Percy

(")Ok, I admit it. I felt terrible. The stupid ghost baited me into a fight and insulted Annabeth. It was his plan all along to unhinge us and take Sadie for leverage. He played us like a fiddle. I looked at Carter, whom had sat down and had started to cry like a little kid. I wasn't his biggest fan nor did I have a little sister, but still, I knew what it was like to have someone you love be kidnapped. My fatal flow was personal loyalty. I had a feeling Carter's was too. Athena said I would sacrifice the world to save a friend. She's right, as usual. If Carter had to choose, he would not choose the world.(")

Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder and tried to talk to him. He paid no attention to her. I put away Riptide and looked around the tomb. Apart from the statues of Cleopatra and Marc Antony, the tomb was fairly empty. Smaller statues lined the walls next to each statue of the doomed couple. Their children, I assumed. I could barely remember their names. Caesarion I remembered because it sounded like Cesarean, a lovely word my mom taught me about. The twins weren't too hard to know: Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene. Alexander for Alexander the Great and Cleopatra junior. Helios and Selene were easy enough to remember from Apollo and Artemis. The fourth kid was the one pain in the rump name. Ptolemy Philadelphus. Heh. Sounds like Philadephia. Maybe Cleopatra had a food craving for some Philadelphia cream cheese and the nurse misunderstood her. It could happen.

Their statues were kinda hard to look at considering that Caesarion was murdered, and the other three were taken back to Rome as hostages. The two boys later vanished from history. (")*Coughs* executed *coughs*.(") Cleopatra Selene was the only one left to remain.

"I'm going to destroy his soul." Carter said as he stood.

"What ?" I asked.

"He wants leverage on me, so I'll find better leverage on him." Carter said and stormed out of the tomb.

I looked at Annabeth for an explanation. She smiled and took my hand. "The Egyptians believe they would use their bodies again for the next life. If Setne was to return to life, he'll need his body which, thanks to mummification is preserved. If Carter destroys Setne's body then the spell won't work and Setne is stuck a ghost forever, he'll never be immortal."

"That's… devious."

We walked back across the blissfully hot desert. Even as a child of Poseidon, I felt dried out and baked. People should not live in places like this. The heat, the lack of water. Not much of a way to survive.

"Thinking the ancient Egyptians were the poster people for skin cancer." I said.

"Or dehydration." Annabeth added.

Carter just walked on in silence, shifting between anger and sadness. He reminded me some of Nico. Obviously, he wasn't in the mood to talk. Poor kid.

We kept walking for what seemed like forever until we came to the city of Alexandria. I admit it didn't look like all that much to me. I'm a New Yorker, I'm used to big cities, tall buildings and horrible crowds but Annabeth was impressed.

"Egypt didn't have a sea port until the conquest of Alexander the Great. It's the second largest city in Egypt after Cairo. The ruins of Cleopatra's palace are in the bottom of the harbor from the earthquake. Largest city in the Mediterranean world. Its lighthouse on Pharos was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. All have crumbled away 'cept the Great Pyramid at Giza. "

(")Don't even get her started on the Library of Alexandria.(")

"Julius Caesar ordered an attack against Cleopatra's siblings when he first came to Alexandria. He set the ships in the harbor on fire in order to contain the Egyptian army. He should have known better than to use Greek fire so foolishly. Even the gods have trouble containing it, much less mortals. If he was thinking properly, he could have collapsed the gates and executed the king to stop the rebellion. All of those scrolls were lost in the flames. Just think if they had survived. All of the architecture written down, dictionaries to dead languages, charting the stars. All of it could have been saved if Caesar wasn't so reckless. According to legend, most works were done by the Egyptian god Thoth himself. He even noted how the pyramids were built. Only good thing about the library burning is that the recipe for Greek fire was lost too. Thank the gods for that."

Carter almost smiled at that as he rigged up another statue for us to use as a portal. In no time, we were flying through an array of swirling black sand that dumped us in the middle of the Cairo airport.

"All that to catch a plane?" I asked.

Carter shook his head. "We need back up to face Setne."

We followed Carter to the basement where he opened a part of the wall. "Great work, Merlin."

Carter frowned at me and kept going. (")Jeez. Sadie is defiantly the happier of the two.(")

He led us to a gap in the underground road, like there was a bridge missing. He faced us and sighed. "Each of us must pass through to the other side. "

I raised my hand. "There's no bridge."

He rolled his eyes. "There doesn't appear to be a bridge but there are several ways to get across it. This is a test of power."

"I hate tests." I grumbled.

Carter sighed again. "I can't help any of you across it; this is something you must learn to do yourselves."

"Gee, thanks."

Annabeth elbowed me and I stepped up to the gap. I thought of the ocean. The smell of the sea, the sound of the tide and I summoned water. A tugging sensation tickled my stomach and a wave of water rose from the gap. It carried me to the other side and deposited me n the other side of the bridge.

I held out my hand. "Annabeth?"

She took a deep breath and took a step. She closed her eyes, and just kept walking like there was a bridge there all along but it was invisible. She just kept walking towards me. A golden aura engulfed her , and I was reminded of my mother on Half-Blood Hill. The Minotaur used golden light to capture my mom's spirit and send her to Hades.

