Chapter 11

Carter's POV

I didn't dare open my eyes. I had just blacked out in front of a bunch of angry gods. I didn't think they would like it if I rose in perfect shape. Of course I wasn't in perfect shape. My face hurt a lot. But I didn't think that the gods would care. I heard Annabeth speaking. After a while I realized she was cursing… in greek. My dad had told me a little about greeks, but I didn't know how to speak their language. I decided it was safe to 'wake'. I rolled onto my back and sat. "Di Immortales!" Annabeth was saying. "What does that mean?" I asked curiously. The girl glared at me. But I had Sadie as a sister. I knew glares pretty good. I noticed we weren't surrounded by gods. "Where in the name of Ra are we?" I exclaimed in horror as I looked around. There were skeletons and rats all around us. It seemed that we were in some kind of cave. "Wonderful question, genius. Sadly, I don't have the answer. But I do know which horrid, evil, disrespectful goddess does. Hera! Why don't you show your sorry face?" Annabeth yelled. I grimaced. Wasn't Hera Zeus's wife? I bet she was powerful if she was. So I didn't like the idea of insulting her. A bright light illuminated the dark cave. "Daughter of Athena, you dare call me such names?" A calm voice asked. Annabeth growled. "What do you want?" She shrieked. "Well… I don't like egyptians. They are so full of themselves. If we loose dear Percy, it'll be fine. Now I get the chance to get rid of you and an egyptian. Two in one." The voice said. It was still calm, but I could hear hatred in the voice. For a second this Hera goddess reminded me of Isis. But Isis would never do this. "What do you plan on doing to us?" I shouted defiantly. I wasn't pharaoh for nothing. "I would use monsters, but they might turn on me. So… you'll just have to wait here while I decide. Goodbye." With that, the light disappeared. We were back in the dark. I got annoyed. "Really? At least when someone egyptian captures me, they know exactly what they want to do, and how they'll do it. I bet…" I stopped talking. There was no chance that the gods had ignored Percy. And if Sadie had been with him… "Gods of Egypt! Sadie's a goner. Or at least Percy is." I cursed. "What?" Annabeth cried out. "Do you really expect the gods to ignore Percy's… greekness? And my sister was with him." I hinted. "Di Immortales! Who knows which egyptian god went after them? From what I've heard there are a lot of egyptian gods." Annabeth groaned. "I think I might. But I'm not sure. A lot of gods hate us, but I'm pharaoh. They wouldn't dare…" I trailed off, thinking. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up! You're a pharaoh?" She asked. "Didn't I tell you I was Horus's host? It kind of goes on and off. Right now, I'm just Carter, but I'm still pharaoh. It's actually hard work. Magicians and gods don't get along well. It's my job to make sure they don't fight." I explained. "Well, I'm sorry, lord Kane. I guess I should be bowing right about now." Annabeth muttered. "What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned. "Hera was right in one thing. You egyptians are so full of yourselves. So you're a pharaoh. Oh, gods, you're life must be so hard! I mean you hosted a god. That must be exhausting!" She rolled her eyes. "It is! If you aren't careful, that god your hosting will either take full power of your body, or burn you to ashes. And I'm not pharaoh because I want to be! It's not like I had much of a choice!" I defended myself. "Well I suppose you haven't fought monsters since you were seven! I suppose you haven't watched your friends die or go near to it! Have you fought a titan army? Have you had to venture to the underworld numerous times? I didn't think so!" She yelled. I forced myself to keep calm. "Actually, I didn't have a real home for years. I traveled all around the world with my dad. I didn't know it, but we were always running away from magicians. I have watched as my friend's soul got sucked out. I fought Apophis along with a lot of demons and magicians. I've gone to the underworld, at least the egyptian one, plenty of times. My sister's boyfriend is the god of funerals, and our dad is Osiris, god of the underworld. Our mom is dead. I didn't just step up to the throne for no reason. It was that, or the end of the world. So I took the throne. I was meant to, whether I wanted to or not." I snarled. It's not often that I snarl. Annabeth looked surprised. Good for her. "Gods of Olympus, we're stupid. Don't you realize what she's doing? She's turning us against each other." She whispered.

