Please don't kill me. That is all. When you get to the end of the chapter please do not brutally murder me.
Replies:
Guest: I get what you mean, and you are not wrong.
Undeath9087: and uh, Percy doesn't even fully know what the alternative is until this chapter and she very much still agrees wholeheartedly with what she said to Desjardins before.

The journey through the Duat wasn't easy by any means, but Percy had good control of the boat, and Desjardins was able to fend off the threats that tried to attack them, even weakened as he was.

And soon enough they reached the end of their journey and they found themselves heading towards a beach made of millions of dead scarab shells, shifting and surging as a force underneath—a massive serpentine shape—struggled to break free. Dozens of demons were digging through the scarab shells with shovels, but Percy's focus was more on four of the figures, Vlad Menshikov was there- which was to be expected- as was a god- Percy had to assume he was Ra- who was- playing with the flail and clearly not all there, and she also saw two figures who filled her with hope.

Carter and Sadie- well, she assumed it was Carter anyway. Carter was a a fifteen foot tall hawk headed warrior dressed in the battle armour of Horus, and Sadie was there clutching a scroll with a giant kite in front of her, wings flapping, guarding her.

None of them had noticed Percy and Desjardin's next, and Menshikov looked angry about something, "Even with a sliver of his power in me I will live forever- and your sister will arrive soon, my demons will bring her here after disposing of Desjardins. You should be grateful, she shall never die." and Percy felt a flood of horror as realisation finally set in.

She glanced at Desjarins, who looked about as sick as she felt.

Menshikov would get a sliver of Apophis' power, though given what Percy knew about the serpent it would probably just kill him once it had her, and Percy- it wanted to do what the gods did. He wanted her.

Apophis wanted her to be his eye, his perfect host.

Desjardins laid a hand on her shoulder before he straightened up and removed it, facing towards Vladimir as they glided towards the shore, even weak as he was he made a proud figure, his hair and beard were white now- from whatever Vladimir had been doing to him to weaken him but glowing hieroglyphs still floated from his cream colored robes, making a trail of divine words behind him.

"There are worse things than death Vladimir." and all of their gazes turned towards them as Percy and Desjardins stepped ashore, Percy just a step behind the Chief Lector, who was stood almost defensively in front of her "You toy with something worse than death- you try to force an innocent child to play host for the ultimate enemy. Pray that I kill you. I doubt the snake will be as merciful as I." and they walked forward, Percy beaming at Carter and Sadie- who both looked relieved and horrified- understandable, given what they'd all just heard.

"Surrender Vladimir."

Menshikov just laughed at that. "Have you looked at yourself lately, my lord? My curses have been sapping your strength for months, and you didn't even realize it. You're nearly dead now. I am the most powerful magician in the world. And look- you brought the child to me personally-"

"You will not touch her." Desjardin's voice was slightly sharper, "I have failed in many things- especially lately but this I will not fail in. I will not let you destroy the House of Life or harm an innocent child."

"An innocent child who you would have ki-"

"I know what she is." Desjardins interrupted the other man. "She told me herself. Perhaps she shouldn't exist but killed? I think not. Not any more."

"He likes me." Percy declared with a toothy grin, poking her tongue out at Menshikov- because that was clearly the
mature thing to do in this situation.

"I will deal with you soon child." Menshikov's mad gaze made Percy shudder, until she felt Sadie's hand on her arm, warm and reassuring.

"You will not harm her." Desjardins repeated, "She is under my protection, under the protection of the House of Life-"

"The House?" Menshikov's voice turned shrill. "It died centuries ago! It should've been disbanded when Egypt fell." He kicked at the dried scarab shells. "The House has as much life as these hollow bug husks. Wake up, Michel! Egypt is gone, meaningless, ancient history. It's time to destroy the world and start anew. Chaos always wins."

"Not always." Desjardins turned to Sadie. "Begin your spell. I will deal with this wretch." Percy resisted the urge to cheer- mostly because she was sure Desjardins would give her that disapproving look he seemed to have perfected specifically for her.

The ground surged under them, trembling as Apophis tried to rise.

"Think first, children," Menshikov warned. "The world will end no matter what you do. Mortals can't leave this cavern alive, but the two of you have been godlings. Combine with Horus and Isis again, pledge to serve Apophis, and you could survive this night. Desjardins has always been your enemy. Slay him for me now and present his body as a gift to Apophis! Your sister will be honored- Apophis has never wanted to harm her, she is his perfect host. I will assure you both positions of honor in a new world ruled by Chaos, unrestricted by any rules. I can even give you the secret of curing Walt Stone." he directed that at Sadie- who's expression was stunned, "Yes, my girl. I do know how. The remedy was passed down for generations among the priests of Amun-Ra. Kill Desjardins, join Apophis, and the boy you love will be spared."

Then his gaze shifted to Percy, "He saved your brother once- accept him- become his eye and Apophis will ensure that your siblings thrive- that your mother, those you love, that they live- and you will rule."

Percy pulled a face at that, nose scrunching up. The idea of her family being safe was nice. Percy could admit that- but- trusting the snake would be stupid. Chaos, as powerful and as tempting as it could be- well, she knew that it was wrong- that Apophis would never keep his word- that if she did become the eye of the stupid snake she'd have no control of herself. She'd been a puppet for him. One that he knew Carter and Sadie would never risk harming.

