Uh, poor Percy, Carter and Zia. Next chapter you shall see Carter's reaction, and honestly these kids have it rough.
Replies:
Undeath9087: I hope you enjoy this chapter. I feel like you will.
Guest: The name is actually undecided- which is kinda funny since I'm already writing it but I tend to figure out the name later lol. So we shall see.
Rage2091: Percy and chaos are a good mix.
Guest: The connection to chaos is very much a permanent thing. Very very much. I think the concepts of chaos in the two pantheons are similar but I do think they're separate which is an interesting idea to play with.
Guest: Percy is very chaotic lol.
Walking toward Chaos was... surreal. Percy could feel it pulling at her, she was resistant, not totally immune- though she definitely wasn't feeling the pull as hard as the demons and everything else around them was- or even as much as Carter and Zia were-Percy could see the way they clung to one another's hand as they forged their way through it.
They stayed close behind Percy- it was strange but there was less of a pull in her immediate wake.
Still, as they walked Percy watched as trees, boulders and demons flew past them and were sucked into the ocean while lightning flickered through the red-gray mist. Around them chunks of the ground kept cracking and sliding into the tide.
Even Setne was feeling the effects-oh he was whistling as he floated beside the trio, trying to act cool and confident but it was easy to see from the way his colors were fading and his greased hair pointed toward the ocean like a comets trail that even he was struggling with it.
At one point Carter lost his balance, almost tumbling into the turf- though Zia and Percy both moved quickly, grabbing him and steadying him. And it was lucky that they were holding on because a few steps later a fish-headed demon flew out of nowhere and nearly took Carter's legs out from beneath him- though he didn't manage to cling on long before he was sucked into the sea.
Still. It took what felt like a lifetime to reach the jetty, and Percy could see how drained Carter and Zia looked.
She didn't feel good herself- but they looked a lot worse than she felt- and gods but one wrong step really would doom them- the jetty was ten foot wide but with the wind- it wouldn't be easy, and they'd be surrounded by the sea of chaos either side, trying to pull them in.
Still, they didn't have much of a choice did they- Percy ignored the winds, gritting her teeth as she strode forward- and despite the wideness of the jetty it felt as if she'd lose her balance- she was willing to admit that, and the smell made her feel light headed- a mix of ozone, car exhaust and formaldehyde that was about as horrible as Percy had imagined.
She resisted the urge to look into the Sea of Chaos- she didn't need to see, she didn't want to. Except she did- a part of her was almost curious.
Her time being possessed had linked her to it- this was the snakes home- his territory. The parts of him that remained in her made her resistant- but she wasn't willing to push her luck and see how far that resistance went- not a chance. Everything that fell into that sea was dissolved into nothing.
Percy shuddered slightly, glancing back towards the others- and she was startled to realise that Carter and Zia were lagging behind her a fair bit- and at this distance Percy could see the faintly glowing shield in the shape of a scarab flickering around Zia- covering Carter and Setne too, protecting them.
And in the wind Percy could almost hear a voice- faint and hissing in her ear- like a dozen identical voices whispering to her at once.
You come to me child~
See the power I offer~
I will shield you~
The voices made Percy tense up, her fingers curling into fists as she spun back towards the obelisk and marched forward, blinking rapidly as she stared at it when she reached it. It was carved with tiny hieroglyphs, thousands of them, white on white, so they were almost impossible to read. There were the names of gods, enchantments to invoke Ma'at, and some divine words so powerful, they we almost blinding. And all around Percy the sea of Chaos heaved.
Percy felt that pulling feeling-stronger than before- they were close, Apophis' shadow was almost suffocating. Percy couldn't see it but she could sense it- sense the evil, sense the power, crushing down around her. It made it hard for her to stand.
She was ripped out of those thoughts by a hand on her shoulder- and Percy jumped as if she'd been shocked, spinning around- relaxing when she realised that it was just Carter- and she noticed that the wind seemed to have blown away the glamor's on Carter and Zia- that probably meant she was no longer disguised either.
"Are you okay?"
"We're stood in the middle of the Sea of Chaos." Percy pointed out quietly, "I don't think it's actually possible to be okay
right now."
"Good point." Carter exhaled- "What now?"
"Read the spell," Setne said. "You'll see."
Zia handed Carter the scroll- and Percy watched his brows furrow as he tried to read it before he grimaced, shaking his head "I- I can't read it. This stuff is Sadie's speciality."
"Let me help." Zia traced her finger down the scroll. When she found the hieroglyphs she wanted, she frowned.
"This is a simple summoning spell." She glared at Setne. "You said the magic was complicated. You said we'd need your help. How could you lie while holding the Feather of Truth?"
"I didn't lie!" Setne protested. "The magic is complicated for me. I'm a ghost! Some spells—like summoning spells—I can't cast at all. And you did need my help to find the shadow. You needed the Book of Thoth for that, and you needed me to interpret it. Otherwise, you'd still be shipwrecked at the river- sure Percy there might have been able to lead you with a bit more time and focus but you didn't have time. You needed me."
"I hate it but he's got a point." Carter wrapped an arm around Percy tightly.
"Sure I do," Setne said. "Now that you're here, the rest isn't so bad. Just force the shadow to show itself, and then I—er—you can capture it." He paused, "I'd suggest letting little miss Chaos do it for you. He's more likely to respond, and less likely to just attack."
