Percy is a daddys girl- I will take no arguments, she loves her daddy and they all know that Julius is soft on his little girl.
Replies:
Thickneck: I mean, you'll have to wait and see. I know some people have already figured it out.
rage2091: Percy every time she pisses someone off 'Walt! Can you be my lawer' and Walt just there like 'For gods sake Percy I'm not a lawyer'
Guest: Not exactly- it'll take case over the course of the two, nearly three, years. And the character will be playing a much bigger role than Rachel in pretty much all of the books, and as usual you shall have to wait and see for certain interactions.
Drizzle: Not yet but it will happen fairly soon.
fugy: Sorry the pairings already decided.
There was a moment of silence before Sadie breathed out, "Well done Walt but- how did you..." and Percy watched as Walt turned his head to look at Sadie and he shrugged slightly.
"I took a guess." he told her.
Percy blinked, and she opened her mouth to say something before letting out a squeak, "Doors!" because they were starting to close.
And Carter grabbed her hand quickly, dragging her forward.
"Hurry!" All of them sprinted through the doors and into the courtroom of the dead.
And Percy blinked- it looked very different than it had the last time Percy had visited- which had been after the Set disaster.
It was a circular chamber, lined with stone pillars carved in lotus flower designs. Braziers of magic fire washed the walls in green and blue light. In the center of the room stood the scales of justice, two large golden saucers balanced from an iron T.
Kneeling before the scales was the ghost of a man in a pinstriped suit, nervously reciting from a scroll. On either side of him stood a large reptilian demon with green skin, a cobra head, and a wicked-looking pole arm poised over the ghost's head.
Julius Kane sat at the far end of the room on a golden dais, with a blue-skinned Egyptian attendant at his side.
Percy felt a flood of joy at the sight of him. It had been around nine months since Percy had last seen their dad, and even if seeing him in the Duat was weird- since he appeared to be two people at once, looking both like their dad as he had in life, a handsome, muscular man with chocolate-brown skin, a bald scalp, and a neatly trimmed goatee. He wore an elegant silk suit and a dark traveling coat, like a businessman about to board a private jet, and like Osiris, dressed as a pharaoh in sandals, an embroidered linen kilt, and rows of gold and coral neckbands on his bare chest. His skin was the color of a summer sky. Across his lap lay a crook and flail—the symbols of Egyptian kingship.
Even with all that Percy almost sobbed with job at the sight of her daddy-and she was moving instantly, ignoring Carter's panicked let and his attempt to catch her arm. "Daddy!" And Julius' gaze snapped towards them, his eyes going wide with shock as a smile split open his face.
"Let her through!" he called the words before the snake demons had dome more than even start to move and block Percy's path, and Percy could hear Sadie behind her, but she didn't care because her dad was standing up just in time to fold his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, his crook and flail dropping to the floor.
Percy buried her face into her dads shoulder, frantically blinking back hot tears as her dads hand smoothed over her hair.
"Daddy. Daddy I- I-"
"I know." Julius' lips pressed to the top of her head gently, "I know princess I know. It's okay it's okay you're safe here daddy has you. Daddy's got you now."
And Percy wasn't ashamed to admit that she was clinging to her dad like she had when she was little, when she'd have nightmares about her stinky step father. "I've missed you so much."
"I missed you too sweetheart." As Julius spoke he shifted his grip on Percy, picking her up carefully as he sat back down, letting Percy curl up in his lap- which was nice. Percy was getting too big for it really but- she needed it, needed the comfort of her dads arms. It was always one of her safe places when she'd been little. "Children- as much as I am very glad to see you all, what are you doing
here?" that wasn't directed at Percy, who was not shifting her face from her dads shoulder.
Percy could hear the others approaching and then;
"I would hug you but you look like you've got your arms full." Sadie's voice was amused, "We're here for something important though dad- we need to talk."
"But I'm working-"
"It's important dad." Carter spoke up. "Please."
"I see." Julius' voice was heavy, "First let me finish this trial, Children, stand here on my right. And please, don't interrupt. Percy-"
"Not moving." Percy's voice, muffled as it was, was still very stubborn, and she felt her dads arms tighten around her just so.
"Okay, okay just this once."
And Percy could hear their dads attendant stamping his foot in annoyance. "My lord! This is most irregular."
"It's alright disturber, we may continue now. I can continue the trial like this."
"But, my lord—" Percy heard him drop something, possibly a scroll and she lifted her head slightly to peer at him.
He was an elderly blue Egyptian man with a huge scroll in his arms. Too solid to be a ghost, too blue to be human, he was almost as decrepit as Percy had been told Ra was, wearing nothing but a loincloth, sandals, and an ill-fitting wig.
He'd dropped an enormous roll of papyrus that he had been holding, and it had unravelled, bouncing down the steps like a papyrus carpet. "Oh, bother, bother, bother!" Disturber struggled to reel in his document.
And Percy could see that her dad was stifling the urge to laugh as he turned his focus to the ghost in the pinstriped suit, who was still kneeling at the scales. "My apologies, Robert Windham. You may finish your testimony."
The ghost bowed and scraped. "Y-yes, Lord Osiris."
He referred to his notes and began rattling off a list of crimes he wasn't guilty of—murder, theft, and selling cattle under false pretences.
Percy could hear Walt and Sadie whispering about something, and she could see and hear Disturber hissing at them to be quiet.
The ghost of Robert Windham seemed to be winding down his testimony. "I haven't given false witness against my neighbors. Um, sorry, I can't read this last line—"
"Fish!" Disturber yelped crossly. "Have you stolen any fish from the holy lakes?"
