Hi! I'm back again! There's probably quite a few typoS in the past few chapters since I've been writing non-stop these past few days, sorry about that...
I'll get back to it later, since I always miss the mistakes when I've just written a chapter - and I thought you'd rather have the story rather than wait for some hypothetical corrections.
Regarding the partnership in the chapter - there is no emotional bond involved beyond the similarities between the two members needed between the mortal and the gods, there is no sudden romantic link or anything, it's a tie of family and magic
(Yes, Bast uses the "courting" but she's mischievous like a cat, she could have used the world "hunting" just as well)
It doesn't forbid any future romantic relationship either - remember that Egyptian gods are no better than the Greek when it comes to sleeping with family ^_^
XV. Freedom
Over the summer, Hazel had learned enough about both Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter that, by the time Gwendolyn and the rest of the Romans were leaving, she'd decided to follow them.
She would be dropped at the Wolf House, where Lupa found and trained the Roman half-bloods before sending them to the Legion – if she declared them worthy.
Nico had been a bit crestfallen, having hoped that the girl would come home to the clan – but she'd quickly pointed out that she still expected visit from her brother, since he was able to travel through the shadows.
Beside – she wouldn't be alone to fend for herself, train with the she-wolf, and make her way south; since once she stated her intention, her brother had immediately plotted for Jason and Franck to be dropped at the Wolf House at the same time. Hazel hadn't been able to find herself annoyed at the meddling, knowing it was proof that the boy cared.
The daughter of Pluto had also met Bianca, her big sister – who was the eldest, and in her opinion the coolest half-blood she'd met.
This summer had been rather strange for the Camp. While the usual activities went on, with children canoeing, or riding pegasus, and so on – the arena were also never empty, and not only used by the children of Ares.
Even stranger – said progeny of the god of war were far less belligerent and far more focused than usual!
The Hephaestus Cabin had been seen in talks with the children of Athena and the Roman demigods, leaning over plans and schematics. Within a few weeks, fortifications had started to be raised around the hill.
Gwen had been a bit stilted around Adra the first few times she saw her around Camp, not knowing how to react around the girl she knew to be a goddess – but then she realized that even those that knew her true nature didn't treat her differently from the other half-bloods.
After that, the red-head had quickly let her true, rather easy-going and optimistic nature take over, and was often seen sparing or playing cards with the Potter Heiress when she wasn't hunting with Denys.
Denys was seen more often around camp too – and while a few half-bloods had realized his true nature, most of the youngest hadn't, and were just happy to have another older half-blood ready to help them when they struggled – because no matter how curt he could be when talking to them, his advice always ended up helping…
Adra had been rather amused when she'd realized that the god who always preached so loudly he despised half-bloods was growing quite fond of the children he was charged with. Then she'd let himself rant at her about absurd it was to train children for war – that just when they'd finally managed to put in those hard-headed hero-wannabe that they didn't have to always risk their life, that it wasn't the only thing they were good for; the choice was taken from them by "dear grand-father".
"It is absurd, and unfair." Adra agreed easily "But…"
"But if they're trained, at least they'll have a better chance to survive." Denys sighed in agreement, a giant wolverine that had been creeping on him disappearing in a cloud of dust as he threw his blade toward it with far more strength than any half-blood could
"Precisely." the green-eyed goddess concurred "Besides, it's not like your grand-pa is gong to be able to do anything just yet, he doesn't even have a proper body yet." she dragged the god in hiding toward the arenas "What you need right now is to let out some steam." she pointed at the half-bloods currently training "Go and trash them just enough to teach them, if you' re really that worried."
"They won't get out of this in one piece."
"That's what ambrosia and children of Apollo and Asclepius are for."
The trashing session that followed was rather epic, ending with a sparing match with Adra that brought quite a few of the camper to watch. It had also been good enough that Chiron managed to convince the god to do a repeat performance once a week…
By the end of summer, all the gods who had children in camp had realized what Dionysus what doing – and after Denys, there had also been a new child of Ares, Enyo and even Athena that had taken his place in the arena from time to time.
¤.¤.¤
The time she didn't spent with the half-bloods, Adra spent with the Kane, who were on their last days of ritual-prepping.
"Honestly," Adra sighed "while imprisoning them wasn't the right solution, I do understand why the Per Ankh Lector did it." she said, gesturing at the piles of old papyrus strewn around "If the Norse and Celt's fault was that they became too indifferent, and the Greek and Romans complacent… The Egyptian were way too meddlesome!"
"And you'll teach them their lesson, like you did the other pantheons." Carter soothed "After all, that's why we're here, right?"
"Right." Adra sighed "Really, it's not like their way wasn't interesting at first… But somewhere along the way their lost their way, forgot that their role wasn't to rule as kings among humans but to guide them."
She waved her hand in agitation "I mean, it's not as if I'm advocating against living among mortals, that would be rather hypocritical of me!"
"But we've never ruled over a kingdom of faithful neither." Carter completed "I mean, I was elected leader of Amestris, and you inherited your position as Cardinal Lord!" the eight year old incarnate shuddered in disgust at the memories "And never again am I volunteering to rule a country!"
"If I had any worries, you'd have quite neatly erased them." Julius laughed at his son's antics "What was so bad with ruling a country?" he wondered – as a descendant of pharaohs, that didn't seem so horrible to him
"Paperwork." the boy answered with haunted eyes "Mountains and mountains of it!"
"Well, I guess you won't be succeeding me as a scholar, eh?" his father mused "And Saddie's no better!"
Not too far away, the little girl that was practicing her penmanship by copying some runes from a wixen child-book gifted by Pandora answered by pulling out her tongue and proclaiming "No way I'm spending my life with boring books! I'll be a kick-ass magician!"
From the next room, Ruby's Language!" warning was heard, making the girl hung her head sheepishly – and focusing back on her runes
While she didn't have the wixen brand of magic – the little girl's talent for Egyptian Magic had impressively crossed over to a rather instinctive understanding of the way runes could be used once she was explained their meaning.
"Well, I guess I still have my eldest daughter!" Julius proclaimed happily
"I don't mind books." Zya agreed eagerly – while she was also very keen on Battle Magic and other physical activities, the girl had developed a love for learning over the years, her keen mind making her surprisingly insightful for her young age
¤.¤.¤
"So," Adra mused, getting back to the initial topic "You've decided on a place?"
