Hey guys, I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter!
Replies:
Ryan Fowler: I mean, I feel like Sadie would be pissed off either way lol.
Weirdhead: I mean, she doesn't know that.
DepthWalker: Thank you. And I will try and check yours out when I get round to it- the next few days will be pure chaos for me so I make no promises.
Guest: Zia found it odd- but again, kids do pick up on languages easier- and it's not too crazy to her to think that Percy picked up on it all very fast, especially not when she clearly had an interest in it. And some people do have a natural talent with languages. And you'll see- I will say that I'm about ten chapters ahead and one of the relationships has very much improved for the better- but which? You shall have to wait and see.
PJ Fan 285: I know it was sweet. And I do have plans but she won't show up until after the KC series at least.
Percy wasn't really sure who she rooted for as Carter and Sadie prepared- Zia had spent some time talking to the two elder Kanes, she gave Sadie a new leather satchel containing all of the things that she could need, while Carter would be keeping their dads kit.
And Percy had listened to Zia as the girl had explained about specialities- Percy knew that she was an elementalist- but that was only natural because of the fact that she was so connected to water- she was pretty good with combat magic too- and she knew that her mother was a natural with healing magic and amulet making, she'd taken a special interest in that because of the amulets that kept Percy safe.
If it was the first time learning about all of it for Percy then she would have been much more interested, but as it was she wasn't learning anything new so she was just bored.
It only became more interesting when they went up to the library, which was like the one at Brooklyn House but a hundred times bigger, with circular rooms lined with honeycomb shelves that seemed to go on forever, like the world's largest beehive. Clay shabti statues kept popping in and out, retrieving scroll canisters and disappearing, but there were no other people.
Zia brought them to a wooden table and spread out a long, blank papyrus scroll. She picked up a stylus and dipped it in ink.
"The Egyptian word shesh means scribe or writer, but it can also mean magician. This is because magic, at its most basic, turns words into reality. You will create a scroll. Using your own magic, you will send power into the words on paper. When spoken, the words will unleash the magic."
She handed the stylus to Percy, a glint in her eyes, "Perhaps you can demonstrate."
"Testing me Zia?"
"I'm curious to see if you can do this- you seem well trained so it should be easy."
"Fine." Percy gave a small nod, frowning thoughtfully, "I think I know what I'll summon-" after all, she'd dropped her's back when the Carrier had grabbed her the day before and she didn't like not having her Khopesh- sure there was a chance that she could summon it through the Duat but it could easily be gone now, so she moved with practised ease, drawing the hieroglyphs for khopesh before focusing and speaking. "Khopesh." and the word glowed, and a moment later there it was, a khopesh lying on the papyrus- Percy snatched it up eagerly, grinning proudly as Sadie and Carter gaped at her.
"Now it is your turn." Zia took the stylus and handed it to Carter.
"But I don't-"
"A simple word," she suggested. "It can be anything."
"In English?"
Zia curled her lip. "If you must. Any language will work, but hieroglyphics are best. They are the language of creation, of magic, of Ma'at. You must be careful, however."
Before she could explain, Carter drew a simple hieroglyph of a bird. Percy's eyes widened and she winced at that, spotting her big brother's mistake right away as the little picture peeled itself off the papyrus and flew away. It splattered Carter's head with some hieroglyphic droppings on the way out and Percy, very maturely started to giggle- but hey at least all she did was giggle, Sadie almost cackled at the look on Carter's face, which earned them both a disapproving look from Zia. "A beginner's mistake, if you use a symbol that stands for something alive, it is wise to write it only partially—leave off a wing, or the legs. Otherwise the magic you channel could make it come alive."
"And poop on its creator." Carter sighed, wiping off his hair with a bit of scrap papyrus. "That's why our father's wax statue, Doughboy, has no legs, right?"
"The same principle," Zia agreed. "Now, try again."
Carter stared at Zia's staff, which was covered in hieroglyphics. He picked the most obvious one and copied it on the papyrus—the symbol for fire.
Unfortunately for Carter there was no fire despite his efforts, it just dissolved. "Keep trying," Zia urged.
"Why am I so tired?" Carter wondered.
He definitely looked exhausted. His face was beaded with sweat, which made Percy suddenly feel worried about her big brother- this was all so new to him.
"You're channeling magic from within," Zia said. "For me, fire is easy. But it may not be the most natural type of magic for you. Try something else.
Summon...summon a sword."
"But Percy-"
"Your sister has training, and she appears to have a natural affinity for water as I do for fire." Zia pointed out firmly, "Now try a sword."
"I don't know how to, I saw Percy do it but I didn't-"
"Let me-" Zia showed him how to form the hieroglyph, and Carter wrote it on the papyrus. Nothing happened.
"Speak it," Zia said.
"Sword," Carter said. The word glowed and vanished, and a butter knife lay on the papyrus.
"Awesome!" Percy cheered, "You did it Carter you did it-"
"Terrifying." Sadie was laughing again.
Carter gave a proud grin, though he looked exhausted as he picked up the knife. "Okay, which of you two wants to get stabbed first?"
"Ooh, careful or you'll hurt someone-" Sadie shock back mockingly.
"Probably yourself." Percy piped up.
"Very good for a first time." Zia looked impressed, "Remember, you are not creating the knife yourself. You are summoning it from Ma'at- —the creative power of the universe. Hieroglyphs are the code we use. That's why they are called Divine Words. The more powerful the magician, the easier it becomes to control the language."