"I lived in Kansas," the ghost said. "So…no."
Julius rose from his throne at that, and Percy stood too, though she kept herself pressed close to her dads side and he kept one arm wrapped very tightly around. "Very well. Let his heart be weighed." One of the snake demons produced a linen parcel the size of a child's fist.
"His heart is in there?" Carter hissed the words.
"Shh!" Disturber said so loudly his wig almost fell off. "Bring forth the Destroyer of Souls!"
On the far wall of the chamber, a doggy door burst open. Ammit ran into the room in great excitement. Percy resisted the urge to squeal and rush towards the monster- who was not very coordinated- which made her cuter in her opinion. Her miniature lion chest and forearms were sleek and agile, but her back half was a stubby and much-less-agile hippo bum. she kept sliding sideways, swerving into pillars, and knocking over braziers. Each time she crashed, she shook her lion's mane and crocodile snout and yipped happily.
Sadie however didn't resist.
"There's my baby!" she almost squealed the words, "There's my Poochiekins!" and Percy couldn't help but giggle loudly as Ammit ran at Sadie and leaped into her arms, nuzzling her her as Sadie cuddled her.
"My lord Osiris!" Disturber lost the bottom of his scroll again, which unravelled around his legs. "This is an outrage!"
"Sadie." Julius closed his eyes, a long suffering look on his face, "Please do not refer to the Devourer of Souls as Poochiekins."
"Sorry," Sadie grumbled the words and let Ammit down.
One of the snake demons set Robert Windham's heart on the scales of justice. On the opposite scale, the Feather of Truth appeared.
The scales wavered. The two saucers stopped, just about even. The pinstriped ghost sobbed with relief. Ammit whimpered disappointedly.
"Most impressive," Julius remarked. "Robert Windham, you have been found sufficiently virtuous, despite the fact you were an investment banker."
"Red Cross donations, baby!" the ghost yelled.
"Yes, well," Julius' voice was dry, "You may proceed to the afterlife." A door opened to the left of the dais. The snake demons hauled Robert Windham to his feet.
"Thank you!" he yelled, as the demons escorted him out. "And if you need any financial advice, Lord Osiris, I still believe in the long term viability of the market—"
The door shut behind him.
Disturber sniffed indignantly. "Horrible man."
Julius shrugged. "A modern soul who appreciated the ancient ways of Egypt. He couldn't have been all bad." then his gaze turned to the others, since Percy was still clamped against his side. "Children, this is Disturber, one of my advisors and gods of judgment."
"Sorry?" Sadie gave an innocent smile, "Did you say he's disturbed?"
"Disturber is my name!" the god shouted angrily. "I judge those who are guilty of losing their temper!"
"Yes." Despite the fact that Julius looked tired his eyes sparkled with amusement. "That was Disturber's traditional duty, although now that he's my last minister, he helps me with all my cases. There used to be forty-two judgment gods for different crimes, you see, but—"
"Like Hot Foot and Fire-embracer," Zia said.
Disturber gasped. "How do you know of them?"
"We saw them," Zia said. "In the Fourth House of the Night."
"You—saw—" Disturber almost dropped his scroll altogether. "Lord Osiris, we must save them immediately! My brethren—"
"We will discuss it," Julius. "First, I want to hear what brings my children to the Duat. Is Sally-"
"Mom's okay." Percy piped up, "For now anyway. She's at the First Nome."
"She's safe then- and the babes-"
"We don't know when but they should be born pretty soon- hopefully not yet though." Carter pulled a face, "Leave it a week hopefully- let us stop Apophis and then mom can have the babies, that'd be safest."
"Oh?" Their dad raised an eyebrow, "You have a plan my children?"
And so the three Kanes told their father everything- starting with the rebel magicians and their secret alliance with Apophis- the impending attack on the First Nome- which had Julius tightening his arm around his youngest- which Percy didn't mind.
"And you say Sally's still there?" his voice was tight with worry. "No- no she must leave immediately- she's pregnant she can't stay- not in her condition I can't it's bad enough with your mo-" he cut himself off but Sadie swallowed hard.
"We know about mum. That she's- she's gone. It's happening to a lot of ghosts." Sadie told him, "It's connected to Apophis. We'll find her mom, we'll save her." and.. and Percy hadn't known that Ruby was in trouble, she didn't like that at all. Ruby was nice an she knew her mom loved the other woman.
"I have searched for her everywhere." Julius' voice was despondent. "This force that is taking the spirits—whether it's the serpent's shadow or something else—I cannot stop it. I can't even find it. Your mother…"
"We're going to save her dad." Carter took a deep breath, "We promise."
"And now Sally's in the First Nome and she's pregnant-" Julius shook his head, "I should go- I should go and help her and Amos-"
"My lord," Disturber said, "you are not a magician anymore. You are Osiris."
And Julius flinched. "I- Of course." he deflated- and when Percy lifted her head to look at him she could see grief on his face. And a tinge of regret. After all he'd never be able to be a full time parent to the babies even if they did stop Apophis. "Continue your story children."
"Like we said." Carter took a deep breath. "We do have a plan dad. To do with the sheut."
"It's the only thing Apophis is afraid of." Percy straightened up, hand moving to her neck and she pulled away from her dad reluctantly, moving to stand with Carter and Sadie. "There's a spell. It's big, and dangerous but-" she took a deep breath "He's destroyed all of the scrolls that say how to do it but we know what it is."
"What is it?" Julius' brows furrowed, "Percy, my child-"
"A Shadow Execration."