As I said in my other fic there is a chance I won't be able to update tomorrow or the day after, we shall have to wait and see I'm afraid. Anyways I hope you enjoy!
Replies:
Thickneck: No, Setnes not partly Greek, in fact in Canon he talks about how he's not a fan of Greeks in this book, before then realising that Greek and Egyptian combined can be scary powerful- which like, is a realisation he's already had given stuff he's heard about our dear Percy.
Batmanuchiha: Hah! I mean, I suppose there is... but saying would be spoilers so no.
rage2091: I mean, that's a lot of power there. Absorbing it all would be a lot even for Percy.
Guest: You'll have to wait and see. And don't ask me how it all works- all I know is that it does lol.
Undeath9087: Yeah, she's a bitch we don't like her.
rage2091: I mean, that is essentially what it is lol, her whole premise is 'Kanes and the gods are bad so join me!'
Guest: I mean, you have to remember Jacobi is one of the bad guys, she's evil, which means she does not actually have good intentions. There's no alliance with her lot- there are more magicians helping Amos and the Kanes this time because they do have Desjardins but Jacobi has been doing everything she can to take the Kanes Allies out. And even though they made what Menshikov did- most of it anyway, public, Jacobi's followers are in denial.
And yes, Sally knows about Set, as do Desjardins and Zia, and there are some rumors drifting around but no one else knows for sure- and I don't know how many gods know actually.
Oujiswan: Thank you!

Carter didn't go to sleep- oh he knew it would be a good idea to get some sleep but he couldn't, not yet. As soon as Percy was out he slipped out of the bed, keeping the blankets tucked up over her nice and warm- she might not admit it but he could see bags under her eyes- he wondered if she was having nightmares of the cavern- he knew he'd had them in the early days. He could never be afraid of Percy, not as such but- there had been something deeply gut wrenchingly wrong about seeing his baby sister like that, being controlled by a being of evil when she was so very clearly good in every sense.

And Carter paced for some time before he found his gaze drawn to his closet and he moved on autopilot.

He did it every night, the same routine- as if somehow he expected something different when he pulled down his old travelling case.

It was just a black leather carry-on bag, like a million others you might see in an airport. For years he'd lugged it around the world as they had travelled with their dad.

He opened it carefully, swallowing hard as he looked down at the statuette that was the only item inside.

A coiled serpent carved in red granite, engraved with hieroglyphs. The name—Apophis—was crossed out and overwritten with powerful binding spells, but still this statuette was the most dangerous object in the whole house—a representation of the enemy.

Walt had helped them make it in secret (over Bast's strong objections). They'd only trusted Walt because we needed his charm-making skills. No one else knew. Not Zia, not their mom, not Amos. None of them would have approved such a dangerous experiment. One mistake, one miscast spell, and this statue could turn from a weapon against Apophis into a gateway allowing him free access to Brooklyn House. But they'd had to take the risk. Unless they found some other means of defeating the serpent, he and Sadie would use the statue for Plan B.

They would do what Desjardins had tried to six months earlier. And they would die, he knew that. They would die- and the spell might not even work, might only work temporarily. And if Apophis did get Percy then- he and Sadie both knew they'd never be able to go through with it. There were so many things that could go wrong that it made Carter dizzy just thinking about it.

"Foolish idea," said a voice from the balcony.

A pigeon was perched on the railing. There was something very un-pigeonlike about its stare. It looked fearless, almost dangerous; and Carter recognized that voice, which was more manly and warlike than you'd normally expect from a member of the dove family.

"Horus?"

The pigeon bobbed its head. "May I come in?"

Carter hesitated before sighing. "I give you permission to enter. Horus, in the form of a... uh... pigeon."

"Thank you." The pigeon hopped off the railing and waddled inside.

"Why?" Horus ruffled his feathers. "Well, I looked for a falcon, but they're a little scarce in New York. I wanted something with wings, so a pigeon seemed the best choice. They've adapted well to cities, aren't scared of people. They're noble birds, don't you think?"

"Noble. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of pigeons."

"Indeed," Horus said, clearly missing the sarcasm as he hopped onto Carter's bed- and Carter twitched.

"Be careful-"

"I won't wake the girl-" and Carter could see Horus casting a weary glance towards the sleeping ten year old-and Carter got it-he did. But still, it was weird, knowing that a god feared what could happen if Apophis got the little girl. And gods but she was growing up- Carter could still picture her as a tiny five year old. It was scary how much bigger she was now.

Then Horus hopped to the edge of the suitcase. He peered down at the statuette of Apophis. "Dangerous," he said.
"Much too dangerous, Carter."

Carter hadn't told him about Plan B, but he wasn't surprised that he knew. Horus and he had shared minds too many times. The better Carter got at channelling his powers, the better they understood each other. The downside of godly magic was that he couldn't always shut off that connection. Which was probably how Percy seemed to have picked things up from Apophis, as much as he hated it.

"It's our emergency backup." Carter told him. "We're trying to find another way."

"By looking for that scroll," he recalled. "The last copy of which burned up tonight in Dallas."

"Sadie and Percy have-" Carter exhaled, "There's- Sadie found a shadow box and Percy says she thinks Setne had a spell. A Shadow Execration? She thinks we could use it on Apophis- do you know if he has a shadow?"

