There is only one god that Percy will bow to. Just one.
Replies:
Rage2091: Eh, even knowing how capable they are he's gonna fuss and worry, that's his job lol.
Ryan Fowler: As he should.
Undeath9087: Heheheh. You're definitely thinking along the right lines there.
Guest: Percy and Nephthys will always have a connection yes. And you'll have to see as we go through it- that's the thing small changes spiral into bigger changes, the butterfly effect.
DrizzleRain: Well I don't think Carter would ever agree to star in a movie about himself lol. And Sadie would probably laugh about it rather than want to be in it. As for who Percy meets. First she meets a demigod not from camp, and then she meets a demigod who's in camp, though it's only a brief meeting.
Drizzle: And we all love him for it.
Guest: Walt/Anubis made the portal for her.
Guest: being Apophis' host exposed her to Chaos magic, which as it lingered inside of her made her resistant to it, especially since she actually wielded his own power against him at one point.
Jubby1905: Love the enthusiasm. And you shall have to wait to see how they all interact.

Sadie still looked dazed, which Percy couldn't blame her for really. It was shocking, seeing Bes so filled with life after so recently visiting him and seeing him looking so broken.

"T-the shadow spell-" Sadie breathed the words, "It actually worked."

"Of course it worked, you crazy kid!" Bes thumped his hairy chest, and suddenly he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform. "Now, get in the car!"

Percy didn't need to be told twice- she was yanking open the car door and about to climb in when she heard, "Oh holy Horus." and the way Carter said it was very much the tone in which he might otherwise say 'holy shit'.

Percy turned to see what was wrong and she let out a little growl- Carter was glaring at the empty spot where Setne had been only a few moments before. A quick glance around told Percy that he was totally gone. And wasn't that just annoying?

Zia let out a snarl, blasting fire at the spot where he'd been lying. And nope, sadly enough Setne hadn't just turned himself invisible- there was no scream of pain.

"Setne was right there!" She protested loudly, "Tied up in the Ribbons of Hathor! How could he just disappear?"

Bes frowned. "Setne, eh? I hate that weasel. Have you got the serpent's shadow?"

"Yeah," Carter said, "but Setne has the Book of Thoth."

"Can you cast the execration without it?" Bes asked.

Sadie and Carter exchanged looks. "Yes," they both said.

"Then we'll have to worry about Setne later," Bes said. "We don't have much time!"

And Percy was scrambling into the back of the limo- and she forced down a smile at the rush of memories- it was just like the one Bes had picked them up in when they first met. Littered with old Chinese-food containers, stomped-on magazines, and dirty laundry.

Percy was quickly joined in the back by Carter and Zia, whilst Sadie climbed into the passengers seat next to Bes- and she instantly moved so that she was braced against the two front seat, peering through the window as Bes slammed his foot down and they took off.

Percy giggled when Sadie glanced back at her, looked forward and then called, "Five points if you can hit that bloke with the cleaver head!"

Boom! Cleaver-head went flying over the hood and Sadie applauded. "WHOOO! Ten point if you hit those two dragonfly things at once!"

Boom, boom! Two very large bugs hit the wind shield.

"Twenty points if you nail that big one with the anchor for a head!" Percy joined in- and she could hear Carter behind her yelling things like;

"Crevice! Look out! Flaming geyser! Go left!"

Percy honestly found that kind of hilarious, cackling as they sped onwards so fast that the world around them almost seemed to blur, and they were approaching the heart of the battle.

And it really was an amazing sight- the gods were pushing back the demons. . It looked like the entire Sunny Acres Godly Retirement Community had unleashed their geriatric wrath on the forces of darkness. Tawaret the hippo goddess was in the lead, wearing her nurse's outfit and high heels, swinging a flaming torch in one hand and a hypodermic needle in the other. She bonked one demon on the head, then injected another in the rump, causing him to pass out immediately.

Two old guys in loincloths were hobbling around, throwing fireballs into the sky and incinerating flying demons. One of the old dudes kept screaming, "My pudding!" for no apparent reason. Percy remembered them- they were the gods that Zia had dealt with when they'd visited the home- and gods but it felt like that had been a lifetime ago.

Heket the frog goddess leaped around the battlefield, knocking out monsters with her tongue. She seemed to have a special fondness for the demons with insect heads. A few yards away, the senile cat goddess Mekhit was smashing demons with her walker, yelling, "Meow!" and hissing.

"Should we help them?" Zia asked.

Bes chuckled. "They don't need help. This is the most fun they've had in centuries. They have a purpose again! They're going to cover our retreat while I get you to the river."

"But we don't have a ship any more!" Carter protested.

Bes raised a furry eyebrow as he turned to look at them. "You sure about that?"

He slowed the Mercedes and rolled down the window. "Hey, sweetie! You okay here?"

Tawaret turned and gave him a huge hippo smile. "We're fine, honeycakes! Good luck!"

"I'll be back!" he promised. He blew her a kiss, and for a second it looked like Tawaret was going to faint from happiness.

The Mercedes peeled out and then Carter seemed unable to stop himself. "Honeycakes?"

"Hey, kid," Bes growled, "do I criticize your relationships?" And Percy grinned at the way Carter's face went bright red- but she did notice Zia grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly- though Sadie was incredibly quiet at that, a worrying sign, usually their sister would take every opportunity to tease Carter.

The Mercedes leaped one last flaming chasm and slammed to a stop on the beach of bones.

Carter pointed to the wreckage of the Egyptian Queen- which looked just as bad now as it had when it had first been driven aground. "See! No boat!"

"Oh, yeah?" Bes asked. "Then what's that?"

Upriver, light blazed in the darkness.

