Heh, I like this chapter guys- Sadie's still got issues with Percy but she's also reluctantly fond of her now. Also, one of the things she says, is, in my opinion, peak big sister behavior. Which is real fun to play with. Also- Carter fucking loves his little sister and Percy loves her big brother.
Replies:
Ryan Fowler: Hm, she hasn't unleashed her strength yet- though she's been pretty badass in the chapter I just wrote- which is really fun. But that's ten chapters away.
SentinalSlice: Percy's fear will be explained in this chapter. And honestly, I love the imagery too- I wanted to have her be skilled with more than just one weapon- she's great with the khopesh but she also has skill with her staff because Julius wanted her to be well rounded. So yeah it's fun.
Guest: To be fair to Percy, she was very much speaking to Carter when she said that- and it was right after Sadie had rejected her again, and she knows Carter does see Sally as his mom- because Carter's of the mindset that you can have more than one person you consider a mother, while Sadie's still not there yet and she's still struggling- it was slightly harsh, but Sadie has been harsh too- even when Percy has tried to be friendly. It's understandable don't get me wrong but there's issues on both sides. And yeah, Carter and Sadie are just there like 'Does she have no fear?' whenever Percy rushes into battle- and Carter getting used to Percy being capable may cause a lil bit of a problem later. As for the Nile, I mean logically she could control water from the Nile- but she is only nine.

"Stop being a fool!" Zia's grip on Percy's arm tightened, "You have no choice now-"

"Hey!" Carter lashed out, smacking Zia's arm away from Percy- and Percy moved almost instantly, latching onto her brother and wrapping her arms around him tightly as he wrapped an arm around her protectively, drawing her in closer to his side.

"Don't touch her like that!" Sadie's voice was sharp.

"You are all being fools- the First Nome is the safest place in the world for you now after what your father has done! Set will not be able to get to you there-"

"No!" Percy yelled the words- and she didn't care how childish she was being- because she could remember. She could remember waking up one night, when she'd been around seven, probably closer to eight- and padding her way to the kitchen to get some water- but she'd heard voices so she'd stopped, paused in the doorway.

She could remember the conversation she'd heard- it had terrified her then and it still scared her even now.

"Sally we have to be careful now more than ever- Percy's growing so strong- stronger every day that passes- I'm glad that the children got the chance to have normal life for once but- by all the gods I fear what they'll do if they ever find out what Percy is-"

"What she is- Julius you make it sound-"

"I love her- I adore Percy you know that Sally- but you know how powerful she could be- she's not even just the blood of pharaohs, she has divine blood from her father- Greek divine blood- there has never been a child like her as far as I know- crossing the worlds- it's dangerous. The House would fear her if they knew what she was. I, of course, know that Percy has the kindest heart of anyone I've ever known- she's a force for good- but they won't take the time to see that."

"And you're sure you saw their agents watching?"

"I am. You've finished your course- and the children will finish their school year in a month. After that I think we should go back to travelling."

"I hate this Julius-"

"I know. The children deserve better- they deserve stability. But they will keep watching us now that they know that I keep coming back here. If we travel they'll have less chance to watch- less chance to notice anything more about Percy."

"If they find out- if they find out just who and what our little girl is-"

"I fear that they may kill her."

So yeah, yeah Percy was just a little bit afraid of going to the First Nome. Who'd blame her, she knew that they might kill her for the crime of existing. She hadn't done anything to deserve that, she wasn't a bad person. She was good.

"Stop that!" Zia's voice had an undercurrent of anger in it, "You're drawing attention to us-"

"Percy-" Carter squeezed her closer, "Percy, calm down- Zia's right we're drawing a lot of attention-" and he wasn't wrong, there were a fair few people turning to look at them thanks to her yelling.

"Why shouldn't we be?" Sadie asked suddenly, "Percy why are you so scared of this First Nome place-"

"They'll hurt us! They exiled daddy they'll hurt us-"

"I swear to you upon my honor that we do not harm innocents-" Zia tried to protest.

"Our dad summoned five gods! I'm pretty sure you guys would execute him for that." Percy spat, "He warned me about you guys-" she yanked her linen shirt up to show the scar on her side, a thick, pale jagged line, slightly raised. From how she'd fallen on a very nasty shard of glass. "The last time you sent people after him I got this. So why exactly should I be happy about the idea of being here?"

"Holy shit!" Sadie's eyes widened in shock, "How the- what happened-"

"I got sent flying through a window, got on cut up by the glass."

Zia flinched slightly at that, "I am sorry- I'm sure they meant no harm to you- you're a child you've been led astray- we don't-"

"You wanted to kill us back at the British Museum! Or have you forgotten that part-"

"I was shaken- I am sorry, none of us expected your father to go so far as he did- I was afraid! Your father freed-"

"So you wanted to kill three kids who didn't know better-"

"But you do know better!" Zia snapped, "And yet we are willing to overlook that because you are a child and your father led you astray-"

"Stop saying that." Sadie snapped, "Don't talk about our dad like he was a criminal-"

"None of this is helpful." Zia's voice was sharp, "Do the three of you want to live or not? Because Set will find you again- and you have no protection now. Either come with me or face him- but do not expect me to come and save you a second time."

