Annabeth


Carter, Percy and I made our way back to Camp Half-Blood using another portal on the Kane's roof. We simply popped from their rooftop to the living room in the Big House. Chiron was off to the side in his wheelchair. I looked at him.

"How?"

He smiled and pointed to the small statue of on the mantle. I stood up and looked closely at it. It was a small statue of a seated Isis , with Horus on her lap. Carter's words echoed back. Egyptian items create portals. Percy and Carter shuffled to their feet behind me.

Reyna entered the room from Chiron's office and looked down on us, unsurprised by our sudden appearance. We took our seats on the couch while Reyna proceeded to pace in front of us.

"What's this about the Romans taking Ptolemy's crown? She demanded.

I held up my hands. "We did not mean to accuse you. We simply wanted to know if the Romans knew anything about its disappearance. Objects of power or value are usually taken by the attacking force. The Greeks didn't take it. The Persians did not take it because Cleopatra had it when she died. It would make sense for the Romans to make a show of power by taking it, especially if they knew it granted its wearer power from the gods."

She frowned. "I did not know this."

Carter cleared his throat. " The pharaoh wore two crowns that were mended together. One for upper Egypt, one for lower Egypt. While the pharaoh was being crowned, the spirit of an Egyptian god, usually Horus, would go into his body and their souls would melt into each other I guess. Two souls existed into one body. The pharaoh was worshiped as a living god because he was a living god. The crown was how the god got in, so to speak. When the Greeks invaded, it was passed down to their line of Greek kings."

"Greek Pharaohs?" Reyna asked.

"No. You have to be Egyptian to be a pharaoh. The Egyptian gods won't accept anyone from another bloodline. Especially not from another mythology, like Cleopatra." Carter explained.

"What about Cleopatra?

"Cleopatra was the last one to have the pharaoh's crown. She thought she was from a pharaoh's bloodline and tried to invite Isis into her body. It didn't work. Cleopatra was indeed a godling but she was Greek. Pure Greek. Her father was Greek and her mother was a Greek goddess, Aphrodite, I think. Isis rejected her and she committed suicide. The Romans were the ones that buried her and took over Egypt. They were the last to see the crown." He looked at Reyna.

She paced and turned back towards Carter, looking at him for a long time before speaking. "We did not steal it. We buried it with her and Antony."

"But where did you bury her?" He pressed.

"Why do you need to know?" She countered.

He scoffed. "An evil guy named Setne, came back to life. He raised the god Serapis who intends on destroying both Greek and Egyptian mythology. You may be Roman, but I do know that Roman mythology is a collection of mythologies. Greek, Persian, Egyptian. Your most powerful gods will vanish if their original aspects die off. You'll be without a mythology too. Gods can be annoying but sometimes they're needed. Are you willing to risk that?"

(") Well, I'm impressed.(")

Reyna glared at all of us before answering. "She was buried in a temple near her palace on the east coast of Alexandria."

Carter nodded. "I know that temple. Taposiris Magna, Temple of Isis and Osiris."


If only the temple had been as impressive as its name. For the most, its outside was a crumbling wall surrounding a square of flat land. The real tomb was buried beneath the earth. A small set of stairs down to the empty room with the offering bowls. A crumbled statue in the corner seemed to be mostly dust except for its head lying off to the side. I picked it up and examined it. Looked like the traditional white marble of Greek statues, but the facial features were odd. More plain looking than expected. Long face with a equally long nose, pointing down. Small forehead with full lips and large eyes. She didn't look like Aphrodite but she did look familiar. Wavy hair, with flakes of mahogany paint still attached, was combed back in a traditional Greek style but the clothing was Egyptian. Cleopatra.

I set the head back down on the ground and looked around.

Percy and I headed down the right tunnel while the Kanes took the left. Our feet kicked up the dust that had been settled for thousands of years. The only noise was the crunching of scarab shells beneath the dusty floor. Instinctively I grabbed Percys' hand as we reached the darkest part of the tunnel.

"No light." Percy grumbled. An idea clicked into my head. "Percy, give me your shirt."

Without asking, he took his shirt off and handed it to me. I searched the floor for any suitable twigs or sticks. Sadly, Egypt did not have many trees so nothing was there to use. I fished a box of matches from my pocket and set Percys' shirt on fire.

"Always have a plan." Percy said.

"Always."


The burning shirt gave enough light to see a few feet down the tunnel. Coast was clear, so far so good. We ran through the tunnel. A moment of nostalgia past through me and I was reminded of our trip through the mansion of Nyx. Running fast through tunnels of darkness. I was so wrapped up in my memories, I failed to notice my surroundings. Rule one of being a demigod: Be aware of your surroundings at all times. The crunching of scarab beetles became the crunching on the tomb floor. Percy had slowed his running to a walk, and pulled me backwards as a chunk of tomb floor fell through in front of us. He firmly wrapped his arm around my waist. He kept us still for a moment.

"The last floor…" I mumbled.