"The Royal Air Force Memorial, near Embankment." Ruby stated
Adra raised an eyebrow "It's not very Egyptian, right?"
"But it's quite literally the symbol of the god we're trying to bring back." Julius pointed out "And other-wise, the next best thing would be either Cleopatra's Needle again.."
"Way too dangerous…"
"Or the British Museum."
"Yeah, that would be a no-go too, you'd never be able to work there again in peace."
"So the RAF monument it is." concluded Ruby "Of course, since the place's ties with Egypt are tenuous, we'll have to compensate, but thanks to all the experimentation we've been doing with Bianca to help her improve her own magic despite the lack of Mesopotamian culture laying around, we've learned to be far more efficient with our magic."
"And arithmancy gives me head-splitting head-aches, but it's surprisingly effective even with our magic." Julius added
"So all that's left is finishing your move and waiting for the right date?"
"The fourth day of Phamenoth's month is an auspicious day, and it's a month of growth. It's also a full moon, which will help with a ritual of liberation like this one."
"It's the fourth of July." Carter interjected, rolling his eyes "Mom, dad, not everyone knows the Egyptian calendar by heart."
Ruby blushed – and Julius too, thought it wasn't as evident.
"Yeah." the tall, bald man eventually managed to say "The fourth of July."
"Which is barely two weeks away. Well, then I guess we'll have to call the clan to help you pack up!" Adra mused
¤.¤.¤
The house the Kane had commissioned was finished, the large stone and brick house constructed on the model of ancient Egyptian home. Just like for their ship, they'd worked with the warding team to create a mix of wixen and magician wards.
The result was such that Julius and Ruby had both been offered a full-time job by Gringotts – but while they'd had to decline, the couple had accepted to consider free-lance contracts from time to time for the biggest projects.
The resulting building was a large, multi-storied mansion, mixing old Egyptian style and modern amenities. Quite appreciated by the family – and the clan – was the gigantic room that would be living and dining room all in one – but also library, office, studying and playing room.
For the family that tended to like living side by side, the gigantic, multi-function room was perfect.
There were also quite a few empty room on the first floor – while the family's room were on the second floor.
The result was rather simple – after spending so much time researching the history of the shesh, and how to free the gods, they'd came to a startling conclusion.
Over time, less and less children of the pharaoh had made their way to the Per Ankh, seen as too dangerous to learn the ways of the magician.
It was time to give back to those people what was their inheritance.
The move was rather dangerous, as it meant going in direct opposition with the old organization… But witnessing the wixen world, and the changes brought by the clan over the years, had made the Kane family unable to do any less for their own people. If the old British wixen world, so stuck between dying old traditions and ignorant muggle-born, had been able to make such stride in integrating the new-comers and reviving their old culture; why shouldn't they do the same?
Why shouldn't they find, and teach those people that had been denied their inheritance because they were deemed to powerful, teach them how to use the powers they'd been born with… and take their own place in the wixen world?
This – this was the next step.
But first…
They had a god to free.
¤.¤.¤
Bast stretched languidly as she eyed the new room with appreciation – thanks to the wixen-shesh wards, the Kane House and it's courtyard were at a very comfortable 24 degrees, and would only drop to 21 degrees during autumn and winter months. Which explained why the rest of the clan had so swiftly convinced them to add a large natural pool in said courtyard, where all the children were currently frolicking.
But if the cat goddess currently was in her human form, rather than her feline one – it wasn't thanks to the concentration of children.
No it was thanks to the last test Julius, Ruby and Carter had conducted together.
One of the downfall of Ancient Egypt had quite clearly been the same thing that led it to glory. The godlings.
The fact that contrarily to other pantheons, the Egyptian gods possessed a human had just as many down-sides as it had upside.
Because while the shesh that shared their body with a god were clearly the most powerful of all, they were also in constant danger of having their mind overpowered by the deity in residence. Not to mention the fact that since the mortal body wasn't made to channel godly powers, their body would inevitably start to break-down the longer they shared it with a deity.
And the goddess was more than lucid enough about the rest of her pantheon to realize that while some gods were cautious enough, taking care not to suppress the mind of the body they share, nor staying to long to damage it… Most gods were arrogant and feeling superior enough that they didn't care, seeing the possession of the mortal body, and suppression of it's mind as a right.
Of course – the fact that powerful shesh also had head-strong minds, meant that this wasn't something often done with them – but the less skilled practitioners that were arrogant enough to try to channel a god despite lacking the strength of mind or body to withstand it? Those, most gods had no compunction taking over.
While they intended to free the gods – the Kane had no intention to let their people fall back in their old shortcoming. They would be working with the gods – but it was past time to find a way to protect the shesh.
Of course, it meant finding an incentive for the gods to work with them without being able to come out and play in the mortal realm, since they needed a mortal body for this.
This was when wixen magic came in play.
¤.¤.¤
After all – Adra had already made it happen, albeit accidentally – with Anubis…
Egyptian gods could have a mortal body without possessing anybody – they only had to be adopted.
Of course magical adoption, like what Pyxis had done for his now son, wouldn't be enough in their case – the only reason it had for them was that Pyxis was a Death himself, and as such had granted a direct and permanent bond to his powers to Anubis when adopting him.
The young god need a place of Death to maintain his body without possessing anyone – he was now quite directly and always tied to Death.
So clearly – this method was unique to their situation – but it had given the Kane the start of an answer.
Since magical adoption couldn't cut it – then blood adoption it would be paired with sympathetic magic it would be.
Of course, the wixen world had rather strict rules about blood rituals…
But the Kane weren't wixen, they were magicians.
So over the years, while they were researching how to free the gods – they'd also worked with Bianca on the paperwork to present the ICW, to give them legal standing among the numerous other preternatural beings that were recognized by the International Council of Wixen.
It had taken quite some time, and required hours and hours of talk, demonstration of their powers, affirmation that no, they had nothing against the gods and firmly stood apart from the Per Ankh's own stance on the topic – but eventually, they'd done it.
The Kane were a recognized part of the wixen world – as would their students once they had them – and they were legally authorized to perform blood magic as long as it was voluntarily and non life-threatening.
Bast had been all for playing the test-subject – for the cat goddess had rarely had the leisure of taking a human host, so busy she was with her role as the Eye of Ra.