"I-" Percy faltered when Carter looked down at her. Her heart was pounding in her chest.
"It's up to you." Carter's voice was soft, "Do you think you can do it?"
"I-" Percy bit her lip before nodding. "I can do it." she head out her hand and Zia carefully handed her the scroll- pointing to the right part- and Percy spoke the invocation- the words flowing surprisingly easily for her.
And it was so simple- it seemed too simple for something like that- and as Percy spoke she felt that pulling sensation fading away- until the moment when she said the final word- at which point a tremor spread in all directions, as if she'd dropped a massive stone into the Sea of Chaos. The disturbance rippled up the beach and over the hills.
"Um-what was that?" Carter's voice was filled with dread.
"Distress signal," Setne said. "I'm guessing the shadow just called on the forces of Chaos to protect it."
"Wonderful," Carter said. "We'd better hurry, then. Where's the—? Oh…"
And Percy had already seen it- and she could hardly believe it
The white obelisk seemed to cast a shadow across the sea; but as the shadow darkened, and Percy realized that it wasn't the silhouette of the obelisk. Rather, the shadow writhed across the surface of the water like the body of a giant snake, so large that it was hard to process. The shadow grew until the head of the serpent almost reached the horizon. It lashed across the sea, darting its tongue, and biting at nothing.
And Percy's knees buckled beneath her- she could feel the power radiating from the shadow, feel Apophis' soul reaching out for her.
The serpent wasn't completely free. Its tail seemed to be anchored to the obelisk, as if someone had driven a spike to keep it from escaping.
And Percy could feel it, she could feel Apophis in her mind- she could see things as the snake saw them. It was trapped by the white obelisk—seething and in pain. It hated the world of mortals and gods, which pinned it down and constricted its freedom. Apophis despised creation the way Percy might despise a rusty nail driven through her foot, keeping her from walking.
All Apophis wanted was to snuff out the obelisk's blinding light. He wanted to annihilate the earth, so he could go back to the darkness and swim forever in the unrestricted expanses of Chaos.
"Percy!" Carter cried her name, catching her before she hit her knees, her eyes glued to the shadow as it's power focused on her, pushing down, trying to force its way into her mind, to take control of her- she was shaking, trembling with fear as she blocked it out, murmuring under her breath.
"No, no, no, no, no, no... not again not again I won't let you in again I won't let you in-"
"Fight it." Carter's voice was panicked. "W-we found the shadow. What do we do now how do we bind it? Percy keep fighting-" his fingers were brushing her hair out of her face, and Percy screwed her eyes shut, leaning into Carter's arms as she forced herself to breath, the pressure easing very slightly after several long painful moments.
Setne chuckled. "Oh, I can take it from here. You guys did great. Tas!"
And the demon glamor- which apparently hadn't been as gone as Percy thought, turned into solid bands of mummy linen, covering Percy mouth first, then wrapping around her body with blinding speed. Percy screamed into the fabric, toppling to the side, complete encased except for her eyes, Carter landing next to her, and Zia hit the rocks next to them, they were both cocooned too.
Percy blinked back frantic tears as she screamed, wriggling uselessly as Setne leaned over Zia. He carefully extracted the Book of Thoth from beneath her bindings and tucked it under his arm. Then he smiled down Carter and Percy.
"Oh, Carter, Carter." He shook his head as if he were mildly disappointed. "I like you, pal. I really do. But you are way too trusting. After that business on the riverboat, you still gave me permission to cast a glamor spell on you? Come on! Changing a glamor into a straitjacket is sooo easy."
"Mmm!" Carter grunted.
"What's that?" Setne cupped his ear. "Hard to talk when you're all bound up, isn't it? Look, it's nothing personal. I couldn't cast that invocation spell myself, or I would have done it ages ago. I needed you three! Well…one of you, anyway. I figured I'd be able to kill you and Zia on the way, get Percy here- after all she's Apophis' chosen, I thought he'd respond better to her."
Carter let out a rage filled shriek, and wriggled so much that he almost toppled int the water- for some reason Setne pulled him back to safety.
"Now, now," he chided. "No point killing yourself, pal. Your plan isn't ruined. I'm just going to alter it. I'll trap the shadow. That part I can do myself! But instead of casting the execration, I'll blackmail Apophis, see? He'll destroy only what I let him destroy. Then he retreats back into Chaos, or his shadow gets stomped, and the big snake goes bye-bye. And hey- he'll get something he wants too." he reached down-and Percy screamed as he gripped the bandages by the back of her neck, picking her up with infuriating ease- and even when he set her on her feet she couldn't do much more than wriggle uselessly in his grip.
"Apophis gets his eye, I get to rule the world. It's win win situation." and Percy felt dread pooling in the pit of her stomach- and she didn't even think, it took all of her strength but she managed to twist, knocking herself and Setne off balance.
It didn't fully go to plan- she'd hoped to drag him into the Sea of Chaos with her, but, well, he fell forward instead even as she toppled backwards- and she could hear Carter and Zia screaming frantically as she fell- and the last coherent thought she had before she hit the Chaos matter was that at least she wouldn't have to be Apophis' eye.