Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know I did, purely because Carter's badass is showing and Percy starts to think that she might not have to be quite as worried- also features Percy being a terror and trying to scare a god but we all should expect that- still, poor Carter.
Replies:
Seaweedbrain760: At this stage I will probably keep them the same, but I did say before that if others have reasonable suggestions I am willing to listen to them. And most people there wouldn't notice anything's up- so that's good for our guys. And thank you!
Ryan Fowler: I mean, she's a scary girl- in this chapter she tries to stare down a god- kind of.
batmanuchiha: Thank you!
SentinalSlice: Percy is pretty strong for her age- and he's aware that she has a lot of potential that's growing that she hasn't tapped into yet. Her most destructive act so far is a good few chapters away though.
Guest: I'd say it's pretty strong protection- Greek monsters probably wouldn't want to go near there at all, and Percy has the normal protection from her amulets. And remember- not everyone in the First Nome is necessarily gonna hurt her- Julius was worried about it of course and there's a lot who would- but there are some who wouldn't so I mean- make of that what you will. And the gods can generally sense it because the amulets are more enchanted to protect her from Greek stuff than Egyptian. If that makes sense.
There were times that Percy really, really liked Sadie- no matter how mean she could be- Percy knew she could give as good as she got and in some ways she did understand Sadie's resentment so she tried not to take it to heart.
In any case, this was definitely one of those times, there was something about the tone of her voice when she let out a long suffering sigh. "Please, no more psychotic statues that made her start to giggle. Which of course, earned them both an exasperated look from Carter and a disapproving look from Zia- which just made Percy start to giggle harder. Especially when Zia spoke.
"Do not joke." there was definitely a warning in the older girls tone. "This is an entrance to the First Nome, the oldest branch of the House of Life, headquarters for all magicians. My job was to bring you here safely, but I cannot help you cross. Each magician must unbar the path for herself, and the challenge is different for each supplicant."
When she said that Zia focused her gaze on Percy, and her eyes narrowed. "I will be most interested-"
"Oh no-" Carter bristled, stepping forward quickly and flinging out his hand, to push Percy back slightly so that she was behind him, "Don't look at her like that." he paused, as if realising what he'd done and flushed slightly, "I mean- I'm going first my baby sister is not- just no okay? I don't- I don't care that she's the one with the training I don't care that she's probably stronger than me. She's my baby sister and I am the one who should be doing the protecting not the other way around. So I'm going first."
"Carter-" Percy blinked, her eyes wide, "But-"
"You heard me." and then, before Percy could even try and argue at all Carter was forging forward, drawing his khopesh as he started to march across the chasm.
Sadie let out a shocked gasp, "Carter wait!" but Carter didn't look back. He stared straight ahead, his back straight.
And Percy felt as if she'd been slapped- oh she loved her brother, she looked up to him, but she had never, ever seen him like this- that determination the unfaltering courage.
Until that moment- well, she'd agreed with their father- Carter and Sadie needed her to protect them- she was the fighter, she was born for it. But seeing the way Carter strode across the plank- he looked like a leader.
Percy felt pride flood through her and she pulled forward, and as she did the doorway between the two statues started to glow, like a curtain of red light.
Then a dagger shot out of the tunnel- Percy screamed, and she started to run, though Sadie and Zia both gripped an arm each and yanked her backwards.
And she watched in a mixture of shock and dawning terror as Carter- with reflexes that there was no way he should have, deflected the dagger with his blade, sending it falling into the abyss- and how did he do that? Percy might be able to but- well she'd been training, Carter had never even held a khopesh before.
Then two more daggers shot out of the tunnel. He ducked one of the daggers and hooked the other with the curved blade of his sword, turning the dagger and flinging it back into the tunnel.
Percy managed to rip her arms free after that, Zia and Sadie were both shocked enough that they'd loosened their grips- and Percy sprinted across the plank after her brother
as he reached the end of the plank and slashed through the red light, which flickered and died.
Percy reached him a second later as the sound of the dagger that Carter had sent into the abyss clattered up to them from the rocks far far below.
She opened her mouth to speak but then the doorway began to glow again.
Carter glanced back over his shoulder, gaze focusing on Percy for a moment before he tightened his grip on his khopesh and focused on the doorway- very clearly ready to defend Percy if he needed to. And that- that made Percy feel warm. Maybe- maybe she didn't need to be quite so worried about protecting her big brother as she had been until now- though- those reflexes- that skill- oh she really hoped that she was wrong because if she was right their situation was that much more dangerous than it already had been.
In any case, the red light of the doorway coalesced into an admittedly strange looking form- a five foot tall bird with a man's head- it was a very strange figure but Percy knew what it was. It had to be a ba. Her eyes widened when Carter raised it's sword to strike it but Zia's voice came from behind them.
"Carter no!"
The ba folded his wings. His eyes, lined with kohl, narrowed as they studied Carter. A black ornamental wig glistened on his head, and his face was etched with wrinkles. One of those fake braided pharaoh beards was stuck on his chin like a backward ponytail. He didn't look hostile, except for the red flickering light all around him.
The ba scratched at the stone floor- and then he smiled at Carter- as if he was an old friend. It was a strange thought. And incredibly troubling.