Of last thing was needed – a potential host, a mortal with a mind and way of life similar to her own for possession to be possible, and powerful enough not to be overwhelmed. Someone that would be her new partner and family.
Saddie had immediately volunteered – but while Bast loved the little girl like her own kit, it was clear to everyone that they were mentally compatible; sure both were curious and rather self assured; but one was laid-back – the other head-strong, one loved fighting – the other preferred magic, one a protector – the other too young yet to really know what she wanted in life…
So Bast had taken to wander the wixen world – looking for either a half-blood or a strong wix that would be compatible with her way of life.
It had been Zya that had pointed out that Carter was the perfect candidate – and while both agreed, it would also have made the experience a moot point, so Bast kept looking. Luna had been a close match – the easy-going girl was just as protective as her, a mischievous side, and quite a few traits that made her quite close to Bast… But while she didn't hesitate to fight while needed, the young witch didn't share the cat goddess' love for it.
Then, Bast had met Nymphadora Tonks of the Black.
The metamorphmagus, little cousin of Pyxis, hadn't been a frequent visitor of the clan over the years as she'd been a student of Hogwarts by the time they'd been back from their years of traveling. Still she did come with her mother to visit, and got along quite well with everyone – her easy-going nature making it easy to for her to play with the children as if she was the same age as them, her love of family letting her adopt the big clan in her own inner circle without a second though since Pyxis and Adra were family, and they were family to those two…
She was also a born-warrior, despite the clumsiness inherent to her metamorphmagus condition – as proved by her determination in her current auror training.
So the cat had started courting the girl.
¤.¤.¤
Truth be told, catching the attention of Tonks hadn't been hard – she just had to let the girl witness a few events that proved she wasn't a regular cat and the girl had taken the bait.
It had been the legal ramifications that had taken a bit more time to settle – because if she accepted to volunteer, the witch would become part of the shesh too. Thankfully, thanks to the ground-work done by Bianca and the Kane, the magician now had a legal standing in the wixen world; but still, since she was training for a position in the ministry, it was only natural that they had to be informed.
And while the shesh did have legal standing – it didn't mean that bigots had suddenly magically disappeared from the wixen world...
Nymphadora's career, if she did this, may well suffer from it.
But the girl was a Black – and what she did, she did wholeheartedly.
So she'd jumped in with both feet, loudly claiming that if some idiots tried to keep her from her dream job for no-good reasons, she'd aim Pyxis and the power of his current political alliance at them.
After that, the preparations had gone rather swiftly.
The blood adoption ritual was more complicated than the magical adoption one, and rarely authorized among wixen, but not that unused that people didn't know how to make it anymore, so there had been no need for hours upon hours of research – since Tonks was the one to do the adopting, all that was needed was her own magical profile, something all wixen learned about during their fifth year Astronomy course.
Then a potion had to be brewed over the course of three days, and by the time Adra was heading out to the solstice council in Olympus – Nymphadora and Bast were in a basic ritual circle…
[Hidden Quest Complete! A New Way for the Gods...
Goal complete: a way has been found for the Egyptian gods to walk the Mortal Realm without possessing a human
Reward: +400 XP, +10 PP]
[Life Quest Updated! Blood of the Pharaoh / Bright as the Sun / A Magical Sister
Hidden Goal complete: give Bast a body
Hidden Reward: +20XP, +2PP]
The change had been instantaneous, and very strange for Bast.
In this mortal body, she couldn't use her more powerful powers in the Mortal Realm, yet had gained access to regular wixen magic – but because it was born from the blood adoption, she could easily revert back to her true form in the deeper layers of the Duat, and reach back toward her link with the witch once back among mortals to re-create it.
As for Nymphadora herself – probably because it was a goddess she'd adopted, the link partially went both way, opening the world of Egyptian magic to her. Some things had come rather instinctively to her, thanks to sympathetic magic – other, she'd have to work for like any shesh… But rather amusingly her favorite new gift were her newfound agility and coordination.
¤.¤.¤
Bast smiled in amusement as she watched the pool become a watery battle-ground, Egyptian divine words, wixen magic and simple physical prowess coming at play…
This, she felt as she watched the wixen, half-bloods and magician children play, was what the future held in store for them.
And it had been millennia since she'd looked forward to it.
"We're back!"
She stretched languidly, and turned to greet Ruby and Pandora. The witch was holding a large bird-cage, that she was already opening, letting a bird that quite clearly wasn't an owl out.
"You managed to find a real hawk?"
"There aren't a lot of magical hawk breeders." Ruby explained "We could have gone to a non-magical one, but the paperwork to buy it would have been nightmarish." she rolled her eyes "I really do understand Carter's opinion on ruling a country and paperwork now that I'm officially in charge of the Lotus House… And we're only nine in it for now!"
Bast laughed as she quite agreed– this was one of the numerous reason why she'd have been compatible with the incarnated god after all.
"Still, luckily there is a breeder of spear-hawks in Wales. It took a couple of hours, but here we are!" she smiled at the bird
"I though sparrow-hawks were the local breed?" Zya asked, most of the children having interrupted their water-war to watch the new bird
"The spear-hawk is a magical breed." Ruby explained "Their looks are rather similar to the sparrow-hawk, but they are a bit larger, longer-lived, and they have a minor wind ability that makes their claws particularly sharp. They can be trained to hunt and this one has also been trained to carry letters."
¤.¤.¤
A few days later, the five Kane, Adra, Tonks and Bast were all assembled at the Royal Air Force Memorial.
While Julius and Ruby hadn't been to keen on letting their children participate – said children hadn't wasted any time in reminding them that the last time, they'd only succeed and survived their endeavor thanks to them.
Tonks had also volunteered to help once she'd learned what was going on, pointing out that at least on full-fledged, out-of-school wix could be useful in case of emergency.
In the nearest tree, Tehem, the haw they'd recently adopted in the clan, was watching the preparations. The bird, since it was magical, was intelligent enough that Adra, currently the most skilled in beast-speak, had been able to explain to him succinctly what was going on – that he was part of the family, and would be possessed by a 'great one' but that it would only be temporarily and he would then be free to either stay with the family, or leave them.
The bird had agreed – helping a great one was great honor after all, just like being adopted by a family with so many of them present.
