Percy in this chapter: Carter and Sadie are very special and I must protect them from the House because they have gods inside of them.
The mysterious voice in Percy's head: Huh, she's kind of oblivious then. She's not gonna figure it out unless I say something.
Replies:
Noir Nyan: Thank you, that's how I look at it- they were always very clearly the same universe- why would you need different sections for them?
Ryan Fowler: Thank you! And I hope you keep enjoying it!
Guest: You shall see very very soon.
Guest: Yes, sorry about that!

One second they were in in Egypt, the next they were led on cold, wet stone in the middle of a huge public plaza- rain was pouring down around them, and Percy could feel Carter's grip on her hand, almost painfully tight. Percy's ears felt like they were ringing, her face and arms were stinging, and she could feel the deep painful gashes on her back- though the good news was the rain- as soon as the water started hitting her skin she felt it soothing her- the pain fading away at the waters touch.

The bad news, Percy realised when she heard Sadie yelling, was that they'd been followed by two of the sphinxes. Percy lifted her head to look, and she saw them both- rushing at her and Carter- and Percy's gaze flicked around- she'd dropped her khopesh, it had skidded across the wet stone when they'd landed, it was too far away- the sphinxes would reach them first- Percy heard Carter's terrified yell and then a dark form suddenly landed in front of them, shouting, "Mange des muffins!"

The sphinxes lasted less than three seconds, the figure sliced through both of them in one sweeping motion, and the sphinxes dissolved into smoke like their buddies had when Percy had dealt with several of them.

Then Sadie was stumbling towards them as Carter hauled Percy into his side, "Percy- Percy oh god are you okay the blood-" her voice was terrified.

"I'm fine." Percy said quickly, "It's healing 'cause of the rain but-" she blinked up at the newcomer- a tall thin figure in a black hooded raincoat.

Percy didn't know French but she'd recognised one word there and she found herself beaming as the figure tossed off the coat, and a familiar face grinned down at her- clad in the same leopard-skin acrobatic suit she'd been wearing when they'd parted, showing off her fangs with her grin, and her lamplike yellow eyes- it was all so familiar that Percy let out a warm bubbling laugh as the goddess smirked, "Miss me?"

"Bast!" Sadie's voice cracked, she looked like she wanted to cry as she threw herself at Bast, and the goddess wrapped her arms around Sadie as Percy and Carter staggered to their feet, joining the hug.

Of course, they couldn't stay there in the middle of the plaza, who Bast quickly ushered them to a big white government building where Carter and Sadie huddled under the eaves, close to the river Seine which wound sluggishly through the city. They sat together wrapped up in the raincoat- Carter had tried to get Percy to join them, but the youngest Kane had shook her head, standing just outside of the eaves, in the rain.

Admittedly Percy knew how weird it looked- especially since she was allowing herself to get wet- but the water was soothing to her, it made her feel awake, stronger.

No way was she gonna try and avoid it when it was healing her.

"Are you completely bonkers?" Sadie asked suddenly, eyeing Percy as if she was genuinely concerned about the younger girls mental state.

"Now now." Bast almost purred the words. "It's perfectly natural for her to want to stand out in the rain- how's your shoulder?"

"Feels a lot better now." Percy grinned, rolling both of her shoulders as a demonstration, "The water heals me. Perk of being the daughter of a sea god-"

"Okay that is cool."

"You're really okay?" Carter's voice was tight, worried, "I- I mean you were amazing- you kicked butt out there but-"

"Carter. Percy is a demigod." Bast remarked, "Most of her kind are born to fight monsters and their ilk, it's in her blood."

"But-" he hesitated, "Percy I-"

"S'okay if you worry about me Carter." Percy gave him a slight smile, "But I'm fine."

"I do want to check though." Bast was suddenly by Percy's side, and Percy resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she pulled the fabric of Percy's shirt to the side to look at her shoulder "Yes, yes very good. Might leave some scars but nothing too bad. Your gift is rather useful."

