore right into the demigods.

"You can explain all you want when you get to the council," Ra spat into Theo's face as he finished laughing at Theo's pathetic attempt at a protest.

"Move!" Theo screamed at Danny as he shoved him aside suddenly. Danny hit the ground and got a mouthful of gritty sand, confused and alarmed about what was going on. Who was this man?

Ra deftly lunged for Theo, but the demigod swiftly rolled to the side to evade the man's touch. He sprung back to his feet and did a quick back hand spring to dodge another attack from the man. He looked up to see that Ra wasn't going after him anymore. He was walking over to where Danny was getting back to his feet. Theo ran to try and get Danny out of harm's way.

Danny turned around just as Ra reached out for him. All Ra had to do was grab Danny's arm for his power to be released. The demigod let out a short cry of pain as it felt like his veins were flooding with burning lava, setting his whole body on fire. The overbearing pain instantly knocked the kid's lights out. He was seeing black before his head hit the sand again.

Quick as a snake, Ra turned around and reached with an outstretched hand for the devastated Theo that was right behind him. Ra grinned wickedly as he managed to grab Theo by the chin. He could literally feel the fear in Theo as they stood still for a second, Ra letting the demigod see his defeat.

Theo's heart felt like a deafening drum beating in his chest, filling his ears with its escalating sound. His stomach churned as all his anxieties were coming true. Ra's hold on his chin made his whole jaw burn and ache, daring him to winch. But the demigod held his dignity by only standing there, waiting for the pain to come, to overtake him.

Wanting to make the banished demigod squirm, Ra pulled his captured prize toward him. Theo complied, taking a few steps toward the Egyptian sun god, his breath held to keep down his fear. Ra tilted the chin upward, forcing Theo to stare up into his smiling face.

"You were the only one I couldn't quiet control," Ra said down to Theo, letting out some more of his power through his fingertips. "Now look at you, Theo. I have you in the palm of my hand."

"Shove it up your a–," Theo retorted, being cut off at the end as Ra poured more power into his hold. With a grunt of insolence, Theo pulled away from the hold at the last second, only to fall to his knees before completely blacking out.

Ra watched with a scowl as Theo fell toward the earth. The demigod was still able to fight his power even after so many years of being away from Egypt and Ra's close eye on him. He didn't like having the council banish the demigod. It had meant that they had given up on controlling the bad egg. But he hadn't given up. Ra knew that he would someday be able to break the boy, make him obey like all the others. He had thought that his chances for that were destroyed, but today had opened so many options.

The scowl was replaced by a satisfied grin on Ra's lips. He wouldn't let Theo's defiance get to him. The demigod had always been defiant like that. He hadn't changed. For Ra, it was like picking up where they had left off. This was going to be a good day for him.

Taking his time, Ra tied up both of the demigods' hands with some rope he had brought with him. It was easy for the sun god to travel. Anywhere the sun touched he was able to teleport himself to. Of course his power was limited in that area, but it was limitless when it came down to knowing exactly where people were when the sun was shining on them. That was how he knew when Theo had first stepped into a territory near Egypt. Theo was a fool for returning.

Smiling to himself, Ra gripped both boys' arms. He closed his eyes, envisioning where he wanted to teleport. He'd be wasted of power and energy if he went all the way back to where the pharaoh lived with the rest of the gods and goddesses which made up the council. Deciding to conserve his energy, the god thought of a bank on the Nile River which would take him to the city of Giza. And in a flash of brilliant white light, all three were gone.

-Few Hours Later-

Moaning awake, Danny dared to open his eyes. His whole body felt heavy and groggy, as if he had ran a few miles with a person on his back and had only been able to sleep for an hour. Every muscle ached and protested as the teen moved to sit up. He quickly found out that his wrists were bound in front of him, making it even harder to get up. But he managed to get into a sitting position and take in his new surroundings.

Danny was somewhat surprised to see that his was on a boat. Annoyed with being confused, the boy rubbed his forehead with a groan. He faintly remembered what had happened with Ra at the oasis, but his mind was too clogged for him to figure it out. Things were just going from bad to worse. And he had so many questions. How many days had he been out? Where was he? Who was Ra? Where was Theo?

Alarmed at the last question, Danny whirled his head around to try and find his friend. It didn't take long. In his bleary state from before, he hadn't seen the demigod standing at the railing on the portside of the small, reed woven boat. Danny let out a small sigh of relief.

Struggling to his feet, Danny studied Theo for any hint of his mood. Usually he was able to read the demigod. But no apparent frame of mind was showing itself in Theo's posture from where Danny was behind him. Actually, the guy seemed pretty calm, almost distant.

