Hey guys! I'm gonna try to update right now before I have to get back to work. I have a 15 page short story to write and an essay about some Thomas Jefferson quote all due on Thursday! Pressure! o_o Whatever, I must update...Kane Chronicles is calling, and I just had a burst of inspiration. ;) Enjoy and as always, please review! If I get enough, I'll update on Friday! :D P.S sorry it's short! It's all I have time for!
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The portal transported us back to the desert we camped out in a day before. The sun was high in the sky, which meant it was about noon. Exhausted, Sadie collapsed onto the blanket she had packed in her backpack and fell asleep almost instantly.
"Don't bother me unless you want to be turned into a donkey," she threatened as her eyes fluttered shut. Her breathing became steady, and for once, Sadie actually looked peaceful. Gazing at her, you would never guess that she had just run for her life from blood thirsty Spartans and turned four guys into burros.
I immediately felt bad—I had forgotten how much energy it requires to summon a portal—and Sadie had been summoning them quite a lot recently. I couldn't blame her for feeling beat.
"You tired too?" I asked Zia, who had taken out her own sleeping bag and was brushing off the grains of sand. "I'll take first watch if you want."
"Tired?" Zia looked at me like I had two heads. "It's one in the afternoon!"
"We'll…yeah…but we were just chased by a group of crazed, savage Romans," I pointed out, sitting down beside her.
Zia shuddered. "Yes, I forgot how…uh, sensitive they get. It's been a while since I've been there."
"Sensitive? More like murderous. Those guys were barbaric!" I accused, pointing my finger in her direction. "That's the last time I let you chose the Nome we go to."
"It's not my fault. I didn't choose the location of the Book," she argued, though I could see the smile forming on her lips. "Ra's priests did, and in a way, they were quite intelligent. No magician in their right mind would agree to travel to the Third Nome unless you're invited, and even that'sdangerous."
"Wait, are you saying we're not sane?" I asked, edging closer to her.
Zia ignored my comment. "Well, at least we survived. It could have been a lot worse. They could have tried to roast someone on a stake, or tear your limbs apart, or—"
She silenced when she noticed my horrified expression.
"Should I ask how you know this?" I managed to ask, not daring to look at her.
Even when I wasn't facing her, I could tell she was smiling faintly. "I wouldn't I were you."
"Oookay then."
Before Zia could reply, the sky suddenly darkened. And no, I don't mean that the clouds moved in front of the sun. I mean that the sky literally turned black, as if the gods had hit the OFF switch on the sun. We were thrown instantly into total darkness.
"What the heck—"I started, reaching for Zia's arm.
Just then, Sadie screamed, making me jump a foot in the air. In an instant, I was at her side. Body quaking, she sat up in her sleeping bag and stared at the sky in horror.
"Sadie?" I shouted, fear creeping into my voice. The odd weather was quickly forgotten as I examined my sister for any wounds. Luckily, she had none, but the terrified look in her eyes was enough to make my blood run cold. "Sadie? Can you hear me? Sadie!"
"She's in shock," Zia observed, waving a hand in front of my sister's big, blue eyes—so much like our mother's. The thought made my heart skip a beat.
"Sadie," I whispered, waving my hand in front of her face desperately. "Sadie! Wake up! Come on, Sadie!"
I felt someone—Zia—rest her hand on my shoulder, but even that didn't help. I had never seen Sadie so horrified. Whatever she had seen…
Deep down, I knew who did this to my sister. Fists clenching, I rose and walked away from Sadie's side, kicking sand out of my way in frustration. How could we defeat Apophis now? We had even less time, not to mention the serpent was slowly torturing us in our dreams. He was simply too powerful. Was I really fighting a losing battle?
"Carter."
"What?" I asked, my voice barely audible as I glared at the barren landscape before me.
"Sadie…she'll be alright," Zia assured me. "She's just had a bit of a shock—"
"A bit of a shock," I muttered bitterly. I had a pretty good idea what Sadie had seen, and if it had anything to do with Apophis, I'm sure it did a lot more than just "shock" her.
"It was more than that, Zia." I murmured, not trusting myself to look at her or my sister. "We both know that."
Zia sighed. "Carter, I know what Apophis did to you, okay? Sadie and I were there. Sure, I'll never know exactly what you saw, but Sadie's vision definitely wasn't like that. She would have been screaming hours ago, nonstop. Believe me, if the embodiment of chaos touched her mind, we'd know." She paused, probably waiting for me to comment, but I had nothing to say. I had never felt so helpless in my entire life. If Apophis was using this as a way to weaken me—well, it was working.
"Sorry," I whispered, turning to face her.
For once, Zia Rashid looked startled. "For what?"
"Everything," I explained. "We barely escaped Rome alive, Zia. Same with the First Nome. Do you really think we'll be able to find the last portion, wherever it is? Do you seriously believe we can save the world?"
Zia sighed again, her amber eyes dark with sadness. "Yes. I do, Carter. And so do you. You need to have faith in this, or all is lost. If the magicians aren't on our side, and most of thegods don't believe in us, then who will?"