"What now?" Sadie spoke up, clutching the raincoat around herself tighter. "They'll be after us won't they?"

"I wouldn't worry about them yet." Bast's voice was reassuring as she pulled Percy's shirt back so that it was over her shoulder- though it was still badly sliced up from the sphinx claws. "The House will assume you teleported somewhere else."

"Why?" Carter's brows furrowed. "I mean, I guess we could go anywhere but the way you said that-"

"Paris is the Fourteenth Nome. It is Desjardins' headquaters. You would be insane, trying to hide in his home territory."

"Great." Carter muttered the word, "That is not reassuring."

"Your amulets will shield you." Bast pointed out, "I could find Sadie anywhere because of my promise to protect her. But the amulets will keep you veiled from the eyes of Set and from other magicians. You did very well getting away as you did-"

"It was mostly Sadie and Percy." Carter rubbed his arm, a guilty look on his face before he paused, "How are you alive Bast? Is it that 'nine lives' thing?"

"Oh, that's just a silly legend. I'm immortal."

"But the scorpions!" Sadie scrunched in closer to Carter, shivering and drawing Bast's raincoat around her shoulders. "We saw them overwhelm you!"

Bast made a purring sound. "Dear Sadie, you do care! I must say I've worked for many children of the pharaohs, but you three—" She looked genuinely touched. "Well, I'm sorry if I worried you. It's true the scorpions reduced my power to almost nothing. I held them off as long as I could. Then I had just enough energy to revert to Muffin's form and slip into the Duat."

"I thought you weren't good at portals," Carter pointed out.

"Well, first off, Carter, there are many ways in and out of the Duat. It has many different regions and layers—the Abyss, the River of Night, the Land of the Dead, the Land of Demons—"

"Sounds lovely," Sadie muttered.

"Anyway, portals are like doors. They pass through the Duat to connect one part of the mortal world to another. And yes, I'm not good at those. But I am a creature of the Duat. If I'm on my own, slipping into the nearest layer for a quick escape is relatively easy." "And if they'd killed you?" I asked. "I mean, killed Muffin?"

"That would've banished me deep into the Duat. It would've been rather like putting my feet in concrete and dropping me into the middle of the sea. It would've taken years, perhaps centuries, before I would've been strong enough to return to the mortal world. Fortunately, that didn't happen. I came back straightaway, but by the time I got to the museum, the magicians had already captured you."

"We weren't exactly captured," Carter's voice was almost defensive.

"Really, Carter? How long were you in the First Nome before they decided to kill you?"

"Um, about twenty-four hours."

Bast whistled. "They've gotten friendlier! They used to blast godlings to dust in the first few minutes."

"We're not—wait, what did you call us?"

Sadie answered, sounding as if in a trance: "'Godlings.' That's what we are, aren't we? That's why Zia was so frightened of us, why Desjardins wants to kill us."

"Yep." Percy popped the P, "That is exactly what you are.

"Hold on-" Carter looked stunned, "You mean hosts for gods? That's not possible I think I'd know if..." Carter trailed off.

"Carter," Sadie said. "When the Rosetta Stone shattered, it let out five gods, right? Dad joined with Osiris. Amos told us that. Set...I don't know. He got away somehow. But you, Percy and I-"

"The amulets protected us." Carter's voice was almost desperate as he clutched the Eye of Horus around his neck. "Dad said they would."

"Dad also told us to stay out of the room." Sadie pointed out, "But were were right there-" she looked slightly guilty as she said that, "We were right there watching. And we wanted to help him. We practically asked for power, Carter-"

"But- but Percy-"

"I didn't need to ask for power- I knew what I was doing." Percy pointed out. "and you two both have like, double blood of the pharaohs."

"You do." Bast nodded, "And Percy is Greek too- I'm not sure- no demigod has ever been a godling before. It's not done. And you almost invited them in as Sadie said. It makes all the difference."

