In which Carter and secretly Sadie are worried about Percy- and we love Bast.
Also, I've received loads of reviews voting for ships which confuses me because as I said in my last chapter the poll is over.
Replies:
The Official Clarisse: Yep, now you just have to wait a while for it to actually happen.
Ryan Fowler: Why thank you, you flatter me truly.
Weirdhead: We love her.
Undeath9087: Honestly right now they're glad that someone knows what's going on.
: Not right now but I may in the future- please bear in mind that these aren't short fics, I have literally spent over a year writing the Family ties AU. Literally, look at the date I first posted the first chapter of the first fic and realise that tomorrow is the year mark of posting- and I always make sure I've got a few chapters written before I post.
oujiswan: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
SentinalSlice: You'll have to wait and see- and just for the record- by the time the PJO plotline starts Percy's gonna be so badass. By that stage she'll just be like, 'Whoop, time to save the world'.
Guest: Percy and Bast each took out a single Serpopard. And you'll have to wait and see.
Jess: Julius didn't have a problem- but then he doesn't care much about the rules. Amos said that he was concerned when he first met Percy, and other reactions you'll have to wait and see- and honestly the Greeks just don't even know the Egyptian's are still around.
There was a long moment of stunned silence and Percy thrust her hand sideways, focusing as she returned her Khopesh to the duat before Carter was moving, and Bast stepped back just in time to avoid getting knocked over by the teenager smashing into them, and his arms wrapped tightly around Percy, as if he was afraid she was going to disappear on him. "Don't you dare ever do anything like that again-" his voice was strained- Percy felt a rush of guilt at that- she'd scared him.
"Carter I'm fine. I didn't even get hurt-"
"They could have killed you!" Sadie's voice was much higher than it usually was. "And who the hell is that." Percy managed to turn her head enough to see that Sadie was looking at Bast, who gave her an offended look.
"How rude, you'd think you'd recognise me after all these years Sadie." she gave the young girl a sly smile.
"I don't- what are you talking about how am I supposed to know-"
"But from now on, my name isn't Muffin, thank you very much. It's-"
"Bast!" Carter interrupted, loosening his grip on Percy slightly. "Your pendant. It's the symbol of Bast, the goddess of cats. I thought it was just decoration but that's you isn't it?"
"Very good Carter, Percy already knew of course, I imagine Julius told her. She ordered me to protect you two so I took on this form to help deal with the Serpopards.
"You-" Sadie gaped at the lethal looking woman, "You're my cat."
"Yes, yes I am. But we can talk more later children. We should leave. Worse will be coming."
Carter made a choking sound, tightening his arms around Percy again. "Worse? What could possibly be worse?"
"You don't want to know. But I imagine you'll find out in good time." Bast stretched her arms above her head, cracking her neck. "It really is so good to be in human form again. Now, Sadie, can you open us a door through the Duat, please?"
"Bast no one's ever trained her Sadie won't know how to." Percy piped up.
"I hate to admit it but Percy's right." Sadie shook her head, "I don't know how-"
Bast narrowed her eyes, looking almost disappointed. "Shame. And Percy nearly burned herself out yesterday so she can't do it-"
"I'm not great with portals anyway." Percy admitted.
"Well, we'll need more power then. An obelisk."
"But that's in London-" Sadie gasped the words, "We can't get there-"
"There's a nearer one in Central Park. I try to avoid Manhattan, but this is an emergency-" her eyes flicked to Percy, "You're wearing your amulets yes?"
"Of course I am." Percy said quickly, "Even if we see any Greek monsters they shouldn't be able to smell me."
"The closer you are to the Greek gods base the higher the risk of them finding out about you- but it's a risk we'll have to take-"
"Wait- why is it a risk?" Sadie interrupted, "I don't-"
"Greek monsters can sniff out demigods- and Percy is a powerful demigod indeed- she's safer far away from the Greeks insanity."
"And the Greeks-" Carter started before Percy interrupted him.
"The Empire State Building." she said quickly, "That's where their based."
