Thanks to my…umm…two or three readers. Please tell other people about this fanfic, I need reviews and suggestions! Oh, small mistake in the last chapter…Ms. Lutyens' name is Rosanna, not Fiona. Now that I've read Ptolemy's Gate, this story should fit in a bit better in places.

In this chapter, Kitty confronts Nathaniel and…er…persuades him to bring her along, with Bartimaeus' help. Nathaniel isn't too happy.

Disclaimer: The Bartimaeus Trilogy is STILL owned by Jonathan Stroud. He makes me feel small and untalented. Bah.


Untitled, But Threatening

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" – Abraham Lincoln

I must say, my master was really starting to concern me. He'd gone to sleep at midnight (according to the rather ornate clock on top of the grand piano, which I doubt he ever used), and then woken up at 1 o'clock in the morning. Then he ate nothing at all, but instead dragged me all around the town to make a will (he really was losing his optimism there). Following that, he sat on a chair, looked at a bunch of papers, and then stared at the wall forlornly for about half an hour. I was bored enough, damn you!

Noon passed and still he ate nothing. I raided his refrigerator and piled the contents on the counter, but he was not pleased. I was considering destroying his bedroom to get a rise out of him when the doorbell rang.

Nathaniel did not move, or even show he had heard. I trudged toward the sound grudgingly and opened the door, only to be startled out of my wits (not all of them, mind you).

It was the commoner girl, Kitty Jones!

I raised an eyebrow.

"Why aren't you out of the country, yet?" I asked, as if we were discussing the weather or the price of apples in the market.

"Let me in, Bartimaeus," she said sharply, "or I'll stick you with this." She pulled a silver knife out of her pocket. I winced.

"Now that's not very nice," I said pleasantly. "I thought we were getting on fine before. By the way, if you're here to kill Mandrake I sympathize with you, but I still have to protect him. So if you don't mind…"

I was babbling, and I knew it. For once in my life, I was unsure of how to go about; if I let the girl in and she killed Nathaniel, I would have to stop her, which would probably mean being killed. However, if she didn't try to kill him, Nathaniel would go into one of his old rages and make the day a whole lot more interesting. Hmm…choices, choices.

"I'm not here to kill him," she said. Yeah, right. "I am here to…discuss things with him."

I was still sceptical. But if I didn't hurry up, my master would come to see what the fuss was about.

I examined the girl. Contrary to Nathaniel, she looked much better than when I'd last seen her. Her hair was longer, but it suited her, as did her thin-ish face (compared to my master, though, she was practically overweight). She looked like the sort of girl who'd have boys chasing after her; however, she also looked like the kind of girl who'd beat them up of they tried anything. It was a combination I liked; I let her through the door.

"Wait right here," I said, and returned to Mandrake.

This part was going to be amusing. As far as he knew, the girl was dead, and only because I had told him she was. Now I had to tell him the truth.

"Um…Nat? Remember how I told you that Kitty Jones and her friend were killed by the golem?"

"Yes," he said dully.

Well, this was no good.

"Well, guess what? I lied. She's at your door right now."

At, last some action! He jumped to his feet, looking positively horror-stricken.

"WHAT!" he shouted.

Oh, he was scared now. It seemed he still had a conscience, and the girl's "death" had been preying on his mind…a good thought. He still wasn't completely corrupted; that, at least, was a comfort. For now.


Kitty paced the front hallway, wondering what on earth she was going to say to her enemy. She wasn't about to tell him she had to protect him, for sure! For starters, she would threaten him with his birth name…get it right out there. The only problem was Bartimaeus; if he heard her say it, then Mandrake – Nathaniel – was as good as dead.

For about the tenth time that day she considered the name. How could Nathaniel possibly describe the greasy, traitorous magician she had defied and now hated? It was…she had to say it…a sort of romantic name, like something belonging to one of Michelangelo's angels in that archway ceiling painting…what was it called again? The Sistine Chapel…

She was shaken out of her reverie as Nathaniel entered the room.

She had known she would see him, and she had seen his picture, but she still had to hide her shock as the boy entered the room. He was still very young, but there were shadows around his eyes and an exhausted look on his face behind a mask of apprehension. He was as thin as a rail, but unlike a rail, which can appear threatening if it is swung in the direction of your head, he looked faintly pathetic in all his pallor.

"Kitty Jones," he said quietly. "I thought you were dead."

"Well, Mr. Mandrake, as you can see, I'm not."


Nathaniel had never before had to turn around and face someone who had suffered at his actions; when the Underwoods had died, he had absolved himself simply by getting his revenge on Lovelace. The fact that he had unveiled Duvall as the golem's master had helped him feel better for the "death" of Kitty Jones, as well, but she was different. She had not cared for him, like Mrs. Underwood, but she had saved his life, unlike his old master. She had not cared for him, nor he for her. She was becoming a sort of symbol in his life, as Ms. Lutyens had been since she had tried to protect him.

All in all, he was not entirely sure how he felt. Still, it was best to ask the question that had gnawed at him for the past two years.

"Why did you save me?" he said impulsively.

She looked at him slowly, then grinned wickedly. He was reminded forcibly of Bartimaeus; but the djinni was beside him.

"Perhaps I should ask you the same question, Nathaniel."

He lost all sense of time and direction as the world seemed to spin. Why did the world always seem to have it in for him? He grasped the wall for support.

"Where – where did you learn that name?" he said faintly, feeling rather ill and as if something terrible was closing in on him.

It did not help that beside him, in Ptolemy's form, Bartimaeus was quietly chuckling to himself at his predicament.

"I have my sources," said Kitty, smiling sweetly up at him. "Of course, the most polite thing to do right now is to ask me what I want."

Nathaniel whimpered, sadly unable to stifle any sound from his lips.


I must say, things were looking up tremendously. Not only was there no longer any danger from my good friend Kitty, but she knew my master's name! He hadn't looked this scared since Lovelace. I chuckled to myself. You know, in an evil, brooding sort of way. Any other spirit in the Other Place would have loved to be in my place right now. Especially ones like Faquarl.

However, the action here was going a bit slow for my liking. I nudged Mandrake in the ribs, as he seemed to be on the edge of a nervous collapse (understandable).

He nearly fell over, to my amusement, but he spoke up.

"And what is it that you want?" he said, trying to sound authoritative and failing. What a wimp; these confrontations were no fun. I wondered if I would ever feel unembarrassed in stating that he had been my master.

Kitty took a deep breath, not entirely sure if what she was doing next was right. But she didn't want him smirking at her, so she had to move fast before he was out of his shocked state.

"Take me to Phasma Mortuus."

"Well, now, this is just great," said the djinni, snorting. "Here I was thinking you'd beat him up for me at last, and now it turns out you just want me to work for you! What's next? Drawing up a pentacle and summoning me during my next break?"

"Bartimaeus -"

"Come on! You found it his birth name, which I, by the way, have known for years, and you use it to get to me? I was hoping for some entertainment here!"

"Bartimaeus, shut up," said Nathaniel weakly.

"I agree," said Kitty.

They looked at each other, stunned. Understandably; they'd never agreed on anything before. I could see where this was going. I sighed dejectedly.


One day later

"Take my hands, mortals," I said boredly.

They did so, glaring daggers at each other; I could tell this was going to be a good show. After all, although they had made a rough pact, one of them was going to have to overcome the other in order to get to this stupid amulet. As you may guess, I was rooting for the girl.

I spoke the appropriate incantation known only to spirits from the Other Place and transported us out of the world…


This chapter was a bit hard to write...I'm not great at confrontation and all that. Hope you like it, more coming soon on both my fanfics! Review right now please!