If she agreed and they didn't- they'd surrender rather than harm her and he knew that. It made Percy angry.

"I'd rather die than let that monster inside of me." She snapped angrily. "Which is what you should have done Menshikov."

"Don't be foolish child, believe me your fate with me would be better-" and she knew, it wasn't Menshikov speaking now but Apophis. "To rule a world of chaos- once I rule everything shall fall- even your fathers lot- join me. Become my eye and I will spare you of that fate."

"Uh, whatever you're talking about probably isn't so bad as being used as a meat puppet by you asshole." Percy summoned her khopesh, gripping it tightly.

"I'm sorry Menshikov." that came from Carter, "But I stand by my siblings. Magicians and gods have to stand together- and the Greeks have nothing to do with any of this. Whatever you're talking about. As for the world as it is- it may need fixing, but it's worth preserving. We won't let Chaos win." he turned his head to look at Percy. "Stay close to Sadie. Guard her."

And then a lot of things happened at once. Sadie opened her scroll and began to read. Menshikov screamed, "Attack!" and the demons rushed forward. The giant kite spread its wings, deflecting a blast of green fire from Menshikov's staff that probably would've incinerated Sadie on the spot. Carter charged to protect her, while Desjardins summoned a whirlwind around his body and flew toward Vlad Menshikov.

Percy did as she was told, whenever demons got past Carter and the kite Percy sliced them apart, kicking them away, fighting like a whirlwind.

Meanwhile Desjardins and Menshikov rose into the air, locked inside a tornado. They whirled around each other, firing blasts of fire, poison, and acid. Demons who got too close melted instantly.

In the midst of all this, Sadie read from the Book of Ra, untouched by it all, her words rang out clear and loud. She invoked the dawn and the rise of a new day. Golden mist began to spread around her feet, weaving through the dried shells as if searching for life. The entire beach shuddered, and far underground, Apophis roared in outrage.

"Oh, noes!" Ra yelled behind them. "Vegetables!"

Percy turned her head and saw one of the largest demons boarding the sun boat, wicked knives in all four of his hands. Ra gave him the raspberry and scampered away, hiding behind his fiery throne.

"Percy!" Carter called, but Percy was already moving, she pulled away from Sadie, leaping into the boat, swinging her khopesh at the demon- cutting off one of his hands and ducking to avoid the other three hands with their knives- though one of them caught her shoulder.

She swept her foot out, catching the demons legs and then rose as it tripped, fist slamming into it's chest, combined with a call of "Ha-wi!" that send it flying over the edge of the boat.

Ra leaned over the side of the boat when he fell, giving him one last raspberry for good measure.

Desjardins' tornado still spun him around, locked in combat with Menshikov. Percy couldn't tell which magician had the upper hand. Sadie's kite was doing its best to protect her, impaling demons with its beak and crushing them in its huge claws. Somehow Sadie kept her concentration. The golden mist thickened as it spread over the beach.

The remaining demons began to pull back as Sadie spoke the last words of her spell: "'Khepri, the scarab who rises from death, the rebirth of Ra!'"

The Book of Ra vanished in a flash. The ground rumbled, and from the mass of dead shells, a single scarab rose into the air, a living golden beetle that floated toward Sadie and came to rest in her hands.

Sadie smiled triumphantly. But there wasn't much chance to celebrate Then hissing laughter filled the cavern. Desjardins lost control of his whirlwind, and the Chief Lector went flying toward the sun boat. If Percy hadn't thrown herself upwards he'd have smashed into the prow, as it was she managed to grab him, landing on the deck hard, pain flaring in her chest, red hot like molten metal. But he was alive- she could see him breathing so the pain was worth it.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows as Vladimir Menshikov dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch. Around his feet, the dead scarab shells dissolved, turning into bloodred sand.

"Brilliant," he said. "Brilliant, Sadie Kane!"

He stood, holding out his arms victoriously, and- all of the magical energy in the room seemed to race toward his body- golden mist, bright red hieroglyphs, all of it collapsing into Menshikov as if he'd taken on the gravity of a black hole, which was terrifying.

Except- even as he healed Percy knew it wasn't right, something wasn't right it was a trick somehow, one that Carter and Sadie were going to fall for- and something made Percy look down.

And somehow- somehow the sight of blood red mist curling around her feet was the most terrifying thing Percy had ever seen.

"Yes..." the voice was a hiss. "Yes. I chose well." and as loud and clear as the voice was, Percy knew that the only one who could hear it was her.

A sliver of Aphophis' essence was inside of Menshikov, but the snake had made it look like more- to distract them. Percy tried to open her mouth and scream a warning but nothing happened. And her head turned again, this time without her
permission, even as Menshikov, newly healed demanded the scarab from Sadie.

But Percy's gaze had focused on Ra- and she could feel her lips smirking, could feel Apophis' satisfaction- he could easily get the scarab from Sadie in a moment. Meanwhile, here was the perfect chance to kill Ra.

And Ra met her gaze- and she could see fear in those childlike eyes. "Oh noes. Need zebras." and Percy somehow understood that too- understood what he meant- but then Apophis and Ra had be enemies for a long time- and the
snake knew his enemy well, and he had Percy's mind to help him puzzle out Ra's words.

"Zia isn't here." her voice hissed the words, "And now, you die old man." as she spoke she raised her khopesh.