"And us Egyptians try to avoid them when we can." Bast explained, "Even without someone like Percy with us- but we don't have much of a choice. We'll have to pop over there and open a portal."
"A portal to where?" Sadie asked quickly, "Where do we go?"
Bast gave a reassuring smile, "For now, we just want a portal out of danger. Now come on you three. I swore to protect you, and that is an oath which I intend to keep." she turned her gaze to Carter, "Go and grab your fathers bag Carter-"
"I-" Carter hesitated for just a brief moment before nodding, letting go of Percy and darting back down the stairs, though he took a small detour, grabbing a khopesh that was hanging on the wall- clearly he wanted to at least have something he could use to defend himself and them if needed- which was silly in
Percy's opinion since he didn't know how to use it- but hey, whatever made him feel better.
"What about Philip?" Sadie asked when Carter was gone, "He defended us-"
"Philip will be fine- And Khufu will stay here to delay any attackers-"
"What no-" Sadie protested, "We can't leave him behind-"
Khufu clambered over to her quickly and patted Sadie's arm, as if he was saying 'It's okay'. Which made Sadie tear up and hug him tightly. "What if you get hurt Khufu."
"He's tough." Percy shook her head, "Khufu will be fine."
"And we won't be- you three are the targets. We must get away from here- Set knows where you are. He won't just stop at the Serpopards. He will send much worse before he's through with you.
At which point Carter came back up the stairs, raising his hand- which made Percy giggle- he was acting like Bast was a teacher or something. "Um, excuse me Miss Goddess Lady? Amos told us the house was-"
"Safe?" Bast snorted, "Carter if Percy hadn't opened the doors they'd have managed to break through the defences. I have no doubt that Percy here realised that-"
"I did. I figured at least if I opened the doors they'd be surprised for a second."
"It was smart." Bast declared, "And brave little one- you did the right thing. You three should have been safe here but something clearly went wrong. The defences shouldn't have been about to break at all. Someone sabotaged them."
"What?" Carter's voice was stuffed, "What do you mean? Who-"
"Only a magician of the House could've done it."
"Another magician?" he asked "Why would another magician want to sabotage Amos's house?"
"Oh, Carter," Bast sighed. "So young, so innocent. Magicians are devious creatures. Could be a million reasons why one would backstab another, but we don't have time to discuss it. Now, come on!" for a brief second Bast met Percy's gaze and Percy gave a tiny nod.
This was all because of what their father had done- of course-something wasn't quite right about that- it didn't feel right but- that was what made the most sense it had to be. Didn't it?
Percy was yanked out of her thoughts by Bast ushering all three of them out of the front door, her sharp fingernails which were more like claws than nails poking when she'd lightly push Percy's shoulder, herding the trio outside.
Percy started shivering almost instantly as they stepped into the cold wind- the mansion had been warm. A part of Percy wanted to turn right around and go back inside to the safety and warmth. But she knew that wasn't smart- and Carter and Sadie wouldn't go back even if she did and she needed to keep her promise and protect them.
Still, the thin linen of her clothes offered no real protection against the weather, and she winced, but she didn't hesitate, taking the lead as she trotted down the long flight of metal stairs into the industrial yard that surrounded the factory, and she kept looking around as she did, half expecting to be attacked again.
Fortunately the yard seemed to be abandoned. Old construction equipment lay in rusting heaps—a bulldozer, a crane with a wrecking ball, a couple of cement mixers. Piles of sheet metal and stacks of crates made a maze of obstacles between the house and the street a few hundred yards away.
They were about halfway across the yard when an old gray tomcat stepped in our path. One of his ears was torn. His left eye was swollen shut. Judging from his scars, he'd spent most of his life fighting.
Bast crouched and stared at the cat. He looked up at her calmly.
"Thank you," Bast said.
The old tomcat trotted off toward the river.
"What was that about?" Sadie asked.
"One of my subjects, offering help. He'll spread the news about our predicament. Soon every cat in New York will be on alert."
"He was so battered," Sadie said. "If he's your subject, couldn't you heal him?"