Given how well-known the monument they were using was, as simple notice-me-not charm wasn't enough. As such, Adra had taped in the local Mist – the Kane called it Glamour, but really it was the same, simply powered by a different deity depending on the area. Here in London, Brigit was the one in charge, and was once more taking her role seriously, consequently reducing the work of the obliviators and other ministry officials in the muggle world.
Right now, any non-magical being was giving a large turn to the area, thinking that they were a cleaning crew in charge of the up-keeping of the monument.
Julius positioned the four sons of Horus canopic figures toward each cardinal point, while Ruby and Saddie writing lines of hieroglyphs on each face of the monument, taking care not to impinge the name of the honored deceased.
They were soon several layers deep in the Duat.
Sand started to gather around the monument, just like a portal was opened with Egyptian magic – and Julius, Ruby but also Zya and Saddie started to feed power to the ritual.
Just out of the circle, Carter and Adra were ready, Tehem now on the boy's shoulder.
A step behind again, Nymphadora and Bast were monitoring the Duat, checking that no one was paying them too much attention, the witch weaving a few more notice-me-not to reinforce the charm against the magicians.
Power was starting to rise – and a familiar silhouette was soon stepping out of the sand whirlwind that was quickly closing down.
[Life Quest Updated! Blood of the Pharaoh / Bright as the Sun / A Magical Sister
Goal complete: free Horus from his prison
Reward: +10XP]
Tall and muscular, but not looking older than fourteen year old, Horus had a shaved head, with a braided ponytail, two tones eyed – one silver, the other golden – lined in khol and wore leather-armor, with a kopesh tied to his waist.
"Welcome back, nephew." she nodded toward the bird on Carter's shoulder "Now if you could hop on, we don't have a lot of time before the whole Per Ankh realizes what we've done."
"There's already movements in the Duat." Adra agreed "We've got a couple minutes max."
"You want me to possess a bird?" the god asked with some distaste
"It's that or nothing." Carter pointed out negligently, not too keen on letting the teen-god start a power-trip "We've freed you, and now we're offering you a chance to gain a real body. Your choice, really."
The abrupt speech made the other raise an eyebrow – and take a proper look to both Adra and Carter, but also Bast.
"I saw it from our prison, of course." he admitted "But it was difficult to believe…" a firm nod, and with a rush of power, Tehem suddenly wasn't alone in his body
Ruby and Zya rushed to erase the glyphs on the monuments, Julius and Saddie took care of the figures and the circle – while Bast and Nymphadora were distracting the approaching shesh from the House of Life, while Adra and Carter were powering the Mist to last just a bit longer.
The group left just in time, seeing a tall man wearing a linen robe typical for the Per Ankh, sun-kissed skin, shoulder-length dark hair combed back and a forked beard arrived just as they disappeared.
[Life Quest Updated! Blood of the Pharaoh / Bright as the Sun / A Magical Sister
Goal complete: escape the Per Ankh
Reward: +10XP
Bonus Goal failed: escape the Per Ankh's notice]
¤.¤.¤
Thanks to the same kind of engrave medallion Bast had used when she was possessing a cat, Horus was able to communicate with the people around him – which made it far more easier to explain the current situation to him.
While, as a god, he could still see what was going on in the Mortal Realm despite being trapped in the depths of Duat, he hadn't necessarily focused all his attention on the clan given that most weren't magicians.
The god hadn't liked much the Kane's categorical affirmation that they wouldn't be going to the old ways – but the fact that they did have an alternative that it could witness thanks to Bast and Tonks, not to mention the presence of not one but three Old Ones, made him refrain from judging too fast.
He had been rather stunned to see Anubis too, finding the god quite changed – when he'd been his foster brother, Anubis had been respectful toward their elders, but also quiet, not very interesting in the young war god's opinion since he didn't much care for battle…
Sirius Black was a self-assured young wix, proud not only of his family and magic – but also of his godly powers, not afraid anymore to be tied to Death and Chaos, and quite honestly – far more powerful than he remembered.
He'd been stunned to note that when looking through the Duat for his fellow Egyptian god's true form – the shy, quiet boy had grown.
Anubis was now older than him.
It was probably his competitive spirit that made Horus decide – that if shy, quiet, nerdy and scaredy-cat Anubis had been able to learn how to live among the wixen and had even thrived in their midst, then so could he.
The young god, that had made a face when presented with Tehem, was now quite enjoying the form, that was letting him freely observe the people around him.
The clan, while they knew he was a god, treated him like any other member of the family – he was unused to garner so little respect, yet at the same time couldn't really protest given that Bast, Anubis and even Loki all shared the same treatment. And while there wasn't respect – there was harmony, and warmth in the large, ragtag family.
Day after day, Horus followed someone different – sometimes Pyxis, Remus or Leto, working with government, sometimes Tonks training to be what he quickly realized was a magical force of order, sometimes the Kane couple, who was both working with the goblins to mix wixen and shesh magic or starting to prospect for students to the new shesh house they'd established with the ICW, the Per Sesen.
He followed the children too – witnessing the lessons of the young magicians, the homework of the wixen currently on holiday… And even following the female Old One as she casually visited the Greek and Romans half-bloods, went to for tea with the numerous water goddesses of the Sidh or engaged in drinking games with the Norse.
He never seen the other pantheons converse so freely.
There was not a day when something new wasn't tripping him – and it took nearly a month for the god to realized he was so engrossed in witnessing the life of the clan that he'd not even thought to look for a host to possess.
Seeing the other pantheons made it quite evident too – that they'd brought their own imprisonment by toying too much with the mortals. It made him realize that there was a balance to be found too – because he heard the Greek half-bloods talk of how their godly parents had only recently begun to give them attention, and seen the resentment some still held on.
Horus was a young god – but he was also a leader, and the heir to his father's throne.
With the Kane freeing intent to free the other gods, he knew the day would soon come – where he'd have to ascend the throne again.
It made him realize – that times had changed, and he wanted to be a part of it. The Kane had been right after all – the old Way of the God was long gone, and it was time for something new; and as pharaoh of the Egyptian gods… It would be his duty to lead by example.
¤.¤.¤
By now he knew – that the backup plan of forcefully possessing someone and discretely leave the Per Sesen behind wouldn't be needed.
It was time for him to find a mortal partner.