Zia inhaled sharply. "Ra," she said. "The sun boat approaches." and Percy's breath caught at that. Technically she'd ridden it before, but she'd been in a coma at the time. Though she had stood on it and nearly killed Ra on it's decks- well, Apophis had anyway.

And as they got closer the gold-and-white sail gleamed. Glowing orbs flitted around the deck of a boat. The crocodile-headed god Sobek stood at the bow, knocking aside random river monsters with a big pole. And sitting in a fiery throne in the middle of the sun barque was the old god Ra.

"Halllloooooo!" he yelled across the water. "We have cooooookies! Blue coookies for you!" and Percy caught her breath, letting out a shaky laugh, though Sadie and Carter looked confused at that.

Blue cookies. Who'd have ever thoughts something so ridiculous could save the world- that and the thought of home.

Still, they'd probably need more than Blue cookies this time. "Looks like we've got a good ride out of here." Percy spoke softly.

Sadie kissed Bes on the cheek. "You're brilliant, you know that right?"

"Hey, now," the dwarf mumbled. "You're gonna make Tawaret jealous. It just so happened the timing was right. If we'd missed the sun boat, we'd have been out of luck."

And that was not a nice thought.

Still, they had made it in time, they weren't stranded in the Duat- which meant that they could do this.

As the sun boat drifted toward the shore Bes gave them a lopsided grin. "Ready kids? I got a feeling that things up in the mortal world aren't going to be pretty."

"You don't say." Percy pulled a face as the car stopped, and she was scrambling out of it quickly as the glowing lights extended the boat's gangplank.

She was the first, scrambling up it with the others close behind her.

Once she was on the deck Percy turned- and the others were mere steps behind her- and she was glad to see that Bes was going to come with them. It was oddly comforting. And when she turned again, casting her gaze across the deck her focus landed on Sobek, who regarded her with a crocodile smile.

"So the little Kane children have returned."

"So," Sadie snapped, "the crocodile god wants his teeth kicked in." she was by Percy's side in an instant, a protective hand on her shoulder.

"If you're looking for a volunteer I have kicked his ass before." Percy piped up, "Just saying.

And Sobek threw back his scaly green head and laughed. "Well said girls. You both have iron in your bones." and Percy chose to take that as a compliment- after all Sobek respected strength and she had beaten him once before- even if she had gotten hurt while doing so.

Then Percy's gaze shifted- and she felt herself freezing up when she saw that Carter and Zia were moving towards- towards Ra. Towards the fiery throne- and Percy could remember- remember the powerlessness, screaming in her mind as she tried to fight off Apophis, tried to stop him.

And she remembered the agony as she'd been slammed into that fiery throne by Desjardins- the image that she'd seen since, in the Hall of Ages, a permanent reminder of that nightmare which she'd been forced to live through.

"Percy-" Sadie's voice was worried, "Percy are you okay-"

"Cookies!" and Percy would have stumbled back if it wasn't for Sadie's hand on her shoulder because Ra was staring directly at her, "Blue cookie! Blue cookie for you!" he was holding out a plate, and he picked up one of the cookies off of it- and Percy was moving instantly, sprinting forward towards the old sun god, and Carter and Zia both yelped as Percy skidded past them and almost crashed into the throne-and Ra- who dropped his platter, though he still held onto the blue cookie, and his free arm wrapped around her as Percy let out a sob.

"I'm sorry-"

"Blue cookie." Ra repeated, "Blue cookie helps." his voice was oddly comforting- and there was something in the gods eyes, he was trapped deep but he was in there, beneath the childlike exterior. And she managed to pull back, blushing as she wiped away her tears and hesitantly took the cookie from his hand.

"Blue cookies are good. Thank you."

Then Ra rose from his throne and Percy stepped back- letting him wobble to his feet.

Bes tried to help him but Ra waved him off and tottered toward Zia quickly.

Percy's breath caught, her eyes going wide- it wasn't hard to figure out what was happening.

"Zia," he warbled happily, as if singing a nursery rhyme. "Zia, Zia, Zia." and that was new- when Percy had first met him he'd called her Zebras- she only knew it was Zia he'd been talking about because Apophis had known.

Then he reached out to touch Zia's scarab amulet- and Zia backed away nervously- her eyes wide as she glanced back at Carter for reassurance.

"It's okay."

"It's what's meant to happen." Percy spoke up, her voice soft. "The cycle."

And Zia hesitated before nodding and taking a deep breath before she unclasped her necklace and pressed it into the old man's hands.

A warm glow expanded from the scarab, enveloping both Zia and Ra in a brilliant golden light.

"Good, good," Ra said, "Good."

And then Ra began to crumble- and Percy knew that was right too- though Carter and Sadie seemed to be panicking as they watched him melt away into dust and sand. Admittedly it was a strange sight but it felt right in a way that Percy couldn't describe.

"What's happening?" Sadie cried the words, "No- shouldn't we do something we need Ra!" and Carter looked as horrified as Sadie- though he couldn't even seem to get the words out. That almost made Percy giggle.

"It's okay." she told them calmly, "It's what's supposed to happen. It's why he needed Zia."

Bes grunted, nodding. "That was fast too. Usually it takes longer."

"Y-you've seen this before?" Sadie's gaze focused on Bes, "What's going on."

"Rebirth." Percy said the word simply- because her gaze had focused on Zia- the scarab had disappeared from her hands but golden light still radiated around her like a full-body halo. She gave them all a brilliant smile.

And Percy, for the first time in her life, bowed- it felt right. Especially for her- after what had nearly happened, after she'd been possessed by his ultimate enemy.

"Lord Ra. Welcome back."