"Come on, Annabeth. You're doing great."

She gingerly reached for my hand, and when she had it, I pulled her to me. Annabeth opened her eyes and smiled at me. I leaned in and kissed her as Carter made his way across the chasm. He cleared his throat after a few minutes, and I remembered Annabeth needed to breathe. (")Oops.(")

Carter led us through a roughly small entrance. I was expecting a handful of people, not an army. There were people everywhere .The men had set up an old style market with tents. The women gossiped by an old well, and the kids ran all over the place like wild animals. Speaking of which, various people walked all sorts of animals around on leashes. Lions, leopards, and something that looked like a cross between a wolf and coyote. Oh yeah, and cats. They had tons of cats.

We followed Carter through the improvised marketplace and down another hallway. I was beginning to think that the Egyptians were fans of long, dark hallways when a light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

(")Before you ask; Yes, I meant that line literally. No, it was not a train.(")

Our dark corridor opened into… (")Wait for it… If you guessed "another long hallway?" then you win a cookie.(")

This new hallway was the longest one yet, spanning more distance than I could see. The walls of the hallway glowed with light and I could see images moving. Every so often the color of the light changed. Silver, Bronze, Gold and more. Annabeth reached for the lights but Carter yanked her hand back. "They're memories; Clips of history frozen in time... If you touch them, your soul will leave your body and enter the scene. Honestly, Sadie's told me that it's really cool to see the past in person but sadly, while you're there your body quickly dies."

"Ok. Don't touch the lights." I summarized.

"Or look at them for too long." Carter added.

"No touchy, no lookie. Got it."

I had to keep tugging at Annabeth's hand to keep her from staring too long. I knew it was hard for her. As much as she is like Athena, she's also like her dad. He is a history buff to the core and Annabeth inherited the love of history. Her dad nearly wet himself when he met Zoe Nightshade; a hunter of Artemis who had witnessed a battle first hand that Mr. Chase was researching. A chance to see history happen as it happens, well, few history buffs would pass that opportunity up.

Carter had us walking till we nearly walked our feet off. He explained that the hallway was to encompass the existence of Egypt. Every year, a new section grew, glowing with a different light to reflect the nature of that time. It gave me a headache to think Egypt was that old but more disturbing was how connected Egypt was to the rest of the world. I saw clips of Greece forming in various sections of time. It blew my mind that Egypt had a fully functioning empire by the time the Greeks left their caves. I saw clips of the Greek gods in Egypt, and I had turned to get Annabeth's attention. I noticed that Annabeth stopped walking down the hall, and was staring at a later section of the curtain. I grabbed her hand to get her attention until I realized what she was looking at.

It was her mother, Athena in Rome. Odd, considering that Athena is not a fan of Romans. In the image viewing thingy, Athena stood on Palatine Hill and overlooked the city. She frowned at the people and I knew well enough from experience to know that someone was about to pay. She produced a jar of green fire from her sleeve. I gulped. I've had too many run in with Greek fire. Sometimes, it saved me. Other times, it was worse than the monster. Greek fire doesn't just burn and go out. It burns through everything in seconds. Waterproof and wind resistant, it takes a god to stop that stuff.

Athena chucked the jar like she was throwing a spear. In a split second, it glided through the air and smashed on a Roman street. The flames took off like the wind, spewing in every direction. They engulfed Rome too quickly for a mortal to see. Houses, people, animals, plants, it destroyed everything. The green flames spread over the water, and continued north, south and west, burning down the Roman Empire. I looked East and saw some strange symbols hovering above it. A stick with a cross at the top, a circle and an arm with some twisted fingers. Hieroglyphs, I assumed. Next to me, Annabeth took a deep breath.

"Protect." She said.

"What?"

"Symbols in the East. Hieroglyphs for protect. I saw Sadie use it once. It's a spell to protect the east from the fire."

I frowned. "So, she's burning Rome but protecting Greece in the East."

"I don't think so. I've never known a Greek goddess to use Egyptian magic. That sounds like…" She stopped.

"Who?"

"Sounds like Isis but why would she..?"

Ag olden orb of light flicked next to Athena and an Arabic looking woman appeared from it. Her face was beautiful but serene, like she was elated but trying to hide it. She wore a beautiful white dress similar to that of the ancient Egyptians. Her hair was braided with diamonds and I instantly thought of the giant, Alcyoneus. Not a good memory there. She had wings, like bird wings but they were multi-colored like a rainbow. I wondered for a moment if Iris the rainbow goddess sold them to her at her store; Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyle. The woman glowed with power and I realized I was looking at an Egyptian goddess.

She casually walked over to where Athena was standing and looked smugly at the burning empire. The fire reflecting in her eyes gave her a sinister look and I fell backwards. Annabeth and I fell to the floor and looked up to see Carter staring at us worriedly. I guess we had been staring too long at the walls because my head throbbed like the time Blackjack kicked it.