"I'd assume so- I'm not the type to go in for that sort of magic, you know that Carter. My understanding of magic is fairly straightforward. Hit enemies with a sword until they're dead. If they rise again, hit them again. Repeat as necessary. It worked against Set."

"After how many years of fighting?"

The pigeon glared at him. "What's your point?"

Carter decided not to start a fight with the god- he didn't want to argue when his baby sister was asleep. But still- he
needed to know more. And he thought about what Bast had said earlier.

"Would Thoth know more about shadows?"

"Probably," Horus grumbled. "Thoth isn't good for much except studying his musty old scrolls." He regarded the serpent figurine. "Funny…I just remembered something. Back in the old days, the Egyptians used the same word for statue and shadow, because they're both smaller copies of an object. They were both called a sheut."

Carter filed that thought away for consideration. ."I'll see if I can talk to Thoth, it'll be worth a try."

"Maybe," Horus said grudgingly. "But I still think a frontal assault is the way to go."

"Of course you do."

The pigeon bobbed its head. "We are strong enough, you and I. We should combine forces, Carter. Let me share your form as I once did. We could lead the armies of gods and men and defeat the serpent. Together, we'll rule the world."
Carter resisted the urge to roll his eyes- some things never changed after all. "I'll get back to you on that. First I should talk to Thoth.

"Bah." Horus flapped his wings. "He's still in Memphis, at that ridiculous sports stadium of his. But if you plan on seeing him, I wouldn't wait too long."

"Why not?"

"That's what I came to tell you," Horus said. "Matters are getting complicated among the gods. Apophis is dividing us, attacking us one by one, just as he's doing with you magicians. Thoth was the first to suffer."

"Suffer…how?"

The pigeon puffed up. A wisp of smoke curled from its beak. "Oh, dear. My host is self-destructing. It can't hold my spirit for much longer. Just hurry, Carter. I'm having trouble keeping the gods together, and that old man Ra isn't helping our morale. If you and I don't lead our armies soon, we may not have any armies left to lead."

"But—"

The pigeon hiccupped another wisp of smoke. "Gotta go. Good luck."

Horus flew out the window, leaving Carter alone with the statuette of Apophis, a sleeping baby sister and a few gray feathers.

He shook his head after a long moment, carefully closing up the case and tucking it away before he moved back to the bed and clambered in, unable to stop the faint smile on his lips when Percy instantly moved to cuddle into his side.

It reminded him of better days- when Percy had been younger- when they hadn't needed to worry about the end of the world. When they'd lived mostly out of hotels and he'd rarely spent a night alone because his baby sister was a nightmare for wanting cuddles.

The only thing that he would have changed about those times would be to have Sadie with them, that was all that could have made them better.

Sometimes he did imagine it- though he'd never admit it to Percy or to Sadie. He'd imagine what their life might have been if the House hadn't forced his dad to raise them apart, if they'd gotten to be a family sooner.

But thoughts like that were rarely worth it- and they were a family now. A very very weird family yes but a family nevertheless. And he carefully pressed his lips to the top of his sister's head, to the silky white curls that now framed her face.

At least she seemed to be sleeping well enough now.

And Carter found that he fell asleep much easier than usual with the familiar feeling of his baby sister cuddled up next to him.

...

Percy woke up late- or at least it was late for her- admittedly the whole time zones thing made it weird- it had been morning when she'd met Zia, and due to the time difference it had been night in Dallas when she'd arrived- so technically she shouldn't have needed anymore sleep, but the fight in the museum had drained her more than she'd like to admit, and she'd been exhausted by the time they'd gotten home, so a nap had definitely been in order.

Still, it was unusual for her to miss dawn. At first her mom, Amos and Desjardins had all been making sure she woke for the dawn- it was a powerful healing magic in and of itself after all, and they'd wanted to ensure that she got as much exposure as she could, and over the last month it had become habit. So waking up at around ten in the morning, long after sunrise was a strange feeling for her.

And it was even stranger when she woke up and got herself some breakfast and found that the house was half empty.
When she'd found Bast the goddess had explained that most of the others had enrolled in a local school- Percy had pouted at that- sure she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to join a school but she hadn't even been given the option!

That was just super stinky.

In any case, it did mean that she had some free time- which she used to go to her bedroom- and oh how she'd missed her bedroom, where she'd showered and changed into her own clothes- a pair of jeans with a simple cotton tee.

And she had paused as she was getting changed, staring into the mirror- the water had healed up the bruises and bumps from the night before, but it hadn't made the marks from Apophis disappear- the red lines that had twined up her legs and arms and across her belly and chest.

They weren't as thick anymore though, they were more like thin pink puckered lines, faint scars.

Percy could live with that, she didn't mind scars- other than the one on her neck.

She knew it was a sign that she'd been victorious- that she'd beaten Apophis and not the other way around. But logic rarely controlled feelings and Percy couldn't help but feel like the symbol was a brand, making her as the snakes, yelling to the world that she belonged to him, even though she'd forced him out with his own power.

Still, she kept that one covered up- the only people who knew about it were her healers at the First nome, her family, Desjardins, Zia, Walt and Jaz.

She wanted to keep it that way for as long as she could- she knew people would react badly if they knew the truth of what had happened- never mind the fact that she'd forced him out, a lot of people would look at her and just see the girl who had hosted Apophis.

No. No Percy didn't want that. So she'd cover it up and hide.

And if she got the chance she would help her brother and sister kick Apophis' giant evil butt.