[Life Quest Updated! Blood of the Pharaoh / Bright as the Sun / A Magical Sister
Bonus Goal complete: Horus is now convinced of the wisdom of the New Path of the Gods and will assist you
Reward: +20XP, Horus' Approval]
[New Perk unlocked
Horus' Favor (5PP): +2 ST, +10 Egyptian Battle Magic
Available: 28 PP]
The Kane family minus Saddie, who still was too young for Chaos Game, and Adra had received the notification unexpectedly as all were enjoying the late summer sun in the Burrow's garden.
They'd been invited by the Weasley matriarch – which Pandora, Bianca and Adra had barely managed to convince to let them help with the food.
Charlie, who'd come for the holiday, had been rather surprised to see the new-found grace of Tonks since they'd been at school together – and the talk had rather naturally turned toward the topic of the Per Sesen, how they'd separated from the Per Ankh, and so on.
Soon, the fact that the hawk could talk was treated by completely normal – and Bill, who was also home, was deep in talk with him about Egyptians tombs and how dangerous they could be.
The eldest of the Weasley siblings showed a depth of understanding of Egyptian magic and culture rather surprising for a wizard – Horus soon had to admit that even him didn't know the answer to some of his questions given that magic really wasn't his specialty – he was first and foremost a warrior. The wizard had immediately started to ask questions about this too, quite fascinated by the stories the god could tell as he had lived them.
Over the next few weeks, Tehem spent quite a bit of time at the Weasley house – enough so that the matriarch had transfigured a bird stand near Bill's favorite napping spot in the garden..
The idea that mortals were studying the past they'd forgotten, and trying to learn from it, was rather fascinating to the young deity, rather used to the immutability of the gods.
It made him strangely homesick, and wanting to see Egypt again.
Of course – he knew he couldn't right now, not with the Per Ankh's head-quarter still being there…
He'd have to find a partner before – because it had been confirmed by Anubis, then Bast, than mortals didn't realize they were gods once they had a body, instead mistaking them for powerful half-bloods… And the magicians tended to avoid half-bloods, knowing that meddling with them would be risking their godly parent's wrath. They may have imprisoned their own gods – that was a long time ago, and they were in no position nowadays to do the same with another pantheon.
By the end of August, feeling strangely shy for once, the god had gathered his courage – and proposed partnership to Bill Weasley.
The curse-breaker had been enthusiastic about it – the goblins even more when they realized it meant one of their employee would have access to Egyptian magic, even if it meant he would have to be trained.
Even Molly Weasley had been enthusiast – when she realized it meant her son would be home for the next two years, as the goblins had immediately transferred him back to London, making him work half-days and instructing him to go and train at the Per Sesen's First Nome.
[Life Quest Updated! Blood of the Pharaoh / Bright as the Sun / A Magical Sister
Hidden Goal complete: give Horus a body
Hidden Reward: +20XP, +2PP]
¤.¤.¤
By the time September care around, the Kane House had gained quite a few students.
Beyond of course Carter, Zya and Saddie; Bianca and Adra had already been dropping by quite often.
Then, Tonks had been added to the lot, spending a few hours when she could since she was pretty busy with auror training – and thanks to her partnership with Bast, she'd become quite proficient with Battle Magic, gaining the attention of Alastor Moody, a famous auror nearing retirement that quickly took her under his wing and started to mentor her – and whole-heartedly encouraging her to keep on with her studies of Egyptian magic if it made her a better auror.
Bill had followed when he was partnered with Horus, gaining too a rather innate understanding of Battle Magic but interesting himself in just about everything, taking quite seriously the fact that the goblins had invested in him by giving hi the time to study without docking his pay.
Other students had found their way to what was now the Per Sesen's headquarter, thanks to Julius and Ruby's recruitment.
The couple, knowing they couldn't just go around and talk to the untrained magicians without catching the attention of the Pr Ankh had chosen a convoluted way to find recruits – dropping secrets messages, hidden behind intent wards, all over Western Europa's Egyptians Exhibitions.
The message led to a few lockers, heavily warded and protected, where the potential students would find leaflets explaining a few things – first, the existence of the gods and magicians, then the Per Ankh and why they hadn't been trained by them…
Finally, for the most skeptical, who'd come so far yet still had trouble believing what they were reading – the instruction to the most basic of Egyptian spells, scrying. The spell was also another layer of protection, as only by scrying would the students be able to find the location of the next secret message – this one the one that explained about the Per Sesen, and the instruction to contact them, and hidden just like the precedent, behind an intent-based ward.
In a month, three students had already made their way to them…
One had been a twelve year old French boy, with bright pale blue eyes and nearly-white cropped hair. He'd explained that he'd always felt a connection to Ancient Egypt – and when he'd stumbled on the hidden messages, he finally understood why.
Ruby had liaised with the French wixen ministry, gaining the authorization to inform Paul Thomas' parents that they had a magical child, and then arranging for training for him. Paul was going to be a live-in student, and commute home every weekend and holidays – after an authorization had been secured by the two countries' magical government since international teleportation was regulated in the ICW...
The other two students were a single mother and daughter. The mother was a natural sau, a charm and amulets maker – while her daughter was able to heal wounds.
The two were from Manchester, but weren't attached enough to the place that it was a problem for them to move away – and the mother had rather easily found work with the Devon Archaeological Society, given her Doctorate in History. While she'd done her doctorate on Ancient Egypt, Mary Ellis had shifted her focus back to the United-Kingdom when she'd suddenly been widowed when her daughter had been less than one year old.
Bast, who by now was nearly fully healed from her ordeal against Apophis, was happily teaching Combat Magic 101 and Healing 101 to the students, Ruby taking over Divination 101 and Divine Words 101 and Julius Glamour 101 and Elementalism 101 – the rest of the classes, they split among them depending on the days… And looked forward to a future where they'd have more teachers.
¤.¤.¤
Now that he had a body of his own, Horus was still finding his place among the permanent organized chaos that was the clan – and since he didn't know much about anything taught by the Per Sesen beyond the Combat Magic Bast was already teaching, he couldn't really help.
The adults had pointed out that since he was a teenager and didn't have any responsibilities right now since his subjects were still imprisoned, he should take advantage of his youth.
He'd been a bit ambivalent about it – but was soon swept in the rhythm of the daily life of the numerous children of the clan.