"Um…my dead parents?" I asked acidly, glancing at my sister, whose expression was the same; clouded and horrified.
"Us," Zia continued. "We have to believe in ourselves, or we'll lose to chaos. Apophis feeds off fear and hopelessness. We can't give him the pleasure of watching us give up on ourselves. We cando this, Carter. We're already so close. And I know Sadie feels the same way."
I laughed bitterly. "When did you and Sadie become best friends?"
Even Zia cracked a smile, her teeth bright against the darkness. "She isn't all bad, Carter. In fact, she's extremely brave, and isn't afraid to, well, speak her mind." Zia's smile broadened. "She's lucky to have you as a brother."
"Yeah sure," I muttered. "A lot of good that did her." But I knew what she meant. Still, I couldn't bear to think that my sister had just gone through what I endured only a few nights ago. No one deserved that kind of torture—especially not Sadie. She was always so full of life—gods knew what those kind of visions would do to her. I had already lost my parents, and I was definitely not losing my sister to some stupid, ancient serpent.
"Carter…look," Zia said, her voice alarmed and her eyes alert. "Sadie's staring at something." Zia turned her back on me, gazing at the portion of sky my sister was staring at. Eyes wide, mouth agape, Sadie's terrified expression remained unchanged.
I copied Zia's example, but I couldn't see what the big deal was. The sky was dark (it was night, what did she expect?) except for the moon shining almost directly above us. Before I could point this out, Zia gasped.
"What?" I asked, squinting at the stars.
"Carter…look closer at the moon," Zia demanded, closing her amber eyes.
"Whaaa?"
"Just do it," she replied in a no nonsense tone.
Shrugging inwardly to myself, I obeyed Zia and glanced up at the moon. It was the same as always: white, bright, a few craters here and there. Before I could say so, however, I realized what was different. Instead of the moon being in its gibbous phase (you know, the phase the moon goes through when it takes the shape of a lemon?) it was small and thin, like the croissant I had imagined Desjardins pigging out on in the First Nome.
"But that's not possible," I murmured, recalling the phases of the moon my mother had taught me. "That's the Waning Crescent phase. It's supposed to be at the Waning Gibbousphase, since we have a week before Apophis rises. And if the world's supposed to end on the next new moon…" My voice faded as the truth dawned on me.
No. I refused to believe it. This could not be happening. The moon can't just speed up its rotation around the Earth. It just isn't possible.
"But it is," Zia whispered, eerily answering my thoughts. "Think Carter. What did Nut do in order to gain five extra days to give birth?"
Mind racing, I searched my memory for the answer, but it was hard to think of anything when your sister was on the verge of a mental breakdown and the world was about to end. "Ra wouldn't let her have them on any day of the year, so she gambled with the moon god for some extra time—five extra days," I recalled, turning back to face Zia and Sadie. "And she won. That forced the moon god to create five extra days of the year—the demon days."
"Khonsu," Zia concluded gravely. "The god of youth and the moon, also known as the traveler. His role relates to the moon's nightly journey across the sky each night. Win against the moon god, and you can gain extra time—even reverse it. But I never heard of speeding up time before." Zia tilted her head, curiously gazing up at the stars, as if they held the answer to our problems. "Khonsu has always been the rebellious type, but this just isn't his style. Even he wouldn't side with Apophis."
"You sound really sure of yourself," I noted. "How do you know he wouldn't join with the serpent? Everyone else is."
"Carter, if the sun is destroyed by Apophis, so would the moon. There has to be a balance between light and dark. If something upsets the balance, the world is thrown in chaos. Even Khonsu wouldn't want that," Zia stated, as if the answer was obvious. "The moon's his major power source, and the main object that ties him to the human world. Take that away, and he'll be exiled into the deepest corners of the Duat, defenseless and drained of power. No, Khonsu would never take that big of a risk."
"Well, he did, and it didn't end in his favor," I muttered bitterly, glaring at the moon and willing it to disappear. "How many more days are left then? How much time do we have before the Earth ends for good?"
Zia's eyes, bright and amber, studied the moon for a brief moment. Then they settled on me, and by Zia's expression, I knew we were in trouble. "By the looks of it, we lost five days. That means the next new moon is two days from now." Zia took a deep breath, turning her gaze back to the Book of Ra: our last and only hope. "The world as we know it will end—the day after tomorrow."
*::*::*
Uh...oh...that doesn't sound too good.
PLEASE REVIEW! Seriously guys! I'd really appreciate it. Do you have any suggestions? Comments? Well, let me know! :)
Oh, and if you guys haven't read the sneak peek of The Son Of Neptune (PERCY'S POV!) then check out Rick Riordan's blog (Myth and Mystery) for the link! REVIEW PLEASE, and I hope you all had a great long weekend (that is, if you even had one...) Remember, more reviews=more updates! School's almost out, so I should be finishing soon! :D Ta for now!
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