"Pari, niswa nafeer," the ba's words were directed at Carter- Percy wasn't sure what it had said but she could hear Zia gasp- and when she glanced back she saw that Sadie and Zia were stood behind them, right behind them- both of them looked pale- and Sadie reached out, grabbing Percy's hand tightly and squeezing it.
It took a long moment before any of them collected themselves enough to do anything, and Zia bowed low, after a brief second of hesitation Percy and Sadie followed her lead, though she didn't look away from Carter and the ba, which winked at Carter- as if they'd shared a joke. Then he vanished, the red light faded and the statues retracted their arms, uncrossing their spears from the entrance.
And when Carter focused on them again he wasn't the tall confident leader he had been just a moment before. No, he was just Carter again, her big brother who was a ridiculous nerd who let her curl up with him if she couldn't sleep. "That's it?" his voice was hesitant, almost confused, "What did the turkey say?"
"That was not a turkey Carter, that was a ba." and was it just Percy of did Zia look almost afraid as she looked at Carter- which was silly- sure Carter had been totally badass when he'd deflected those daggers but he wasn't scary- Carter was brave and kind- he was gentle, warm. He wasn't the sort of person people were usually afraid of.
"What's a ba?" Carter asked with a frown, "Is that another monster?"
"Nope." Percy shook her head, "It's a human soul-"
"In this case a spirit of the dead." Zia added, "A magician from ancient times, come back to serve as a guardian. They watch the entrances of the House." she was staring at Carter, still looking stunned- and yeah, yeah that was definitely fear on the older girls face.
"What?" Carter had clearly noticed the way she was looking at him too- his face was turning red, "Why are you looking at me like I've done something wrong?"
"It's nothing." Zia said after a moment, shaking her head sharply. "We must hurry." she squeezed past Percy and then Carter and disappeared into the tunnel.
"Well that was weird." Percy declared, glancing between her brother and Sadie- And Sadie was staring at Carter too- she looked shocked, not afraid but shocked.
"What?" Carter frowned, "Did you understand what it said?" and- that was a good question, Sadie did have a talent for the language.
"He must have mistaken you for someone else- must have bad eyesight." but Sadie looked uneasy.
"Why?" Percy's voice was curious.
"Because he said, 'Go forth, good king.'" Sadie admitted- which nearly made Percy choke- she grabbed onto Carter's hand tightly, her eyes flicking up to her big brother- who looked confused- and definitely uneasy too- he didn't understand.
But Percy did. If there was anything that confirmed her theory it was that.
And if she was right about Carter then she was probably right about Sadie- and she didn't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.
On one hand, it could help them learn how to use their magic faster- and the added power would probably help them protect themselves from Set when the time came but- they were in the First Nome, and there were a lot of people who would kill Carter and Sadie, even though neither of them had been given any choices in this. And she knew that sometimes the gods could take over their hosts.
Percy's eyes narrowed as she focused on her brothers face- and usually she'd have laughed at the way his brows furrowed in confusion, but right now she didn't care, the glare she was directing at Carter wasn't for him. Hopefully the stupid god in her brothers mind would understand her message.
Which was, essentially 'I might be a little kid but I will kick your stinky butt if you hurt my big brother' and she personally thought that she was good at getting messages across through looks alone- her mom often told her that she had a very expressive face.
"Uh- Did I do something to annoy you Percy?" Carter asked almost nervously- which made Percy feel rather smug- it was only right that her big brother feared her wrath
when he annoyed her- though it didn't happen very often.
"I mean-" Sadie looked like she was trying not to laugh, "There's so many thing that you do that are annoying, I can't say I blame her for looking at you like that."
"Oh god don't you two team up against me." Carter groaned, "Just- is everything okay Percy?"
"We'll see." Percy turned her gaze away, straightening her back as Sadie snickered some more. "Cmon you two. Let's follow little miss fireball."
And she marched on ahead, and a moment later she could hear Carter and Sadie following behind her closely as they made their way through a vast underground city of halls and chambers.
The ceilings soared to twenty or thirty feet, so it didn't feel like they were underground. Every chamber was lined with massive stone columns like the ones Percy had seen in Egyptian ruins, but these were in perfect condition, brightly painted to resemble palm trees, with carved green fronds at the top, it was like walking through a petrified forest.
Fires burned in copper braziers. They didn't seem to make any smoke, but the air smelled good, like a marketplace for spices—cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and others that Percy couldn't identify.
And there were other people too of course, mostly older men and women. Some wore linen robes, some modern clothes. One guy in a business suit walked past with a black leopard on a leash, as if that were completely normal. Another guy barked orders to a small army of brooms, mops, and buckets that were scuttling around, cleaning up the city.
"Like that cartoon," Sadie said. "Where Mickey Mouse tries to do magic and the brooms keep splitting and toting water."
"'The Sorcerer's Apprentice,'" Zia said. "You do know that was based on an Egyptian story, don't you?"
Sadie just stared back, and Percy giggled again- maybe it was childish but there was something about Sadie's deadpan look. If Percy was honest she did admire the older girl at times- which did make the constant rejection sting even more. Sadie was just- well, she was the perfect cool older sister except she hated Percy.
But Percy refused to let herself dwell on those thoughts. She didn't care what Sadie thought about her it didn't matter.
Percy didn't need a big sister- she had a big brother- she'd protect Sadie too because it was what their dad had wanted- and because Carter loved Sadie- but- if Sadie didn't want to be sisters then that would be fine. No matter how much she hated it.