Sadie's POV

After a few minutes of battle, we got a little bored and started conversation. "So… greeks don't use magic at all?" I asked after ducking a flying demon. "Not really. We mostly use weapons. I know, old fashioned. But it works. Of course against gods, it's a bit harder. Ares still hates me for that stab in his foot." Percy sighed like he was remembering good times. I think I was starting to like this bloke. "You stabbed a god in the foot? Is that all you managed? I mean how powerful are your gods?" I scoffed. "Ares is the god of war. And our gods are a bit bigger than yours from what I've seen. They look like giants." He laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. He looked up as if expecting the sky to suck him up. "Don't worry! You're gods can't reach you now! You can insult them all you like!" I encouraged him. Percy bit his lip. He was clearly tempted. "Dionysus hates people that aren't gods… on second thought he doesn't like gods much either. Zeus is paranoid. Aphrodite is not as pretty as she claims. Ares is a jerk. Hephaestus would feel more comfortable if robots replaced humans. Dad's pretty much the god I see less. I think Athena wants to kill me because I'm going out with Annabeth. Hermes is a bit touchy. Artemis hates boys. Apollo cannot rhyme. Hades… well Hades is the god of the underworld. He hates me, naturally. Oh! And Hera is a pain! She despises Annabeth. I think she might even be more paranoid than Zeus. And I'm dead for saying all of that." He finished off. Something he said got me miffed. "Excuse me? Not all gods of the dead are mean! My father happens to be god of the underworld! And my boyfriend is god of funerals and of the dead… kind of." I objected. Percy lifted his hands. "I stand corrected." He said, decapitating a demon. Suddenly, Percy began to sweat. He looked at me nervously. "What? What's wrong?" I questioned. "It's your brother. I know what happened to him." He confessed. I hate when people say that. It's like when they ask: can I ask you a question? Well they didn't give me much of a choice did they? "Spill the beans already!" I exclaimed. "You see… Mount Olympus is on the six hundredth floor of the Empire State. If Carter nearly died in front of it… then he must be having a chat with the gods right now." Percy said. I froze. A demon nearly ripped off my arm, but Percy killed it. I thought I was in danger. But I was facing Set. We knew Set. Carter was facing unknown gods. "Defend me a second." I ordered Percy. He scowled, but obeyed. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. I put my hand on my amulet. Walt! Help! Set has us! We're in a red pyramid. I don't know where. But don't summon me! I need Percy. Can you come? I thought fiercely. After a moment Walt's voice answered in my head. Count to ten. Then summon me over there. I'll be ready. He told me. "One." I whispered. "What?" Percy asked. I ignored him. "Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten!" I counted. I imagined Walt next to me. And after a moment, he was. Percy jumped. "Gods, that magic stuff just isn't for me…" He muttered. Walt and I laughed. But I avoided his gaze. I was still confused about him being Anubis. "Sadie, haven't we gotten past that?" He asked softly. "It's still confusing! How do you expect me to just 'get past' it? I mean your Walt, but your Anubis too! Do you have any idea how confusing that is? I need time! Just keep it down… both of you." I begged. "You've had months to think about this! I love you, Sadie." Walt whispered, leaning forward. "Um… sorry for the interruption. I'm sure you two are having loads of fun with your little drama, but could you please save my life?" Percy shouted, ruining the moment. "Wait!" I urged. Walt sighed. We turned to see two demons holding Percy, while a sword headed one prepared to stab him. His sword/pen was on the floor. "Hey! Knife-head!" I shouted. But instead of the sword headed one turning, a knife headed one charged at me. Woops. Walt took something from his pocket. I smiled. He muttered a word and Philip of Macedonia grew into a real-sized croc. He swallowed the knife headed demon first, then he swallowed the sword headed one. Gross, but effective. Philip continued to eat demons. Percy was soon free. "Finally! I thought you two were going to let me die." He panted. I didn't meet his eyes. "I have an idea. Do that spell where you soak me." He pleaded. I nodded. I pointed my wand at him. "Maw!" Several gallons of water fell onto Percy. He smiled. Then, he fought like he's been doing it all his life. I gaped at him as he twisted and turned. Stabbed and pushed. In no time, we were alone. He gave us a lop-sided grin. "That was refreshing." He said. "Why'd you call me? He could have done it all by himself!" Walt objected. I understood his point. Now he was trapped in here too. "I have an idea. I'm going to see if there are any holes or trap doors in this thing." Though my voice sounded confident, I could feel myself shuddering. "What?" Percy wondered. "Let's just say I don't like turning into kite. The bird! Not the toy!" I added. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Isis? A little bit of help? I thought. I could do it on my own but it was a lot harder. Plus, Isis was a bit hard to reach since I wasn't hosting her anymore. I warned you! Now you want my help? She scoffed. Yes. Now will you help me or not? I asked. I'll help you turn into a Kite, but there is no way I'll help you back to normal. If you stay as a Kite forever, then you'll deserve it. She said. No! Wait! I objected. But it was too late. I could feel myself shrinking. My stuff melted into plumage. I opened my eyes and Percy and Walt were very big. Walt was grinning. Percy was gaping. I pecked them both, and took off. My kite vision was great. I scanned the hollow pyramid carefully many times. The only thing I found was a tiny trap door at the very top of the pyramid. Even if I got it open, I couldn't leave Walt/Anubis and Percy. But I tried to open it anyways. To my surprise, I managed. But a loud beep echoed through the whole pyramid. "Sadie, good job! You've successfully activated a trap! You have one minute before it activates." Set's voice rang out. I soared down to the boys. I closed my eyes and tried to turn back, but I couldn't. I cawed in distress. "Sadie, calm down. You can do this." Walt comforted me. I pecked him again. I could not do this. And Isis knew it. I continued to caw desperately.