"And since then-" Sadie looked almost hesitant, as if she was afraid of being mocked, "I've had this feeling, like a voice inside of me."

There was a long moment of silence before Carter spoke again. "Okay." he admitted slowly, "I've been hearing a voice too. So either we're both going crazy."

"The amulet." Sadie pulled it from her shirt collar and held it for Bast to see. "It's the symbol of a goddess, isn't it?" "That is a tyet," Bast said. "A magic knot. And yes, it is often called—"

"The Knot of Isis," Sadie said. I didn't see how she could know that, but she looked absolutely certain. "In the Hall of Ages, I saw an image of Isis, and then I was Isis, trying to get away from Set, and—oh, god. That's it, isn't it? I'm her."

She grabbed her shirt like she physically wanted to pull the goddess away from her. Percy moved towards her, reaching out and grabbing Sadie's wrist- which admittedly probably didn't feel nice for Sadie since Percy was probably very cold to the touch- but Sadie met her gaze, her eyes filled with fear, and Percy gave her her best reassuring smile. "No. She's just inside of you right now."

"Easy for you to say!" Sadie yelped the words, "You don't have a goddess-"

"Oh no-" Carter was lurching to his feet, clearly panicked. "No, no, no. Somebody get a can opener. I've got a god stuck in my head."

Bast's eyes lit up. "You communicated with Horus directly? That's excellent progress!"

"Progress?" Carter banged his palms against his head. "Get him out!"

"Carter-" Percy started to moved towards him, letting go of Sadie's wrist quickly.

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

Bast frowned. "She didn't."

"Talking to him!" Carter jabbed at his forehead again.

"This is awful," Sadie wailed. "How do I get rid of her?"

Bast sniffed. "First off, Sadie, you don't have all of her. Gods are very powerful. We can exist in many places at once. But yes, part of Isis's spirit now resides inside you. Just as Carter now carries the spirit of Horus. And frankly, you both should feel honored."

"Right, very honored," Carter's voice was very high pitched. "Always wanted to be possessed!"

Bast rolled her eyes. "Please, Carter, it's not possession. Besides, you and Horus want the same thing—to defeat Set, just as Horus did millennia ago, when Set first killed Osiris. If you don't, your father is doomed, and Set will become king of the earth."

"You could break it to 'em easier." Percy gave Bast an almost disapproving look, "They're freaking out as it is-" and Sadie was ripping the amulet off her neck and throwing it down.

"Isis got in through the amulet, didn't she? Well, I'll just—"

"I really wouldn't do that," Bast warned.

But Sadie pulled out her wand and smashed the amulet. Blue sparks shot up from the ivory boomerang. Sadie yelped and dropped her wand, which was now smoking.

Her hand was covered in black scorch marks. The amulet was fine. "Ow!" she said.

Bast sighed. She put her hand on Sadie's, and the burn marks faded. "I did tell you. Isis channelled her power through the amulet, yes, but she's not there now. She's in you. And even so, magical amulets are practically indestructible."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Sadie said.

"Well, for starters," Bast said, "Carter must use the power of Horus to defeat Set."

"Oh?!" Carter almost yelled, "Is that all? All by myself?!"

"No, no Sadie and Percy can help- though when the time comes it will have to be just Sadie-"

"That's not comforting!"

"I'll guide you as much as possible," Bast promised, "but in the end, the two of you must fight. Only Horus and Isis can defeat Set and avenge the death of Osiris.
That's the way it was before. That's the way it must be now."

"She's right about that." Percy nodded, "But I'm gonna help you no matter what, screw how it went before I'm sticking with you guys."

"And-" Sadie's voice was almost hesitant. "And then we get our dad back?"

And Percy couldn't help but notice the way Bast's smile wavered as she said, "If all goes well." and she remembered the story, it felt like it had been a lifetime ago.
Osiris had been saved, but his place from that moment on had been the Underworld.

Percy pushed that thought down. She had to be wrong.

Her daddy couldn't really be dead.