Strangely enough, Sirius was the one who had helped the most – his foster-brother taking advantage of the calmer evenings to talk to him about how Adra had found him in New Orleans, then all but ordered him to take a younger appearance – and how he'd since grown up with all of them.
His fellow god, who'd changed so much – and for the better – looked so happy while recounting the years spent traveling and meeting numerous half-bloods, the simple daily life or even the time spent at Hogwarts, that it was suddenly evident what he had to do.
"I don't think I'd be able to endure being a child again."
Sirius didn't seem too surprised at that "You always hated being helpless." the other god agreed, remembering times long gone "And listening to the elders was difficult for you, you always argued back."
"That I did." Horus laughed "I hated being told to do something without a good reason, whereas you always obeyed without protesting."
"Everyone was looking at as if I was a disaster waiting to happen before of my father." Anubis explained "I didn't have much of a choice."
Horus' eyes widened, once more realizing how narrow-minded they'd been, then started talking again "But you know… Thirteen, I think I could manage."
Sirius' face slackened in surprise as he realized what the other was saying "You want to study magic?"
"Why not?" the god of war called a light to his hand
There was no mistaking it, Sirius immediately realized, this wasn't godly powers but wixen magic at work…
Horus, who never managed to listen to his Goddess of Magic mother long enough to learn any Egyptian magic, had managed to learn a wixen spell all by himself!
"I don't say I won't stumble here and there…" Horus mused "I don't know everything about this modern world yet…" he smiled, and letting go of the light, he offered his hand to the other "But with the help of a brother and his mad yet marvelous family, I'm sure I could manage."
Sirius took his hand – then surprised the other god by pulling him in a hug.
Somewhere behind them there was a cry of "Yeah! Puppy pile!" from a voice Horus' was pretty sure was Leifr's
Then the two of them were suddenly in the middle of a gigantic group hug – everyone eventually falling in a large puppy pile of laughing children to the floor…
"Your crazy family too now, it's too late to run." Sirius answered, the two of them laughing with everyone else
"I think I can live with that."
¤.¤.¤
By the time September first came – Her-em-Akhet, magician of the Per Sesen and child of the Weasley was boarding the Hogwarts' Express as the first exchange student in decades.
It had been rather stunning to realize that just like Bast and Sirius had told him – the half-bloods of the various pantheons instinctively identified him like one of their own, expressing quite a bit of curiosity about an Egyptian demigod yet polite enough not too prying despite their evident curiosity.
Any strangeness he had was imputed to the fact he was new to the wixen world – and before he'd even arrived to the wixen school, Akhet already knew he'd made the right choice.
Ronald Weasley, with whom he hadn't spent that much time during the holidays, was sticking by his side, taking the fact he'd been adopted by his brother quite seriously – and having decided that since the magician was in his school year, it was up to him to help him get used to the school.
The new student had been encouraged to follow the first year to cross the lake – he'd been a bit dubious about it, Egyptian god having a notoriously bad reaction to large body of water – but Sirius had merely winked, and urged him forward…
It was rather a strange experience for the Egyptian – and one more good point for the mortal body that was currently his own. While he could feel his godly powers weaken as they sailed – his body wasn't any worse for wear, and his wixen magic was untouched.
Soon, they'd crossed the lake, entered the wards – and with them the domain of a local deity – and the sorting hat was weaving a tale about the day the four founders had to fight a dragon, thus giving the school it's motto.
Then, once the first years were sorted, the headmaster was announcing his status as an exchange student, earning him quite a few intrigued glances – and with the call of Her-em-Akhet Weasley." he was stepping forward.
"Quite a bold choice." a booming voice praised in his head as he realized that there were four people peaking at his mind
"Not much love for learning." a calm woman added "Yet some wisdom non-the-less."
"You've done well in shedding your arrogance and listening to the Shadow and her clan." another male voice, sharper yet calmer, praised
"So, where do you think you belong, young Egyptian?" a second, career, female voice asked
The god took a moment to think about it, weighting in the fact that clearly, those could only be the founders the hat had been talking about before, which means they'd managed the feet of ascending to keep on protecting their beloved school…
"Honestly, I'm rather inclined toward Gryffindor." he admitted "But I think your advice is one I'd defer too."
"Well said, young god." four voices praised at once
¤.¤.¤
Akhet made his way toward the red and gold table under thunderous applause. Fred and George were eagerly leading the racket, and he soon found himself sandwiched between the two "Good job, cousin!" one of them said with a happy smile
"Oh, you've gained acceptance from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw too!" the other added 'That's a good haul!"
His fellow third years Gryffindor students were soon introducing themselves – Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas were two half-bloods wizards, Hayden Hargrave and Neville Longbottom were both pure-blood while Flynn Moran was a muggle-born demigod son of Áine.
Within a week, Akhet had started to get used to the large, bustling school. While he wasn't in the same house as anyone else in the clan – there were three Weasley in Gryffindor who just like Ron firmly believed that since he'd bee, adopted as a brother by Bill they had to care of him, and he saw the other quite regularly during the day between the morning training most god-born and quite a few regular wixen attended, the study sessions in the library during the afternoon – not to mention the table hopping everyone did during the meal, the student keeping to their own house table only during the large feasts.
The school had been all but boiling in excitement when a few days after the beginning of term, five new tables had been added in the great hall – already, the faculty's table had been considerably lengthened. And while a few of the new teachers had been identified as the of for the new Holy Culture course or the numerous new optional courses now available to the students; quite a few others were still unknown…
At the beginning of October – the first students of the Hogwarts Primary school arrived.
Since the younger children weren't taught in the same part of the castle than the rest of the students, it didn't change much to the school days – but the lunch hours became far more rowdy with nearly a hundred more people in the great hall! As this was only the firs year, quite a few parents, mainly pure-bloods, hadn't bothered with enrolling their children – but over the course of the next few year, if the experiment was successful, the faculty knew they wouldn't have to face at least a hundred more children… And maybe even more, since the years following the fall of Voldemort had seen a sharp rising in the birth of wixen children.
By the end of October, all had gotten used to the new state of the school – and in the four founders' heirs and the headmaster's mind,,Hogwarts felt quite joyous with the change.
The new hot topic was quickly becoming the upcoming Samhain celebration – which for the second consecutive year, would double as an awakening ceremony and acceptance by the Hogwarts' House Spirit.