Danny lumbered over to Theo's side and stared out at the landscape for a silent minute. He'd seen this place before, when Tucker had become pharaoh over Amity Park a few months ago. Just the only thing different was that that experience was an over exaggerated vision and this was dead real.

Three, giant limestone pyramids stood on the other side of the river. They majestically loomed high over the sandy wasteland. The Great Sphinx sat close to the pyramids. It looked like it dominated the shore and the bustling city of Giza below it. Sitting between the pyramids and the sphinx was a large temple, set for the pharaoh.

Danny sighed, finally knowing where he had heard the name Ra before. "The sun god," Danny said suddenly. One of Theo's ears twisted to pick up the sound of his voice. He looked over at Danny with a raised eyebrow of silent question. "Ra is the Egyptian sun god," Danny explained. "But you already know this, don't you? All I want to know is how he does that super-hurty-trick."

Theo let out a pent up sigh before saying, "I have no idea how he does it. All I know is that it hurts, but you can avoid it by staying clear of his touch. Actually, you have more of a resistant to it than I do, you not being an Egyptian demigod and all."

"Yeah, I'll be happy when that happens," Danny said with the roll of his eyes. "The dude sure does know how to make it a painful black out. He needs a new hobby, something less creepy and agonizing."

Theo smiled slightly when hearing Danny's spiteful comments. Danny saw this, wondering why the guy wasn't freaking out by now. Didn't he know that they were in serious danger right now? In a few hours they could end up dead! Theo had more of a chance of that sentence than Danny. The ghost boy knew that he would be an incoherent mess right about now if he was in Theo's banished shoes.

Looking around for a brief second, Theo suddenly pulled Danny closer to him. Feeling lost for time, Theo whispered urgently into the teen's hear, "No matter what, we stick together! We can not separate. Our escape is going to have to be quick. If I see an opening, I'm going for it without hesitation. You have to be right beside me. And if you see a good chance, you do the same. No questions, just impulse. We are getting out of here or going to die trying. Trust me; this is not a good place to waste your life away at. Are you with me?"

"Impulse, yeah," Danny said with a nod, relieved to know that Theo had his head in the game.

"Good," Theo said with a wry grin. He let Danny's arm go, relaxing somewhat to know that Danny had his back. And for once the ghost boy wasn't wasting time by freaking out or asking stupid questions. He saw that Danny still looked somewhat upset. Theo nudged him with an elbow and whispered, "Relax a little, kid. This is my home country. I know it like you know the twists and turns of your own Amity Park." Danny managed a weak smile, slightly comforted by Theo's strange optimism.

"Plotting and scheming your way out of here, are you?" Ra cut in as he leaned his head in between the two boys' heads. Danny gave a short yell, never knowing the god had been standing right behind them. Theo held in his surprised gasp, but he was nonetheless shocked by Ra's presence.

They turned to face the god, but Ra slipped his body between the boys and put his hands on their shoulders. The god smiled wickedly when he released some of his power through his fingertips that gripped them. Both Danny and Theo couldn't help but gasp as hot pain surged through their bodies. Ra then released them and bent down to their eye level, that sick smile still planted on his face.

Danny right away backed off, taking a few steps back to avoid any other painful experiences. Theo took the opposite approach as he gripped the boat's railing, trying not to turn back around and kicking the immoral in the face. Theo knew Ra did that only to get under either his or Danny's skin. And they couldn't do anything in their situation to stop it. That fact made Theo's blood boil.

"Whatever you two are planning, it won't work," Ra stated confidently. The captured demigods didn't respond. Folding his arms in front of his chest, Ra turned around and sat on the railing next to Theo, eyeing the teen to read him. But just like Danny, the god couldn't see anything in Theo. He was keeping his feelings under close lock and key.

"So," Theo said slowly as he glanced over to Ra beside him, "Why bring me to the council? You could have killed me out there at the oasis easily, and no one would have known."

Ra leaned down so his face was in Theo's. The demigod didn't back off, but instead smirked slyly back as he waited for his answer. "I have a lot planned for young foolish demigods like you," he said.

"What about me?" Danny asked dryly.

"You could pass as a tourist," Theo said, grinning when seeing Ra frown in annoyance. "You ask enough questions."

"Who are you?" Ra asked as he stepped over to Danny.

Danny shrugged nonchalantly even with his heart rate sky rocketing from having Ra's full attention on him. The god loomed over him, dominating the situation with only his height. "Just a friend of Theo's," he said with a nervous grin.