And Percy flinched at that- because as much as she didn't want to admit it Zia was probably right- and both Sadie and Carter turned their gazes to look at her- which of course they did. She was the one who knew what was going on. She was the only one who knew a damn thing about any of this. They needed her to figure out what was their best option.

Percy felt her stomach twisting uncomfortably- but she'd promised their dad that she'd look after Carter and Sadie. Which meant she had to step up.

She took a deep breath, thinking quickly, forcing down her panic and terror that the idea of going to the First Nome made her feel.

She needed to look at this objectively- she was smart, she could do this.

And objectively, even if she hated it, she knew that Zia was right- the House had no clue who she really was- they wouldn't try and kill her on the spot. Set however did know- he'd somehow sensed it- he'd made that much pretty clear back when he'd first been summoned. So that made the answers fairly easy.
Because Set would track them down-and Percy knew that even if she hadn't come close to burning herself out the night before she'd never stand a chance against a god- she had potential but she was nine years old, all she could do would be buy Carter and Sadie time to run and they'd be hunted down too.

At least for now the First Nome would probably be the safest place for the three of them- it would be a lot harder for Set to get to them there. So she let out a breath, shaking her head, "I don't like it but it's probably safer with Zia than it is on our own-" and Carter must have noticed the tremble in her voice because he shifted, moving so that he was in front of her, his hands on her shoulders as he crouched slightly so that they were the same height.

"Persephone Ariadne Kane. I swear that whatever happens, I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you." and Percy felt as if she'd been struck- his expression was so serious, his voice so solemn, and suddenly she was five years old waking up from a nightmare about Gabe again, and her new daddy was there, the words were almost exactly the same too- other than the fact that she was a Kane now and not a Jackson.

Carter was so much like their father in that moment that it was almost physically painful.

Then the moment was gone, because Sadie was just behind Carter, peering down at her over his shoulders, arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah, I guess you did sorta save our butts back at the museum and back in Brooklyn and I don't like owing you anything so I'll kick the ass of anyone who tries to hurt you-"

Percy sniffled slightly, giving Sadie a shaky little smile, "Careful Sadie, or I'll think you secretly like me."

"Oh woah that's going way to far you short little weirdo." Sadie pointed accusingly, "I don't like you, you hear me. You're small and annoying and we're not friends okay?"

"You love me-"

"Oh shove it Percy-" Sadie laughed despite herself before she turned her gaze to Zia, planting her hands on her hips. "Okay. We've agreed we're coming with you. But you guys try anything and I'll kick your asses. Only I'm allowed to bully Percy, you hear me?" and Zia looked like she'd been forced to suck on a lemon but she nodded.

"I understand. Of course." her voice was stiff, offended. "But I have no plan to harm your sis-"

"She's not my sister."

"We get the message." Carter rolled his eyes, "You can stop saying that Sadie."

"I just want it to be clear!" Sadie protested, a slight scowl on her lips.

"I wouldn't want you as a sister either." Percy declared, ducking into Carter's side as her brother wrapped an arm around her shoulder again. "So Zia." she eyed the older girl wearily, "What do we do now?"

"You follow me." her voice was firm as she kicked open a maintenance door. On the other side was a broom closet. Zia muttered a command—"Sahad"—and the image of the closet shimmered and disappeared, revealing a set of stone steps leading down.

Percy's breath caught and she forced down the rush of nerves at that. She could do this. It was going to be fine. "To the First Nome we go." she muttered the words, which earned her a look from Zia before the other girl spoke.

"Follow closely. And touch nothing."

The stairs must've led down about seven million miles, because they descended for what felt like forever. The passage had been made for shorter people too. Even had to crouch and crawl most of the way, though she was somewhat smug over being the only one who could stand up at all- it seemed that there were some perks to being the short one after all, small though they may be. The only light was from a ball of fire in Zia's palm, which made shadows dance across the walls.

None of this was new to Percy- though she couldn't claim to be fond of places like this- she preferred open spaces, freedom, but she had spent enough time with their dad- she and Carter had spent huge chunks of their childhood inside of pyramids and tombs- she'd often been told off for running through the tunnels, ducking out of sight and dragging Carter along with her- or even worse, for playing hide and seek, at one point Carter had looked for almost an hour before rushing to their father and admitting that he'd lost her- at which point Julius had found her in less than five minutes- he'd told her off of course- but he'd had that look he got- the spark in his eyes, the way his lips twitched- and she'd known that he wasn't angry with her.

He'd been trying not to laugh- and the memories made her chest go tight- and suddenly she wanted her daddy- wanted him so very much that it was a fierce tight burning pain. Her daddy had always made things better. And now he was gone and if she was truthful Percy had her doubts that she'd ever get to see him again. It wasn't fair.

A part of her wanted to throw a tantrum, to scream and rage at the world but she couldn't because she had to be brave and grown up and look after Carter and Sadie. They needed her.

So she took a deep breath, straightening up as much as she could, forcing her expression to go blank. She'd give the House nothing. She'd find a way to make sure they were safe- especially if what she suspected about them turned out to be right.

And then, after what felt like a lifetime they came to an abrupt stop.

Percy's eyes took a few moments to adjust- but when they did she had to force back a little gasp. They were standing at the edge of a chasm.

A single wooden plank spanned the void. On the opposite ledge, two jackal-headed granite warriors flanked a doorway, their spears crossed over the
entrance.

Well. That did not look like it was going to be fun.