Over the course of the year since the first awakening ceremony, quite a few children had learned to know the head of the house of the family they could be accepted by, and in some case, the children of those family – and quite a few were set to be adopted by said house in the coming ceremony, or already had been adopted if they'd had a Rite during the year.
In the blink of an eye, Samhain was here again.
¤.¤.¤
Once again, the table were set in a square, except this time, there were two rows to it – a back row for those that didn't need to participate to the awakening and were there for Samhain, and a front row for the first years, the elementary children that had been authorized to come – and accompanied – by their parents, and the older student that were getting accepted into a house, Akhet among them since he hadn't been at the ceremony the previous year.
The Samhain ceremony was beautiful – and even more than the mortal, Akhet, like the other gods and god-born, could feel the holy power flowing around Adra as she called the spirit beast to the Mortal Realm. He was quite stunned when he realized that on top of the dragon of Hogwarts, another beast had quickly found him – a stunning bird, that he knew normally shone with metallic colors…
The alicanto, a fiery bird fond of precious gems and metals – that he'd seen quite a few time on the Burrow's mantelpiece.
All the Weasley in attendance had all but drown him in hugs – even Arthur, the patriarch.
All in all, this year too, Samhain had been a resounding success.
And the next morning, once more, had sown chaos all around the school, as the main headlines of all the newspapers were announcing the escape of Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. Neville had taken the news hard, and was constantly trading letters with his parents, clearly worried the Death Eater family would go after them since it was their fault they'd ended up in Azkaban.
As for Adra – she'd let her head hit the breakfast table quite loudly, then quickly contacted Pyxis via Chaos Game.
"So yes, I didn't quite expect this since in my time Padfoot was the one to escape, and he was coming here for Wormtail…"
"Which is quite impossible in this world." Pyxis had to agree – no wonder she'd been caught unprepared
"But well, if it's the Lestrange who escaped… Were they caught with Crouch Junior here too?"
"Yes, but he's been dead for a few years if I'm not mistaken?"
"He was supposed to be dead in my home-world too, and he quite clearly wasn't. Daddy dearest had manage to help him escape according to his wife's last will…"
"Where do I check?"
"In my world he was kept under imperious by daddy, until he broke free and turned the table, using his father as a spy in the ministry." Adra remembered. Except it didn't happen until my fourth year in my world, but still, it's worth it to check since he was the Lestrange's team-mate in this world too…"
"I'll check." the other god promised
[Life Quest updated! The Girl Who Lived…
Bonus Goal Failed: prevent the Lestrange from escaping (0/3)]
She glared half-heartedly at the notification – Chaos Game wasn't wrong after all, she'd dropped the ball on this one, and while she would prepare herself in case the trio – maybe quartet – was heading this way, she really couldn't be sure...
Sirius had come for Wormtail – but Bellatrix was demented, and quite devoted to Voldemort, if she was the same as in her first life – so she might as well already be halfway toward wherever Voldemort had been holing himself up!
¤.¤.¤
That night – Adra had nightmares.
While she knew intellectually that it wasn't rational, she still remembered quite vividly how powerless she'd felt, tied to that stone while her blood was stolen from her.
She started the next morning by spending a few of the perks point she'd been keeping in stock just in case. The Cyclop's Lungs and Gryphon's Wings that she'd been eyeing for a while were quickly unlocked – the first in case she was again involved in something like the Triwizard Tournament, the second because even in places where magic wasn't available, phisical changes could generally be used. Having all but emptied her stock of perk points, she started planing for real hunting sessions to recoup from the points she'd just spent – and musingly wondered what kind of monster she could hunt to unlock a perk that would strengthen her skin.
If Voldemort wanted to steal her blood – she was making him work for it this time.
The morning following the trio's escape – the training session saw a sharp increase in attendance – proving that even if they'd been young or not even born yet by the time Voldemort fell, all the student had heard enough about that period to take the menace of the three Lestrange seriously.
By the third day, as she was in the middle of her Ancient Runes class, Adra received a new notification.
[Life Quest updated! The Girl Who Lived…
Bonus Goal Complete: reveal Bartemius Crouch Junior's survival
Bonus Reward: +20XP, +1PP
Bonus Goal Failed: catch Bartemius Crouch Junior
Bonus Goal Complete: free Bartemius Crouch from his son's control
Bonus Reward: +20XP, +1PP
Bonus Goal Complete: save Bartemius Crouch
Bonus Reward: +20XP, +1PP
Hidden Goal Complete: use your knowledge of the future wisely
Hidden Reward: +40XP, The Dangers of Foresight perk unlocked]
[New Perk unlocked
The Dangers of Foresight(5 PP): +10 to all Divination skills
Available: 15PP]
[Level up! You are now level 54!
+1SP]
A fer hours later, Pyxis would confirm what had happened– after confirming that Bartemius Crouch senior was under an imperius, they'd found a pretext for a surprise search at the current head of the department of international magical co-operation. There they'd stumbled on not only Barty Junior but also the three missing Lestrange – a battle had ensued between the aurors and the Death Eaters.
One auror was dead, an other had been saved thanks to Moody's quick reflexes, and Tonks, with the abilities she'd honed since partnering with Bast, had managed to cut the arm of Rodolphus before the four escaped convicts managed to flee.
While the ministry was reeling from the death of one of their own, they were also quite relieved to have managed to prevent the four terrorists further access to potentially sensitive information.
Bartemius senior, who'd been nearly killed by his son before the man escaped, would spend the following weeks going over all the information he'd reported to Junior while under the imperius – he would also be expected to voluntarily retire after that… Or face prison if he refused.
Pyxis was quite incensed that the man had even be offered the option to quietly retire; something Amelia Bones, the current head of the department of magical law enforcement was spiting mad about too – but the minister was trying to save face, and unveiling the old skeletons in Bartemius Crouch closet when he'd worked closely with so many foreign governments in the recent years would be quite catastrophic for the British wixen world…
Adra was annoyed too – but not really surprised.
While they'd manage to change quite a bit – it was mainly in the wixen society itself, thanks to new laws and improvements in Hogwarts itself.
As for the ministry – getting rid of the current minister and his stooge would take time, and hadn't been a priority until now. Something that may soon have to change – while he'd been useless, Fudge hadn't been dangerous up till now – but Adra remembered how he'd tried to stick his head in the sand in her fifth year. If war was coming – he wasn't the man they needed at the helm.