"I know." He nodded grimly. "This isn't our world though, it may not lead to the pit".

"No chances."

"Agreed."

"I'll go first." He announced and jumped over the hole in the floor. He backed up a few feet and held his arms out as if to catch me.

"Your turn, wisegirl."

I jumped across the gap, my heart flying to my throat. Percy grabbed me and pulled me to him. "No pit this time." He smiled.

"Right." I breathed.

We took over down the tunnel as fast as we could. The tunnel floor cracking and splitting behind us. "Faster, Percy!"


We made it into the main room and collided with Carter and Sadie. "Ow." Carter mumbled and rubbed his forehead.

"Sorry." I muttered.

"Why are you naked?" Sadie asked Percy, trying not to laugh.

Carter elbowed her. "What's with the torch?"

"Needed some light, the floor started to crumble in our tunnel."

Sadie nodded, obviously trying to avoid looking at Percy. "Happened in our tunnel too."

I lifted the burning shirt up further to see the rest of the room. Cinders fell down and started to burn the hairs on my arm. "Ah!" I yelled and was forced to drop Percys' shirt. It extinguished itself on the dirty floor.

"You ok?" Percy asked.

"Fine." I replied and examined my hand in the dark.

"Looks like we'll be doing this the old fashioned way." Carter announced. A glimmer of light came from above, and suddenly I could see a small patch of the wall art to my left. Carter was catching the sunlight with a small, square mirror. The mirror reflected the light to the wall as if he were holding a flashlight. He walked over to the north and pulled up on a pedestal. The pedestal was a larger mirror and it instantly grabbed the light from the small opening above. The mirror reflected its caught light with the other mirrors placed around the room. Carter put away his small mirror and smiled. "Dad showed me that trick our first dig in Aswan."

He smiled like it was a happy thing to remember and then smile melted away as if he remembered something bitter. Sadie looked as distressed but then she cleared her throat, and nodded to the sarcophagi in the front of the room. If the tomb was a theater, the sarcophagi were the stage. All around us were beautiful marble statues of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Not crumbled ruins like the statue above, but statues still holding together, covered with paint. The walls were painted beautifully, showing the Egyptian afterlife. There were pillars round the room, opening the room by both tunnels and then leading up the sarcophagi. Sphinxes stood guard to the stairs leading up to the burial site. Beautiful combination of Egyptian belief, Greek art and Roman architecture. The best of the best.

(")This is what the world should have been. A mix of the ancient cultures, blending into one.(")


Carter glanced at Sadie before marching over to the two sarcophagi. He took a deep breath and opened it. There lay the body of woman. It may have been mummified at one point because it had been well bones still had skin on them, dried from natron most likely. Unlike most mummies, this one was dressed in more than linen. She was wearing a dress of white, wrapped in a golden toga. Her headdress was Egyptian, but not a pharaoh's crown. Carter frowned, clearly upset. Sadie put her hand on her brother's shoulder in support. Carter lowered the lid back on the marble sarcophagus and walked away from the shrine in defeat.

Sadie chewed her lip for a moment and cocked her head to the side as if she was listening to some sound we all could not hear. Her expression blanched and she turned towards the second sarcophagus. Marc Antony's sarcophagus was also made of Grecian white marble but decorated him in the Roman tradition of a toga and laurel crown. Sadie met my eyes in a silent plea for help. I handed my pack to Percy and joined her with lifting the lid.

Marc Antony's body did not survive as well as Cleopatra's' had. His body was reduced to preserved bone only. The white tunic was stained with blood from his own sword which lay at his side. His arms were crossed like a pharaoh though he was not wrapped in linen. Apart from the resin on his bones, he seemed to have been dumped in this sarcophagus just after death. They did not even attempt to prepare his body for mummification. Perhaps a shortage of time or his own people did not deem him worthy of the expense. Sad. His skull wore a laurel crown like a Roman leader but above that was a red slab like for holding a candle on the wall. Attached to it was a white bowling pin like object. The double crown of a pharaoh.


I looked at Sadie and glanced at her brother sulking by a pillar.

"Carter… …Carter, it's here. We found it!" She yelled excitedly.

"That you did, doll." A voice boomed across the room. A wave of heat poured into the underground. Our skin felt brittle like it had been baked for centuries. Sand rolled across the floor like oceans waves, pooling together to form a person.

(")Gaea.(") I immediately thought and grabbed my dagger.

Carter growled. "Setne. Show yourself!"

The pooling sand formed a scrawny looking man. Leo was scrawny. Nico looked like a picture of starvation, but this guy was all bones and no meat. He was a skeleton with a layer of skin. His hair was a thick mop of black, combed back and gelled like Elvis. To make matters worse, he was wearing what looked like a suit made of snakeskin, tailored to look like a bare-chested Egyptian with a pharaoh's kilt. He looked goofy except for his eyes that looked beady and dangerous.

Setne spread his arms like he wanted a hug and shouted. "Carter, ole pal! How ya been, buddy?!"

