In which Percy does not like Mad Claude and she's sorta warming up to the whole relationships can be cute as well as gross thing.
Replies:
Undeath9087: See, see Percy is very smart, she just doesn't always think clearly, and when she pretends to be Carter stuff comes much more easily lol.
Guest: I mean, Percy's okay with Mummies and ghosts, she just thinks Mad Claude is an ass.
Guest: I think his head would explode if he met Family Ties Percy who daily bitches about the gods. Sadie would high five her and they'd be besties let's be real- then again so are this Percy and Sadie.
Guest: Thank you!
Felosia: Thank you so much that means a lot to me, and yes I do- Percy will only be ten by the time the KC plotline ends, which is before she got involved with the Greek world in canon.

And, because clearly Claude was an asshole he spoke up, "Yes yes, the priests ceremonial knife for opening the mouth of the dead. Honestly, you Egyptian priests are hopeless. No wonder we conquered you so easily."

And Percy let out a growl- Walt had to grab her shoulders to hold her back as Sadie reached into her bag and pulled out the black blade that Anubis had given her.

Mad Claude's eyes glinted. "Ah, so you're not hopeless. That's perfect! With that knife and the proper spell, you should be able to touch my mummy and release me into the Duat."

"No-" Sadie shook her head, "No, there's more to it. The knife, the Book of Ra, this statue of the spit god. It all fits together somehow."

Walt's face lit up. "Sadie, Ptah was more than the craftsman god, right? Didn't they call him the God of Opening?"

"Um…possibly."

"I thought you taught us that. Or maybe it was Carter."

"It was Carter." Percy snickered, "Sadie teaches how to blow stuff up."

"But it's important," Walt insisted. "Ptah was a creation god. In some legends, he created the souls of mankind just by speaking a word. He could revive any soul, and open any door."

"Open any door." Sadie said the words slowly, her eyes moving, and Percy followed her gaze to the debris-filled doorway, the only other exit from the room. "Open any door?"

"Oooh." Percy breathed out slowly, "This could be good right?"

"It could be." Sadie held up the two scrolls of Ra and walked towards the collapsed tunnel- and Percy could see that something was happening from the older girls reaction. "The last scroll is on the other side." she announced, "We need to get past the rubble." she shifted her grip on the scrolls, so that she was holding the two scrolls in one hand and the knife in the other. She spoke the command for Open but nothing happened- she moved back to the statue of Ptah and tried the same thing with no luck.

Percy felt her stomach sinking and she frowned, watching closely. It had to work. It really had to work- it just had to because they were running out of time- gods what would happen if things went wrong? They needed Ra, if they didn't find the scroll... it would be bad- she flinched slightly when a hand landed on her shoulder but she relaxed when she realised that it was Walt- he must have noticed her anxiousness- that was kind of sweet. Percy decided that she approved of him.

"Hello-" Sadie was still trying to get through, "Ptah. Sorry about the spit comment. Look, we're trying to get the third scroll of Ra, which is on the other side, there. I suppose you were placed here to open a path. So would you mind terribly?"

Still nothing happened.

"Try an offering." Percy piped up, "Gods usually like that-"

"Honestly." Mad Claude looked like he wanted to strangle Sadie, "Why is it the youngest of you seems to know the most?"

"'Cause I'm a genius." Percy piped up.

Walt rummaged through his supplies. He placed a juice pouch and a bit of beef jerky at the foot of the statue. The statue did nothing.

Even the gold rats at his feet apparently didn't want the beef jerky.

"Bloody spit god!" Sadie yelled the words, kicking one of the stones, "AGH!"

"I hate to suggest it-" Walt spoke up, "But you could blast through with the Ha-di spell-"

"Don't taunt me!" Sadie almost whined, "I love that spell but if I use it it'll bring the ceiling down on top of us."

"You'd die." Claude agreed. "Which isn't an experience I'd recommend."

"Maybe we could just move the rocks away by hand-"

"We're not all annoying strong." Sadie grumbled, "And even if we were as strong as you Percy it'd take too long to clear it there's too many.

And Mad Claude was pacing the room. "I still don't understand. You're priests. You have the ceremonial knife. Why can't you release us?"

"The knife isn't for you!" Sadie burst out, her voice loud and frustrated, "It's for Ra!"

Percy blinked at that, staring at her sister, "It's for Ra?" she asked slowly, "Uh- how is it for Ra?"

"I-" Sadie blinked, "I- of course. The knife is used for the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, to free a soul. I'll need it to awaken Ra. That's why Anubis gave it to me."

"You know Anubis!" Claude clapped with delight. "He can free us all! And you—" He pointed at Walt. "You're one of Anubis's chosen, aren't you? You can get us more knives if you need them! I sensed the presence of the god around you as soon as we met. Did you take his service when he realized you were dying?"

"Wait…what?" and all of Sadie's confidence suddenly drained away, and Walt flinched, his face going ashen.

"I'm not a priest of Anubis."

"But dying?" Sadie choked up. "How are you dying?"

Mad Claude looked incredulous. "You mean you don't know? He's got the old pharaoh's curse. We didn't see it much in my day, but I recognize it, all right. Occasionally a person from one of the old Egyptian royal lines—"

"Claude, shut up," Sadie snapped. "Walt, speak. How does this curse work?"