¤.¤.¤
A few days later, Leifr had skipped all his classes – he'd arrived back at the castle at nearly midnight and looking over the moon as he announced the birth if his latest offspring – Colborn Valdez, son of Loki-Nuada and already a budding fire user and future wizard.
With a few shadow-portal, Adra had invited all the clan children in the founders heir chamber and they'd spent the evening partying and congratulating the new father – the next day had been a bit hard for the group of teenagers who'd barely slept, but they held no regret… Between the escaped convicts in the wixen world; the Per Ankh that was now actively hunting the Kane – having forced even Amos to leave them; and the king of Titan that was growing back in power, the new birth had been a direly needed good news.
That weekend, all of the Hogwarts students of the clan had gone home with Dumbledore's authorization, to congratulate the new mother and meet the new addition to the family. Esperanza had joked that having Leo had trained her for Loki's child, since he'd manifested his gift for fire even younger than his older brother. Said brother was just as happy about his new sibling as Loki himself, explaining proudly that little Colborn had managed to set three diapers and four blankets aflame before Leto had had the time to fire-proof the house.
Esperanza, still weary from the childbirth, had confirmed that she wouldn't be heading back to Huston until new year. After that, they'd let mother and child rest and spend a bit of time with the rest of the family before heading back to school.
¤.¤.¤
Amos had finally managed to get rid of the Per Ankh shesh that had been tracking him, and finally made his way to the Per Sesen, officially taking his place among them. Julius' younger brother was worse for the wear, having been on the run for nearly two months, but was already finding his place in the magician order. He'd been suitably impressed when meeting Bast and learning about the progress they'd made in given the god their own body, thus getting rid of the possession problem – but it was really seeing Akhet in the middle of all the other school children that confirmed that he'd been right to trust his brother all these years ago when he'd stated that he would be freeing the gods.
It was really difficult to the boy that was so easily laughing with the other teens as bad enough that he'd warranted to be locked away for all of eternity – that boy was no Apophis!
The Per Sesen also had gained three more students – an older German man that was proving to have some talent in divination, a young Greek girl that was a budding animal charmer and a teenager from Dublin that was showing some talent for chaos magic, something that had stunned the three former members of the Per Ankh.
Seeing how many magicians had been abandoned by the Per Ankh had quickly helped Amos to his next step – he'd been staying for a while with the Per Sesen and get used to the wixen world before heading back to the Kane family mansion in Brooklyn to upgrade its protection with wixen magic and turn it from the empty Twenty-First Nome of the Per Ankh to the Second Nome of the Per Sesen.
If within a few months Ruby and Julius had already found so many students from all over Europa – then there may be just as many waiting for a sign in America.
As the children departed back to Hogwarts – Amos found himself looking forward to the Yule holidays, and to getting to know better the gods that his family had revered during millennia.
ADRASTEIA LV 55 (13 YO)
BODY
Agility 17(38)
Strenght 12(24)
Endurance 12(15)
SPIRIT
Intelligence 11(48)
Wisdom 17(36)
Fortitude 11(32)
HEART
Empathy 14(24)
Perception 11(33)
Sociability 15(25)
LUCK 14(33)
PERK ACQUIRED (96PP spend, 15PP available)
Black First Rite (1PP): grants Easy Black Magic Potency (+10 to Easy Spells of Battle Magic, War Magic and Curse)
Moon First Rite (1 PP): unlocks Light Battle Aura (+10 to all damages)
Potter First Rite (1 PP): unlocks Sensing Skill up to 25 SP
Ravenclaw First Rite (1 PP): unlocks +10 to easy memory tests and +5 to Mentamancy Skill
Moon Aura (2PP): unlocks a battle aura that grants +10% to all damages when active, and drains 25 MP per minute active
Khonsou'Small Favor (2PP): grants Easy Shielding Magic Potency (+10 damages parried by Easy shield spells)
Thot's Small Favor (2PP): grants Easy Healing Magic Potency (+10 healing done by Easy spells of all Healing Schools)
Black Curse Magic Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to curse
Lovegood Divination Magic Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to divination
Moon Strategy Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to strategy
Peverell Healing Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to healing
Potter Transfiguration Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to transfiguration
Ravenclaw Rune Understanding (3PP): grants +10 to rune
Black Magical Potency (4PP): Grants +10% to MP
Lovegood Light Magic Seeing Ability (4PP): unlocks magic seeing skill up to 25
Moon Blood-stealing Aura (4PP): the Moon aura now allows the user to get back your Blood Skill % of HP per attack
Peverell Reiki Potency (4PP): grants +10% to RP
Potter Reiki Potency (4PP): grants +10% to RP
Black Heir (free): grants +5% MP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (All Regen rate +5%)
Moon Heir (free): grants +10% KP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (Atavism)
Peverell Heir (free): grants +5% RP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (HP +10%)
Potter Heir (free): grants +5% MP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen (RP +10%)
-Slytherin Heir (free): grants +10% MP, one free bloodline talent to be chosen
Jack of All Trade (5 PP): +1 SP per level
Natural Genius (2 PP): double book learning rate (locks Hard Work Genius Perk)
A Father's Strength (5 PP):+5 to all Communication
Blood of the Pharao (5PP): unlocks all Egyptian Magics
Cyclop's Skin (2PP): +5 to Physical and Elemental Resistance
Slytherin Member (free): +2 WIS, access to the Slytherin Students Rooms
Gryffindor Honorary Member (free): +2 SOC, access to the Gryffindor Students Rooms
Ravenclaw Honorary Member (free): +2 INT, access to the Ravenclaw Students Rooms
Hufflepuff Honorary Member (free): +2 EMP, access to the Hufflepuff Students Rooms
Slytherin Knowledge (2PP): +10 to parselmagic
Ravenclaw Knowledge (2PP): +10 to seeing magic
A Spirit's Guidance (5PP): +10 to True Form
Cyclop's Lungs (10 PP): grants the ability to breath underwater
Gryphon's Wings (10PP): grant the ability to summon and dismiss wings
FIRST PATH - (+10% MP and RP, +5 to SPIRIT MC, +10 to Magic Skills)
AWAKENING PATH - (+10% to RP regen, +5 to HEART MC, +10 to Weapon Skill)