"Really?" Ra said, uninterested. He put his hands on his hips and asked, "What are you; human, demigod, god perhaps?"

"Human," Danny lied quickly. For some reason his gut told him that keeping his demigod status a secret would be better on his health. The quick nod from Theo told Danny his choice of words was smart. To back himself up, Danny added, "I mean, you really think that any of those demigods would befriend a crazy banished half sphinx? He has a tail! That's enough to make anyone run."

"Thanks," Theo muttered.

"No problem," Danny said, grinning, but not because of his 'non-intended' insults, but because Ra seemed to have bought the hastily put together lie. But the god wasn't finished with his interrogation of the ghost kid.

"Then why were both of you in Arabia giving Apollo's harp back to him, if I may be so blunt?" Ra asked with narrowed eyes. He knew Theo well enough to expect some kind of trickery going on at the moment. He looked back and forth between the two, trusting none of them.

"You see, we were just playing around one day, and I came up with the not-so-brilliant plan of stealing the god's symbol," Theo said, easily fabricating the tale.

"I didn't want to steal it," Danny butted in. He knew that the only way for Ra to believe the stupid lie was for both of them to feed off each other. "But Theo said it was just for fun and Apollo would understand. I guess we should have stolen Dionysus's symbol instead. He's more forgiving in that area."

Theo was amazed by Danny's capacity to lie. He had always thought that superheroes like him had morals about lying, but he guessed Danny didn't go by them. He was sure to call Danny on it later, though, to get him back for those ugly friend comments he had just made.

"Yeah," Theo quickly said to continue the story. "It turned out that Apollo was seriously angry once he realized his symbol was gone. It wasn't a pretty sight."

"Told you so," Danny muttered.

Theo shot Danny a glare before saying, "So to avoid getting punished or something bad, we returned the harp to Apollo. We didn't want to show ourselves. That was why you caught us hiding behind those bushes."

"It was going smoothly until a certain psychotic Egyptian sun god decided to play the revenge game and knocked us out," Danny pointed out rather boldly. Theo gave a sharp, entertained laugh when hearing this. Ra only stared down at Danny with his black eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

Striking without warning, Ra wrapped a strong hand around Danny's throat. He dragged the kicking and screaming ghost boy to the railing next to the helpless Theo. His face stone cold, Ra rammed Danny's head into the Nile River. Through the murky waters, Danny could make out the face of his captor and Theo hovering at his side looking greatly distressed.

"Let him go!" Theo shouted at Ra. "You can't just drown him! Let him go!"

He rushed in to help his friend, but Ra grabbed onto one of Theo's cat ears and a few locks of his brown hair. Pulling the demigod so they were eye to eye, Ra gave him a deadly look that shut Theo up right away. This was entirely out of Theo's hands.

Danny never realized how sweet and precious air could be until that day. All the struggling in the world couldn't get him out of Ra's hold on him. After a few long, strenuous seconds, Danny's lungs were praying for that one gasp of air. He would have gone ghost by now, but his mind was too plagued by panic and terror. He was going to die!

Then suddenly he was pulled up slightly so he could get that breath. Gasping loudly and choking like he was going to hack up a lung, Danny greedily took in the air as if he had been deprived of it for years. He looked upward, staring silently at the expressionless face of Ra through his wet black hair that stuck to his skin. There was a moment when Danny didn't know if he was going to return to those terrible waters or be free. His fate was in this god's hands. The feeling was terrifying.

"You need to learn your place, human," Ra said icily at Danny, spitting the 'human' part out like it was a disgusting thing to even mention. "If I hear a comment like that from you ever again, I will be swift to kill you on the spot. Understand?"

"Yes," Danny managed to choke out.

Ra easily lifted Danny back over the railing and flung him right into Theo who was standing worryingly behind the god. The two slammed harshly into each other and landed roughly on their backs on the deck with winces of pain. Theo got to his knees with Danny, noticing the teen's hands shaking slightly.

"You're okay, kid," Theo whispered to Danny reassuringly. Danny said nothing at first, still reeling from his last scare. "You're okay," Theo repeated, "Right?" Danny then nodded silently, not trusting his voice at the moment. "Good," Theo said with his own nod. Things were going to Hades in a hand basket, but Theo wasn't going to ever show it. He somehow was going to have to keep it together, not just for himself, but for Danny.