"I told you, don't stare at the images. You're lucky you're not dead." Carter whined. I nodded and helped Annabeth up. "Sorry, man." He just shook his head and kept us going down the long hallway. Carter had us walking in front of him to keep us from looking at the images. Happily, it worked. The light at the end of the tunnel was the latest section of wall forming. A bright, glittery light poured from the dark nothingness, and turned a dark purple as it attached itself to the rest of the time tapestry.

I glanced back at Carter, remembering what Sadie had told Annabeth. "Chaos?"

Carter nodded. "The Egyptians believe in Ma'at and Isfet; Order and Chaos. We don't believe in good or evil. That is what Egypt stands for, order and reason out of ugly randomness. It's why we survived all these millennia. We choose to believe in Ma'at. These walls show this, Egypt's recorded history literally comes from chaos. I nodded and looked forward. There was an empty throne in the front, facing the hallway. I looked at Carter. "Your throne?"

He nodded. "Yes. When I'm here anyway. My uncle looks after Egypt while I run Brooklyn House. I don't feel comfortable enough yet to run all the Nomes. I'd like to graduate high school first before I rule the world." He laughed shakily and led us down a set of stairs behind the throne. Immediately, I heard voices around the corner and reached for my sword. Carter shook his head at me and walked into the leading room. A dark skinned man dressed in a suit was arguing with the girl I knew as Zia, Carter's girlfriend.

She saw Carter and stopped talking. Zia ran to him and hugged him. "There you are! We almost thought you guys weren't coming."

Carter tried to smile and hugged her back. "Yeah, we made it."

She looked at us and her smile faded. "Where is Sadie?"

Annabeth and I glanced at each other as Carter made a choking sound.

The older man looked troubled but thankfully, he seemed to understand the situation. "Come and sit down, it appears there is much for us to discuss."

After a few moments, there was not much to say. The man in the suit had introduced himself as Amos, Carter's uncle and steward of Egypt's empire; the fill in Pharaoh until Carter grew up and assumed full control. Amos drummed the table with his fingertips. "Setne is using Sadie as leverage, Carter. He is hoping you will trade your help in exchange for your sister. However, it is a catch 22. If you save Sadie then Setne will become living and fully capable of wrecking havoc. This we cannot allow, yet I will not see my niece killed by that madman and there is the matter of Serapis to deal with. He combines both Greek and Egyptian aspects, controlling and replacing both mythologies. We cannot allow him to gain any more power in this world or neither of us may have a mythology left if he consumes the essence of the gods. "

I raised my hand. "How does one consume a god?"

Amos shrugged. "The soul of the god is absorbed by another god. They cease to exist. Isis and Sekhmet were once excellent at absorbing other gods effectively killing them and taking their power. As the right hand woman of Ra, Sekhmet has slain many gods over the years. Isis, however, is very manipulative. She's slain and absorbeda handful of gods from various mythologies to either obliterate an enemy or to steal their power. "

"She sounds delightful." I muttered. I looked over to Annabeth who was being unusually quiet during war meetings.

Annabeth looked up. "She was the woman we saw in the images, Percy. She was the one protecting the East while Athena burned the Western half of the Roman Empire. It was like they were working together."

"They were." Amos answered. "There was a time our world were very involved with each other. Egypt looked after Greece like a younger sibling, sharing knowledge and in return, Greece shared spoils of the trade. Our people and gods once became friends. Artemis and Bastet, Thoth and Hermes and Athena and Isis; brought together for their shared hatred of Romans. They burned the Rome in revenge for their, ah, ridiculous Roman aspects."

"So, the Egyptians are aware of other mythologies then?" I asked.

Amos shrugged. "Of course, we've been watching them for thousands of years. Greeks in Manhattan, Romans in California, Norse in Boston and those are just the main four. Hawaii has Pele, India has Kali, and the list goes on. However, we have gotten off topic. Now then, you have the crown to use against Serapis but you need to stop Setne as well. You may have to split up to achieve your goal. The equinox is a few days off. Whatever the magician and the god have planned, they will attempt it on that day. Equinoxes hold a lot of power being the day is equal to the night. It's a very auspicious time, perfect for casting large and complex spells. "

(")Honestly, I just nodded and didn't pay much attention to that. I'm not a witch so it's not my field of expertise. Now, if you're looking to annoy a god, I can help with that. Magic? Not so much.(")

Amos excused himself to contact the other Nomes about Sadie's kidnapping and Carter left to break the news to Walt. Annabeth and I took it upon ourselves to rest up a bit before we decided how to tackle both jobs. I had a nagging suspicion that we couldn't do both in one day. To make matters worse, Annabeth didn't disagree with me.

Author's Note: Kinda had to end it there. Sorry. Next Week is Carter' s POV. Thanks for the reviews.

In other news, did you guys know that Rick is making another Percy Jackson book? It's called Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. It's about the demigods in the myths. Also from Percy's POV, sass included. It comes out on Percy's birthday. Also, The third official Kane/PJ crossover is called "The Crown of Ptolemy" and it is also from Percy's POV.

Howtobook101: Thank You. Yeah, BOO killed me too. It hurt. A lot.

Matt: Rick knows how to hurt us so deeply. We hate him and love him.