Chapter Eleven — SADIE
The music in the elevator was rather awful, old-fashioned and off-key, which I found odd, since I would have thought the entrance to the home of the Greek gods would have been more trumpets blaring and angels singing instead of "I'm Henry VIII, I am." But as soon as the elevator doors opened and I stepped out onto a long winding road made of marble, and gazed at the scenery before me, the elevator music left my mind completely.
On either side of the road there were fields of green dotted with golden temples and mansions, shining in the bright sunlight. I wondered if Lord Ra ever came here, or if the Greek sun god took care of things here; probably the latter. White clouds shaped like hearts, doves, foxes, ovals, and other things drifted by lazily, and occasionally a person (god? creature?) sped by on little wings, laughing in delight. I also caught sight of a couple half man, half goat creatures – satyrs – chasing after girls whose skin was either green or blue, or looked like tree bark.
"Wow," I heard Zia gasp, a note of wonder in her voice. Carter took a step closer and roamed his eyes over everything, drinking it in as I was. I turned with a smile to look at Walt, but I noticed he was still on the elevator, the only one, looking like he was in pain. Cocking my head, concerned, I walked over to him.
"Walt? What's wrong?" I asked. He shook his head roughly, and bit his lip. A lightbulb flashed on in my head. "Anubis?"
A small nod. Then, the death god's distressed voice came from Walt's mouth in a painful hiss, "I am not supposed to be here. My energy does not – mix with...what is here." He gasped, and clutched his side. A shudder passed through his body, and then he collapsed. Startled, I reached out to him, panicked and not knowing what to do.
"Anubis!" I shrieked. The others noticed and came over to me. I looked up at Annabeth, who was staring at my husband with wide eyes.
"Do something!" I yelled at her as Anubis let out another gasp and then moaned. "Get your mom to do something! I don't care what, just make it happen soon!"
"I –" the demigod started, obviously unsure of how to respond. I looked down at Anubis; Carter had his hand on my husband's forehead, which was wet with sweat. Zia was muttering some words – a healing spell – but he didn't need Egyptian magic right now; he needed Greek permission.
"Here, wait, let me try this," Percy said, kneeling down besides Anubis. He took his hand as I locked hawk eyes on him, and said in a gentle voice, "I, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, formerly invite you, Anubis, Egyptian god of death, to Olympus, home of the Greek gods." There was silence after his words for a moment, and then a BOOM! rumbled across the sky, and Anubis shot upright with a gasp, clutching at his chest.
"Anubis?" I asked tentatively, placing a hand on his back. He looked at me blankly for a moment, then shook his head. Finally he offered a small smile.
"I'm fine, Sadie," he told me. He got to his feet slowly but steadily, and, moving out of the elevator, took Percy's hand.
"I thank you very much, son of the sea," he said. Percy nodded. Then Anubis shook his head again, and when he turned to face me, Walt was back. He smiled at me.
"Are you okay?" I demanded, hoping that whatever had hurt Anubis hadn't had the same effect on Walt. He nodded.
"Yes," he answered. "Yes, I'm alright." He turned to Percy and Annabeth. "What do we do now?"
Annabeth, still eyeing him worriedly, said, "Well, we'll wait for the others to come up, and then we'll meet the gods. Okay?"
"Sounds fine to me," Carter said, also looking concerned when he glanced at Walt. "Not as if we haven't experienced weirder things before, right?"
"Right," I said, looking ahead at the rolling hills and colorful wildflowers, and suddenly feeling nervous and afraid instead of enchanted. "Hopefully, this'll be a good weird instead of a bad one."
"You'll be fine," Jason assured. Taking Walt's hand and moving closer to Carter and Zia, I prayed to all my gods that he was right.
...
Okay, so it wasn't so bad. I'll admit I might have pulled a Carter and overreacted. When the rest of our merry group came up on the elevator, we walked along the marble pathway, passing fountains and restaurants and numerous statues of the gods (Annabeth, who had apparently designed all this beauty, had rolled her eyes and told me the abundance of godly depictions had really actually been in her contract). Finally, we reached a giant golden gate, exactly how I used to imagine the entrance to Heaven would be like, which opened by itself upon three knocks from Annabeth. She marched on in, followed by her husband, Clarisse, Chris, and Nico, and eventually Walt, Carter, Zia, and I followed as well, with the rest of our companions bringing up the rear.