Sadie's eyes widened at that, "Those hieroglyphs floating in the Hall of Ages. They seemed to gather around Iskandar. Was he summoning them?"
"Not exactly," Zia said. "His presence is so strong, he makes the language of the universe visible simply by being in the room. No matter what our specialty, each magician's greatest hope is to become a speaker of the Divine Words—to know the language of creation so well that we can fashion reality simply by speaking, not even using a scroll."
"Like saying shatter, and having a door explode." Sadie suggested.
Zia scowled. "Yes, but such a thing would take years of practice."
"Really? Well—"
At which stage Percy stomped on Sadie's foot hard, making her suck in a sharp breath, and Carter shook his head tightly, which made Sadie change her tactics, and let Percy breath out a discrete sigh of relief.
"Uh... well someday I'm going to learn to do that."
Zia raised an eyebrow. "First, master the scroll."
Of course, Sadie could never do things the easy way- Percy did understand that really she did- but did Sadie have to put on an annoyed expression and write fire?
Despite Zia's attempted warning the eruption of flames nearly burned Zia's face off- it certainly made Sadie scream.
Fortunately when the fire receded Zia was stood there looking astonished, her eyebrows singed and her bangs smoldering.
"Oh, god," Sadie gasped the words. "Sorry, sorry. Do I die now?" and that just made Percy burst out laughing as Carter gaped at Sadie in shock.
Zia was silent for a few moments before she spoke again.
"Now," she announced. "I think you are ready to duel."
They used another magic gateway, which Zia summoned right on the library wall. They stepped into a circle of swirling sand and popped out the other side, covered in dust and grit, in the front of some ruins. The harsh sunlight was almost blinding
"I hate portals," Carter muttered, brushing the sand out of his hair.
Then he looked around and his eyes widened. "This is Luxor! That's, like, hundreds of miles south of Cairo."
"And that amazes you after teleporting from New York?" Sadie raised an eyebrow at their big brother and Percy shrugged.
"Magic still amazes me and I was raised with it." she pointed out- not that Carter seemed to care, he was too busy checking out their surroundings to respond.
Percy followed his gaze, grinning as she did. They stood on a wide avenue flanked by human-headed beasties, most of which were broken. The road went on behind us as far as they could see, but in front of us it ended at a temple much bigger than the one in the New York museum.
The walls were at least six stories high. Big stone pharaohs stood guard on either side of the entrance, and a single obelisk stood on the left-hand side. It looked as if one used to stand on the right as well, but it was now gone.
"Luxor is a modern name," Zia said. "This was once the city of Thebes. This temple was one of the most important in Egypt. It is the best place for us to practice."
"Because it's already destroyed?" Sadie asked.
Zia gave her one of best famous scowls. "No, Sadie—because it is still full of magic. And it was sacred to your family."
"Our family?" Carter asked, "Which side?" he added, pulling a face.
Zia didn't explain, as usual. She just gestured for them to follow.
"I don't like those ugly sphinxes," Sadie mumbled as they walked down the path.
"Those ugly sphinxes are creatures of law and order," Zia said, "protectors of Egypt. They are on our side."
"If you say so."
Carter nudged her as they passed the obelisk. "You know the missing one is in Paris."
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Wikipedia. I thought they were in New York and London."
"That was a different pair. The other Luxor obelisk is in Paris- Percy do you remember-"
"Going to see it on my eighth birthday." Percy grinned at him, "Duh, that was an awesome day."
"I wish I was in Paris." was it just Percy or was there jealousy in Sadie's voice again- Percy felt a twist of guilt- Sadie had missed out on a lot of stuff because of the House and the Fausts- Percy wondered how much better things would have been if they'd grown up with Sadie. Things would have been so much better Percy was sure. But life wasn't fair and they'd had such different lives that Percy was scared that the jealousy might never completely go away. She desperately wanted to at least be friends.
Percy pushed those thoughts away because Zia was already moving, and they followed, walking into a dusty courtyard surrounded by crumbling pillars and
statues with various missing body parts.
Even with all the damage that had been done it was impressive- and beautiful in Percy's opinion, but then again, she'd been raised to love and respect ruins.
Her attention was drawn from the surroundings by Sadie's voice "Where are the people? It's the middle of the day, winter holidays, shouldn't there be loads of tourists?"
Zia made a distasteful expression. "Usually, yes. I have encouraged them to stay away for a few hours."
"How?"
"Common minds are easy to manipulate." She looked pointedly at Sadie, who's eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"To be fair to Sadie she didn't know what you were doing she had no defences." Percy pointed out, eyes narrowing at Zia, who looked like she wanted to roll her eyes.
"As you say. Now, to the duel." She summoned her staff and drew two circles in the sand about ten meters apart. She directed Sadie to stand in one of them and Carter in the other.
"I've got to duel him?" Sadie raised an eyebrow at that.
"What if we do something wrong?" Carter looked understandably nervous.
"I will oversee the duel, and I'm sure Persephone here will also be able to help if need be- with any fires for example," Zia promised. "We will start slowly. The first magician to knock the other out of his or her circle wins."
"But we haven't been trained!" Sadie protested.
"One learns by doing," Zia said. "This is not school, Sadie. You cannot learn magic by sitting at a desk and taking notes. You can only learn magic by doing magic."
"But—"
"Summon whatever power you can," Zia said. "Use whatever you have available. Begin!"