And Percy looked at Walt worriedly- he looked- he looked pained, almost broken.

"Akhenaton's curse runs in my family," he said. "Kind of a genetic disease. Not every generation, not every person, but when it strikes, it's bad. Tut died at nineteen. Most of the others…twelve, thirteen. I'm fifteen now. My dad…my dad was eighteen. I never knew him."

"Eighteen?" Sadie looked like she felt sick. "Can't it be cured…?" then her expression shifted to guilt. "Oh gods, that was why you were talking to Jaz. She's a healer."

Walt nodded grimly. "I thought she might know spells that I hadn't been able to find. My dad's family—they spent years searching. My mom has been looking for a cure since I was born. The doctors in Seattle couldn't do anything."

"Doctors," Mad Claude said with disgust. "I had one in the legion, loved to put leeches on my legs. Only made me worse. Now, about this connection to Anubis, and using that knife…"

"Oh shut up." Percy glowered at the man, "Or I'll shove leeches down your throat you annoying ass."

"Claude." Walt was shaking his head, "We'll try to help you, but not with the knife. I know magic items. I'm pretty sure it can be used only once, and we can't just make another. If Sadie needs it for Ra, she can't risk using it before that."

"Excuses!" Claude roared.

"If you don't shut up," Sadie warned, "I'm going to find your mummy and draw a mustache on your portrait!"

Claude turned as white as…well, a ghost. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Wait-" Sadie focused on Walt again. "Was Jaz able to help?"

"She tried her best. But this curse has been defying healers for three thousand years. Modern doctors think it's related to sickle cell anemia, but they don't know. They've been trying for decades to figure out how King Tut died, and they can't agree. Some say poison. Some say a genetic disease. It's the curse, but of course they can't say that."

"Isn't there any way? I mean we know gods. Perhaps I could cure you like Isis did Ra. If I knew your secret name—"

"Sadie, I've thought of that," he said. "I've thought of everything. The curse can't be cured. It can only be slowed down if…if I avoid magic. That's why I got into talismans and amulets. They store magic in advance, so they don't require as much from the user. But it's only helped a little bit. I was born to do magic, so the curse progresses in me no matter what I do. Some days it's not so bad. Some days my whole body is in pain. When I do magic, it gets worse."

"And the more you do—"

"The faster I die."

And okay, okay that was horrible, and Percy winced when Sadie surged forward and punched Walt in the chest- and it was probably a good thing that Sadie wasn't a good fighter- it wasn't the worst punch Percy had ever seen but she had definitely seen better. Walt didn't even stagger back.

"You idiot! Why are you here then? You should've told me to shove off! Bes warned you to stay in Brooklyn. Why didn't you listen?"

"I'm going to die anyway, Sadie. I want my life to mean something. And…I want to spend as much time as I can with you." And Percy could see Sadie melting, her eyes filling with tears- and Percy was willing to admit that okay- okay as gross as all the stupid kissing and romance stuff was, there was something just a little bit cute about that.

Unfortunately Mad Claude was not a sympathetic audience. "Very sweet, I'm sure, but you promised me payment! Come back to the Roman tombs. Release my spirit from my mummy. Then release the others. After that, you can do as you like."

"The others?" Sadie asked. "Are you mad?"

"His name is Mad Claude." Percy grumbled, "Of course he is. And he has terrible timing."

"Okay, okay that was a silly question." Sadie conceded, "But there are thousands of mummies. We have one knife."

"You promised!"

"We did not! You said we'd discuss a fee after we found the scroll. We've found nothing but a dead end here."

The ghost growled, more like a wolf than a human. "If you won't come to us," he said, "we'll come to you."

His spirit glowed, then disappeared in a flash.

"Oh that is not good." Percy muttered the words, her eyes narrowing as Sadie looked nervously between Walt and Percy.

"What did he mean by that?"

"I don't know." Walt shook his head, "But we need to get through that rubble and get out of here quickly."

Of course, it was easier said than done. They couldn't move the debris- not fast anyway- Percy did most of the work of trying- but even with her strength there were too many big boulders that were wedged in far too tight to move easily.

Eventually Sadie gave up, moving to plop down onto a stone sarcophagus, examining her blistered and bloody fingers, and Walt moved with her, sitting next to her.

Percy ignored them as they talked- they deserved some privacy after all, and she focused on trying to move the boulders- her own fingers were bloody now, boulders would shift and pinch them and trap them from time to time but Percy was stubborn.

She found herself humming softly as she worked- and very much ignoring Sadie and Walt's private conversation as they talked about Walt's curse and his feelings

It felt like hours before Sadie suddenly let out a loud gasp.

"Rocks!" and Percy turned her head, pulling a face.

"What about rocks? I've had enough of stupid- ouch!" she yelped when one shifted and caught her finger again- and Sadie was rushing towards her quickly.

"Percy- gods look at your hands- Walt grab a bottle of water out please-"

"Of course but-"

"Just do it- and the rocks you two- sympathetic magic-"

"Sadie Kane you're a genius." Walt breathed out, and Percy's eyes widened.

"We make a mini door and then-"

"We use it to get rid of the rubble blocking the door!" Percy grinned as Sadie took the water that Walt passed her and opened the bottle, holding out her hands so that Sadie could pour it over Percy's fingers. "We're getting out of here."