Arranged in a U-shaped formation were thirteen giant thrones, each occupied by an equally giant being. Across from the thirteenth throne, or, rather, the seventh on the right side, was a fire place, next to which sat a young girl in a green cloak. What looked like balcony seatings at a play ringed the walls of the room, where a few other humanoid creatures – other gods, I presumed – sat: one woman with platinum blond hair sat next to an orange-haired man, both of them looking lovingly into the other's eyes; another woman sat on the other side, dressed in a simple white gown and twirling a baby's binki around her finger while looking bored; and one brown-haired man was sleeping, his head resting on the shoulder of a white-haired man beside him, who also looked bored but not too annoyed at being used as a pillow.
The main thrones contained seven males and six females, males on the right and females on the left. The male in the exact middle, who had bits of gray in his beard and sharp blue eyes, was the one all the demigods approached first and to whom they offered their respects, dropping to one knee in front of him until he dismissed them with a gruff-sounding, "Get up." I glanced at Carter, and my question was clear: did we give deference to these Greeks as their children did? They were gods, yes, but not ours, and Anubis was just as much a god as them. Also, Carter was Pharaoh, something of a living god himself, since Horus had been hosted by him, and thinking that way, each one of us either was or had been a host, so almost gods ourselves.
Finally Carter offered a sort of mix between full respect and maintaining our own independent status by bowing at the waist and dipping his head a bit; the rest of us Egyptians copied him. We rose from our half-bows to see some of the Greek gods whispering to each other; a man dressed in black leather and sunglasses was muttering angrily to the blond, jean-wearing male beside him, while the brown-haired woman with regal posture and hard features sitting next to the gray bearded one glared at us. No one turned us into piles of goo or caused us to burst into flames, though, so I guess they approved, somewhat.
Finally the gray-bearded one spoke. "So," he drawled, his voice like thunder, "Egyptians, under my very roof." His blue eyes – eyes like Jason's, I realized suddenly – narrowed. "I never thought I would see the day."
"Nor did I," Anubis answered, an edge to his voice. Carter and I glared at him, but he was staring at Gray Beard. "Do you really think us such a threat you would douse your home in such protective warding spells?"
"I do not fear you!" Gray Beard roared. "You are lucky to be able to remain here, you dog; it is only at the request of my daughter that we hear you out that I do not burn your miserable hides to crisps where you stand."
"You would speak to me in such a manner, you ungrateful little –"
"Anubis!" I snapped, reaching out and pinching him hard. He flinched, then looked at me guiltily before shuffling back behind me. He gestured towards Carter. Carter looked less than pleased at having to deal with a hostile god now even angrier because of Anubis' interjections, but put on a good face as he looked at Gray Beard.
"My lord," he said politely. "I do apologize for my brother-in-law; from what he's told us, you and our own gods haven't...had the best relationship in years past."
"You can say that again," the blond Jean Wearer said, stretching in his seat. The man on his other side, who held a stick with two entwined snakes, rolled his eyes, while the woman – actually a girl of no more than twelve – across from him growled at Jean Wearer.
"Be quiet, Apollo," she hissed. "Now is not the time!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, sis," Jean Wearer – Apollo – replied. His sister looked furious at that.
"How many times have I told you, you stupid boy –"
"Artemis! Do not start now!" The regal woman snapped. Artemis said something under her breath, which caused the woman next to her – a woman with blond hair, flawless skin, and kaleidoscope eyes – to giggle into her hand. The regal woman developed a tic on her eyebrow.
"What did you say?" she demanded. The woman closest to her, dressed in yellow with brown hair and hands smudged with dirt, and who had been glaring at the god in the thirteenth throne, told the regal woman,
"Well, she was probably saying you need more cereal in your diet. It helps with constipation." Regal Woman's tic became more evident and her face flushed. The beautiful woman who had first giggled laughed out loud now.
"Well, hmm, not quite, Demeter," she told the brown-haired woman.
"ENOUGH!" Gray Beard ordered, a clap of thunder punctuating his command. "I will not have you women bickering all throughout this meeting! It is unseemly! If none of you can behave, you will be banished from this room for the duration of their visit!" The woman who had talked about cereal glared at him.
"You will do no such thing to me," she declared, raising her chin in defiance. Gray Beard groaned, and the man who sat exactly next to him, also bearded but with sea-green eyes and a trident in hand and who had shared occasional winks with Percy, chuckled. The man in leather and sunglasses cracked his knuckles, then shifted himself in his throne.
"I don't see why these Egyptian punks coming into our home has to be the reason for not fighting," he complained. Then he seemed to brighten. "Oh, the awesome battles we used to have with you guys! Delicious! We need that back!" Then he thrust a finger in my brother's direction. "You, kid! You almost smell like one of mine! How come you've got the stench of a war god all over you? It's faded, but it's there."