Carter ground his teeth and Sadie backed away, closer to all of us. "You are no friend of mine, Setne. You've tried to kill me many times."

Setne shrugged. "Yeah, but you lived. I know what you can handle, if I really wanted you dead then you'd be dead. Fortunately, you have something that I want."

Carter backed towards the sarcophagus. "You cannot have the crown. It doesn't belong to you."

"Technically, it does. I am my father's heir but it does not go with my new taste in clothes."

"Nothing goes with your clothes." Sadie and I both said simultaneously .

He turned to us and sneered. "No need to insult, dolls."


We smirked it off but then he began to ponder both Percy and I.

"You have interesting taste in slaves, Carter. I would have chosen better workers. Nubians, perhaps but Greeks? No, even the Persians were far better than Greeks. Now, the Hebrews; Those people knew how to work for a pharaoh."

"They are friends, not slaves." He grumbled as Percy walked up behind me to conceal clicking Riptide.

Setne clicked his tongue. "Tsk Tsk, Carter. Boy, I've told you before you trust way too easily, but to work with Greeks. After all they have done to us. This is no place for their kind."

"Excuse me, but what exactly have we done to you? Percy demanded.

Setne's eyes took on a dangerous hue to them. "Your kind betrayed us. We traded with them once, befriended them and trusted them. Even our gods became friends with yours. When the Nubians, Assyrians and Persians took Egypt, Greece was nowhere to be found. They offered us no aid. They didn't drive the Persians out until many years later and then, they didn't return Egypt to its rightful owners. No, they kept it like it belonged to them. Well, it didn't! They moved right on in like it was their own house. They protected our culture and beliefs but they shoved their own into Egypt as well. Then they started changing things. The name of the country itself, the names of the cities and our gods. Ancient Egyptian is too hard to learn so they merged the languages and the gods. The Greeks complained of Roman rule but they were not much better themselves. They changed our world and then pretended to rule it. A Greek named himself pharaoh, which is heresy in itself. Lazy, apathetic rulers at best, a pathetic excuse of ruling if I've ever seen one. They brought down the dynasty by spending every cent we ever had, then the lazy good for nothings, and their harlot leader handed the empire over to the Romans."

I felt my face flush and I looked around the room. Carter and Sadie were still glaring at the badly dressed ghost but they looked less angry at him, and angrier at what he had to say. We were losing control of the situation.

I stepped forward. "I am sorry for what you have faced, but that was thousands of years ago. People have changed and moved on. Greek and Egyptian alike, we are not the same as we once were. Carter and Sadie have let go of the past, so have we... We are not your enemy, Setne. Stand down. Send Serapis away before he destroys your world and mine."

Setne sneered. "Brave words, girl, but you are no Cleopatra. Aphrodite's children alone carry the power of charmspeak. Cleopatra was the first to harness the power of words. Her only prospect of power was her constantly running mouth. "

Percy lunged from behind me and struck with his sword. Riptide went straight through the ghost, unharming him. Percy flailed to the floor, falling through the illusion of a body. Setne looked up, mildly annoyed. He locked eyes with Carter. "You will tell me the location of Osiris's tomb. One way or another, you will help me achieve what I want."

Carter locked his jaw and his form flickered blue. "No, I won't."

Setne looked over at Sadie, who was clenching her hands into fists, and winked at her. "Ready to go, doll?"

A brief look of confusion passed Sadie's face and she melted into sand. Carter yelled and Setne laughed. His form flickered and blew away like dust. "Your help or your sister's life. Think carefully, Carter." Setne's voice echoed before it too vanished like the wind.


Author's Note: Welcome to all new readers/favorites and followers. Glad you're here. Also, Thanks for the reviews on chapter 11.

Howtobook101: Thank You. No, you are not stupid. I had to look up when Egypt first began trade with Greece because I too did consider a relationship between the Greeks and the Egyptian Royals. Percy had to . Needed some angst in there and well, Egypt is hot. Amos knowing about the Greeks. Hmmm. I do have an answer for that but you will have to wait until next chapter to see.

Guest: That's not polite. I am aware that Percy uncaps his pen in the books. He also clicks it in the movies. I am a fan of both methods but I'm going with the movies on this one. Clicking makes more sense. Rick Riordan can do whatever he wishes with his books, they are his property but his story is my own. I'm incorporating things from both books and movies; whatever I like and think will work with the story.

So, to the PJ fans, The Blood Of Olympus comes out next week and I am excited beyond words and depressed beyond reasoning. How did the 5 years pass us by so quickly, and why am I so attached to fictional characters? I'm gonna miss Percy so much, I might need therapy. Anyone else going to randomly burst into tears when they see blue food , or use the word "Dam" in a sentence? Thank the stars for more Kane/PJ crossovers. I'm sure the *SPOILER* The Sword of Summer is going to be ok but I can't love that set of myths. I tried.

Anyways, next week is going to be done by Queen Hetepheres's POV. Should be a rather interesting chapter for you and a challenge for me.