"And take away his marks of honor? A cat's battle scars are part of his identity. I couldn't—" Suddenly Bast tensed. She dragged them behind a stack of crates.
"What is it?" Carter whispered the words, his face pale.
Bast didn't answer, instead she flexed her wrists and her knives slid into her hands. She peered over the top of the crates, every muscle in her body trembling.
Percy blinked, looking around for the monster that had to be there- surely there was a monster- and she could see Carter and Sadie doing the same, trying to figure out what Bast had spotted- and Percy noticed Carter's eyes narrowing as he glanced between Bast and- an old wrecking-ball crane.
Why was Carter looking between them like that it didn't make any sense-
"This could be it-" Bast spoke up, shifting her weight. "Stay very very still."
"There's no one there." Sadie hissed.
"Sadie's right. I can't see any threats-" Percy started as Carter grabbed her arm gently.
"Um..." his voice was hesitant, almost disbelieving.
Then Bast lunged over the crates. She flew thirty feet through the air, knives flashing, and landed on the wrecking ball with such force that she broke the chain. The cat goddess and the huge metal sphere smashed into the dirt and went rolling across the yard.
"Rowww!" Bast wailed. The wrecking ball rolled straight over her, but she didn't appear hurt. She leaped off and pounced again. Her knives sliced through the metal like wet clay. Within seconds, the wrecking ball was reduced to a mound of scraps.
Bast sheathed her blades. "Safe now!"
Percy started to giggle slightly hysterically, she couldn't help it. Everything about this was ridiculous.
"You saved us from a metal ball." Sadie said very slowly.
"You never know. It could have been hostile." Bast declared, straightening up.
Just then a deep booming noise shook the ground and Percy's head snapped around, her gaze moving up towards the mansion. Tendrils of blue fire curled from the top windows- Percy felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach, her eyes filling with tears "Khufu!"
"Oh god!" Sadie let out a sob.
"Come on." Bast's voice was firm, "Our time is up." with that she was grabbing Sadie and Percy's arms, pulling them along with her- she didn't bother grabbing Carter but- well, she didn't need to, Carter was rushing after them without any hesitation.
Fortunately for them Bast quickly spotted a car- a silver Lexus convertible, she rushed towards it quickly. "Oh yes." she purred the words, "I like this one! Come along children."
"But this isn't yours." Carter pointed out- which made Bast scoff.
"My dear, I'm a cat. Everything I see is mine." she touched the ignition and the keyhole sparked. The engine began to purr.
"Bast-" Carter gaped, "You can't just-"
"We'll work out how to return it later." Sadie snapped as she elbowed Carter. "Right now we've got an emergency."
She pointed back toward the mansion- and Percy followed her gaze. Blue flames and smoke now billowed from every window- but that wasn't what had caught Sadie's eye. That wasn't the part that chilled Percy to the bone. Coming down the stairs were four men carrying a large box, like an oversize coffin with long handles sticking out at both ends. The box was covered with a black shroud and looked big enough for at least three bodies. The four men wore only kilts and sandals. Their coppery skin glinted in the sun as if made of metal.
"Oh that's bad." Bast breathed out. "In the car. Please."
The three Kanes didn't even falter- Sadie launched herself into the front passenger seat and Carter pushed Percy into the back of the car quickly.
The four metallic men with the box were racing across the yard, coming straight for them at a terrifying speed.
They didn't even have time to put their seatbelts on before Bast hit the gas, ,
Percy almost screamed, and Carter instantly wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her close as they tore through the streets of Brooklyn, weaving insanely through traffic, riding over sidewalks, narrowly missing pedestrians. Percy grabbed at Carters arms tightly, the last time she'd been in a car driven like this she'd been a five year old terrified child and it had ended with her puking and getting beaten for it.
Percy forced back the memories as she clung to Carter like a lifeline, ignoring the churning feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She could handle it. All they had to do was get to Central park. They were going to be fine.
But even as she thought of that she let out a soft sob.
She was trying really hard to stay strong, but she was just nine years old. And she was terrified.