"Yes, yes, introductions!" Another woman said, sounding exasperated, and I noticed Annabeth wincing in sympathy. She had pretty gray eyes. "Let them introduce themselves, and then we'll tell them who we are." There was some rumbling amongst the gods, but finally Gray Beard nodded and gestured for Carter to go. My brother stood up straight and looked all the gods in the eye as best he could.
"My name is Carter Kane," he said at last. "Son of Julius and Ruby Faust Kane, and through them, a descendent of the Pharaohs Narmer and Rameses the Great. I was once the host for Horus, the Egyptian god of war and kingship, and currently I serve as Pharaoh for the House of Life." I noticed our demigod friends looked a bit surprised at the last part, which we had neglected to tell them earlier. But I guess Carter couldn't really leave anything out when talking with these gods.
It was my turn now. "I am Sadie Kane," I announced. "Carter's sister, Ruby and Julius' daughter, and also a descendent of Narmer and Rameses. Years ago I hosted Isis, the Egyptian goddess of magic and motherhood, and that served me well when we battled the chaos snake, Apophis. Nowadays, my husband, sister-in-law, and I are helper and advisors to my brother when dealing with the House of Life." I hoped my mentioning the snake's name wouldn't reawaken him, but nobody else seemed too worried, so I guess it was alright.
Walt and Zia went next, describing their lineage and respective fields of power. Anubis refused to speak, but the Greeks didn't seem too concerned about it, probably knowing who he was anyway. After Zia was finished, the gods introduced themselves, starting with Gray Beard.
"I am Zeus, god of the sky, lord of rain, lightning, storms, and thunder, and king of the gods. This is my wife, Hera." Regal Woman looked at us disdainfully.
"I am queen of Olympus," she said, a small note of haughtiness in her voice. "I preside over marriage, women, families, and children."
"Poseidon, here," the green-eyes god told us nonchalantly. "God of the sea, lord of horses, the Earthshaker, and Percy's father." He waved his trident at his son, who ducked his head, looking a little embarrassed.
And so on and so on. The leather-andsunglasses-wearing god was Clarisse's father Ares, god of war and anger, which I could definitely believe; the woman with the kaleidoscope eyes was Piper's mother and the gray-eyed goddess was Annabeth's. A few of the balcony gods also offered up their names, such as Hebe and Morpheus. When they were all done, there was a small lull in the conversation, and that's when Nico stepped forward, bowing first to his father Hades and then to Lord Zeus.
"My lord, if I might speak?" he asked. "It pertains to the Egyptian's presence here, though I assure you it is not their fault." Zeus looked at his nephew warily, and Walt and I and then Carter and I exchanged looks. What did Nico want to say? And what did it have to do with us?
"Very well, son of Hades," Zeus said eventually. "Say your piece." Nico hesitated for a moment, then looked at his father. Hades raised an eyebrow.
"Father – my lords and ladies – I believe that we may be meeting another Egyptian soon, one not as friendly as the ones you see before you; this one means us harm. And he has teamed up with an enemy from among our own kind."
"You mean I have a traitor in my palace again?" Zeus growled, small sparks of lightning shooting from his person.
"Not in yours," Nico said. "In my father's. Melinoe –" My ears perked up at that as Hades glared at his son.
"You know better than to speak that name lightly," the god snapped, interrupting. Nico stared back and swallowed, but continued,
"And I do not say it lightly now. Melinoe is stirring, and she has teamed up with an Egyptian to accomplish her plans. She fought against us in the Second Titan War, didn't she? Obviously she was not satisfied with how things went down. She seeks revenge."
"And who is this Egyptian she works with?" Athena asked. She glanced at the four of us. "You are sure these ones are not in league with them?"
"Mother!" Annabeth protested as Nico nodded.
"I'm sure," he said, and his conviction touched me. They had known us less than a week – three, four days at most – and already they had such faith in us. "But I think they know more about the Egyptian threat then I do. I just know his name is –"
"Setne," Zia supplied looking over at all the assembled gods. "Also known as Khaemweset. He is a ruthless, moral-less, conniving schemer who wishes to become a god. And if even you have evidence he is stirring, then we must as well, and complete this peace talks, and then turn our minds to war."
A.N – I'm not entirely sure how I feel about how I ended this chapter, but I think I got most of the relevant stuff in, so all should be well. Let me guys know what you think.