Moments later, the ship came to port. Human Egyptian soldiers boarded the ship as it was being tied down to a dock. Danny and Theo were jerked to their feet and pushed onto the dock by these men. They wore the same towel around their waists, but also had on other light armor and a sword at their side, them being soldiers and all. The men said nothing to the demigods and avoided all eye contact. It was clear they were nervous under Ra's harsh stare.

Soon the boys were walking down the streets of Giza. With Ra in the lead, the people in front of him parted as if they were the Red Sea itself with the god ironically playing as Moses. The crowd quickly saw that Theo was half sphinx. A low murmur went up from them as Theo and Danny went by. Danny took it all in with wonder. The place was just so big and incredible that it was hard not to stare at everything they passed.

Theo only gritted his teeth together and stared straight ahead. He had thought that he would never see this city or Egypt ever again. He had blocked the marvels of Giza out of his head for so many years. Any memory he had of the place, either happy or sad, had been repressed. Seeing it all over again was digging up old wounds. It all came down to one thing that he didn't want admit to himself.

He missed Egypt.

They were taken straight to the pharaoh's temple. The boys gave each other looks before they were forced to climb the stairs of the great stone carved palace. After the Acropolis, they had firmly decided that stairs were evil.

The temple was open with large pillars lined perfectly on the edges to hold up the ceiling. The place was one long strip leading to the throne where the pharaoh sat with his advisors and a god or two that were feeling bored that day. Servants rushed all over the place, carrying food and water for the important people there. Seeing the food made the boys' stomachs grumble. They hadn't had a meal in at least 24 hours. They weren't near to starving, but their bellies felt hollow by now. And being under the desert heat wasn't helping much with their thirst problem.

The boys were brought all the way to the throne. The whole time all eyes were on them. The feeling of all those stares made Danny shift in his binds uncomfortably and made Theo clench and unclench his jaw. It was enough to drive both demigods nuts.

Once they were closer to the throne, Danny got a good look of the pharaoh. The king of all Egypt was only a young teen, no more than 14 years old! This didn't sit well with Danny. The poor guy was way too young make good decisions on his own and would be prone to sway to suggestions. It wasn't going to be the pharaoh who was going to declare their fate. It was sure to be the person with the most persuasion skills. And Ra had a way of influencing people.

They stopped and were forced to their knees a few yards in front of the throne. The soldiers then blended into the small crowd that had formed around the two captured teens. There was no doubt that they would return to view if any of the two boys did something risky.

"I would like to present to all of you," Ra announced to the crowd charmingly, "Theo, the banished demigod." As he said this, he grabbed a fist full of Theo's hair and practically dragged him to the foot of the throne.

The young pharaoh leaned forward in interest. He had never had someone who had been banished brought to him. New things always made him nervous and excited. He looked right into Theo's face to try and understand the mood. Theo's stare was hard and cold, almost scaring the poor pharaoh. Apparently the situation wasn't a happy one.

"Um…who is the other boy there?" the pharaoh asked quietly as he pointed over to Danny behind Ra.

Without even looking back, Ra answered, "That is Theo's Greek human friend who was with Theo when I found him. He is unimportant."

Does he even know my name? Danny thought to himself as he glared daggers at the god. How dare he say that Danny Phantom wasn't important! Boy, did he want to go ghost at the moment. But he had to save that trick for the future. He couldn't let some pride anger issue get in the way of a good escape tactic.

The pharaoh nodded in understanding, noting the heated expression on Danny's face. He didn't like this anymore. He didn't like it when the situation before him dealt with death or harmful outcomes. He was only a kid. It was hard for him to sentence someone to their demise. But it was his duty, and he was going to have to do it no matter how wrong it felt.

"What is the usual punishment for this offense?" the pharaoh asked Ra.

"Death," Ra answered with a small pause for suspense. Danny noticed the crowd's reaction of shock. He also caught the frown of disappointment on the pharaoh's face. "But I propose another course of action for his punishment," Ra added just as the pharaoh's advisors started to whisper into the boy's ears.

Glad to avoid a death on his hands, the pharaoh waved off his advisors. He tried to suppress his smile of relief before asking politely, "What would that be?"

Ra glanced down to Theo who he was still holding onto. He saw the fear in the teen's eyes now, which made him smile slightly. "I propose to keep the banished demigod alive," Ra said smoothly. "I say he works for his life. I think in a few years of him under my service he'll have a new perspective on things. I haven't had a personal slave for a few centuries now. I believe Theo will do perfectly."

A/N: I also want to apologize for not posting the picture's link on my bio. I had posted it on DA, but then I totally forgot to put the link on fan fic. Things in my head are just crazy at the moment. More is to come! Please review!